Well, here it is, what should be the most controversial conference committee report of the session. HF3800 has just been introduced and it is the Commish's humble opinion that the chamber will be splitting in all sorts of interesting ways. Here's how conference committees work:

After each chamber passes their version of the bill, it's sent to the opposite chamber. They can either replace all the language with their own, or make amendments to the other chamber's language. Any differences are resolved in smaller conference committees, with three members of the majority and two from the minority from each chamber. Each member can choose to sign or not sign the final report and it gets sent back to a chamber. It gives it the thumbs up or thumbs down. If its down, they go back to work. If its up, it goes to the other chamber and then the Governor. And with no further adieu, here's the liveblog. Watch here.

9:59 - Rep. Hortman introduced the bill, explained the provisions, and said that what isn't in this bill is as important as what's in it. She's referring to the provision that would require kids to be put in carseats. She wishes it was. They took out the Senate language that would require the head or deputy of MnDot to be an engineer though, a none-too-subtle swipe at Carol Molnau.

10:01 - Rep. Rukavina made his statement quick. He doesn't support it. He hates laws regarding driving. Just hates them.

10:03 - Rep. Tony Cornish, a former cop, is urging members to support it. This is somewhat of a surprise. He's usually pretty libertarian (especially on guns), but he said that his experience as a cop is why he thinks its necessary. He spared us most of the details about the horrors he's seen on the side of the road, but did describe one scene of a person's death from not wearing a seatbelt that seems like it would hang with you. He said people shouldn't be concerned about cops using it as an excuse to pull people over because there are millions of things they can already do for that. He listed some of them.

10:07 - Rep. Willie Dominguez said that he thinks it opens the door to racial profiling. As a Hispanic, he said he's been pulled over because of his race. "Members you can hear the stories, but I live the story each and every day."

10:15 - Rep.Tim Faust said that he thinks its overbearing too, and that it should be sent back to committee.

10:19 - Rep. Lesch says that this could lead to discrimination and asked if what members are doing is really honoring their committment to uphold the constitution. This thing might actually go down, nearly everyone who has spoken is against it, and they've been DFLers. Only Rep. Berns and Rep. Cornish, along with Rep. Thissen who is a sponsor, have spoken for it.

10:25 - Rep. Erhardt just told a couple of people to shut up while he's speaking. Speaker Kelliher said maybe she should use the gavel instead of the language.
"Madam Speaker, they did shut up," Erhardt said.

10:30 - Rep. Erhardt is making the point that the decision on whether to wear a seatbelt isn't only personal ones. The state ends up paying if someone becomes a paraplegic and can't work. Making the cost argument is a good one for his side of the aisle.

10:34 - Rep. Nornes is making a new argument, that the best way to prevent traffic deaths is to enforce the speed limit.

10:35 - Rep. Mark Olson is arguing that if the state requires people to wear seatbelts, the injuries that are sometimes incurred by seatbelts in car crashes, the state might be held responsible.

10:38 - Rep. Lynn Wardlow says he used to teach driver's education, supports it. He asked members to think about how it feels to see a kid with the white bone of their femur sticking out of them. Then to imagine them crying for their mom right before they die.

10:40 - Rep. Seifert is speaking. He says that he's pro-seatbelt. He was almost killed in a car accident and was saved by his seatbelt. He also said his best friend was killed in a car accident and wasn't wearing his seat belt. But he said he's against this bill because the question of seat belts is one of personal choice. He said when he entered the Legislature, this bill would get 19 votes. Now, he says, it passes easily. He says he knows that most hospitals and doctors say that it should be in law, but that most constituents he hears from don't like it. He put the House under call.

10:44 - It's tradition that the minority leader gets the second-to-last chance to speak, and then the bills author gets the last chance, so we're probably close to a verdict here. My guess is this thing passes, but very narrowly, maybe 69 votes to approve the report, 65 against.

10:50 - There are no absent members, so we're dealing with a full 134 lawmakers.

10:52 - Rep. Hortman said that "Its not every day that we get the chance to save lives with a vote on the House floor," and urged members to support the bill.

10:53 - Rep. Scalze is speaking, and she says this shouldn't be heard at 10:30 at night because people are tired, and it should have been brought up earlier.

