Legislative leaders agree on 2012 agenda, but split on details

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At  a Politics in Minnesota panel discussion on Tuesday morning, GOP and DFL legislative leaders expressed optimism that the looming legislative session will be less combative than in 2011 . House and Senate leaders of both parties indicated support for a bonding bill, skepticism about the prospects for passing a Minnesota Vikings stadium bill and confidence that the legislative session can be finished prior to Easter.

But the prospect of a nearly $900 million budget surplus is likely to prove the most significant factor in improving relations at the Capitol in 2012.

“We’re not coming in here waggling about a $6 or $7 billion deficit,” said new GOP Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem at the event, which was sponsored by the law and lobbying firm of Fredrikson & Byron. “That takes an enormous amount of pressure [off] and probably allows us to focus on things going forward a little bit easier.”

DFL Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk suggested that most Minnesotans view the House and Senate as dysfunctional following a 2011 legislative session that led to an unprecedented three-week government shutdown. “I think it is critically important that the leadership in the Senate and the House agree to some committee deadlines, an adjournment date, and stick to it and get the work done and go home on time so that Minnesotans start to believe that we all can get along and get the work done,” Bakk said.

But there’s still certain to be significant points of tension during the session, which starts in two weeks.

While both DFL and GOP legislative leaders expressed support for a bonding bill, they differ on the appropriate size. Bakk indicated that $775 million would be a suitable level, noting that such a sum is included in the budget forecast, while Senjem suggested a capital investment package in the neighborhood of $400 million would be reasonable.

There were also wide differences on potential proposed amendments to the state Constitution. Voters will decide in November on whether to approve an amendment prohibiting gay marriage. But at least four other potential ballot initiatives are being discussed. House Speaker Kurt Zellers suggested that he personally supports requiring a legislative supermajority to raise taxes, but declined to indicate whether it will come up for a vote.

“I’ve always been a fan of saying if you have to have a certain number of votes … for passing a bonding bill – a higher majority – you should have the same amount to raise taxes,” Zellers said, stressing that that’s not a caucus position. “We’ll see where our members are.”

House Minority Leader Paul Thissen indicated that his caucus is strongly opposed to such an amendment. “At the end of the day,” he said, “what it is is a recipe for continued shutdowns in the state of Minnesota, and it’s a recipe for increasing property taxes in the state of Minnesota. Because the one thing that’s not hit by that constitutional amendment are local property taxes that are going to go up or fees that are going to be raised.”

Senjem suggested that multiple ballot initiatives will be considered during the session. “Oh gracious. Man, they’re all over,” Senjem said of constitutional amendment proposals. He indicated that there is strong support in his caucus for an amendment requiring voters to produce a photo I.D. at the polls, but he expressed skepticism about the supermajority proposal.  “Instinctively and fundamentally I don’t like to budget through the Constitution, but I can be convinced,” Senjem said. He also cautioned that any more than three ballot initiatives would be problematic. “Certainly four, five, six — that would be a little heavy,” Senjem said.

The prospects for passing a Vikings stadium continue to look difficult to parse. Long-festering questions about location and funding sources suggest that passing a bill in 2012 will be challenging. “There are so many moving pieces to this,” Senjem said. “It’s just incredible. … I would say right now today we’ve got some work to do if there’s going to be a Vikings stadium.”

Bakk suggested that strong support from the business community, including the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and the Minnesota Business Partnership, will be vital if a bill is to pass. “Stand up and be counted for. This guy needs your help,” Bakk said, referring to Senjem. “He cannot find the Republican votes in the Senate unless the state’s business community stands up and says, ‘We want to do it.’”

Despite differences on key issues, there was agreement that the Legislature could finish its business by the first week of April. “We set a very aggressive deadline to be done before May 1,” said Zellers. “Moving it up an extra few days is fine by me.”