Downey Recaps Week of 'Tough Negotiations, Sharp-Elbow Politics'

Editor's Note: The following legislative update comes from the office of Rep. Keith Downey (R-Edina). The views expressed are solely his and do not reflect those of Patch.

We have plenty of tough negotiations and sharp-elbow politics at the Capitol. While never pretty, it is part of the process. But I don’t think I have ever seen a stretch where raw electoral and personal politics played out more blatantly, and trust and honesty mattered less:

• Public officials literally fabricated the implications of photo ID trying to scare voters into opposing it. 

• A common sense and well-structured bonding bill (one of the few you’ll ever see) to restore our crumbling capitol earns the support of all but one Republican who wants to pay for it with legacy funds not bonding, but it is voted down by the DFL whose higher priority seems to be future campaign brochures about a “do-nothing” legislature. 

• On the capitol restoration bonding bill, the DFL votes to pass the bill were promised and not delivered.

• Months of endless press conferences by the Governor about the stadium bill belied a bill with serious unanswered questions and a lack of legislative support. Legislative leaders tried to advance the bill through committees to at least get a vote on the floor, but in committee they had to "re-refer the bill without recommendation" in order to get votes. That means the vote is simply to send the bill to another committee without recommending its passage. Even then, only one DFLer voted to let another committee hear the bill, effectively killing it. 

• The soap opera intensified as the NFL Commissioner announced he was flying in. Hours later that night in Tax Committee, a $1.2 billion bonding bill (almost twice the size of any proposed this year, including the capitol restoration, projects in practically every district in the state and funding for three stadiums including over half the state contribution to the Vikings’ stadium,) was offered by the DFL as a surprise amendment onto the charitable gambling bill, in a rather obvious move to allow certain legislators to redeem their “No” vote on the capitol restoration bill and try to show that DFL’ers really do support their Governor. After sharp criticism by me and others about this totally unaffordable proposal, bad process and political charade, the Governor’s staff interceded and the amendment was withdrawn.

I’m sorry to provide this kind of report and tedious political inside baseball, but it needs to be said. The recent activity at the Capitol is an embarrassment. And it overshadows the good legislative work that has actually gone on this year.

Hopefully the Governor and legislative leaders can right the ship, negotiate a common sense session-ending package of substantive reforms and limited bonding, and provide a coherent and full debate on the Vikings stadium proposal that is conducted for the benefit of the public not the Governor, NFL executives, and the press.

But there is good news! Distracted by the media obsession with these “stories”, we forget how far we have come from one year ago when Minnesota was faced with a $5.1 billion deficit. Today, we are wrapping up the 2012 Legislative Session with a $1.2 billion dollar surplus thanks to holding down the spending increases and not raising taxes.

In that vein, below is a recap of some of the real work going on in the legislature that you likely haven't heard about in the paper.

As always, please let me know your thoughts. And for a list of the legislation I am authoring you can Click Here for my bills.

Regards,

Keith