Political Notebook

Lawmakers get back to work

With the ceremonial first day behind them, Democrats are moving ahead with their legislative agenda. At 1 p.m., House Speaker Paul Thissen, House Majority Leader Erin Murphy, Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk and Assistant Majority Leader Katie Sieben will outline the majority party's vision for the 2013 session.

Later in the afternoon, Democrats will unveil a bipartisan bill to set up a health insurance exchange in Minnesota. The exchange will be an online marketplace where Minnesotans will be able to shop for and compare health insurance plans. The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, gives states the option of setting up their own exchange or one set up by the federal government. The effort got little support from Republican lawmakers last session who opposed the federal health care bill.

The bill's sponsors, Rep. Joe Atkins of Inver Grove Heights and Sen. Tony Lourey of Kerrick, will discuss the legislation. They will be joined by Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Jim Schowalter, Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman, Administrative Commissioner Spencer Cronk, Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson and other state lawmakers.

This year's bill will have at least two Republican co-sponsors — Rep. Greg Davids of Preston and Rep. Jim Abeler of Anoka. Davids said he prefers having a state-run exchange versus one run by the federal government.

"If I have a problem, I would rather call 651 than 202," Davids said.

 

Democrats elect their new leaders

Two days after their massive electoral comeback at the polls, legislative Democrats elected their new leaders. In both the House and Senate, DFL members on Thursday rewarded the individuals that helped them reclaim control of both chambers.

Senate Democrats elected Sen. Tom Bakk of Cook to be Senate Majority Leader. He had served the past two years as minority leader. In the House, the DFL caucus named current House Minority Leader Paul Thissen of Minneapolis as their choice for Speaker of the House.

No southeast Minnesota lawmakers got picked for the other key legislative positions. Here's the list of other lawmakers getting the leadership nod. In the Senate, Sen. Katie Sieben of Newport was elected assistant majority leader and Sen. Sandy Pappas was chosen as the next president of the Senate. Sen. Rich Cohen, of St. Paul, was named chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and Sen. Rod Skoe of Clearbrook will be chairman of the Senate Taxes Committee.

In the House, members chose Rep. Erin Murphy of St. Paul as majority leader. She played a key role in helping recruit candidates for the election.

Rep. Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester, said she did have some concerns about the top House leadership spots being held by two metro-area lawmakers. Rep. Paul Marquart of Dilworth also ran for the post. But in the end, Norton said she expects Murphy will do a good job.

"I was just concerned with the two Twin City representatives at the top, and I would have much preferred having geographical balance," she said.

Bakk says Koch, Senate Republicans owe Senate an apology

Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk on Thursday called on former Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch and Senate Republicans to apologize to the full Senate saying that "the institution has been tarnished by the chain of events over the last few months."

Last month, Koch resigned her post and acknowledged having an inappropriate relationship with a male staffer. Rochester Sen. Dave Senjem was later elected to replace her. Senate Republicans also fired their communications director Michael Brodkorb. He was recently replaced by former Speaker of the House Steve Sviggum.

During a legislative preview session with the media, Bakk said he believes there needs to be a full investigation into what led to Koch's resignation.

"I don't believe in piling on and I don't believe she should be asked to resign her seat, but I do believe that her and Sen. (Geoff) Michel and maybe others owe the full Senate an apology for some of the things that have happened over the last few months," he said.

Senjem responded by saying there is no push on his side of the aisle for an ethics investigation into what happened with Koch. Unless a Senate Democrat decides to file a complaint, Senjem said there will not be an investigation.

"We are looking towards tomorrow, not back to yesterday. That was an unfortunate chapter, but it is in my mind history," he said.

Senjem said he fully expects that when Koch returns for the first time to the Capitol on Tuesday for the start of session that she will be swarmed by the press but he added, "She can take it. She'll be just fine."

 

 

 

Bishop officially endorses Horner for governor

Former Republican state Rep. Dave Bishop of Rochester officially endorsed Independence Party candidate Tom Horner for governor today.

Bishop joined 13 former Republican state lawmakers in announcing their support for Horner today at a press conference at the Minnesota State Capitol. He is the only lawmaker from southeastern Minnesota making the endorsement.

