Capitol View: March 27, 2012 Archive
The Daily Digest
Posted at 6:36 AM on March 27, 2012
by Catharine Richert
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Daily Digest
Welcome to the Daily Digest where a majority of the City Council supports the stadium, the Supreme Court hears arguments on the health care law and Santorum says he thinks a long nomination fight is good for the Republican party.
Around Minnesota
House and Senate negotiators are trying to craft a teacher tenure bill that DFL Gov. Mark Dayton would be willing to sign.
Minnesota lawmakers are considering giving school districts the choice to start the academic year before Labor Day.
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak says he has the backing of a majority of the 13-member Minneapolis City Council for a planned Vikings stadium.
Now the spotlight is back on the Legislature where some lawmakers said they were waiting for the City Council to support the plan before acting.
Gov. Dayton criticized Republicans for putting measures on the ballot that they couldn't get signed into law.
It's unclear how the Senate Ethics Committee plans to move forward on a complaint against Sen. Geoff Michel.
A proposed high-speed rail between Rochester and the Twin Cities could generate nearly $1 billion a year, according to a new report.
University of Minnesota graduate assistants rejected an attempt to unionize.
Sen. John McCain is going to help Rep. Michele Bachmann raise money to retire $1 million in campaign debt.
A Minnesota broadband project that uses federal stimulus dollars has taken a bumpy ride.
In Washington
The Supreme Court heard arguments on the health care law.
The justices appeared receptive to the idea that the court should decide the case now before penalties for not having health insurance kick-in, the New York Times reports.
The arguments today will focus on the constitutionality of the law.
A new poll shows that two-thirds of Americans want some or all of the new health care law overturned.
President Barack Obama tells Russian President Dmitri Medvedev that he can be more flexible on missile defense after the elections.
U.S. support for the Afghanistan war has dropped, a recent poll finds.
The U.S. and Australia deepen military ties.
The Obama administration is moving forward on plans to limit greenhouse gases from power plants.
On the Campaign Trail
Rick Santorum gave a speech outside the Supreme Court on the first day of arguments about the health care law.
Santorum pledges to campaign on despite growing pressure among Republicans to end the nominating contest soon.
Santorum believes that a long nomination fight is good for the party, the Washington Post reports.
He has doubts about winning Wisconsin.
Santorum has failed to capture the Catholic vote.
The race is at a tipping point, Politico reports.
Ron Paul has been keeping a lower profile recently.
(1 Comments)Union workers blast amendments
Posted at 1:43 PM on March 27, 2012
by Tim Pugmire
(1 Comments)
Filed under: MN Legislature, State Government
Several hundred public employees gathering inside the State Capitol today to voice their opposition to a constitutional amendment that would make union dues voluntary.
The proposed amendment known as "right to work" has languished since its initial Senate hearing two weeks ago. But Eliot Seide, executive director of AFSCME Council 5, urged his members during a rally to continue fighting against the proposal. Seide said "right to work" is an unnecessary attack on unions.
"We already have higher pay than the right to work states," Seide said. "We're already healthier. We have better education, and we're one of the top three states in quality of life. Sisters and brothers, this is a solution in search of a problem. We don't want to be in a race to the bottom to become Mississippi and Alabama."
Union leaders also spoke out against a proposed constitutional amendment to require a super-majority vote on future tax increases. That measure has also not made progress this session.
(1 Comments)Senate GOP says lawsuit is delaying Michel ethics complaint
Posted at 3:37 PM on March 27, 2012
by Tom Scheck
Filed under: MN Legislature, State Government
Senate President Michelle Fischbach, R-Paynesville, said she's going to delay a hearing on an ethics complaint filed against Sen. Geoff Michel, R-Edina.
Fischbach unilaterally canceled a hearing on Friday night and hasn't scheduled another one. She said she has "temporarily postponed" the hearing.
"We're being advised by counsel that there were certain places we should not or could not go during that committee hearing," Fischbach said on the Senate floor. "Obviously this situation is unprecedented, and it certainly needs to be carefully handled."
Fischbach declined comment and was quickly ushered away from reporters by Sen. Mike Parry, R-Waseca. Parry, a candidate for Congress in Minnesota's 1st District, also tried to close a door in reporters' faces as they were trying to question Fischbach. He relented after he was reminded that he was in a public office.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem said that the hearing on Friday was cancelled at the advice of the Senate's attorney.
"We're not going to bring the Senate into a situation where we may damage ourself from the standpoint of the lawsuit," Senjem said.
Senjem said the Senate won't abandon the ethics complaint but will work with legal counsel on how to handle it.
The lawsuit in question hasn't been filed yet. Former Republican Senate Caucus spokesman Michael Brodkorb is preparing a suit against the Senate. He claims that he was fired in December based on gender discrimination and is seeking at least $500,000 in damages.
The complaint against Michel focuses on whether Michel misled the public about when he learned about the affair between Brodkorb and former Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch. Michel initially told reporters that he learned about the affair in early November about two weeks before he informed reporters at a Dec. 16 news conference. He later revised that statement after Koch's former Chief of Staff Cullen Sheehan told MPR News that he informed Michel in September.
Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, filed the ethics complaint because she said Michel brought "dishonor and disrepute" to the Senate by not addressing the incident quickly enough. Michel insists he did nothing wrong.
The four member Ethics Subcommittee was deadlocked on the complaint on Friday. They were scheduled to meet again on Friday night, but Fischbach canceled that meeting.
Pappas, who has repeatedly questioned why the hearing was canceled on Friday, said she may amend the complaint to separate her allegation that Michel misled the public about the affair from the allegation that he didn't act quickly enough.
"I'm thinking about that," Pappas said. That's a possibility. It's not unprecedented to alter your complaint."
The Ethics Subcommittee has to act on the complaint by April 18.
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