Analysis: Here’s how a bill really becomes law

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Remember the textbook you read in school that laid out a few neat steps about how a bill becomes law? That might not tell the whole story.

The human factor seldom is discussed in texts. Also often lacking are discussions about lobbyists and partisan politics. But most mysterious and missing may be party caucus meetings, where many of the real decisions are made.

First, however, here are some of those technical steps to how a bill becomes law:

• Legislators put an idea for a new law into writing.

• The bill is referred to a committee that deals with its subject.

• One or more committees consider the proposal and might pass it on to the full House or Senate.

• The House or Senate debates the bill, eventually either defeating it or passing it and sending it on to the other chamber.

• If the second chamber passes the bill as is, it moves on to the governor for his signature.

• If the two chambers pass different versions, a conference committee made up of House and Senate members tries to work out a compromise.

• Once both chambers pass the same form of a bill, the governor’s signature is needed for it to become law. He also can veto it, and the House and Senate could override a veto if there are enough votes.

But with thousands of bills introduced every session, not everything can be debated (more than 3,000 bills awaited lawmakers when they returned to session this year). So leaders elected by each of the four caucuses – House Republicans, House Democrats, Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats – cull the bills that committees hear, with average legislators left to lobby their colleagues to consider their bills.

Actually, many bills lawmakers introduce are not meant to reach a vote. Instead, they are introduced to keep a lawmakers’ constituents happy.

Decisions about what bills actually get committee hearings are based on rationales ranging from what has a chance to pass to what bills the majority party in a chamber supports. Bills brought up by members of the other party are less likely to be debated.

Before and after private caucus meetings, lobbyists talk to legislators about bills they are paid to advocate – or oppose. Many legislators find these meetings helpful because lawmakers themselves do not have time to research every bill.

Private caucus meetings of majority parties are where most major decisions are made. Caucus members discuss bills before they reach the full chamber. When majority caucus members mostly agree on an issue, there is little the other side can do to derail a proposal.

This year, Republicans control both the House and Senate, so they can pass many bills without working with legislative Democrats. However, they need to work with Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton to get a bill signed.

Legislators hope for short session

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Many in the Minnesota Legislature think the annual session that begins at noon today could be the shortest since 1998.

Plenty of others hope so.

For instance, Moorhead Mayor Mark Voxland said the only thing lawmakers must do this year is pass a public works funding bill. After that, they should go home, he said.

“I applaud the House and the Senate for wanting to do a short session,” the mayor said. “I would like to see them not tinker around.”

With a projected budget surplus, Voxland added, maybe lawmakers can leave local governments alone, so they can “take a deep breath and enjoy a year without having to scramble.”

Legislators like the sound of a short session, in a large part because all 201 seats are up to election this year. Others just think a short session is the right thing to do.

The session begins today amid expectations that the major issues will be passing a public works bill, reforming state government, debating funding a Vikings football stadium and deciding whether to approve several constitutional amendments.

A year ago, lawmakers faced a $5 billion deficit, but that has been erased so they can concentrate on non-budget issues. However, if a Feb. 29 budget report shows new fiscal problems, the budget could again dominate.

Part of the reason a short session is predicted is so those running for re-election can campaign. And with new district maps to be released Feb. 21, that could speed things up even more as lawmakers feel the need to check out their new districts.

House leaders originally planned for an April 30 adjournment, nearly a month before their constitutional deadline. But when Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, suggested leaving St. Paul in early April, House Speaker Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, proclaimed the idea good.

The Legislature has not adjourned in April since 1998.

A five-judge panel’s redistricting decision is prime among the reasons to match the 1998 mark.

“It is amazing what this election season drives,” said Assistant Senate Majority Leader Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria.

“I’m sure people will want to reach out to their new districts and understand their specific concerns,” Sen. John Howe, R-Red Wing, said.

“The last couple months of the session will be going on after people see the new districts and what they’re going to look like,” Rep. Denny McNamara, R-Hastings, said. “It will be in the back of people’s minds … if you’re running for re-election.”

