Bipartisan task force recommends ways to improve legislative operations

02/24/2006

Dane Smith,
Star Tribune
Last update: February 24, 2006 – 12:31 AM

A bipartisan task force seeking legislative reform proposed an array of ideas Thursday, most in the realm of fine-tuning the legislative process.

It’s the latest of several proposals aimed at restoring the Legislature’s effectiveness and improving its image after four sessions marked by deadlock, bitter partisan rancor, late adjournment and, last year, a partial government shutdown.

“The Legislature has to work” for Minnesota to continue to thrive, said former Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe, a DFLer and cochairman of the Task Force on Legislative Reform, organized by the Center of the American Experiment, a conservative think tank. The other cochairman is Chris Georgacas, a former head of the state Republican Party who said the task force steered clear of “utopian”’ solutions. Both cochairmen are now lobbyists.

The 13-member group was about evenly divided between Republicans and DFLers, and included a couple of former Capitol news reporters.

Among the recommendations:

• More and earlier joint activity among the House, Senate and governor, including coordinated finance committees, revitalizing the joint Legislative Coordinating Commission, presentation of budget proposals from the governor to joint House-Senate committees and joint rules and calendars.

• Increasing opportunities for legislators to “socialize” across party lines. Suggestions included no longer dividing office space along partisan lines and providing more legislative training sessions and retreats.

• Political reforms, including an earlier state primary election, to provide for a longer and more thoughtful period of general election debate.