It was a day of dueling press conferences at the State Capitol. First, Gov. Pawlenty announced a new small business initiative worth about $70 million, which upstaged a Democrat's event on crime victims. Pawlenty also used his time with the press to clear up what he calls a misunderstanding about MnDOT's request for additional spending authority to cover the 35W bridge reconstruction. He said for lawmakers to not approve the money is "silly" and used the analogy that if this were a basketball game, this should be a lay-up. Meanwhile leading senators on transportation questioned whether the request is even legal. Sens. Dibble and Murphy say without federal money in hand, "This is irresponsible," especially with the governor's "abysmal record on transportation."
The other fight brewing is over the soon-to-be-announced health commissioner. The governor says he'll make an appointment "within a matter of days." Meanwhile DFLers led by Rep. Rukavina held a press conference with signs saying "restoring the trust" because Rukavina says there's no trust left on the Iron Range and he wants a commissioner who "relies on science, not voodoo science." Pawlenty's appointment will be telling. When lawmakers forced out his education commissioner, he responded with a less-partisan and well-liked lawmaker. We'll see if he's feeling concillatory.