For Rep. Bud Nornes, R-Fergus Falls, waiting for new district maps is like going to the doctor: “”It is sort of like waiting … for prognosis from your doctor: Am I sick or am I going to get better?”

Last year’s overtime budget battle, ending only after a 20-day government shutdown, remains on the minds of lawmakers and voters.

“If we don’t get done on time this time, we all are going to be looking for trouble,” Ingebrigtsen said.

Bakk said that lawmakers need to make their name good again after last year, and going home early would help.

Republicans, especially, want a short session.

“A majority of us think that is the way it should work,” Sen. Joe Gimse, R-Willmar, said.

Many legislators said, at least for now, redistricting is out of their hands.

“I don’t think it’s much of a distraction,” Rep. Tim Kelly, R-Red Wing, said. “Now it’s in the court’s hands. I think that allows us to focus on what we’re supposed to be doing at the state level.”

Other legislators said the goal for a short session is simply to finish their work efficiently.

“We’re trying to get along the best that we can, get our work done and get back in our communities and try to help at the community level,” Rep. David Dill, DFL-Crane Lake, said.

If the session is short, less would get done.

“It’s a compressed session,” Nornes said. “Ten weeks is the maximum we are going to be there, according to the plan. That really limits the expectations of huge changes.”

 

Local officials ask state for more flexibility

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Carlson, left, and Vene, right

Local government officials say they could help citizens better if the state got off their back.

State and local officials’ relationship has eroded, according to Executive Director Jim Miller of the League of Minnesota Cities. “The relationship needs mending.”

The league, Association of Minnesota Counties and Minnesota School Boards Association announced their intentions to work together in seeking some legislative relief from state mandates. The only specific legislation they backed was a bill senators overwhelmingly passed last year to establish a limited number of pilot projects that would give county governments more freedom.

Sen. John Carlson, R-Bemidji, sponsored the bill last year and said on Monday that it would provide better accountability for county governments and allow for local innovation and collaboration. The bill got lost amid last year’s budget debate, and backers expect it to pass this year.

An example of what needs to change came from southeastern Minnesota, where a dozen counties want to cooperate on a joint human services program. However, at nearly every step forward, some state rule or law becomes an obstacle.

C. Scott Cooper of the Bush Foundation said his organization is funding a study to see how those counties can work together, and will provide some funding to begin the cooperative effort as an example to other counties.

Beltrami County Commissioner Joe Vene said that programs often are set up to match county lines, but while borders “identify us, they do not define us.”

Kevin Donovan of the Mahtomedi school board and member of the state school board group said he hopes the Carlson bill can be put on steroids and used to open the door for other governmental bodies to share resources and work closer together.

 

Lawmakers look to business tax, permit changes

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By Andrew Tellijohn

Minnesota businesses will pay less in corporate property taxes and have an easier time obtaining state permits if Republican lawmakers have their way during the 2012 legislative session.

Senate Majority Leader David Senjem, R-Rochester, and House Speaker Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, said those measures would help create jobs and strengthen the state economy.

Legislative leaders, Gov. Mark Dayton and other stakeholders discussed their session wish lists during media briefings and interviews leading up to the session, which starts Tuesday.

Some of those plans were spelled out as part of the Republican’s Reform 2.0 plan, which also includes proposals to place a moratorium on state rulemaking and regulations, create a small business regulatory review board and reform wage laws to lower construction costs.

Reducing the corporate property tax is one of the party’s chief goals.

“Our goal over time is to eliminate them,” Senjem said. “We understand that’s a progressive sort of thing, but that’s our goal.”

Zellers said he is looking forward to working with Democrat Dayton to establish a “one-stop shop” for permitting applications so business owners do not have to fill out multiple forms that often ask the same questions.

“Especially in this economy, that’s not useful,” Zellers said.

Dayton said he is open to discussing the GOP proposals, although he acknowledged many are not at the top of his priorities for the session.

Dayton has proposed offering businesses tax credits for hiring unemployed workers, veterans or recent graduates and said he was encouraged to hear that Republican leaders say “that’s not a bad idea.”

“That’s the nicest thing they’ve said about any of my ideas since they got here,” Dayton joked. “Far be it from me to say [no] to anything at this point. They are all worth considering.”

