Minnesota House and Senate Votes on Legislative Reform

Records 1-18 of 18

Votes

Legislative Reform
Motion to Adjourn Sine Die for the 2010 Special Session

Body: House | Journal Page: 13 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? No |
Author: Buesgens
Acting on: Date: 05/17/2010
Result: Motion Failed 47 - 82

Buesgens motion to adjourn sine die for the 2010 Special Session. Not scored.

Legislative Reform
The Iron Range Honey Do List

Body: House | Journal Page: 9758 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: Y
Author: Westrom
Acting on: HF2695 Date: 03/29/2010
Result: Amendment Defeated 39 - 93

The Westrom amendment deletes Section 51 from the bill. The section takes 28.121 cents per ton from the Taconite Relief Account and doles it out to Iron Range cities so they can check some items off of their communal Honey Do List. No actual dollar amounts here, either because that's none of your damn business or because people from the Range use taconite cents per ton as their form of currency.

Let's eyeball the list for some of the more interesting items. There's 0.764 cent per ton for two dentists "to establish dental practices;" 0.159 cent per ton to Bovey for some water damage claims; 0.637 cent per ton for the city of Marble's city hall and library; 0.159 cent per ton for the Grand Rapids Children's Museum; 0.605 cent per ton for three water loops in Aitkin; another 0.048 cent per ton for signage in Aitkin; 0.159 cent per ton to Aitkin County "for a trail;" 0.088 cent per ton for expansion and striping of the community center parking lot in Clinton; 0.796 cent per ton to the city of Mountain Iron for its renewable and sustainable energy park and 0.159 cent per ton to Grand Rapids for a nonprofit signage kiosk.

You would think a signage kiosk could get done for 0.158 cent per ton, maybe even 0.157. Anyway, when state legislators spend days futzing over projects and funding at this level of detail you know they have lost sight of the big picture. Of all the government spending in the area known as the Taconite Tax Relief Area, singling out these lucky towns with special line items in a statewide jobs bill smacks of paternalism.

Legislative Reform
Not Germane: Amendment to End Taxpayer Dollars for Legislative Pensions

Body: House | Journal Page: 9203 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: N
Author: Emmer, T.
Acting on: HF1671 Date: 03/22/2010
Result: Ruling Upheld 85 - 49

On top of everything else they get, part-time legislators should not receive a full-time pension. Many benefits accrue to those with election certificates in the Minnesota Statehouse - secretary, large office with a great view, covered parking, generous health insurance, roughly $41,000 salary, Internet service, a laptop computer, media writers, research services, photography services, mileage and housing allowance. Those elected prior to 1997 have a generous defined benefit pension, those elected after 1997 have a defined contribution pension. And then, of course, there's all the access to influential leaders and the high probability that having the term "former member of the Minnesota Legislature" on their resume will give them a huge advantage when their service is over. There are many, many stories of former Minnesota legislators who have used their service as a steppingstone to lucrative positions elsewhere. All in all - it's a pretty good gig.

The Emmer amendment (LINK HERE) would shut off the faucet from which taxpayer dollars flow into the retirement accounts of state legislators. Know as the "employer contribution," current law requires that general fund dollars equaling six percent of the salary of a legislator must be appropriated to finance each legislator's retirement. For retirement purposes, salary includes, believe it or not, daily per diem payments. The fiscal staff at BillsandVotes.com estimated savings of roughly $500,000 a year resulting from the Emmer amendment, thusly: Estimated salary (included daily per diem payments), $41,000 X 201 Legislators X .06 = $494,460.

Rep. Kahn challenged the germaness of the amendment, Speaker pro tempore Pelowski found the Kahn point of order well taken and the amendment was deemed not germane. Rep. Emmer appealed the ruling, which was upheld on a vote of 85-49. Vote red on the germaness ruling and give the amendment a straight up or down vote.

Legislative Reform
Not Germane: Back to a Part-Time Legislature

Body: House | Journal Page: 9208 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: N
Author: Emmer, T.
Acting on: HF1671 Date: 03/22/2010
Result: Ruling Upheld 86 - 48

The Emmer amendment (LINK) would prohibit election-year House and Senate sessions: "The legislature shall not meet in the even-numbered year except when called by the governor to meet in special session." In addition to reducing the cost of running the legislature, the amendment has the added benefit of compressing the amount of time legislators have to waste money and dabble in social engineering. There is nothing in the Minnesota Constitution that requires annual sessions and in fact they were not common until the 1970's. Rep. Carlson raised a point of order under House Rule 3.21, Germaness, and Speaker pro tempore Pelowski found the point of order well taken and the amendment out of order. Rep. Emmer moved to appeal the Speaker's decision. Vote Red to overturn the ruling and allow a direct vote on the Emmer amendment.

