Almanac: At the Capitol

Gov. Pawlenty is weighing in heavily in floor debates today. First Republican House Minority Leader Marty Seifert apparently heard from the governor along with the speaker and Pawlenty asked them to stop debating an education bill without a global deal and that it created a situation of "negotiating in bad faith."

Then the governor paid a visit to the Senate Republican caucus urging them to vote against an opt-out for REAL ID minutes before it hit the floor. The caucus will be split on this. This issue creates the most interesting coalitions. The liberal-conservative team of Moua-Limmer led the charge as we reported yesterday. The Senate passed it with plenty of room to override 50-16.

Meanwhile negotiations are picking up again between the governor and legislative leaders. They're popping in and out of meetings right now. They said they're still working on some tax issues. Property tax relief continues to be the sticking point--and perhaps the Senate's position. Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem just came out and said "we'd be done if it was up to Margaret" meaning the DFL House Speaker. He said a certain senior member of his chamber is the problem. Could he be talking about Pogey?

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.

The harder thing to assess is the tone, but I've talked to many insiders today who say leaders and the governor are not as close as we thought to a deal. They do not rule out the same scenario as last year where there is no global deal and everyone walks away from the table. Unalloting is coming up a lot. Again, that may not be a bad deal for the Pawlenty who can show the base he is cutting big government.

But the House Democrats need to deliver. They promised education, healthcare and property taxes. Many of those big issues are caught up in getting a deal with the governor. The dust up over what a governor's staffer did or didn't say to a transportation conference committee isn't helping things either. One senator said their caucus meeting today indicated they are not close to closing a deal and mood was pretty pessimistic.