The last two election cycles have witnessed wave elections for both parties that tilted the Minnesota House of Representatives in polar opposite directions.

After adjourning in the wee hours of Thursday morning, the Minnesota House of Representatives plunged ahead with the bittersweet biennial ritual of retirement speeches from departing members.

While legislative leaders haggled in private regarding the 2012 session’s marquee legislation, rank-and-file legislators spent long hours on the floors of the House and Senate processing members’ pet bills.

Legislation that would prohibit school districts from making layoff decisions based solely on seniority cleared the House on a 70-61 vote on Thursday evening.

It was one of those votes no one wanted to take. The state’s new maps dropped DFL senators and allies John Marty and Mary Jo McGuire into Senate District 66, forcing activists in the area to pick between them at a recent endorsing convention.

Connie Bernardy, who retired from the House in 2006 after five years in the chamber, bested Tom Tillberry after only one ballot at a gathering of delegates at Columbia Heights High School. Tillberry replaced Bernardy in the House after she retired.

Minneapolis DFLers lost another legislator last weekend. Freshman Rep. Marion Greene, who replaced former DFL House Speaker and gubernatorial candidate Margaret Anderson Kelliher in the chamber, fell in an endorsement contest against DFL House colleague Frank Hornstein.

State Rep. Kate Knuth has decided to retire from the Legislature after her current term expires. The three-term DFLer from New Brighton was paired with fellow DFL Rep. Tom Tillberry of Fridley in the new redistricting maps that were unveiled last week.

Assistant Senate Minority Leader Terri Bonoff predicted Friday that the bill -- which has drawn the ire of teachers and some DFLers -- would pass and head to the governor's desk.

The House moved to eliminate state law that directs school districts to terminate teachers with the least seniority during rounds of teacher layoffs.