Almanac: At the Capitol

The governors of Minnesota and Wisconsin announce an initiative to share services, a Senate committee passes a new seat belt law, and hearings are held on providing health insurance for the unemployed.

View the Capitol Update for January 13, 2009.

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.

Murphy just told Commissioner Michael Campion that he would convene the transportation conference committee in the governor's office and the public is invited, unless someone from the governor's office comes to his conference committee later today. Murph is steamed. Dems said the governor is choosing to save teens and adults lives but not children. It's heated rhetoric for sure. They say he's playing politics with public safety policy. Public Safety Commissioner Campion tried to communicate that the governor sees seatbelts and graduated licenses as the priorities. Campion at one point said he cannot speak for the governor, but that's exactly what the governor's commissioners are supposed to do. Campion was in a tough spot and lawmakers noted that.

Bonding Chair Alice Hausman says this looks a lot like Central Corridor where the governor vetoes something as a broader bargaining chip. Many members hinted that House Republicans' opposition could also be driving the last-minute changes. We'll see how the rest of this drama unfolds today. Other lawmakers tell me this could affect the entire tone of end of session negotiations which were going well.

Here's what the governor's spokesperson Brian McClung has to say:

Sen. Murphy’s comments are untrue. This is just the latest example of erratic behavior by Sen. Murphy.

Our office did not tell him the bill would be vetoed unless one of the three provisions was removed. We have explained to legislators that the Governor has taken public positions on two of the three provisions, primary seat belts and additional teen driving restrictions. It is possible that Sen. Murphy misinterpreted or intentionally misrepresented the information we shared with him and others.

Governor Pawlenty has been a strong supporter of provisions to increase safety on our roads, including lowering the state’s blood alcohol standard to .08 and graduated driver’s licenses. To imply that we are not supportive of additional safety measures is a disservice to the public and to the debate.