MFL Commissioner's Blog: May 13, 2008 Archive

The House has taken up the conference committee report on HF6, the education finance bill. The clock ran out before it could get approval last session, but it looks like its going to pass today. The governor has made it clear that he wants a deal on the budget before major pieces of legislation start showing up on his desk, but the House and Senate look like they're throwing everything not nailed down in his direction. Let's count the veto bait so far:

These ones are at his desk:

SF875/HF456, the minimum wage increase bill
SF100/HF34, the embryonic stem cells bill
SF3099/HF3391, the Health Care Reform bill, which was approved last night by both chambers.

These ones are still pending but might get sent his way today

SF3001/HF3316, education policy bill, with the sex ed stuff the governor doesn't like. Following his comment from the other day, maybe this is a sensitive subject for him.
SF352/HF6, education finance bill, the House is still debating this one.The education finance bill pumps more money of one-time money into schools, but it also puts a freeze on the governor's Q-Comp, or merit pay program.
SF3223/HF3800, transportation policy bill with the primary seat belt offense and parental driving requirements.
SF2869/HF3149, the tax bill that's still in conference.

And of course, the bill to rule them all, SF1475/HF1812, the budget balancer.

Right now, the House and Senate are both in recess, and leadership is in talks with the guv. Will they come back and use the nuclear option? We'll have to wait and see. Click here for the House and here for the Senate, it should be an interesting day.

Also, I'd like to direct you to yesterdays comments, where #2 MFL lawmaker Sen. Linda Higgins wrote a note to outgoing Rep. Kathy Tingelstad.

While the governor meets with House leaders, the Senate has been keeping busy, and passed yet another bill sure to stick in the governor's craw. HF3807, originally Rep. Melissa Hortman's whistleblower protection bill, had its language swapped in the Senate Finance Committee from this in the original bill:

(f) an employee in the executive branch of state government communicates information that the employee, in good faith, believes to be truthful and accurate, and that relates to improving services provided by the executive branch, to: (1) a legislator or an employee in the legislative branch; or (2) an elected official in the executive branch.

To this:

Section 1. NONCOMPLIANCE WITH REAL ID ACT. The commissioner of public safety is prohibited from taking any action to implement or to plan for the implementation by this state of those sections of Public Law 109-13 known as the Real ID Act. EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment.

Somebody call Wesley Snipes, there's been a hijacking!

Actually, Rep. Hortman was nice enough to let the file number from her whistleblower protection bill be used in the Senate as a vehicle for the Real ID prohibition. She's taking a hit in points for this, because there's few things you can be more sure about than Gov. Pawlenty vetoing a stand-alone bill rejecting the federal Real ID program, and she may have had a cool 50 coming her way if the governor signed her whistleblower bill.

So what is this Real ID the Commish speaks of? It was, according to the testimony of many senators on the floor today, inserted as a rider to a bigger bill in the United States House of Representatives at midnight, with no discussion. It would require states to create a new drivers license (again?) that complies with federal security regulations. Sen. Warren Limmer (R-Maple Grove) said that it would cost between $60 and $90 million, and the feds haven't provided the funding to do it.

The pro-Real ID argument was that it would help deal with the illegal immigration problem, and guarantee people are who they say they are when they enter the country.

The vote passed on a 50-16 vote, enough for a veto-override, but the House hasn't passed a version yet.

Fun (well, maybe not fun, but odd) Fact: we've had two omnibus transportation policy bills go through the Legislature this year. The first one HF1351, included a Real ID prohibition, and the governor vetoed it when it hit his desk in April. The second one, HF3800, includes the seat belt primary offense provision and the parental driving rules. This one's was sent back to conference committee after the report was rejected last week on the House floor.

As for Rep. Hortman's whistleblower bill, it's found a home in SF3363, a bill that would require state agencies to share more budget information earlier with the Legislature, instead of giving the governor a head start as current rules have it. There's no way to give points for when one bill is rolled into a bigger one, but whistleblowers across the state will know who to thank for protection if this makes it into law.

Majority Leader Pogemiller said that the Senate will be in recess until after 6:00 p.m. tonight, but look for more action tonight.

Gov. Pawlenty just vetoed the Health Care reform bill passed last night, and lawmakers are piling into both chambers as I type. I think that giant sucking sound you hear are the budget negotiations leaving the building. Does this mean that the House and Senate are going ahead without the governor's "global deal?" We'll find out. It could be a fight night. Watch here for the House and here for the Senate.