Legislative Reform
Final House Vote, Tribal Participation in Joint Powers Agreements

Body: House | Journal Page: 9090 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: N
Author: Hilty
Acting on: SF2259 Date: 03/18/2010
Result: Bill Passed 90 - 42

The shorter the bill, the greater the mischief, grasshopper. It's often said that the Minnesota DFL is a wholly owned subsidiary of the tribes, and SF 2259 may be something less than straightforward public policy. The bill adds tribal governments to the long list of entities that can share power with government units in Minnesota. These joint power agreements are governed, in part, by MS 471.59. The Rest/Hilty bill is a poorly drafted expansion of current law. It makes no adjustments for the fact that tribal governments are basically sovereign nations. Good luck, for example, trying to get them to comply with Subd. 3, which states, "Strict accountability of all funds and report of all receipts and disbursements shall be provided for." In the House, several amendments were offered to add some accountability to the loosey-goosey business arrangements of governmental units. No floor amendments were offered in the Senate.

Legislative Reform
2010 Bonding Bill Reconsideration

Body: Senate | Journal Page: 7666 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? No |
Author: Senjem
Acting on: HF2700 Date: 03/11/2010
Result: Reconsideration Failed 33 - 33

Sen. Senjem moved to reconsider the final passage vote on the Bonding Bill. Apparently the roll call was taken without allowing enough time for comments from the Senate floor. Sen. Langseth opposed the motion on the grounds that Senators may have left the building and would not be available for the a second passage vote. Note that the same number of Senators voted on the motion to reconsider as voted for final passage. Not scored.

Legislative Reform
Final Senate Vote, Tribal Participation in Joint Powers Agreements

Body: Senate | Journal Page: 7198 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: N
Author: Rest
Acting on: SF2259 Date: 02/25/2010
Result: Bill Passed 63 - 3

Legislative Reform
Vote to Uphold Speaker's Ruling on Meeting After Midnight

Body: House | Journal Page: 7964 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: N
Author: Kohls
Acting on: HF2700 Date: 02/22/2010
Result: Ruling Upheld 83 - 43

This is a vote to uphold the Speaker's ruling that the Bonding Bill conference committee did not violate Rule 2.06 of the Joint Rules. Speaker Kelliher's ruling was upheld on a vote of 83-43. After a recess, the bonding bill conferees re-convened at roughly 12:55 am, voted to allow themselves to meet after midnight and wrapped up the bill. Obviously, unless Boss Tweed is your parliamentarian, you can't meet past midnight without having first voted to meet past midnight.

The joint rules governing interactions between the House and Senate could not be more clear on that point: "A conference committee may not meet between the hours of midnight and 7:00 a.m., except that a committee may extend a meeting for up to one hour past midnight by a vote of two-thirds of the members appointed to the committee by each house." Clearly, the rule was violated.

It is bad enough that the bonding bill wastes millions on critical habbytat, bike tunnels, etc. It is worse that the bill is slapped together when the only people in the room are the folks who want millions for critical habbytat, bike trails, etc. The late night public hearing might not have been so egregious if TPT had done its job and broadcast the hearing, but since TPT honchos are among the folks who want millions for critical habbytat, bike trails, etc, that didn't happen. Senator Snort would be proud.

Legislative Reform
Bonding Bill Motion Sickness

Body: House | Journal Page: 7965 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? No |
Author: Zellers
Acting on: HF2700 Date: 02/22/2010
Result: Motion failed 52 - 78

Votes to return a bill to conference committee have become a routine part of the process for final passage of controversial bills. For the 2010 $1 billion bonding bill, this motion would be the first of a long series of post-conference actions in the House and Senate. The final action: "Multiple line item vetoes." Eventually the DFL would accept the fact that their pork-laden, wasteful, long-term debt bill would be trimmed down (not nearly enough) by Governor Pawlenty. Due to the volume of votes on HF 2700, many of these post-conference votes are not scored. The critical votes are passage votes.

Timeline based on Senate bill tracking:

02/22/2010 House adopted HCC report and repassed bill
02/22/2010 Conference committee report, delete everything 7055c
02/22/2010 Motion did not prevail To reject conference committee report 7136 24-41
02/22/2010 Senate adopted CC report and repassed bill
02/22/2010 Third reading 7136 47-19
02/25/2010 Reconsidered Third reading 7200
02/25/2010 Reconsidered Adoption of CC report
02/25/2010 Laid on table
03/09/2010 Taken from table 7451
03/09/2010 Conference committee report rejected
03/11/2010 Bill returned to conference committee By House 7474
03/11/2010 House adopted HCC report and repassed bill 7582
03/11/2010 Conference committee report, delete everything 7583c
03/11/2010 Motion did not prevail To reject conference committee report 7664 19-46
03/11/2010 Senate adopted CC report and repassed bill
03/11/2010 Third reading 7665 49-17
03/11/2010 Motion did not prevail To reconsider 7666 33-33
Presentment date 03/11/10
Governor's action Approval 03/14/10
Line item veto Multiple line item vetoes

Legislative Reform
Declare Emergency Motion

Body: Senate | Journal Page: 6990 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? No |
Author: Pogemiller
Acting on: HF2700 Date: 02/16/2010
Result: Motion prevailed 45 - 21

Ramming the bonding bill through as though there is a constitutional emergency is unnecessary. But this vote is largely procedural. Not scored.