The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce hopes to convince lawmakers to pass a measure that would assign a state worker to assist companies in getting “complicated permits” through the approval process, said Bill Blazar, senior vice president of public policy and business development. Those liaisons would help companies fill out documents correctly and check to ensure those applications were proceeding through government channels.

The chamber also will work to find more cost efficient ways for small businesses to shop for health care coverage and on raising awareness about increased electricity costs for commercial and industrial rate payers, he said.

The Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities also hopes lawmakers will consider tweaking a tax credit approved in 2010 that was designed to spur investment from individuals with money in small businesses.

Since the measure passed, 61 of 67 projects funded through the program have been in the Twin Cities. The league hopes to even those numbers out by asking the Legislature to double the tax break for those who invest in greater Minnesota businesses.

Proposals to require state-funded public works projects to use American steel, an effort to help northeastern Minnesota’s Iron Range, drew opposition from a key Republican.

“Is that the role of government to define specifically where people who buy their products?” asked Senjem, who also is chairman of the committee that deals with funding public works projects.

“At least for Republicans, if we get into that debate we start to impose our people with a bit too much government,” Senjem added. “Let free enterprise roll.”

But House Minority Leader Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, disagreed. “I would suggest, though, that it is our money.”

New session brings smiles, differences among leaders

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Zellers, Dayton

By Don Davis and Danielle Nordine

The five men gathered like at a family reunion, showing broad smiles and greeting each other with firm handshakes.

Those smiles among top Minnesota policymakers, however, faded and at times disappeared into frowns, foretelling what appears likely to be a sometimes-cooperative, sometimes-contentious legislative session that begins at noon Tuesday.

The five are the four legislative leaders and Gov. Mark Dayton. They were briefing the media about their predictions for the 2012 legislative session that follows an ugly one, with a special budget session, last year.

The five avoided talking specifics, but made it clear they agree in concept on at least one issue: the need to reform state government to encourage businesses to hire more people and make government more efficient.

“We have our legitimate disagreements about how we can achieve those goals,” Democrat Dayton said, but said he hopes he and the Republican-controlled Legislature can continue some reforms that began last year.

“It was a great pleasure working with the governor last year on some of these reform initiatives,” House Speaker Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove said.

Dayton said the two sides can work together.

“To me it is not an issue of trust, it is how we reconcile our different views,” Dayton said.

But, Dayton quickly added, some Republicans last year considered “compromise” a bad word and made last year contentious.

That divisiveness may not be as commonplace this year, in a large part because no massive budget deficit awaits action like it did last year. As Zellers said, Republicans and Dayton “have a good track record” on non-budget issues.

In 2012, many factors come together to affect Minnesota’s 201 legislators. The prime political influence will be revealed on Feb. 21 when a five-judge panel releases new legislative district maps.

All legislative seats are up for election in the fall.

“We don’t live in a vacuum; we’re always impacted by the political climate,” Sen. Katie Sieben, DFL-Cottage Grove, said. “I’m pretty confident that redistricting will play a role in the legislative session.”

Even without a budget conflict, there is plenty to do in the coming weeks.

The most-discussed issue, no doubt, will be a stadium for the Vikings football team and other uses that now keep the Metrodome busy much of the year.

“It would be nice to put this Vikings thing behind us,” Assistant Senate Majority Leader Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, said, after legislators have spent more than a decade debating the issue.

Interviews with a wide cross section of legislators showed many with the same attitude about a stadium, but with widely differing ideas about funding one.

Those interviews also pointed the desire to tackle many other subjects in the next few months.

The main issue of an even-numbered year session often is a bonding bill, a measure funding public construction projects by the state selling bonds.

“That is just responsible governance,” Rep. Andrew Falk, DFL-Murdock, said.

Most legislators appear to like the idea of a bonding bill, although they present far different views about how much to spend and what to fund. House bonding Chairman Larry Howes, R-Walker, said he does not plan to unveil a bonding bill until early March, even though Democrats led by Dayton want it debated early.