Speaker Kelliher just gaveled the House back from recess, and Rep. Seifert moved to reject HF6, the education finance bill that the House was debating this morning. He made an appeal to lawmakers not to torpedo budget negotiations by passing big pieces of legislation before the "global deal" is in place. He said it's headed for a veto, just like the health care bill, if they pass it. His move to reject it was, atypically, followed by no statement from the other side of the aisle, and they went straight to a vote. The move to reject the bill failed, 45 to 86, so we're gonna get a vote on this.

The Senate has started meeting, and Minority Leader Senjem said this is the moment when the session can go one way or the other, and he thinks its going to go the way they don't want. He said this is headed for a veto. Majority Leader Pogemiller said that should make debate quick if they're sure it's headed for a veto.

The House voted on the education finance bill, and approved it 97-35. A groan came out of the Republican side of the chamber when the totals popped up on the big board. The Commish couldn't tell which Republicans crossed over to vote for this one, but I'll have the VoteTracker up for you tomorrow.

There's more at play here than just education funding though. Going into an election year, this could be a tough one to oppose, because it provides $20 million in additional money for schools, and no one wants to look anti-school. Interpid MPR reporter Tom Scheck wrote earlier on Polinaut that the governor called the speaker before the House recessed to delay a vote on the bill.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting that those who opposed the bill are anti-education, or that anyone would support it for only political political reasons. A more nuanced look would show that increased money is one-time only, and that an increase in spending anywhere during a deficit, especially when some cuts look like they'll be pretty draconian, might be inappropriate. And some of the most vocal education supporters in the Legislature, like Rep. Abeler, voted against it. But campaign literature from their opponents this November likely won't be so nuanced.

The Senate just voted too, and it came out 55-10 for it. Youch! If the governor does veto this, those margins are big enough for our second override of the session.

You know that scene at the end of Dr. Strangelove, when Slim Pickens hops on top of the bomb, ready to ride it down to its fiery destination? That's kind of like watching the Senate right now. They've just taken up HF1812 (we can call it Slim, even though its 200 pages long), the budget balancer, so it looks safe to say that negotiations with the governor are pretty much done for. Sen. Cohen has explained it to lawmakers. If there's ever a time to watch the Legislature, it's right now. Stream the Senate or House.

Sen. Pogemiller said they'd also be taking up a bonding bill for the Central Corridor in the Senate, and Rep. Mariani's Real ID prohibition (the substituted language the Senate approved earlier) is being taken up right now in the House.

UPDATE: Rep. Seifert just asked why Rep. Hortman's name is on a bill from Rep. Mariani - the Real ID prohibition. If he read the Commisioner's blog, he wouldn't have to ask.

Oh boy.

Sen. Claire Robling (R-Jordan) found out an interesting little factoid. The budget balancer bill, HF1812, doesn't have any provision for the Republican National Convention security money, which was supposed to be in there. The federal government is supposed to pay that money back after the convention. She wants to know why it isn't in there.

Sen. Betzold said he and Sen. Fredrickson voted for it, but it wasn't included in the final report. Sen. Dick Cohen, the finance boss in the Senate, said that there's no kind of contractual guarantee that the money will be paid back, so they decided not to put it in.

Sen. Senjem is not happy about this. "It's not MInnesota. It's not the way we operate around here."

This is like when kids are on the playground, and one juts out his chin and says "Hit me, I dare ya!" The kid doing the daring is the Senate, and the one with a fist, or maybe just a veto stamp at the ready, is the governor. What's he going to do?

The Senate laid HF1812 on the table to await action on the House and is taking up other bills.

UPDATE: The Senate is now in recess, and Speaker Kelliher and Rep. Sertich are both out of the chamber. Are they reopening negotiations?

Sen. Keith Langseth just tossed $70 million in bonding for the Central Corridor into the ring, and the Senate is debating it right now. It's the same thing as the governor vetoed earlier this year. Sen. David Hann is offering an amendment that would bring $10 million for a new veteran's home in Minneapolis. He's asked for a roll call vote. The Republicans may get some grist for campaign literature of their own.

It sounds like there's another amendment on the way for Lake Vermilion too, according to Sen. Senjem. Will the long-proposed three-item bonding bill with those three projects come together on the Senate floor, of all places? Sen. Geoff Michel (R-Edina) just asked why don't they do that. Sen. Pogemiller said he thinks that's a great idea. He asked Sen. Langseth to lay the bill on the table, and they can go back to work on it over the next day or two. It doesn't look like the motion to put it on the table went through.

By the way, the House the Real ID prohibition passed 103-30. No love for one of the guv's favorite provisions.

UPDATE: Both chambers are ajourning until Thursday. Tomorrow, negotiations will resume, and Sen. Pogemiller said he hopes the session can come to a close on Thursday.