Legislative Reform
House Motion to Adjourn

Body: House | Journal Page: 7796 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? No |
Author: Sertich
Acting on: HF2700 Date: 02/15/2010
Result: Motion prevailed 87 - 40

This motion was made after the previous question was moved to end debate on the 2010 Bonding Bill. Not scored.

Legislative Reform
Amendment to Debt Capacity Forecast Amendment

Body: House | Journal Page: 7775 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: N
Author: Liebling
Acting on: HF2700 Date: 02/15/2010
Result: Amendment Adopted 83 - 47

The Downey amendment was amended by Rep. Liebling to remove the requirement that the debt service figure include estimates for the current year and four years into the future. Although one of the jobs of the Department of Management and Budget is to forecast future spending, including debt service, Rep. Liebling claimed that is asking too much of the department, stating, "It means the department has to start calculating a bunch of new things." Is it possible that Rep. Liebling just doesn't want the public to see the increase in the monthly minimum payments for the state's credit card? It's a mystery...

Legislative Reform
Watered Down Job Creation Report

Body: House | Journal Page: 7781 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? No |
Author: Brod
Acting on: HF2700 Date: 02/15/2010
Result: Amendment Adopted 131 - 2

Watered down by the Morrow amendment to include "spinoff jobs," there will be plenty of room to fudge the numbers in the report on jobs created or retained by the bonding bill. Still, the Brod amendment is a step forward in documenting the "stimulative" effect of the bill.

Legislative Reform
Motion to Re-refer to Finance

Body: House | Journal Page: 7771 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: Y
Author: Buesgens
Acting on: HF2700 Date: 02/15/2010
Result: Motion failed 46 - 87

Adopting the $89M Hausman bipartisan amendment had the effect of throwing the bonding bill fiscal projections out of whack. If there is any real purpose for the Finance and Ways and Means committees of the House, the Hausman amendment should have triggered a trip back to those committees to get public comment and balance the ledger.

Legislative Reform
Oh No You Didn't! DFL Motion to Stop Floor Debate

Body: House | Journal Page: 7793 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: N
Author: Sertich
Acting on: HF2700 Date: 02/15/2010
Result: Motion prevailed 87 - 43

Democrats have many weapons in their arsenal and they don't hesitate to use them. In their quest to consolidate power at all levels, Harry Reid is using reconciliation to get around the filibuster, Nancy Pelosi is changing the locks on committee room doors and passing bills to find out what's in them, Mark Ritchie is finding votes in trunks and counting ballots that have no voters. For decades the Floor of the Minnesota House has been a shining example of unfettered political debate. Some legislative bodies have no floor amendments and only bill passage votes. At least one state omits roll calls from it's journal, stating only that the bill received the constitutionally required number of votes. Well, the push is on to stifle debate in the Minnesota House. Last year the DFL leadership put time limits in place. Under the rule both majority and minority members are on the same clock - fillibustering DFLers can and have used the clock to chew up time that would otherwise be used by the minority to offer amendments or to simply state their concerns. The inconvience and bother of spending a few long days in the House chamber is part of the job of being a state rep. And at a salary of roughly $41,000 a year, it's not too much to ask.

Legislative Reform
Motion to Postpone Action Until February 15

Body: Senate | Journal Page: 6946 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? Yes | Right Vote: Y
Author: Senjem
Acting on: SF2168 Date: 02/11/2010
Result: Motion failed 24 - 40

The Senjem motion would postpone action on the GAMC bill until the Senate has a chance to look at related fiscal notes and to examine the impact on local hospitals. There is some sense of urgency as the change to negate the impact of the Governor's unallotment actions need to be in place by April 1. But pushing action back four days until Feb. 15th still leaves plenty of time to act.

Legislative Reform
Motion to Re-refer to Finance

Body: Senate | Journal Page: 6949 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? No |
Author: Ortman, J.
Acting on: SF2168 Date: 02/11/2010
Result: Motion failed 21 - 38

The proposed GAMC fix offered by Sen. Berglin is in the form of a page and line amendment that skips around in the bill, deleting and increasing and reducing appropriations and making all sorts of tweaks that only Rainman could follow by reading it. Rather than spring this on the body, Sen. Berglin should have offered a delete-all amendment that puts the changes in context, and makes a side-by-side comparison possible. Re-referring the bill to Finance makes sense.

Legislative Reform
Motion to Re-refer to Senate Healthcare Committee

Body: Senate | Journal Page: 6949 (Click to view vote.)
Scored? No |
Author: Hann
Acting on: SF2168 Date: 02/11/2010
Result: Motion failed 23 - 41

Ditto. See the Senjem and Ortman amendments above. Public hearings on major amendments to costly bills? Hearings schmearings.