Almanac: At the Capitol

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.

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.

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." That is different than what he said when he announced he was running for governor when he said he "will" serve his whole term (after saying he "anticipates" and "plans" to serve his term). My father, a former political reporter and longtime campaign observer who lives part of the year in Arizona, thinks Pawlenty might be McCain's pick for attorney general instead of vice president.

Pawlenty said McCain could win Minnesota. That was after he was peppered with questions about John McCain's comments that the 35W bridge fell because of earmarks and misplaced pork projects. Pawlenty says he shares the concern that "earmarking is a flawed process" but as for the technical reason the bridge fell, the NTSB should have the final say. Senate Transportation Chair Steve Murphy just told the press McCain's comments were "plain out disgusting" and he owes the state an apology.

BTW, notice TPAW got a trim. The mullet is gone!