On Monday, DFL Gov. Mark Dayton announced that he’d
dropped his opposition to a major sticking point in negotiations for a
special session of the state legislature, a provision that allows county
governments to go around the state auditor’s office and seek annual
reviews from private accounting firms. With his concession, Dayton said a
special session could be called by the end of the week.
“I’m
not going to put at risk any further the jobs of some 9,500 state
employees who would be laid off if we don't reach an accord by July 1
this year, as well as the severe destruction of essential government
services,” Dayton said Monday, raising the specter of the 2011 partial
government shutdown. “I’ve learned before, I can never match the
intransigence of Republican legislators, so I don’t need to learn that
lesson again.”
Just a week ago, Dayton held a
similar press conference to announce that he had dropped his number one
priority this session — universal pre-school education — and accepted an
offer from House Republicans to spend $525 million more on education
over the next two years. Then, too, he said a few details had to be
worked out, but that a special session was imminent.
But
after two Mondays, and two putative breakthroughs, no date has been set
yet for the session. That’s because lawmakers must take several more
procedural steps to organize a session, and there are still outstanding
budget disagreements that must be settled first.
Here’s what needs to happen before legislators can come back to St. Paul:
1. Finish a jobs-and-energy budget
Education funding and the state auditor provision have been the main sticking points in negotiations in the weeks since session ended, but that’s not all that stands between the governor and House Republicans in getting a deal.
In a letter to Daudt Monday, Dayton outlined
a handful of lingering disagreements on jobs and energy programs, the
only outstanding budget bill left (the education, agriculture and
environment, bonding and Legacy funding bills were posted and heard in
an informational hearing last week).
Among the
differences: Dayton wants to spend $5 million more on a program that
helps people with disabilities find work, and an additional $5 million
to help prevent homelessness among Minnesotans suffering with mental
illness. He also wants Republicans to preserve a cost-saving measure for
people who use alternative energy sources like wind and solar, and he
wants to change a DFL plan to give mining and foresting operations in
northeastern Minnesota a break on their electric rates. Dayton said the
provision would lower electric rates for large businesses, but at the
expense of small business owners and residential properties.
MinnPost photo by Briana Bierschbach
Speaker
Kurt Daudt said Monday that they are monitoring member schedules, but
noted it will be hard to call everyone back on short notice.
While
Dayton said those differences could be settled and pave the way for a
special session later this week, he acknowledged he didn’t know how hard
Republicans would push back. "If I'm expected again by the House
leadership to go 100 percent of the way to their position, then we're
far apart," he said. "If we can reach a reasonable compromise, as I was
attempting to do on other matters, then we can get it resolved in a
matter of hours."
In a statement, Daudt didn’t
address any of the individual provisions Dayton listed. He said only
that he is “looking forward to working with Governor Dayton and the
other legislative leaders to finalize the agenda for special session.”
2. Address Dayton’s longer wish list
In
his letter, Dayton also opened the door to adding several other items
to the special session agenda, including more funding for broadband in
rural parts of the state; rail grade crossing safety improvements; and
bonding dollars to start setting up less restrictive alternatives to the
treatment program at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program. Dayton also
wants to fix a quirk in state law to give the city of Rochester more
flexibility to use local sales taxes for an expansion of the Mayo
Clinic.
3. Get all four leaders to agree
Dayton
and Daudt aren’t the only ones who can seal the final deal — they need
buy-in from DFL Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, as well as the leaders
of the two minority caucuses, DFL Rep. Paul Thissen and GOP Sen. David
Hann. Thissen may have to do his part in the deal-making remotely,
however: He left on Sunday for a weeklong trip to Italy as part of a
delegation pitching Minnesota as the home of the 2023 World's Fair.
Staff says he will return early if a special session is called.
4. Check legislator schedules
It’s
summer, and for many part-time legislators, that means taking a
post-session vacation or heading back to their day jobs. That can make
it hard to coordinate schedules and make sure everyone is available for
session. Daudt said Monday that they are monitoring member schedules,
but noted it will be hard to call everyone back on short notice. One
legislator, GOP Rep. Dan Fabian, has a six-hour drive one-way to the
Capitol from his home in Roseau, Daudt said.
