It appears it's "business as usual" for Sen. Amy Koch, the Republican from Buffalo who was at the center of controversy for much of late 2011 after it was revealed she had an inappropraite relationship with a Minnesota Senate staffer.

Koch was forced to resign as the Senate Majority Leader, the first Republican woman to hold that position. She was the primary figure in the GOP's surprise takeover of the Senate in 2010.

Today, new Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem (R-Rochester) said the incident involving Koch's inappropriate behavior was "now in the past," and that the respected Senator would not be facing ethics charges from her colleagues in the 2012 session, which begins next week.

Senjem made his comments Thursday at a legislative preview session. He also called the incident "unfortunate."

Senate Minority Leader Thomas Bakk (DFL-Cook) said he expects a public apology from Koch during the session, as well has former Assistant Majority Leader Geoff Michel, for the way the incident was handled.

In a column released today to media outlets, including St. Michael Patch, Koch said she was excited to get back to work.

"We remain focused on our number one priority: jobs," Koch writes. "With the budget passed last session and out of the way, I think we have an opportunity to build on the great reforms we passed last session to improve Minnesota’s business climate and support job creators."

With the Vikings stadium at the heart of the 2012 session, Koch is on record as saying she doesn't want to see the team move, but doesn't want to use general fund dollars to build a stadium.

She made these comments to students at St. Michael-Albertville High School.

"There has to be a creative system of financing the stadium, and a way to sustain it," she said. "And it can't just be the Vikings. It needs to be multi-use. That's what we envision and that's what we'll work for."