Controversial constitutional amendment proposals also are likely to surface, mostly pushed by Republicans. One that appears ready for debate is whether to require voters to show photographic identification at the polls. But others, ranging from protecting the right to own guns to making it harder to raise taxes, also are on deck.

Some legislative leaders want to condense the session into what could be the shortest annual meeting in years. While earlier they were thinking about leaving for the year on April 30 (with a couple vacations tucked in), in recent weeks much of the talk has centered on an early-April adjournment.

Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem, R-Rochester, however, said the session should last as long as needed, and will not establish an adjournment deadline. “We will get out when we are done.”

A new Senate leadership team took over last month, when the old team resigned following former Majority Leader Amy Koch’s admission of an improper relationship with a Senate employee.

“We need to look forward,” Sen. John Howe, R-Red Wing, said. “Many people on both sides respect Sen. Senjem. (He) has a great reputation of being open and willing to hear different ideas.”

Howe said the new majority leader and his team have shown a willingness to be more open and transparent.

“I think relationships will improve,” Howe said. “I think it’s a good thing not only for the Senate majority but for the state of Minnesota.”

Dayton: Don’t count on racino money quickly

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Gov. Mark Dayton says if stadium supporters count on racino money, they should not bet on quick money.

The governor said that racino likely would be tied up in court for years if that is how lawmakers opt to fund a new Vikings stadium. Minnesota’s American Indian tribes probably would file a legal challenge over the proposal to allow the state’s two horse-racing tracks to add slot machines.

The tribes and state have a long-standing agreement, which the state cannot break, that gives tribal casinos a monopoly. However, racino supporters say the machines would be part of the state lottery, which would be allowed.

The governor said the tribes would sue to protect their casinos, so the state’s take of any racino earnings would be delayed by what probably would be a long court fight.

Dayton touts allowing electronic pull tabs as his favored form of stadium financing.

The proposal would allow the traditional paper pull tab and bingo games used to make money for charities to use electronic devices. Supporters say the new devices would attract more people, with the state earning $60 million more a year. Charities and bars that host the games also would bring in more money, backers claim.

The new money the state would get is about twice as much as needed to pay off the state’s share of a stadium-construction loan.

If legislators decide they need to get involved in stadium construction, they must decide where the stadium would be located and, a more ticklish problem, how to fund it. In interviews with legislators around the state, racino frequently comes up as a prospect, but the concept has been around for years and never gained enough support to become law.

Many legislators appear to be willing to consider the e-pulltabs idea, or a related one that would allow state lottery machines in businesses.

The governor said that racino likely would be tied up in court for years if that is how lawmakers opt to fund a new Vikings stadium. Minnesota’s American Indian tribes probably would file a legal challenge over the proposal to allow the state’s two horse-racing tracks to add slot machines.

The tribes and state have a long-standing agreement, which the state cannot break, that gives tribal casinos a monopoly. However, racino supporters say the machines would be part of the state lottery, which would be allowed.

The governor said the tribes would sue to protect their casinos, so the state’s take of any racino earnings would be delayed by what probably would be a long court fight.

Dayton touts allowing electronic pull tabs as his favored form of stadium financing.

The proposal would allow the traditional paper pull tab and bingo games used to make money for charities to use electronic devices. Supporters say the new devices would attract more people, with the state earning $60 million more a year. Charities and bars that host the games also would bring in more money, backers claim.

The new money the state would get is about twice as much as needed to pay off the state’s share of a stadium-construction loan.

If legislators decide they need to get involved in stadium construction, they must decide where the stadium would be located and, a more ticklish problem, how to fund it. In interviews with legislators around the state, racino frequently comes up as a prospect, but the concept has been around for years and never gained enough support to become law.

Many legislators appear to be willing to consider the e-pulltabs idea, or a related one that would allow state lottery machines in businesses.

Legislative notebook: Assistant calls Senjem tough

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Zellers, Dayton, Senjem

By Don Davis, Danielle Nordine and Andrew Tellijohn

New Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem, R-Rochester, can be as tough as anyone when he negotiates with Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton, one of his assistants said.

Senjem is known as a nice guy, but one whose negotiations skills with Democrats have not been tested.

