Republicans in the Minnesota Senate introduced three bills on Tuesday that aim to put a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage before voters in 2012. Minnesota law already outlaws same-sex marriage. State Democrats say the bill is a distraction from the economic crisis — and a state budget that the GOP has yet to pass.

Maple Grove Republican Sen. Warren Limmer, the measure’s chief author, said the bill was not about putting forth an issue that’d boost voter turnout for the GOP in 2012. “Quite honestly, it could cut both ways,” he said at a press conference. “We believe we owe the public the opportunity to be engaged.”

When asked about the timing of the bill and if he thought there would be a backlash, he said, “Personally I don’t think there’s going to be that much backlash on this. We want to give the public as much time as possible to consider it.”

The bill will be fast-tracked to meet Friday’s committee deadline for bills, Limmer said, and it will receive a hearing this week.

Sen. Paul Gazelka of Brainerd was questioned by reporters about whether his district is open to such an amendment considering he defeated the state’s only gay Republican, former Sen. Paul Koering, in the 2010 primary.

“The district, which I think reflects the state, wants gays and lesbians to live how they choose, but doesn’t want to redefine marriage,” he said.

Since the bill is a ballot initiative, it will bypass Gov. Mark Dayton’s veto pen should it pass both chambers of the Legislature, which — since both bodies are controlled by Republicans — it seems likely to do.

The ballot question would read, “Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota?”

DFLers called the amendment push a distraction.

“It’s disturbing that Republicans want to use one of the last weeks of the legislative session to marginalize one group of people and divide our state,” Sen. Scott Dibble of Minneapolis said. “We are facing a $5 billion budget shortfall, yet Republicans believe the biggest threat to our state’s welfare is who is allowed to be married.”

He added, “For same-sex couples, marriage is about economics; it’s about allowing families to take responsibility for each other and support their loved ones, creating strong households throughout our state. For this reason, there is significant evidence that the states that do the best economically are the ones that embrace diversity, not shut it out.”

“With this amendment, we are taking Minnesota in exactly the opposite direction of where we should be headed – toward a stronger economy that welcomes the contributions of all people,” he said.

Sen. Tom Bakk of Cook said, “Prior to the Easter recess, I told the Republican leadership when we got back there would be four weeks left to the session,” said Bakk. ” I don’t know if they don’t understand the budget challenges they face. It is time to get to work on these budget bills. These policy type issues can wait until next year.”

“When we reach May 23 with no budget deal, I will say to them, ‘I told you back in April, I told you to start focusing on the budget every day,’” he added.

Dibble said he expects that the Mormon Church and the Catholic Church to step in and spend tens of millions of dollars on a campaign to pass the amendment.

“The archbishop is probably going to try and raise millions of dollars on this,” he said. “We already saw his DVD campaign last year.”

In addition to Limmer and Gazelka, the bill was introduced by Sens. David Hann of Eden Prairie, Benjamin Kruse of Brooklyn Park, David Brown of Becker, Mike Parry of Waseca, Dave Thompson of Lakeville, Sean Nienow of Cambridge, Dan Hall of Burnsville, Pam Wolf of Spring Lake Park, Gretchen Hoffman of Vergas and Bill Ingebrigtsen of Alexandria.

“It is important that the citizens of Minnesota know that both Mark Dayton and Tom Horner support imposing gay ‘marriage’ on Minnesotans without a vote of the people,” Tom Prichard of the Minnesota Family Council said in a press release about the ad. “Only Tom Emmer has publicly supported traditional marriage and the right of the people to vote on this important issue. That’s what this ad communicates.”

In an email on Wednesday afternoon, Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage said, “We’ve just released what may very well be our most powerful ad yet… focusing on the right of Minnesotans to vote for marriage, with footage from Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous speech and the civil rights movement.

He added, “In the Minnesota governor’s race, two of the three candidates want to let unelected judges force same-sex marriage on Minnesotans, with only Republican Tom Emmer standing up for the rights of Minnesota voters.”

The ad is the fourth by the organizations to support or oppose a candidate. In the spring, the groups released a television ad touting Emmer as the only candidate supporting “marriage.” In the summer, they went after openly gay Republican Sen. Paul Koering, sending out a mailer criticizing his dinner with an actor from the adult film industry. And recently they launched radio ads that praised Emmer’s opposition to same-sex marriage.

Despite these expenditures, neither group has registered with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board as a political action committee or an independent expenditure committee.

Here’s the group’s fourth ad:

Related: NOM’s anti-gay marriage ad muddles MLK’s pro-gay message

“Wherever I went, people were telling me they were going to write my name in,” he told the St. Cloud Times. He said there was an “overwhelming show of support from many friends and acquaintances.”

Following his primary defeat, Koering had endorsed DFL candidate Taylor Stevenson. He told the Times that if he wins he may caucus with the DFL. Koering filed his write-in campaign with the Secretary of State’s office last week.