10:54 - Rep. Rukavina said that he told Rep. Thissen that this law is unnecessary last year because cops can pull you over for any reason, and Rep. Cornish, a cop, just proved his point. He says he feels like the only liberal left because the root word is "liberty." Rep. Rukavina said he thought they "outlawed death" with the smoking ban last year. He said he doesn't like all these excess laws, and pointed to the bill that would let dogs on patios of restaurants. "We let dogs take a leak on your leg and thats okay!"
Someone should compile Rukavina zingers. You could make a mint on that.

11:00 - Rep. Westrom has the floor. "We've lasted a long time in this state letting people make their decisions. When I was in a car accident, if I had had my seatbelt on, I don't remember how it happened, but I would have been charcoaled, because the car started on fire." He told members to send it back to the Senate and tell them they don't know best.

11:05 - And here's the vote, at first the lights were blinking this way and that, from yes to no, with some members switching their votes, but now, they're pretty stable.

11:06 - Upset!!! 72 ayes ayes and 62 nays. The Commish had the numbers almost right, but for the wrong sides. Since 72 voted to reject the measure, it goes back to conference.

It took a while, but Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley) and Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-St. Louis Park) finally got a signature on their bridge victim compensation bill. The governor signed an additional 12 bills, including Rep. Karla Bigham and Sen. Ann Rest's criminal history background check, and SF3490/HF3189, carried by Rep. Bigham and Sen. Ron Latz (again) that would require anyone who has had their license revoked for drug offenses to take a driver's exam.

Two other significant ones, SF2881/HF3236 from Rep. Jim Davnie (DFL-Minneapolis) and Sen. Linda Scheid (DFL-Brooklyn Park), a mortgage lending bill, and SF3401/HF2706, Rep. Bill Hilty (DFL-Finlayson) and Sen. Yvonne Prettner-Solon's (DFL-Duluth) green building codes were signed into law. Most of the rest were technical modifications, but signatures are signatures, and earn points all the same.

He also gave out some vetoes. One was for SF3132/HF3610, carried by Sen. Scheid and Rep. Diane Loeffler (DFL-Minneapolis) that would prohibit health care providers from disclosing or obtaining medical or financial debt information.

Gov. Pawlenty wrote in his veto letter that medical debt is defined, but financial debt is not, and that the bill included the term "medically necessary" without defining what that is. He wrote "Without further definition, the language suggest that all non-cosmetic medical services are subject to this bill. This would include all routine and specialized medical care and elective procedures, provided that the procedure treats an existing medical condition."

Stem Cells, the minimum wage increase, and the education policy bill with the sex ed provisions were all threatened with the business-end of the governors well-worn stamp.

He also vetoed is SF543, carried by Sen. David Tomassoni (DFL-Chisholm) and Rep. Michael Nelson (DFL-Brooklyn Park). It was a resolution to Congress supporting the Employee Free Choice Act. Supporters argue it would make it easier for people to form and join unions, and opponents argue it would create unfair pressure on employees to do so.

You can check out his reasons why here.

Res. 2 Veto Message.pdf

Or you can just watch this ad that's been airing on TV against the bill.

This is the second resolution he's vetoed, after the Cuba one. I don't know how I feel about vetoing symbolic resolutions. They don't actually do anything, and since the Legislature too the time to pass them, it seems a bit spiteful. It might be more adult to just let them pass without signing them. Maybe he's worried about having something like used against him if it passed under his watch if he runs for, I don't know, higher office?

The House is recessing for dinner right now, and Rep. Sertich told DFLers to hurry back, and Republicans to take their time. The House may be taking up the Transportation policy bill, the one that almost got Sen. Steve Murphy into a rumble with the governor's staff. Check back, we may have posts later on through the night. You can watch here or just turn to TPT if you're in the Twin Cities, my guess is this will preempt other programming.

This morning, the gallery of the House was filled with veterans of the Second World War. Many of them wearing their military insignia hats identifying their ships and units, their Representatives on the floor read of their service as each one rose for acknowledgement.

One of them was our Legislature's very own Rep. Bernie Lieder (DFL-Crookston). Rep. Lieder's life story reads like the American dream.