“Dave brings a lot of institution knowledge, a lot of leadership knowledge,” Assistant Majority Leader Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, said. “A very familiar face. A person who can make you comfortable when you come to a meeting, and he also can handle the real

Senjem

tough meetings.”

Senjem took power at the end of 2011 after Sen. Amy Koch, R-Buffalo, resigned the leadership position, admitting to having an inappropriate relationship with a Senate employee she supervised.

A Senate GOP communications staffer is lining up five-minute media interviews with Koch Tuesday, the opening day of the 2012 legislative session.

While she has said little in public since the relationship was reported, she did issue an apology. She did a series of short telephone interviews when she quit a leader, but that was before the relationship was revealed.

Koch said she would stay in the Senate for the rest of her term.

“She will have folks like yourself maybe following along and asking her questions,” Senjem told reporters. “We are just going to have to move through that day and maybe a couple of days.”

Senjem said that Republicans will not file an ethics charge against Koch and Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, said she should remain in office.

However, Bakk said that Senjem’s colleagues should offer an apology. “The institution has been tarnished.”

Senjem won the job Koch held for a year by a single vote in an 11-hour closed-door meeting late last month.

While Dayton criticized Republicans in general for refusing to compromise last year, he said he likes Senjem and the chief House negotiator, Speaker Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove.

Ingebrigtsen said Senjem has “that diplomacy about him” and said “he is not going to poke anyone in the eye and go out.”

Putting a nice guy in charge of the caucus is not a bad thing, the Alexandria senator said. “There is nothing wrong with Republicans being liked.”

Repaying schools

With a potential budget surplus on the horizon, some legislators hope to repay schools that had funding delayed in July’s budget agreement.

“Hopefully, the economic forecast will continue to improve for the state,” Sen. Katie Sieben, DFL-Cottage Grove, said. “That will allow the legislature to decide on some things we can do to help put us back on track.”

Legislators will get an updated forecast Feb. 29 and hope for more good news.

“That could give us a little room once we’ve fulfilled our statutory obligations … and maybe some extra dollars to start paying back the schools,” Rep. David Dill, DFL-Crane Lake, said.

But schools should not get their hopes up. Current law requires the surplus, less than $1 billion, to remain in reserve for emergencies and to provide the state enough money to pay its bills.

Some lawmakers say expanding gambling to help fund a Vikings football stadium also could bring in enough money to pay back schools.

Teacher changes?

Education reform is on the table again heading into the 2012 legislative session, at least in the eyes of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

Bill Blazar, senior vice president of public affairs and business development, said the organization would like layoffs, when necessary, to be based on merit. The quality of a teacher’s evaluations is a better measure of who should stay or go than seniority, he said.

“We need to move away from this outdated model,” he said.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, fears a Republican government reform proposal would eliminate the tenure concept in state schools.

Energy questions

Some lawmakers are pushing for a resolution to nuclear waste storage issues as a federal storage site remains uncertain.

“We’re going to put more pressure on the federal government to hold up their end and find a solution,” Sen. John Howe, R-Red Wing, said.

Howe’s district includes Xcel Energy’s Prairie Island nuclear plant.

The federal government is required to remove nuclear waste from plants and store it, but hasn’t done so.

Legislators said there also will be a focus on other energy projects in the coming session, including wind farms.

“We need to, as a state, help give direction and clarify where we put these developments and make sure that if it’s supposed to benefit the community, that’s what it will actually do,” Rep. Tim Kelly, R-Red Wing, said.

Howe advocated for more local control on energy projects.

More TB work

State and federal officials gathered last month to celebrate the designation of Minnesota being free from bovine tuberculosis.

But Rep. Dan Fabian, R-Roseau, said farmers in his northwestern district still are hurt by the disease that affected cattle. In the area where the outbreak was discovered, cattle producers “are still subjected to almost all of the restrictions and almost all of the requirements that were in place,” he said.

Fabian said he is working on legislation that would help more than 20 farmers who remain fiscally affected.

Those farmers still are banned from raising cattle.

Helping employers

Some companies are having difficulties finding employees with the right skills, Rep. David Dill, DFL-Crane Lake, said the legislature should help fix that.

