DFL plans to delay an attempt to remove Molnau

02/08/2008

Party leaders point to more pressing business at session's start than ousting the transportation chief. But some in GOP now say they should just get the vote over with.


By MIKE KASZUBA,
Star Tribune
February 8, 2008


The 2008 Legislature is postponing with what had been billed as an opening act: an attempt to oust embattled state Transportation Commissioner Carol Molnau.

DFL Party leaders, who command an overwhelming majority in the Senate, said a confirmation hearing on Molnau would not come in the session's first two weeks, and would wait until after the Senate debated transportation funding and policy bills.

After the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge last August, Molnau had come to symbolize the state's transportation problems in the eyes of her critics. With the session starting Tuesday, the new strategy represents a departure from months of calls by some DFLers for Molnau's immediate removal when the session began.

Sen. Tarryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud, the assistant majority leader, said that a protracted floor fight over Molnau's status at the beginning of the session might not be prudent. "Our initial focus is not on [Molnau]," she said. "I think sometimes it distracts a little bit from the broader issues.

"We anticipate that there'll be a new [transportation] bill," she said. "We have the votes in the Senate, we just need to make sure that there's votes in the House."

Senate DFLers -- and even some Republicans -- said there are still likely enough votes to block Molnau's Senate confirmation, a move that would remove her from her transportation post but wouldn't affect her position as lieutenant governor. But Senate Republicans said the strategy change showed that DFLers were treating Molnau as a "political football," and that the DFLers should "just bring it on."

Sen. Steve Murphy, the Senate Transportation Committee chair who has led the push to remove Molnau, said he wanted to hold the hearing on Thursday, Valentine's Day. But he said he was told by Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller that the Senate calendar was booked with other issues in the session's opening weeks.

"My understanding is it's simply a timing issue," said Murphy, DFL-Red Wing. "Are there votes there to kick her out of her job? Absolutely."

Murphy said Pogemiller told him "it wasn't going to be that first or second week," and "that's fine with me, because we've got bigger fish to fry." Pogemiller did not respond to an interview request.

"We're trying to make sure we get something done, and it's a challenge because the governor still appears to be locked into a position that would make it difficult to have new money," said Clark.

But Sen. David Senjem, the Senate minority leader, said the DFLers were now waffling on Molnau, and that their tactics were "somewhat disgusting."

"Some of what they've said about her is absolutely not very nice," he said. "After all the rhetoric, they don't dare to bring her forth for confirmation?

"I think we ought to just bring her up, and let's have the vote, and [the Senate Republicans] will stand by her," Senjem said.

Sen. Dick Day, R-Owatonna, agreed. "We've [already] had a distraction, and the distraction has been all summer of saying, 'We're getting rid of her, we're getting rid of her,' " he said.

Day, who toured the new 35W bridge construction site Thursday, said that as time passes more Minnesotans will begin to appreciate Molnau and Gov. Tim Pawlenty's transportation efforts. "They're ahead of schedule. I think it's just wonderful," he said of the new bridge. When the bridge opens later this year, he added, people will say, "Gosh, you know, how did this all get done?"