Almanac: At the Capitol

Today Gov. Tim Pawlenty will announce a series of cuts to solve a nearly billion dollar budget shortfall. He says he'll use money from reserves and the healthcare access fund, too. Lawmakers only want the healthcare fund to be used to extend healthcare, not cut it. The House and Senate seem to be reading from the same playbook, as spokespeople have been churning out the phrase "the governor's budget will not be dead on arrival." Here's what Democrats are risking though: they speed through spending and tax increases and then slowly and deliberately run out the rest of the session on the governor's cuts. Acting fast on increases and slow on cuts could backfire. Of course they are denying that strategy, but in the same breath admitting that "examining" the governor's budget will be the "focus" of the rest of the session.

While I'm pointing out the downside of the DFL approach, let me also point out one of the wittiest sound bites of the year. House Majority Leader Tony Sertich, when asked about the governor's vice presidential buzz, said he hopes Pawlenty doesn't just drop the budget and run. And then he suggested that the governor be more engaged not just writing threatening letters "this is not the 1800s anymore where you write letters back and forth, this is not a conversation between John Adams and his wife." That great historical reference from such a young guy brought rounds of laughter. In fact Speaker Kelliher had to stop the press conference and said, "Can I just giggle; that was very funny. Wow!" Sertich countered, "I'm a young guy, but I read books!"

It took 4-1/2 hours, but the House has passed a nearly billion dollar bonding bill on a 99-34 vote. That's plenty of the 3/5 majority they needed. They got some Republican votes as is customary on a bonding bill. Now the real challenge is the conference committee. Senate Bonding Chair Keith Langseth has been less interested in coming down on their nearly billion dollar bonding bill. House Bonding Chair Alice Hausman is much more amenable to change, specifically in the direction the governor is dictating. On Almanac: At the Capitol she said the governor will veto the entire bill as is and she doesn't want that to happen again, like last year where no bonding bill got through. So even though the House and Senate are both controlled by Democrats and they have been working in unison so far this session, that could be about to change. The governor sent a letter to all 201 lawmakers telling them to reduce the bill to $825 million.

First it was the bill to make ice hockey the official state sport, now during the important debate on the bonding bill there's more hockey talk. The Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher, who's a hockey mom, has been announcing scores from the high school hockey tournament. She's also effectively dissolving the tension in the room. As Minority Leader Marty Seifert complained about all the money for gorillas in zoos, he thanked the Speaker for the visual aid, a banana. By the way visual aids are not allowed on the House floor. This new younger generation of House leaders (they're all in their 30s) are making these long debates tolerable by having a sense of humor and playfulness. Plus, the Speaker is on top of the world after the veto override. Even Republicans admit she's currently the state's most successful politician. How does Gov. Anderson Kelliher sound?