In 1990, Funke's Social Democratic Party won the state elections, which brought future-Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, into power as the Minister President of Lower Saxony.

Funke resigned from the government on 12 January 2001 after an outbreak of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in German cattle herds.

In 2009, Funke resigned from the association after allegations that he had used 8,000 euros of the company's funds to pay the costs of his silver wedding anniversary ceremony.

[5] In 2012, he was acquitted of charges that he used the association's funds for his wedding anniversary, but found guilty of increasing the manager's salary without authorization.

[6] The acquittal was overturned by the Federal Court of Justice in 2013 and Funke ultimately paid a fine of 2,000 euros to settle the case.