In a written statement, Bishop said, “The terrific advantage that Tom Horner brings to the governor’s office is his ability to instill trust on both sides of the aisle. Horner can be a bridge because he doesn’t come from an extreme position; I relate as I was also a moderate Republican who served as a bridge to get things done.”

The endorsement does not come as a surprise given that Bishop recently attended a Horner event in Rochester where former Republican Gov. Arne Carlson endorsed the IP candidate. I recently ran into Bishop at a local sandwich shop and chatted with him about who he is backing in the elections. He made it clear he feels no obligation to stick to his previous party. This year, he said he is supporting Sen. Ann Lynch over former state Rep. Carla Nelson because the DFLers will likely keep control of the Minnesota Senate and it is important for Rochester to have a senator who is in the majority party. He is also supporting Republican Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem because of his party leadership status.

Below is the complete list of former GOP lawmakers backing Horner.

o  George Pillsbury, former state senator, Wayzata, Lake Minnetonka

o   Bill Belanger, former state senator, Bloomington

o   Dennis Ozment, former state representative, Rosemount

o   Roger Scherer, former state representative, Brooklyn Center; current member, Metropolitan Council

o   David Jennings, former state representative, Martin and Watonwan Counties

o   Ed Oliver, former state senator, Deephaven

o   Lynne Osterman, former state representative, New Hope

o   Dave Bishop, former state representative, Rochester

o   Bill Schreiber, former state representative, Brooklyn Park; former House Minority Leader

o   Art Seaberg, former state representative, South St. Paul

o   Rod Searle, former state representative, Waseca; former Speaker of the House

Senjem endorses Seifert for governor

Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem announced today he is backing former House Minority Leader Marty Seifert for governor. The Rochester Republican is quoted as saying the following in a news release about his pick:

"As minority leader in the Senate, I was privileged to work with Marty Seifert when he was minority leader in the house," Senjem said. "Marty's team player attitude and leadership in the state house is a big reason that all of Governor Pawlenty's veto's were upheld last session."

Senjem chose Seifert over the other lead GOP candidate state Rep. Tom Emmer. You can read more about the announcement here. The GOP gubernatorial contest has been getting pretty heated in recent weeks as delegates are getting elected to the state convention. Emmer recently unveiled a new Web page aimed at disputing campaign attacks. It's called Emmer Truth.

Members of the Rochester delegation have generally been staying out of gubernatorial politics. Last I heard, the three DFL House representatives in the delegation -- Rep. Tina Liebling, Rep. Kim Norton, and Rep. Andy Welti, have not publicly endorsed a candidate. On the GOP side, Rep. Randy Demmer has also not made an endorsement

The exception among Rochester Democrats is Sen. Ann Lynch. She has endorsed state Sen. Tom Bakk for governor.

Pawlenty spending cap proposal gets plenty of reaction

Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Thursday proposed a state constitutional amendment that would cap the state's general fund budget at the revenue level of the most recent two-year period. Here is a link to the Associated Press story on the proposal.

Republicans, including Rochester Sen. Dave Senjem, praised Pawlenty for the proposal.

“This proposed constitutional amendment requiring that state government spending be tied to actual general fund revenue is government at its best — one that is both responsive to the concerns of the public
and responsible with the hard-earned tax dollars that we are entrusted with.” 

But Democrats were skeptical of the governor's proposal. They also noted that none of Pawlenty's budget proposals during his time in office would meet this requirement. The Associated Press quotes DFL Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller as saying, "At first blush it does seem odd that on your way out the door with a pending $5-7 billion deficit, you would now recommend something you never even proposed to the Legislature."

Senate Tax Committee Chair Tom Bakk sent a letter to the governor inviting him to discuss his proposed amendment before the committee on Dec. 7. Bakk mentions that Pawlenty's proposal is similar to one that U.S. Sen. Michele Bachmann.

 Bakk wrote, "Unfortunately, she never agreed to bring her bill before the Senate Tax Committee for a hearing, even after multiple requests by the chair. This left many of us on the committee to wonder what her intentions for the proposal genuinely were. As the Governor of our state, I trust that you truly support your idea and would like to see it passed next session."

Bakk, a Democrat who is running for governor, also called on the governor yesterday to call a special session of the Legislature before the end of the year so that a bonding bill can be passed. Here is a link to that story.

Click here to Download Bakk Letter