Jim Abeler

The Session That Was

tptadmin — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:00:11 -0500

Mary Lahammer wraps up the wild end to the 2009 legislative session.

Capitol Update - May 18, 2009

Mary Lahammer — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:59:29 -0500

The legislative session must end at midnight and a budget deal between legislators and the governor seems unlikely. The House passed a bill to change the way the seat belt law is enforced and debated medical marijuana for the first time. Over the weekend lawmakers failed to override the governor's vetoes.

View the Capitol Update for May 18, 2009.

Capitol Update - May 18, 2009

tptadmin — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:49:06 -0500

Capitol Update - May 11, 2009

Mary Lahammer — Mon, 11 May 2009 19:57:41 -0500

After the governor vetoed the Democrats' tax and spending plans, the new strategy became 'veto override.' The House passed a health care bill and the Senate passed a public safety bill.

View the Capitol Update for May 11, 2009.

Capitol Update - May 11, 2009

tptadmin — Mon, 11 May 2009 19:55:15 -0500

After the governor vetoed the Democrats' tax and spending plans, the new strategy became 'veto override.' The House passed a health care bill and the Senate passed a public safety bill.

Headlines

tptadmin — Wed, 6 May 2009 19:24:44 -0500

Mary reviews the happenings of the busy and contentious week at the Capitol.

Easter/Passover Legislative Update

tptadmin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:10:40 -0500

State lawmakers went home for their annual holiday break this week. Our Mary Lahammer tells us where things stand with barely a month until the scheduled end of session.

Talking Taxes

tptadmin — Fri, 3 Apr 2009 19:57:59 -0500

As legislators gear up for next week's Easter Break, our Mary Lahammer went about the Capitol on Friday seeking out lawmakers willing to talk taxes.

Primary's Biggest Winners and Losers

Mary Lahammer — Tue, 9 Sep 2008 22:33:41 -0500

First District Republican congressional candidate Brian Davis has to big the night's biggest winner. He took on a well-known and well-liked sitting Senator Dick Day and won. Day is a maverick who doesn't mind upsetting the party elite and that didn't help him in a primary that's usually filled with party activists. If Farmfest was any indication, Davis will still have a tough road against Congressman Tim Walz who stills seems popular with the rural people in his district.

Next, on the winner's list is Dean Barkley. The former U.S. Senator should have won this primary race, still he was running against an endorsed candidate and party chair. He just needs to raise some money and start buying some media. An IPer with name-id really makes the Senate race interesting and ultimately harder to predict.

Finally, the biggest legislative winner is probably Rep. Jim Abeler from Anoka. He was one of the famous override-six and listening to his speech the last night of session it sounded like he even thought he was a goner. He voted his heart, not necessarily his future and it was an emotional decision to watch. It's never fun for a lawmaker to defy his caucus.

Now, in the loser category, Sen. Dick Day. He's such a nice, fun guy who's a great sport. The press corps really like the guy. He's plain-spoken and colorful. He just isn't into pleasing the party as I mentioned above. The question now is if he'll retire from the Senate after once serving as the minority leader. It's tough for former leaders to go back to being just rank and file members of the legislature. It wasn't a great year for state lawmakers looking to move up. Sen. Terri Bonoff was also defeated in a congressional run. The legislature used to a springboard for higher office, we'll see if it works for Erik Paulsen in the 3rd or if the recent trend ends with Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum.

Priscilla Lord Faris spent some serious time and energy on a losing race. Nearly 30% of the vote is not bad. The fact she did motivate some voters to the polls shows some dissatisfaction with Franken, but he may have time to overcome that. Although the nible Coleman is still running a spot-on campaign.

Finally, another well-liked lawmaker and one of the override-six concludes my list of the top winners and losers. Rep. Neil Peterson fom Bloomington had character and spunk and that's always appreciated in the press. But once again, you can't bite the hand that feeds you: local party activists.

A couple of honorable mentions in the loser category: Mpls. Rep. Willie Dominguez and Rep. Mark Olson who won't be elevated to the Senate.

Easter Break for Lawmakers

tptadmin — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:04:57 -0500

Legislators emptied out of St. Paul this week for a spring break. Our Mary Lahammer gives us the highs and lows of the first six weeks of the legislative session.