“We should try and find some ways to provide new training in colleges that more specifically meet the needs of employers,” he said. “It’s an issue statewide, particularly in rural areas.”

However, if it costs money, changes are doubtful in higher education this year.

House Higher Education Committee Chairman Bud Nornes, R-Fergus Falls, said that other than looking at some projects such as fixing campus buildings, there will be no new money for state-run colleges and universities.

Basic teacher skills

Another attempt to require teachers to pass basic skills tests in reading, writing and math before going in front of classes will be made this year.

The House and Senate passed a measure to do that last year, but it was vetoed.

Rep. Andrea Kieffer, R-Woodbury, said she will bring up the bill again, tuned to make it acceptable to the governor. She said wants to introduce it the first day lawmakers are in session.

Current law requires a basic skills test, but allows teachers in classrooms even if they fail the test.

On fast track

At least one rural legislator offers a bill every year to raise the speed limit.

This year, Rep. Dan Fabian, R-Roseau, is writing that bill.

“I think 60 is a reasonable speed limit,” he said about rural roads with good visibility.

New budget plan

Bill Blazar, senior vice president of public affairs and business development for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, said the organization is working on a two-year proposal that would redesign the state’s budgeting and tax systems.

In 2012, the chamber will focus on fundamental changes to the way the state adopts its budget.

The chamber will propose a system that is based on outcomes, Blazar said. The governor and Legislature would first agree on the amount of revenue that is available and then on key spending priorities.

The new model would build accountability into the budgeting system, he said, because those items would only receive funding if they are attached to measurable outcomes “to make sure the money we invested in each priority was producing the outcome everybody had agreed upon.”

That would be a major change from the current process, which largely builds a new two-year budget around the figures programs had received during the previous biennium.

Blazar said the chamber was developing plans for major tax reforms as well but would not aggressively pursue those until the 2013 session.

Minnesotans look toward precinct caucuses

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Minnesotans gather the night of Feb. 7 for precinct caucuses.

Unlike those in Iowa that gained national attention, Minnesota’s version is much more about elected local political leaders than presidential politics. However, there also will be presidential campaign discussion.

“Precinct caucuses are the first step in selecting candidates for the general election,” Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said. “By participating in their local caucus, Minnesotans make their voice heard.”

Precinct caucuses are open to the public and are organized by political parties. Besides looking at candidates, those attending caucuses will offer suggestions about policies they think their party should support.

Ritchie’s office offers a caucus finder at www.sos.state.mn.us.

Timeline of Minnesota legislative-related events this year

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Tuesday, legislative session begins at noon.

Feb. 1, Vikings Metrodome lease expires.

Feb. 2-7, recess for precinct caucuses.

Feb. 7, precinct caucuses.

Feb. 21, new legislative district maps released.

Feb. 29, new budget forecast unveiled.

April 6-13, Easter-Passover break.

April 30. day House Republicans want to adjourn for the year.

May 4-5, Republican state convention.

May 19-20, Democratic-Farmer-Laborite state convention.

May 21,  session must end under state Constitution.

Nov. 6, election day.

GOP lawmakers aim for government reform

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Thissen, Zellers, Dayton, Senjem, Bakk

By Danielle Nordine

Republican legislators hope to use the upcoming Minnesota legislative session to bring state government reform ideas to fruition.

In what they are calling Reform 2.0, GOP leaders Thursday announced a set of proposals that would reduce the size of government, cut back on business regulations and revamp education and health care.

“Some of the things in the past were nibbling around the edges,” House Speaker Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, said at a news conference. “This is actually reform for the sake of reform.”

The ideas are not necessarily all new, Republicans said, but without the need to balance a state budget in the session that begins Tuesday, the Legislature will have more time to address reforms and hash out details.

“This is a good year to do that,” Senate Majority Leader David Senjem, R-Rochester, said.

Legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle agreed that jobs, stimulating the economy and government reforms were key goals for the session.

Republicans said they hope to collaborate with Democrat Gov. Mark Dayton on reform ideas. He has agreed it is time for some changes, especially to make government more efficient.