Drafted in '43, he trained as an engineer and served as a replacement artillery man in the infantry. He knew German, so he helped interrogate captured soldiers, take care of displaced German citizens and set up local units of government after the war. He came back and married his high school sweetheart, and worked as a county engineer for the highway department, and has served in our legislature since 1984.

He rose to speak after a standing ovation in the House.

"I think that every day that passes, we're getting fewer. I really appreciate the fact that all the veterans, that we recognize its coming to a close...I think we have to recognize, looking at what happened with what we call the greatest generation, it was a time where America came into its own and came together, more so than we ever have before. And it wasn't just the military, it was everyone. We put together the biggest economic impetus that we've ever seen, and that certainly made a real change for America. As I look back, I think practically everyone who was here that was in the service, men and women both, it would've been rarer that we had gone over 25 miles from home until we entered the service. And as we here about the many things that happened with the individuals, its something we can talk about now, and its just like everything else, its a passing thing. The greatest generation I hope has left its impact on the United States of America so that we recognize that things go around and come back around. We thought that was the war that would end all wars, but it didn't happen that way... I know we supposedly should learn from history, but sometimes history repeats itself and that's what's going on."

Rep. Lieder thanked Speaker Kelliher and everyone else who helped organize the event, and they adjourned for snacks.

My grandparents are members of the greatest generation, and both served during the war. What always struck me is about how, with all the hagiography and TV specials and books surrounding what they did, they're still so humble about it. They viewed serving as their duty, and something that had to be done. They didn't ask for or expect us to sanctify them as the greatest people our nation or any other has ever produced, but they deserve it. Around 400,000 American men and women died. Largely because of what they did, sacrificing, fighting and winning that war and making the world a much safer place for Americans, we can't even contemplate that scale of loss. Today, over 4,000 have died in Iraq, and nearly 500 in Afghanistan. It is an unspeakable tragedy for every one of those families who have lost someone, but they're the only ones who have been asked to sacrifice during a time of not one but two wars.

When you hear Rep. Lieder speak about everyone worked on the war effort, and our leaders tell us not to sacrifice a lick today, and instead to go shopping, or the shameful way injured veterans have been cared for, its hard not to see that as an affront to what the men and women of his generation did.

I promise this is the last of the Commish's editorializing, but if you see a World War II vet today, give them a thank you. If it weren't for them, we might all be living in a very different world.

Bob Collins over at NewsCut did a three-part series honoring the women of World War II, you can check out here.

I'll have another post for you this afternoon on MFL related stuff, but if you're interested in watching this mornings event, you can here.

Your lawmakers are earning their paychecks tonight, folks. Both chambers are meeting, possibly until or past midnight.

What are they doing so late? Mostly approving conference committee reports so they can be sent to the governor. I'll give you a full recap tomorrow, but Rep. Torrey Westrom gave the chamber a nice bipartisan belly laugh. Minority Leader Seifert put the House under call shortly after they came back from dinner break, and slowly the big board lit up with green dots - except for one. Chief Clerk Al Mathiowetz, in his inimitable voice, started calling "Westrom...Westrom...Westrom." That went on for about five minutes, until an exasperated Rep. Westrom showed up in the chamber to applause. He was all the way over in the State Office Building, southwest of the Capitol and connected by a tunnel underground.

When he got there, Speaker Kelliher said "Rep. Westrom, what you don't know is that was Rep. Seifert's Call of the House and he made me a deal that whoever was last couldn't speak for the rest of the night."

Out of breath, he rose on a point of personal privilege and said "Madam Speaker, the hallways are empty and its easy to run."

As MFL members may or may not know, Rep. Westrom uses a cane to walk because he is blind, but the Commish has traveled the tunnel from the SOB to the Capitol, and can say that Rep. Westrom made the trip in what would be record time for anyone. For anyone doesn't think lawmakers work hard, Rep. Westrom is risking life and limb to prove otherwise.

I'll get you the audio tomorrow, its a real treat.

