Accord marks Minnesota Legislature’s opening day

01/04/2007

It convened for 2007 amid gestures of bipartisanship, including an unprecedented role for a veteran GOP senator.


By Conrad Defiebre and Patricia Lopez,
Star Tribune
Last update: January 03, 2007 – 10:59 PM


Political conflict mostly took a back seat to ceremony and cooperation as the 85th Minnesota Legislature convened Wednesday, reflecting new House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher's call for a "thaw in the cold and rigid partisanship of the past."

In the Senate, the biggest DFL majority in a dozen years broke precedent and reached across the aisle to elect a veteran Republican, Sen. Dennis Frederickson of New Ulm, as president pro tem, meaning he will frequently wield the gavel in floor sessions.

Even outspoken House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, said that the opening session "went off quite well" despite his complaints about a new committee plan and DFL-written House rules that were adopted over GOP objections.

Among the highlights:

A speaker who listens: As expected, Kelliher, DFL-Minneapolis, was elected the 54th speaker of the House since statehood and the second woman to hold the post, considered No. 2 in power in state government to the governor. But she couldn't even gain unanimous support of the 85-member DFL majority caucus: Rep. Mary Ellen Otremba, DFL-Long Prairie, abstained from the roll call for speaker to protest Kelliher's support of abortion rights.

Rep. Steve Simon, DFL-St. Louis Park, who nominated Kelliher for speaker, said she is suited to a job that requires "little speaking and a whole lot of listening. She does listen, even when what's said is not what she wants to hear. And that's the mark of a true leader."

More than a symbol: Sen. James Metzen, DFL-South St. Paul, was reelected president of the Senate, which entails refereeing floor debates but not the agenda-setting authority of Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller of Minneapolis, previously installed by the 44-member DFL caucus.

Frederickson became the first member of the Senate minority to be president pro tem -- at a time when the GOP caucus is reduced to a near-record low of just 23 senators. He will be Metzen's chief understudy in the Senate dais.

"I don't think it's just symbolic," Pogemiller said. "This speaks to how we want to run the Senate. He will preside over the Senate a lot." Minority Leader David Senjem, R-Rochester, called it "an example of Senator Pogemiller reaching out ... and we'll reach back."

First elected in 1980, Frederickson is the Senate's longest-serving Republican. A moderate, he is also well-positioned to become one of the Senate's most influential Republicans, with seats on several key committees: finance, rules, environment, energy and capital investment.

New chaplain: The Senate also gained a new chaplain, electing the Rev. Kevin McDonough, the vicar general of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. McDonough is also chief operating officer of the archdiocese and considered second only to Archbishop Harry Flynn. McDonough has been a frequent advocate for the church at the State Capitol.

House rules squabble: Some minor relief from the unmitigated bipartisanship ensued when the House engaged in a mild rules squabble. All but one Republican, Rep. Jim Abeler of Anoka, voted against temporary rules that establish one-third more committees than last session and allow some veteran DFLers to return as chairs of panels they last headed in 1998.

Seifert called the increase in committees to 36 "a harbinger of the growth of government" and a burden for outstate citizens to follow legislation through repeated hearings. But he also said the new structure may give the GOP minority more leverage late in the session if rules suspensions, which require 90 votes on the floor, are needed to advance bills slowed by so many committee stops.

First bills: The Legislature's first bills -- and first points of substantive disagreement -- won't be introduced until today in the Senate and Monday in the House. Kelliher said the House DFL's first offerings will address education, health care and rising property taxes, issues that Seifert said Republicans also will focus on, probably with different approaches.

A call for style: After being sworn in as speaker by Supreme Court Justice Alan Page, Kelliher addressed Seifert as "an important ally" and added: "I hope I will be able to earn your trust and respect as we move Minnesota forward."

Meanwhile, both Senjem and Pogemiller predicted that the Senate would work quickly and efficiently. "The message of the election was clear," Senjem said. "Go to St. Paul, get your work done, do it well and with some style."