“We made some progress on reforms last year,” he said during a pre-session media briefing Thursday.

But while other Democrat leaders said they also would like to address reforms, they criticized pieces of the Republican plan.

“There are some things in there that we are unlikely to accomplish and are divisive,” Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, said at Thursday’s briefing.

House and Senate Republicans announced plans to pare down government by cutting the number of jobs, reducing pay and reigning executive power.

They said they want to bring state workers’ benefits and salaries more in line with the private sector. As employees retire, positions could be left open.

The lawmakers also were interested in trimming the executive branch.

“We do want to check the executive overreach, especially in the area of rulemaking,” House Majority Leader Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, said.

GOP leaders also focused on improving the business climate by decreasing regulations and adjusting the tax code.

“We want to reduce the regulations to offer some stability to businesses,” Sen. Ted Lillie, R-Lake Elmo, said.

House Minority Leader Rep. Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, said the reforms should focus less on businesses and more on the middle class, addressing residential and agricultural property tax increases.

“There is nothing in this plan to help middle class families get ahead, and some things that will hurt them,” Thissen said. “Reduced wages and job cuts for middle class workers are not a recipe for broad economic success.”

Reform 2.0 also includes proposed education changes, including granting mayors control of their city’s school districts and linking educators’ pay to teacher and student performance.

The plan aims to cut down on Medicaid fraud and enhance privatized health care.

Senjem said while the House and Senate might differ on specifics, they plan to work together toward making the changes.

 

Arden Hills’ stadium chances dwindling

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Media questions Bagley

Gov. Mark Dayton all but ruled out the Minnesota Vikings’ preferred site for a new stadium Wednesday, and said question remain about two downtown Minneapolis sites.

With the 2012 legislative session beginning Tuesday, those answers are needed soon or no new stadium will be approved this year, the governor said. The Vikings’ lease Metrodome expires Feb. 1 and they say they will not renew it without a new stadium deal.

“You can’t make a decision until you have all the facts,” Dayton said.

It appeared Dayton leaned toward a western downtown Minneapolis site, near the home of the basketball Timberwolves and baseball Twins, but he said he remained open to any of the three locations.

The Vikings themselves helped to nearly end the chances for their preferred northern Ramsey County location at Arden Hills. With legislative leaders saying they will not approve raising county taxes and no other local contributions in sight, the Vikings rejected Dayton’s suggestion that they contribute $700 million toward the $1.1 billion stadium if it were built in Arden Hills.

Vikings Vice President Lester Bagley said the Arden Hills site is ideal, but the Vikings would not contribute that much money.

The team recently began talking to Minneapolis officials about the western site, as well as rebuilding the Metrodome in the eastern part of downtown. While Bagley said those sites have potential, he refused to say how much the team would contribute toward a Minneapolis stadium, other than saying it would be less than the $400 million-plus that would be spent for Arden Hills.

The governor insists on knowing how much the Vikings would pay before he recommends a site.

Dayton said the western downtown site has lot of commercial potential, since it is close to other sports and entertainment venues. Bagley called the site “intriguing.”

However, Basilica of Saint Mary officials complain about prospects of a stadium close to the iconic church. And on Wednesday they hinted about suing to prevent construction.

Dayton and aides have met with basilica officials and he plans to meet with them again on Friday.

The bottom line from Wednesday’s developments is that a stadium deal remains a long way from completion, and the 2012 legislative session is approaching fast.

“Regrettably, there is not yet a stadium proposal with a complete and sufficient financial plan, one which assigns equitable obligations to the Vikings, the local partner and the state of Minnesota,” Dayton said. “And no site sponsor has adequately resolved the major unanswered questions in order to merit the approval to proceed.”

Dayton said he is pressuring backers of each site to fill in the blanks, but did not give a deadline for when those answers are due.

In the meantime, a group of legislators and a governor’s aide met behind closed doors late Wednesday on the stadium issue. Any stadium plan needs legislative approval, but lawmakers are all over the map on stadium issues, especially on financing.

One of the group’s leaders, Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, disagreed with Dayton’s apparent narrowing of viable stadium sites.

