Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk riled Minnesota’s top senator when he said Republicans “don’t have a deep enough bench” to man budget negotiations.

Bakk, DFL-Cook, said that there are so many rookie Republicans that experienced hands to work out a final budget are in short supply.

Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, R-Buffalo, today shot back: “We are a citizen Legislature” and citizens are the best negotiators on how to spend tax money.

She called the Bakk comment “an Oberstar moment,” apparently a reference to former U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, a Democrat who Republicans criticize for depending too much on government.