Capitol View: March 4, 2013 Archive

Dayton abides in interview with "The Dude" (Video)

Posted at 6:39 PM on March 4, 2013 by Tom Scheck (0 Comments)
Filed under: Mark Dayton

Gov. Dayton often does interviews. For the most part, they (like today's appearance on MPR's The Daily Circuit) focus on serious policy proposals. But in one recent interview, Dayton was asked whether he would sign a bill into law that would allow people to wear shorts to work.

Dayton agreed to a tongue-in-cheek interview with "The Dude" when he visited Children's Hospital on Valentine's Day. The broadcast was created for Children's internal TV station that plays in the kid's rooms at the hospital.

The interviewer hosts the Kid's Clubhouse TV show for Children's Hospitals. He wore a t-shirt that said "Proud to be Awesome" for his interview with Dayton.

"The Dude", who is played by improv actor Eriq Nelson, relies on an interviewing style that closely mirrors Wayne and Garth from Saturday Night Live's Wayne's World fame. He asked mostly basic and humorous questions like "Are you a night owl or an early bird?" (Dayton's response: night owl) and "What would you say to the cat people of Minnesota?" (Dayton's immediate response: "Meow")

Dayton played along with the interview - suggesting at one point that he was ready to be "grilled like a hamburger." He also had a pretty quick response when asked to list his favorite Selena Gomez song.

An official with Children's Hospital and Clinics says the internal TV show aims to improve the care of the patients at Children's Hospital. The hospital says a growing body of research shows that integrating the arts into health care helps improve overall patient outcomes.

You can watch Dayton's interview here:

Gettin' Political with The Dude and Governor Mark Dayton from Star Studio on Vimeo.

Business groups were tops in lobbying spending in 2011

Posted at 3:03 PM on March 4, 2013 by Tom Scheck (0 Comments)
Filed under: MN Legislature, Mark Dayton

Groups spent $65 million to lobby Gov. Dayton's administration, the Legislature and metropolitan units of government in 2011, according to a new report from the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board.

The top five in lobbying spending were: Xcel Energy ($2.3 million), The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce ($2 million), the Minnesota Business Partnership ($980,000), Alliant Energy ($960,000) and the Minneapolis Radiation Oncology Physicians ($900,000), the report said.

Other big spenders included the Minnesota Vikings ($840,000), The MN AFL-CIO ($820,000), the Coalition of MN Businesses ($748,000) and the DFL-leaning group The Alliance for a Better Minnesota ($670,000).

The lobbying expenses in 2011 came during a tumultuous time for Minnesota government. Dayton and the GOP-controlled Legislature were at odds over the best way to craft a two-year budget. The stalemate led to a three week state government shutdown.

You can read the full report here.