Almanac: At the Capitol

The classic fight is on. It's the state versus local government. Minnesota counties are furious with state lawmakers and the governor and they're working the Capitol press room spreading the word. It's all about a provision slipped into a tax bill in the middle of the night (or really early morning after working all night). Jim Mulder from the Association of Minnesota Counties says "the governor is hypocritical" to say levy limits or property tax caps were the linchpin of the session and then allow this to happen to counties. He added that this is a "good example of what happens at 6am behind closed doors." Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller talked about the deal repairing the relationship with cities and counties. So much for that. The counties' lobbyists sat in the hallway outside of the governor's office, just like all the reporters, day and night to try to figure out what was happening behind those locked doors. The last-minute, behind-closed-doors, end-of-session-negotiations are not pretty and many are wondering if it's really democracy. Our cartoonist David Gillette, takes a stab at the process this week on Almanac. The Strib slaps at it, too, calling it "late night legislative follies."