Minnesota Lawyer
Rep. Tom Huntley
The House health and human services finance bill passed in the wee hours of the morning on a nearly party-line 70-62 vote. But four legislators strayed from their party’s voting bloc.
Rep. Thomas Huntley, the ranking minority member on the Health and Human Services Finance Committee, voted for the proposal. But the Duluth DFLer’s vote shouldn’t be seen as an endorsement of the bill, which he has repeatedly inveighed against as being based on shoddy accounting. Huntley merely wanted to preserve his right to sit on the conference committee for the bill.
“I know Rep. [Jim] Abeler [HHS Finance Committee chair] wants me on the conference committee,” Huntley tells PIM, “and the governor’s staff people have to talked to me, so that’s what it’s about.”
Three Republicans crossed their party and voted against the bill. The trio: Mark Buesgens (Jordan), Tom Hackbarth (Cedar) and Bruce Vogel (Willmar).
Vogel later pointed out that his district includes Rice Memorial Hospital, along with several nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Those health care providers made it clear that they weren’t happy with cuts in the bill. “I heard from my constituents quite a bit on this,” Vogel says. “I just wasn’t comfortable with some of the direction it was going.”
