Almanac: At the Capitol

Sources say Gov. Pawlenty is going to talk more about "shared services" in his State of the State address.  Jim Mulder from the Association of Minnesota Counties tells me Pawlenty will use his organization as an example of shared services.  Counties are doing things like sharing 911 dispatching services.  We know this is a big initiative of the governor, especially after the announcement of shared services with Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle this week.

We also have a good idea that state colleges and universities will be moved towards more online learning.  Pawlenty's former communications director who now holds the same post at the U, sent out a release saying "With Gov. Pawlenty's State of the State address on Thursday, we wanted to make sure you had some basic information about what the University of Minnesota is doing in the area of online learning." 

I also hear there will be "some surprises" from Pawlenty.  The fact there will be tax cuts has already leaked out and we hear several tax cuts are in the mix to help stimulate the economy. We already have the speech, but can't tell you anything about it because it's embargoed until delivery (and we in the press do actually honor such requests :).  I am going to read it now because I didn't want to read it before blogging in case I accidently leaked content.

The classic fight is on. It's the state versus local government. Minnesota counties are furious with state lawmakers and the governor and they're working the Capitol press room spreading the word. It's all about a provision slipped into a tax bill in the middle of the night (or really early morning after working all night). Jim Mulder from the Association of Minnesota Counties says "the governor is hypocritical" to say levy limits or property tax caps were the linchpin of the session and then allow this to happen to counties. He added that this is a "good example of what happens at 6am behind closed doors." Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller talked about the deal repairing the relationship with cities and counties. So much for that. The counties' lobbyists sat in the hallway outside of the governor's office, just like all the reporters, day and night to try to figure out what was happening behind those locked doors. The last-minute, behind-closed-doors, end-of-session-negotiations are not pretty and many are wondering if it's really democracy. Our cartoonist David Gillette, takes a stab at the process this week on Almanac. The Strib slaps at it, too, calling it "late night legislative follies."