Remember that bill I wrote about earlier this year that would have allowed more powder in certain kinds of fireworks? It never got a hearing, but Rep. Tom Hackbarth (R-Cedar) tried to insert it into the omnibus public safety bill, during conference and then tonight on the House floor. It wasn't adopted, but it seemed to the Commish it was more lawmaker confusion than opposition that stopped it. It sounds like adding gunpowder would make it more dangerous, but in actuality it only would make a 3 minute firework last longer, like 5 minutes, which isn't inherently any more dangerous, and could be less dangerous if it means people are walking up to light things with less frequency. No MFL points for trying though, sorry Rep. Hackbarth.

Rep. Satveer Chaudhary (DFL-Fridley) is getting crap from Minority Leader Senjem (R-Rochester) over in the Senate. Sen. Dick Day earlier said that either Sen. Chaudhary had to put a tie on, or he would take his off. I though he was joking, and it was just too late for Senators to be laughing, but Sen. Senjem brought it up too. I think Sen. Chaudhary was wearing some type of Indian formal shirt Nehru jacket, that, while it didn't have a tie, looked sorta formal I guess, but not to the decorum hawks out there. As the "Upper Chamber" of the Minnesota Legislature, all the men have to wear coats and ties. Female senators seem to have more leeway in what they want to wear. Check out this article from the old school Session Daily from 1991 about this.

Representatives can wear whatever they want, more or less, in the House, and Rep. Cy Thao was wearing his "Prom King" jacket earlier on the House floor, and Rep. Sertich, I believe, said he was proud that they can do that in the "People's chamber".

Lately the Commish has been giving more attention to the House than the Senate. What can I say, Representatives love floor-a-paloozas and floor-a-paloozas love them.

Today, though, we're going to give the Senate their long-promised floor-a-palooza. On Monday, the House had one for the omnibus tax bill, and the Senate's taking it up right now, so its only fair we give them a chance to earn their teams some points. Sen. Tom Bakk (DFL-Vermilion), the tax czar in the Senate, just offered his amendment to replace all the House language for HF3149 with the Senate language, so the bills are, as of right now, a lot different. Still, taxes are something I feel a few of them will want to chime in on, so lets see it lawmakers. (I shouldn't have to bribe them, but if any mention their power ranking or otherwise talk up the MFL, the Commish may give out bonus points).

Over in the House, Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL-Minneapolis) is carrying the stem cell policy bill, SF100. She has a Ph.D in Biophysics, and she's dropping knowledge on the chamber. So far, its been mostly Republicans asking questions and offering amendments to the bill. One, offered by Rep. Matt Dean (R-Dellwood) would have allowed only work on adult stem cells, not the embryonic kind that many opponents liken to abortion. Rep. Kahn's bill would allow the state to appropriate funds for the research, something that must be done with private money under current law.

The bill also bans the sale of fetal tissue and of "human cloning".

Rep. Dan Severson offered one that requires the Attorney General to give a legal opinion on whether embryonic stem cell research is even legal, because, he argued, a scientist told him that the embryos are alive when the research is conducted.

The bill passed by a surprisingly close 71-62 vote. Last year, the governor told the Minnesota Family Council that "I do not support wide open embryonic stem cell research," which is more or less what Rep. Kahn's bill would do. We'll see if he inks this one up with a big veto.

Sen. Ellen Anderson (DFL-St. Paul) may be hovering around the #40-range in our power rankings, but she's been on a roll this week. On Monday, her foreclosure bill, SF3396 that would allow a one-year deferment on foreclosures for people stuck with subprime loans, squeaked by in the Senate.

Today, her "Dangerous Dogs" bill, SF2876, had a conference hearing, and later, she'll have a conference committee on her "Green Solutions" bill. Between those three alone, that's 302 points. She's proving persistence pays off, even in these waning days of the session.

The Commish has been noticing a lot of different faces pop up in the Speaker's chair over in the House lately. Today, Rep. Frank Moe (DFL-Bemidji) was holding the gavel. It turns out that Speaker Kelliher is giving retiring lawmakers a few moments in the big seat, which is why Rep. Dennis Ozment (R-Rosemount) had a chance earlier. Apparently Rep. Chris DeLaForest (R-Andover) had a chance too, according to staff, but the Commish must have missed that one.

