Almanac: At the Capitol

The specter of special session to deal with the Northwest Airlines merger has already been raised this morning at the Capitol. In a conference committee dealing with the budget deficit, Senate Finance Chair Dick Cohen said since details of the merger won't emerge for weeks or months Gov. Pawlenty may need to "call us back into special session." Cohen went on to say he's no fan of special sessions but he wants to "do what we can to limit the harm of a merger."

Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Dan McElroy responded that it's too early to know if a special session would be necessary, but the governor will "advocate for Minnesota workers" and if the deal doesn't benefit the state "he will oppose it." McElroy said a special session has not been discussed but the administration will "keep it in mind." The other thing to keep in mind is that all 134 house members are up for re-election so they really don't want to sit in a special session all summer when they could be on the campaign trail. And special sessions tend to open up a can of worms, bonding projects and other issues that don't get done during regular session could pop up too.

When I asked NWA's Doug Steenland about his obligations to the state, he said the new Delta could either repay the state $245 million dollars or do what he has been talking to state leaders about: renegotiate a new deal. NWA is breaking one of the three requirements of the deal, moving the headquarters. Steenland said they could strike a new compact on the hub status and employment. Can you say special session? How about all summer long? I can't imagine this would be an easy or quick deal to strike.