SESSION WEEKLY A NONPARTISAN PUBLICATION MINNESOTA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES • PUBLIC INFORMATION SERVICES VOLUME 26, NUMBER 18 • MAY 8, 2009 SLAP S HOT S AND BUDGET -CHOP S CONFERRING A COMPROMI S E TRACKING NEW LAW S BRANDON ’S LAW IS LAW HF2362 - HF2372 SESSION WEEKLY Session Weekly is a nonpartisan publication of Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Services. During the 2009-2010 Legislative Session, each issue reports House action between Thursdays of each week, lists bill introductions and provides other information. No fee. To subscribe, contact: Minnesota House of Representatives CONTENT S Public Information Services 175 State Office Building 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. HIGHLIGHTS St. Paul, MN 55155-1298 Agriculture • 5 Employment • 8 Local Government • 11 651-296-2146 or 800-657-3550 or the Bonding • 6 Environment • 8 Military • 12 Minnesota Relay service at 711 or Business • 6 Health • 9 Safety • 12 800-627-3529 (TTY) www.house.mn/hinfo/subscribesw.asp Consumers • 6 Housing • 10 Taxes • 13 Crime • 6 Insurance • 10 Technology • 13 Education • 7 Director Barry LaGrave Editor/Assistant Director Lee Ann Schutz BILL INTRODUCTIONS (HF2362-HF2372) • 23 Assistant Editor Mike Cook Art & Production Coordinator FEATURES Paul Battaglia FIRST READING : Conference committees have sometimes unpopular Writers task to compromise • 3-4 Kris Berggren, Nick Busse, Susan Hegarty, Sonja Hegman, Patty Ostberg AT ISSUE : Hockey controversy takes center ice in jobs bill • 14-15 Chief Photographer AT ISSUE : Transportation bill includes short-term transit funding fix • 16-17 Tom Olmscheid AT ISSUE : Legacy bill moves to floor • 18 Photographers Nicki Gordon, Andrew VonBank AT ISSUE : Funding environment and energy •19 Staff Assistants RESOURCES : Tracking bills is a mouse-click away • 20 Christy Novak, Joan Bosard RESOURCES : Governor’s log of action on bills • 22 Session Weekly (ISSN 1049-8176) is published MINNESOTA INDEX : Reel economy • 24 weekly during the legislative session by Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Services, 175 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155-1298. Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, Minn., and additional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Session Weekly, House Public Information Services, 175 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155-1298. Printed on recycled paper which is 50% recycled, 30% post-consumer content. On the cover: The Taxes Conference Committee meets May 2. — Photo by: Tom Olmscheid FIRST READING Hammering out an agreement Conference committees have sometimes unpopular task of compromise PHOTO B Y TO M O lm SCHEID Members of the capital investment conference committee listen to Finance Commissioner Tom Hanson explain Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s position on the House and Senate bonding proposal April 27. BY LEE ANN SCHUTZ and the governor have been the norm. But ven though House and Senate majorities are this year, there are some efforts to bring transparency and negotiation power back to from the same political party, it doesn’t mean the conference committees. agendas are similar or they agree on how things Rep. Gene Pelowski Jr. (DFL-Winona) led a E two-year effort to make state government more should be done. Just like a family, differences can accessible and open to the public. He saw some cause angst and stand in the way of compromise. fruits of his labor this year with adoption of some recommendations into the House Rules, which govern the way the House operates, Take for example how the House and Senate Public’s work in public including more negotiations being completed in public on at least some finance bills. DFL differ in their proposals to balance the A bill’s path to law isn’t smooth, nor is it “Both the House and Senate have made 2010-2011 biennial budget and dig the state meant to be. Let’s say that a bill passes the changes to allow every aspect of the conference out of a $4.6 billion hole. These differences House and the Senate agrees with most of committee process to be done in full view of filter down to the various finance committees the language, but wants to include other the public, Pelowski said.” However, there are and the bills passed to fund the various state provisions. Conference committees are the still problems with amendments being offered agencies and programs. mechanism in the legislative process for on the House floor that were never introduced If a piece of legislation has any chance of reaching compromise. as a bill or heard in committee, he said. making it to the last stop, the governor’s desk, Some longtime House members have The new changes aren’t lost on Rep. Mary the House and Senate have to agree on what’s been frustrated with process transparency, Ellen Otremba (DFL-Long