Rep. Leon Lillie (DFL-NorthSt. Paul) rose on a point of personal privilege to give him this sendoff.

"I want to express my disappointment in my fellow sophomore, I understand we've got a retirement coming. All these red plaid shirts we've had to see for years here, and all that walleye we've had to eat, and now to hear that he's leaving, I don't know if members could just join me in expressing our disappointment," to which Rep. Moe got a good-natured, hearty boo for his leaving.

Both floor sessions are coming later this afternoon. Check back, we may have a floor-a-palooza over in the Senate.

A couple of constitutional amendments are making steady progress and might actually get on the ballot this November. The first one, which I wrote about last week, would have a council set wages for lawmakers, instead of current law which leaves it up to lawmakers themselves. Sen. Tarryl Clark (DFL-St. Cloud) is carrying this in the Senate. It passed the State and Local Government Commitee and it is awaiting a hearing in the all-powerful Rules Committee, while the House heard their version today in their Rules Committee. Rep. Kent Eken (DFL-Twin Valley) is carrying it in the House, but no word yet on whether it passed.

The other possible amendment is being carried by (who else) Sen. Ann Rest and Rep. Lyndon Carlson (DFL-Crystal) is HF2554/SF3072. This one would allow either the presiding officers from both chambers or the a majority vote from both chambers to call a special session. Right now, that's an ability enjoyed only by the governor. The Commish is confident that MFL managers enjoy performing their civic duty by voting as much as he does. Now that we're down to crunch time, are these amendments you'd want to support?

This is a bit off subject but last night during the floor session, Majority Leader Tony Sertich (DLF-Chisholm) made the point that Rep. Carlson, the author of that special session amendment, had been at the Legislature longer than he'd been alive. I thought he was joking, so I paged through one of those little red legislative directories and found this. Take a look at the committees Rep. Carlson works on:

Finance, chair, Capital Investment Finance Division, Rules and Administration, Taxes, Ways and Means,

Ex officio on: Agriculture, Rural Economies and Veterans Affairs Finance Division; Education Finance and Economic Competitiveness Finance Division; Energy Finance and Policy Division; Environment and Natural Resources Finance Division; Finance (Chair); Health Care and Human Services Finance Division; Housing Policy and Finance and Public Health Finance Division; Minnesota Heritage Finance Division; Public Safety Finance Division; State Government Finance Division; Transportation Finance Division.

Along with Sen. Linda Berglin, Rep. Carlson is the longest-serving member of the Legislature, both first elected in 1972. Rep. Sertich was born in 1976. The amount of policy knowledge stored away in Sen. Berglin and Rep. Carlson heads, along with other long-serving lawmakers, got the Commish thinking about one of those issues that always poll well but don't always work like they're supposed to: term limits.

Through the 1990s, 21 states adopted term limits. They were kind of a fad, like legislative pogs or starter jackets. The phrase "career politician" is about as well liked as "root canal", and campaigning against them using ballot initiatives to implement term limits was pretty popular. Some states, though, came to regret the decision, and six, Idaho, Utah, Oregon, Wyoming, Massachusetts and Washington went back and repealed the limits. A report by the National Conference of State Legislatures in 2006 found that implementing them led to some unintended consequences. From Stateline, a great resource for you MFL participants looking to keep up with legislatures around the country, here's what they found:

"Under term limits, less-experienced legislators cede more power and influence to the governor and lobbyists, according to the study. For instance, four in-depth case studies used for the report found that legislators made many fewer adjustments to governors' budgets after term limits took effect." "Because they do not have as much time to learn the nuances of policy or political maneuvering, term-limited legislators -- and especially committee chairmen -- have to rely on the policy expertise of lobbyists and the institutional knowledge of staff, according to the study."

"Members are less collegial and less likely to bond with their peers, particularly those from across the aisle. The consequences of this are more than a simple change in the social climate -- the decline in civility has reduced legislators' willingness and ability to compromise and engage in consensus-building," the report said.

The New York Times recently profiled a lawmaker from Nebraska who believes he was the sole cause of their state enacting term limits I'd encourage you to check out here.

No lawmakers have sponsored bills limiting terms in this session, but what you MFL managers think?