NOM’s activities in Minnesota are akin to what it’s been doing in other states, including Maine, where a judge said Thursday that NOM’s refusal to disclose its activities “would yield perverse results” to that state’s political system.

In partnership with the Minnesota Family Council, NOM distributed a mailer in Minnesota Senate District 12 just before the Aug. 10 primary. The mailer stated that “Minnesota’s pro-family and pro-life organizations trust Paul Gazelka” and offered voters a choice between Gazelka or “Sen. Paul Koering who dates gay escorts/porn stars and supports same-sex marriage.” (Koering, drawing ire from gay marriage advocates, has repeatedly said he wouldn’t vote for gay marriage).

Gazelka, whom the groups supported, distanced himself from the postcards, calling them “frustrating and disappointing.”

And though the anti-gay marriage groups presumably spent considerable amounts of money on those ads, there’s no way to tell for sure: Without a filing at the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, there’s no public record of New Jersey–based group’s activities or spending here.

Mike Dean, head of the non-partisan, non-profit election watchdog Common Cause Minnesota, finds one line on the mailer problematic, according to a report by TheColu.mn reporter James Sanna: “What kind of Senator do we want?” Since groups not registered to lobby in Minnesota can’t directly for or against candidates, the phrase raises a red flag.

Dean told the Minnesota Independent on Wednesday that the group’s radio ads and television ads were legal thanks to a loophole in campaign finance law.

But, after looking at the anti-Koering fliers, another expert said he thinks NOM should be registered with the state.

“Once they receive contributions or make expenditures in excess of $100 they are required to register with the campaign finance board,” said David Schultz, professor at Hamline University and expert on campaign ethics. “Either the group does not know this or they know it and perhaps are seeking to challenge the state disclosure requirements.”

NOM officials didn’t respond to the Minnesota Independent’s request for comment about their knowledge of the disclosure requirements, but their activities in other states suggest they understand the requirements and are seeking to challenge them.

On Thursday, a judge in Maine rejected a lawsuit by NOM, filed to try to prevent the state’s campaign finance board from investigating its activities. NOM had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on political activities in Maine but had not registered with the state. The group challenged the constitutionality of laws that direct political groups to disclose their donors.

Judge D. Brock Hornby ruled that the State of Maine “has a compelling reason for compiling information about PACs – the goal of providing information to Maine voters about the interest groups that spend money referring to candidates in an election – and indeed Maine has polling data demonstrating the public’s interest in such information.”

Hornby said that “NOM’s desire to limit campaign finance disclosures … would yield perverse results, totally at odds with the interest in ‘transparency’ recognized in Citizens United.”

Minnesota has a similar campaign finance reporting system, and on Wednesday the Minnesota campaign finance board released an advisory opinion (PDF) on exactly the kind of political activity that NOM is engaged in.

“If an organization spends more than $100 to influence the nomination or election of candidates, the organization must register a political fund with the Board and make all of its campaign expenditures through that fund,” the opinion reads.

The board continued:

It is well established that a communication expressly advocating the nomination or election (or defeat) of a clearly identified candidate is a communication to influence the nomination or election of a candidate. However, when a communication clearly identifies a candidate, it is not necessary that the communication use specific words of express advocacy, such as “vote for”, “elect”, “support” or others for it to be for the purpose of influencing the nomination or election of a candidate. A communication that omits the specific words of express advocacy may, nevertheless, be found to be for the purpose of influencing to influence the nomination or election of a candidate based on an examination of the communication.

Here are the ads distributed in Senate District 10 (click to enlarge):

“The party that I’ve called home for 14 years has kind of, in essence, went off the cliff,” Koering told the St. Cloud Times. “I always tried to stay with the party to hopefully be a voice of reason within the party. But I found through this campaign that that doesn’t work anymore.”

The Republican Party of Minnesota launched a “witch hunt’ into Koering with the Morrison County Sheriff last month (Koering actually lives in Crow Wing County).

The party says that it is indeed moving to the right. Perry Nouis, chairman of the Morrison County Republican Party, told the Brainerd Dispatch, “Paul (Koering) is correct in saying the party has taken a turn to the right. After experimenting with bigger government and higher spending (we call it Democrat-lite) we recognize the need to return to our conservative principles.”

Koering says he will back the DFL candidate Taylor Stevenson in the November election.

It’s not the first time Koering has criticized the party. In his brief flirtation with a run for governor, Koering cited the reluctance of Republican delegates to support a LGBT person. “I didn’t really want to say that. [But] that’s a hurdle some delegates can’t get over,” he said late last year.

Another factor that would have likely stymied any campaign for governor was Koering’s disclosure in early June that he had dinner with a gay porn actor and had promised the young man that he would work to ensure that marriage equality passed in Minnesota.

