Almanac: At the Capitol

With the 2007 session now concluded, I can let you know there's some good, bad and ugly in terms of the results and cooperation from the House Republican perspective.

There are lessons to be learned as we head to the 2008 session: When the DFL actually involved the Governor and House GOP, results were bipartisan, well-received and easily passed. These initiatives include the Ag and Veterans package, the alternative energy bills and bills of local interest.

When the DFL ignored the Governor and Republicans, the results were disastrous: The twice botched bonding bill is the best example. The DFL whipped together a huge pork-filled package with little input from Republicans and the Governor. The first time they did this, they got a veto of the whole bill in early May. Almost no discussion took place in terms of the second bill. The DFL and Chair of the Committee never talked to me or the Governor's office on marking up a second bill, but ended up whipping up a second bill and trying to jam it through on the last night. That blew up in their face as we ran out of time. With 2008 being a heavy bonding year, I'd ask the DFL to work with the Governor and the Republicans or a similar fate is going to happen. A reasonable, affordable bill that treats the whole state fairly and is bipartisan had better be in mind. I also think that roads and bridges need to be a high priority and perhaps the MVST/Governor's package needs to be part of the mix in order to get the jam on transportation unclogged.

The recently vetoed Tax Bill is a good example of Senator Pogemiller playing the political "Dr. Kevorkian" by inserting political poison pills into good legislation and, therefore, killing it. He knew full well that the auto-growth factor for government was a killer and a veto for the Tax Bill. He did it anyway and knew many people who liked the tax bill would be angry at the Governor for keeping his word and issuing a veto. Lesson learned for next session: When the Governor says he'll veto something, he means it. Whether it's a porky and oversized bonding bill, a tax increase or other poison pills. Please listen and learn for next time.

For those concerned about the last day of session, keep in mind that the House sat in recess doing nothing well over 6 daytime hours on the last day of session. In the last week of session, we sat in recess for dozens of hours, rather than processing supposedly high-priority items.

The Constitutional Amendment for dedicated funding and tax increases ran out of time, as did the non-negotiated Bonding Bill. A supplemental nursing home funding bill also ran out of time, because the DFL couldn't prioritize nursing homes over their massive welfare programs in the Omnibus Human Services bill. The "Denny Green time management" of the House DFL needs improvement one way or another, but it may be the citizens and rank-and-file DFLers who will need to make this point for the DFL leadership to listen.

Let's take a look at the jam at the end, in which the DFL is trying to blame Republicans for having the audacity of asking how their school kids and nursing homes were treated under the quickly assembled bills:

The House DFL spent $26 billion in its last six hours of the last day of session. Remember that the over-all budget is less than $35 billion.

In terms of spending:

• That is $4.3 billion per hour.


• That is $71 million per minute.


• That is $1.2 million per second.

My question to the DFL, who want to ram unread bills through the legisalature: Could you lend me a few seconds?