There aren't many more quotable lawmakers than Minority Leader Seifert. Along with Rep. Tom Rukavina and Sen. Steve Murphy he could go in the MFL hall of fame for delivering zingers. Rep. Seifert said what he saw on the floor last night reminded him of one of his favorite movies.

"A not so long time ago, in voting booths not so far away, voters thought they were voting for some real change and put in a cast of characters at the legislature to construct solutions to their problems."

"Rep. Lenczewski and Rep. Marquart, I appreciate your hard work but you have created the death star of tax policy."

"The governor has his lightsabre ready to slash this bill down because it hurts a majority of the taxpayers out there."

"The House Democrats are like the storm troopers in those movies - they're many in number but they're really poor shots when it comes to accomplishing good policy."

"Members, stick with the good side of the force today, do not be compelled to the dark side of higher taxes, more complication hurting your constituents and making them pay more taxes under the guise of tax relief. It cannot get much more weird than this unless it was revealed that Sen. Pogemiller is my father."

So it went with HF3195, the omnibus tax policy bill that was the subject of our floor-a-palooza.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Lenczewski, for her part, delivered a humdinger of a speech, though no references to death stars, that got her a standing ovation at the end of the night. You can check it out here at the 10:07 mark. Yep, that's ten hours. How your lawmakers have the endurance to debate for that long is a mystery to the Commish.

If you want it short and sweet, basically the bill recalibrates how much you pay in property taxes based on your income, so, according to its proponents, the wealthiest people don't also receive the most tax benefits. It also stops the state from entering into any more JOBZ tax free zones, but maintains the ones that currently exist.The only significant amendment added was one that exempts military pensions from the income tax, which passed 75-54 and I'll have up for you on VoteTracker shortly.

The Senate version of the bill includes money for the Mall of America's expansion, and not the exemption for military pensions, so they'll have to figure that out in conference.

On most days, maybe because the DFL has such a large majority, or just because there are half as many lawmakers, the Senate ends their floor session earlier than the House. When they do, some usually wander over into the House to hobknob with their fellow lawmakers from the lower chamber. That happend today, and some were noisy enough that Rep. Ron Erhardt (R-Edina) had to lay the smack down.

He rose on a point of personal priviledge and asked if the chair could use the "secret slogan that rids this place of the senators so we can hear what we're doing."

Rep. Erhardt said he'd "get the file out that invokes the curse of the senator for the day." Curse or not, it worked, and he got those senators to pipe down.

Things are humming along pretty well for your floor-a-palooza, with almost two dozen lawmakers speaking up on the tax bill, and a pretty good mix too, with some, like Rep. Dean Simpson (R-Perham) and Rep. Robin Brown (DFL-Albert Lea) who rarely pipe up doing so.

The governor signed 10 bills today, including one to commemorate the end of the Korean War, the bovine TB bill, and HF3217, which makes prank calling the police or fire deparments and reporting an emergency when none exists a misdemeanor.

The Senate looks like it may have only recessed, so if they come back and take up that redistricting bill I promised you a floor-a-palooza on, we'll be handing out points for that too.

Rep. Winkler's 156 point behemoth, HF2553, the bridge relief compensation, has made it past its last House stop, getting the conference committee report approved. Next will be the Senate approval of the report, and then the governor's desk.

I spoke with a couple victims who had gathered in the gallery after the bill had passed. One, Karge Olsen, said that "It's a proud day for the Legislature, a proud day for the governor's office and a proud day for the victims."

Another, Jennifer Holmes, has been involved with the process, speaking at committee hearings for the legislation. Her husband Patrick died in the collapse.

"We're just very happy that they recoginized that we need help, and they're taking into consideration that some of us might need more help than just the tort $400,000," she said.

I asked if it bothered her that some lawmakers didn't support the bill.

"Everybody has their opinions, and we've been hearing the negatives all along, I think its good that that people question," but that most members recognized the need for the fund.

Most declined to comment, and I can't say I blame them, after nine months of questions about a painful subject that most probably want to move past as much as they can.

The House is just taking up HF3149, the subject of our floor-a-palooza, but the Senate has yet to touch the redistricting bill. Watch the House here, I'll link to the Senate and let you know when and if they take it up.