Prairie), who being sent. especially during the last days of session when Bring on a conference committee. closed-door negotiations between leadership First Reading continued on page 4 May 8, 2009 Session Weekly 3 First Reading continued from page 3 Besides, he added, “the House K-12 bill is just plain better. By any objective measurement CONFERENCE COMMITTEES has served on several agriculture-related the House bill is clearly superior.” Excerpts from the Joint Rules of the Senate and conference committees in her seven terms. “It Garofalo smiled when asked if he and other House of Representatives feels different this year,” she said. As a member members had a specific role to play at the of the omnibus agriculture and veterans In all cases of disagreement between the table. finance conference committee, she said that Senate and House on amendments adopted “Every member of every team has their by either house to a bill, memorial or resolu- in the past, the spending targets were pretty own strengths and weaknesses,” he said. tion passed by the other house, a conference much carved in stone. But this year, given “The strength the House team has is that committee consisting of not less than three room to negotiate, “We really talked about the we universally despise the Senate bill. It members nor more than five members from issues; there was a lot more transparency.” each house may be requested by either house. transcends political party and geography.” The other house shall appoint a similar commit- But for some members, the process of tee. Creating the team conferring bills can be a frustrating because The manner of procedure shall be as There’s no formula used by House leadership they are forced to watch months of their follows: in the conference committee appointment hard work being scrutinized, challenged • The house of origin passes a bill and trans- process. However, House Speaker Margaret mits it to the other body; and sometimes sacrificed for the sake of • If the other body amends and passes the bill, Anderson Kelliher (DFL-Mpls) says that it compromise. it returns with a record of its actions to the certainly “shouldn’t take a member six years “You feel like now we’ve finally got a house of origin; before they get their chance to serve on a position we can all live with, and then you • If the house of origin refuses to concur with conference committee, like it did me.” have to turn around and try to defend that the amended bill, it can ask for a Conference Committee, appoint members and transmit She takes recommendations from the position against someone else who’s come to the bill with a record of its action to the other committee chairs, but looks for people who an equally solidified view of their side,” said house; are familiar with the issues, served on the Rep. Mike Obermueller (DFL-Eagan). • If the other house adheres to its amendment, committee and support the bill. But “extra Obermueller, a freshman lawmaker, it appoints a like committee and returns the factors” can come into play. Take, for example, participated as a non-voting member of the bill to the house of origin. the appointment of House Minority Leader omnibus economic development finance All Conference Committees shall be open to the public. As much as practical, meetings Marty Seifert (R-Marshall) to the taxes conference committee of Conference Committees are announced as conference committee. Rep. Karen Clark (DFL-Mpls), who sat on far in advance as possible, with the intent to “I got put on the conference committee the same conference committee, and provide a 24-hour notice, and actions taken under duress,” Seifert said. chairs the House division responsible for shall be agreed upon in an open meeting. At He has been adamantly opposed to the setting the Housing Finance Agency’s budget, an agreed upon hour the Conference Com- proposed tax bill and has often referred to mittee shall meet. The members from each saw much of her hard work erased, as conferees house shall state to the members from the his new position as one on the “tax increase agreed to force the agency to take budget cuts other house, orally or in writing, the reason for conference committee.” that Clark had tried hard to prevent. their respective positions. The members shall Kelliher defends her choice and said he We had funded affordable housing much confer thereon. A conference committee may clearly understands the issues, as well as more adequately in the House bill,” Clark said. not meet between the hours of midnight and the governor’s position. “He is an excellent 7 a.m., except that a committee may extend a “The fact that they cut housing was very hard meeting for up to one hour past midnight by a communicator and is the best person to bring for me to take.” vote of two-thirds of the members appointed an understanding to his caucus.” to the committee by each house.