Almanac: At the Capitol

Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher wants a budget deal for the state's 150th birthday present on Sunday. It's a great PR angle, but depending whom you believe a deal is close or completely out of reach. Democrats all say it's "doable" if the governor wants a deal, but Republican Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem said negotiations are "on life support with funeral arrangements pending." Sen. Geoff Michel said he fears they're living in a world where there aren't global deals anymore. Last year there was no global deal on all the end of session issues for the first time in memory.

The speaker wondered if the governor is trying to hit 100 vetoes, if it was his goal. Sen. Michel said the governor is the goalie stopping bad legislation. None of this sounds good whether you like the hockey or not. There's still a lot of finger pointing and no face to face negotiations with 9 days left to pass bills and only really 6 days for lawmakers to meet in floor session.

Unalloting and special session are options for the governor. Senjem prefers unalloting. Minority Leader Marty Seifert said he has prepared a spreadsheet of cuts for the governor to make that would make the bonding bill vetoes look like the "Riveria" that includes cuts to "welfare and Iron Range slush funds." Democrats keep saying they will get a deal. The House needs a deal the most and seems to be the most optimistic. The new wrinkle is the revival of Central Corridor in a bonding bill all by itself. Rep. Alice Hausman says she wants to send a clean bill to governor to sign. Since he already vetoed it once and said he wanted a responsible budget deal first I'd bet another veto.

 

This is the group photo from the 20th Century Senators Statehood Reunion.  It was a fabulous night full of icons, giants and lots and lots of laughs.  There was a wonderful bi-partisan spirit and pride for making Minnesota one of the best places to live.  Many members said they missed the people, not the process.  The tone was loose which says a lot for the Senate which is known for its strict rules and upper chamber philosophy.  But my father, former longtime AP Capitol reporter, was part of a segment on the lack of decorum like the night a senator said the f-word on the floor and it made national news.  Geno (that's what everyone calls my dad including me) had to call the desk in New York who put that on the national wire. 

There were 3 senators standing who served in the 1960s.  And the last-standing reporter was the legendary Betty Wilson who at 80-something absolutely floored me when she said she's reads my blog daily!  She is a hoot.  Betty was a trailblazer for women covering the Capitol.  Most senators said the biggest change in the chamber was women.  They didn't even have a women's bathroom, it just said "reserved for senators" and that meant men.  So when the first female senator was elected they had to build her a bathroom out of a janitor's closet.

Finally, in an evening full of touching moments one of the most memorable was the presentation to an ailing Secretary of the Senate Pat Flahaven.  He was thin but cheerful and everyone hopes to see him back at the Capitol.  

 

 

 

Legislative leaders went in to a meeting with the governor about 8:15am. They came back out at 9:00am. Not much progress to report. House Majority Leader Tony Sertich said they're "trying to get on the same page" which means they have some distance to go. To continue his walzing analogies, he said they are in the "middle of the dance." They are still trying to find out what cuts they have in common and see if they can tackle property tax reform.
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Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller continues to hint at an early adjournment, as he's done all session. He just said he's told conference committee chairs that their bills need to be passed off the floor by Friday, this Friday, more than a week before the session is scheduled to end. When we asked if that means an early adjournment Pogemiller said "I think Minnesotans will be pleased."
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Lawmakers and the governor will go back behind closed doors tonight, but the optimistic tone that echoed through the Capitol is growing softer. The past few days it seemed they were all making quite a bit a progress and could maybe wrap this up early. The governor essentially gave up on his use of the healthcare access fund. Democrats offered the governor his request for a cap on property taxes. It seemed they had about $300 million worth of budget cuts worked out, but now that may not be the case.
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Sen. Steve Murphy says the governor's staff told him he had to pick 2 out of 3 provisions in transportation bill, so Murphy says he has to drop booster seat language to preserve a primary seatbelt offense and graduated driver’s licenses for teens.
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Apparently there's a day off of school for lots of kids and they're finding their way to the Capitol, especially lawmakers' children. We hear many of them are working as pages today running errands on the floor. Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher showed a classic working mom multi-tasking moment when leading House business and her daughter walks up to the front of the chamber and asks mom for something. Kelliher reaches into the historic desk below the classic oil painting of Abraham Lincoln and pulls out a piece of gum, Trident sugarless I'm officially told. Both the speaker's kids are here today.
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It depends whom you to talk to about end of session negotiations whether it's time to panic or remain calm. The Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem says, "I fear dearly we may simply walk off a cliff this session with no agreement at all." He says Democrats have failed miserably in leadership in specifically addressing a nearly billion dollar budget shortfall.
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The press got a chance to chat with Gov. Pawlenty and because we weren't in his reception room as usual, we got to talk politics (he doesn't like to mix campaign business with state business.) When asked if he will stand by his pledge to serve all four years of his term he said "I'm focused on my job, staying in Minnesota being governor." Then when the AP pressed again if he would stand by the pledge to serve all four years, Pawlenty said "that is my intention."
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I just sat down with Al Franken for a one-on-one interview about his financial problems. We'll have some clips tonight on Almanac: At the Capitol and more Friday on Almanac. He said "yesterday was the best day of the campaign" because his staff and supporters rallied. Franken says they contacted most of the delegates and virtually every one said the recent news was not a problem.
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