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State Representative Leon Lillie
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-1188
For more information contact: Christina Gosack 651-296-5524
NEWS COLUMN
Working to Find Common Ground at the State Capitol
Recently, I joined over 60 of my legislative colleagues for a two-day conference at the Humphrey Institute of the University of Minnesota on reforming the State Legislature. The conference focused on bridging the partisan divide that has taken hold at the Capitol. Republican and Democratic State Senators and Representatives came together to hear from national experts on legislative effectiveness and discuss how to reform the legislative process to prevent the sort of gridlock we experienced last session.
I am committed to avoiding a repeat of last year's special session and government shutdown. Minnesotans expect their state leaders to find areas of compromise for the common good, not waste taxpayer money and time on political posturing. The question is, how can we change the way we do business at the Capitol to make it easier to find common ground?
At the Humphrey forum, we identified five areas in which we can work to make improvements at the Capitol. These included:
§ Sharing power between caucuses and members
§ Building social relationships and fairness
§ Changing the budget structure
§ Education and training of legislators and the public
§ Campaign reform
Some of the ideas we discussed were as simple as creating more occasions for Democratic and Republican legislators to interact outside of committee meetings, to forge friendships across party lines. Many legislators were interested in improving coordination and communication between the House and the Senate. We also discussed moving deadlines earlier in the session to avoid postponing all the important decisions until the very end of session.
Many of the ideas we discussed will be introduced as bills this session. Others involve a commitment on the part of legislators to improve the tone and civility at the Capitol. We will meet again in March to talk about our progress toward achieving these goals. Sitting down and talking openly with one another, without staff or reporters present, was the first step toward making positive changes.
If you have comments or questions on this or any other legislative issues, please contact me at (651) 296-1188, by e-mail at rep.leon.lillie@house.mn, or at 353 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Saint Paul, MN 55155.
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