“Despite the governor’s statements, I plan to continue evaluating all serious proposals on their individual merits and with the same concerns for Minnesota taxpayers,” Rosen said.

She also hinted that a new stadium is not as high a priority for legislators as it is in some circles: “Crafting and voting on a stadium bill is an important goal for us, but it is one of several priorities this session.”

Dayton said the longer it takes to answer his questions, the less likely it is that a stadium will be approved by lawmakers. Legislative leaders want to adjourn for the year in April.

The governor reinforced his support of allowing charitable gambling outlets to use electronic devices as well as the current paper pull tabs and bingo cards. That would provide the state $60 million a year, about double what would be needed to pay the state’s portion of a stadium-construction loan.

The plan all along has been for the Vikings, state and a local government to split costs of a stadium.

Dayton appeared to dismiss Minneapolis’ preferred plan, to rebuild the Metrodome, saying it would be less likely to produce more jobs than the western downtown proposal.

Neither Minneapolis site has received City Council backing, which Dayton said is needed before he could support Minneapolis.

Even with the questions, Bagley and Dayton were optimistic.

Bagley said Wednesday was a good day for the stadium because the process advanced.

“I think we are very close,” Dayton said, adding there are “relatively few unanswered questions.”

UPDATE Dayton stadium decision: No decision yet

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Ted Mondale, the governor's key aide on stadium issues

Gov. Mark Dayton says he does not have enough information to get behind a Vikings stadium plan, but appears to be leaning toward a western downtown Minneapolis site.

The governor released pages of information about the three major potential stadium locations Wednesday, but said enough questions remain for each that he cannot recommend one. Nine proposals were submitted last week, three of which he took seriously.

Dayton said he is pressuring backers of each site to fill in the blanks, but did not give a deadline for when those answers are due.

“Regrettably, there is not yet a stadium proposal with a complete and sufficient financial plan, one which assigns equitable obligations to the Vikings, the local partner and the state of Minnesota,” Dayton said. “And no site sponsor has adequately resolved the major unanswered questions in order to merit the approval to proceed.”

In the meantime, a group of legislators and a governor’s aide were to meet late Wednesday on the stadium issue. Any stadium plan needs legislative approval, but lawmakers are all over the map on stadium issues, especially how to finance it.

One of the group’s leaders, Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, disagreed with Dayton’s apparent narrowing of viable stadium sites.

“Despite the governor’s statements, I plan to continue evaluating all serious proposals on their individual merits and with the same concerns for Minnesota taxpayers,” Rosen said.

Vikings Vice President Lester Bagley said that while the northern Ramsey County community of Arden Hills remains the team’s preferred site, two downtown Minneapolis sites are feasible.

The site and how a stadium would be funded remain the main issues, as they have been for years. Bagley said decisions on the two issues must resolved and a bill presented early in the legislative session that begins Tuesday.

Dayton said the longer it takes to answer the questions, the less likely it is that a stadium will be approved by lawmakers. Legislative leaders want to adjourn for the year in April.

The governor reinforced his support of allowing charitable gambling outlets to use electronic devices as well as the current paper pull tabs and bingo cards. That would bring in $60 million a year, he said, about double what would be needed to pay the state’s portion of a stadium-construction loan.

The Vikings’ favored site, at Arden Hills, lacks a local funding option, Dayton said. Republican legislative leaders say there is not support to allow a local tax increase that Ramsey County officials propose, which leaves the $1.1 billion plan more than $300 million short.

Dayton said that without a workable Ramsey County funding plan, one option would be for the Vikings to pay $700 toward a stadium. Bagley rejected that option.

The plan all along has been for the Vikings, state and a local government to split costs of a stadium.

Dayton appeared to dismiss Minneapolis’ preferred plan, to rebuild the Metrodome, in favor of one in the city’s western downtown area near where the basketball Timberwolves and baseball Twins play.

However, the governor said that the Vikings need to say how much they will pay toward a stadium built in Minneapolis. They promise more than $400 million if the stadium is built in Arden Hills, but on Wednesday Bagley continued to refuse to say how much the team could contribute if a stadium is built in Minneapolis.