Minnesota Lawyer
House Speaker Paul Thissen
The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce was not impressed by the work of the DFL legislative majorities during the 2013 session.
The Chamber’s legislative scorecard gave low marks to House Speaker Paul Thissen, Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk and most of the members of their caucuses. Out of a dozen Senate votes that the Chamber included in its legislative scorecard, Bakk voted with the business group just once. Similarly Thissen favored the Chamber’s position on just one out of nine votes.
Overall, Republicans fared much better than DFLers on the legislative scorecard. Five Republican senators, including Minority Leader David Hann, voted with the Chamber on every issue. Among DFLers, Sen. Terri Bonoff of Minnetonka, who was endorsed by the Chamber in 2012, received the highest marks. She voted in favor of the Chamber’s position on seven out of the 12 scored votes.
In the House, 45 Republicans — or more than half of the caucus — received perfect scores from the Chamber. By contrast, 63 DFL House members voted with the business group on just one of the scored votes. Freshman DFL Rep. Laurie Halverson of Eagan voted with the Chamber on four occasions, more than any other DFL House member.
“Rather than prioritizing spending, reforming and redesigning operations and services, the governor and Legislature chose to raise more than $2.3 billion in taxes to resolve a $627 million short-term budget shortfall, impose a host of new fees and regulations, and roll back bipartisan reforms and initiatives,” the introduction to the Chamber’s legislative scorecard states. “The result is more government at higher cost with no guarantee of better results or improved quality of life for Minnesotans.”
Among the votes scored by the Chamber was the omnibus tax bill, which raised $2.1 billion in additional revenues, primarily by increasing income taxes on upper-income earners and boosting tobacco taxes. The Chamber opposed that bill.
The business group also encouraged legislators to vote against a bill establishing an online marketplace where individuals and businesses will be able to purchase health insurance. The Chamber argued that the proposal cost too much and set too many rules for which firms could participate in the marketplace.
Both the tax bill and the health exchange proposal were hallmarks of the 2013 legislative session.