That dinner became a campaign issue when the National Organization for Marriage sent out a mailer attacking Koering for supporting gay marriage. The mailer was so negative that even Koering’s GOP opponent condemned it.

According to the Dispatch, RPM’s research director, Aaron Cocking, sent a letter to the sheriff asking for “each law enforcement and emergency response.”

But GOP leaders aren’t thrilled with the move. Most who spoke with the Dispatch were critical of the strategy.

“I’m disappointed with that kind of activity (by the party),” said Senate Minority Leader David Senjem. “I’ve known Paul for eight years. I can not in my wildest dreams imagine that Paul Koering has anything in his record that would be at all interesting. It’s probably as boring as mine. I’m simply not one to condone witch hunts.”

Koering’s opponent said he knew nothing of RPM’s investigation. “I’m not even sure what they’re looking for,” Gazelka said. “I don’t think they need to do that.”

Koering has seen his share of controversy. Earlier this year, he invited a porn actor to dinner where he allegedly discussed his position on same-sex marriage. The actor said Koering supported it; Koering later said he didn’t.

“Rather than focus on this event, we will be focusing on the issues where my opponent and I are different,” he wrote. “If you think it is important that our state legislators be committed to reign in government spending and focus on creating private-sector jobs, then I believe I am the right candidate for you.”

The GOP, which endorsed Gazelka in the Senate race, did focus on the event, recently issuing a statement to the Brainerd newspaper that Koering’s meal with porn actor Brandon Wilde showed “incredibly bad judgment.”

Gazelka didn’t respond to a request for comment by the Minnesota Independent, but he did tell KSTP that Koering’s alleged comment to Wilde that he supported legalizing gay marriage would be an issue in the campaign.

Koering denied that he supports gay marriage in an interview with porn news website The Sword.

“Instead of focusing his efforts on job creation and the betterment of Senate District 12, Paul Koering has demonstrated incredibly poor judgment by spending time with an escort and pornographic film star,” GOP chair Tony Sutton said in a statement to the Dispatch. “With his campaign message of lower taxes, sensible government and economic development, Paul Gazelka is the right leader for Senate District 12, and the Republican Party of Minnesota stands united behind his candidacy.”

Koering told the newspaper that he didn’t know what the big deal was.

“I went to dinner with this guy,” Koering said. “His mom is my constituent. I would just say I don’t see where the story is. If I have to start asking someone for a resume when I go out to dinner with him, or lunch, it’s pretty sad.”

lol so funny !! in 45 min’s im going 2 dinner with the senator : )

In an interview with gay porn news website The Sword, Koering admitted to the date.
“I don’t see anything wrong with going out with him. Do I think that being a porn star is the best thing? No. But that’s his choice,” Koering said. “I think he’s a nice guy.”

Wilde has starred in films such as “My Brother’s Hot Friend” and “Cruiser Boys.” He divides his time between Brainerd, Minn., and West Hollywood, Calif., and at one time offered escort services on rentboy.com, the same website where religious right figure George Rekers found his “vacation companion.”

“I think he wanted to get in my pants, truthfully,” he told The Sword following the date. “And he was pretty flirty. But it was just dinner. We both were checking out the waiter though. It was fun.”

“He told me he wants to be president one day! But first, he needs to win his re-election,” Wilde told The Sword. “He said once he was re-elected he’d work on gay rights issues and NOH8 stuff, you know? He said he’d make it so gay marriage was legal in Minnesota.”

Koering denied that portion of the conversation.

The group has falsely claimed that immigrants from Mexico are responsible for a record increase in cases of leprosy (also known as Hanson’s disease) and has campaigned to get Spanish-language radio stations shut down. Minn-SIR is a frequent poster in the online chat group Confederate Americans for Secure Borders.

Emmer, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, and Quist, who is seeking the Republican nod to run against Rep. Tim Walz, both received a rating of “A” on the group’s questionnaire. Also receiving top scores are: Sheldon Anderson, who’s running as a Republican for House district 17B; Paul Gazelka, who is trying to oust fellow Republican Sen. Paul Koering in Senate district 12; and James Engstrand, who’s also running for the Republican endorsement to face off with Walz.

Among the items on the questionnaire:

Do you believe that current legislation, be it a “Pathway to Citizenship,” “Guest worker program”, or “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” is nothing more than another Amnesty for those who have broken our immigration laws?

Do you believe that our Immigration System is broken due to NON enforcement of our immigration laws?

Our electoral process is a voice of the American people. Would you agree with the statement, that voting is a privilege not a right and that it should be reserved for American Citizens and Legal Residents only? And, that you would vote and advocate for legislation to ensure that those illegally in the Country do not vote?

Of politicians who have not answered its questionnaire, Minn-SIR founder Ruthie Hendrycks said in an email to supporters, “They are hiding behind the political correctness curtain or maybe their Mama’s aprons. It is the sort of political action or should I say – INACTION – that must stop.”