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State Representative Paul Anderson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4317
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GUEST COLUMN
Election changes legislative landscape
By State Rep. Paul Anderson
The magnitude of last week’s election results are still sinking in. At both the national and state levels, voters have given Republicans an opportunity to improve our economic status. There seemed to be discontent with politics in general in the days leading up to last Tuesday, in addition to patience wearing thin in anticipation of better economic times.
In the Minnesota House, last session’s huge Democratic majority has vanished. From an 87-47 breakdown with Democrats firmly in control, Republicans picked up 25 new seats while not losing a single member (except for retirements). At this writing, the new numbers look like a 72-62 Republican majority. Even more surprising were results from the Senate, where Democrats have held sway for as long as most can remember. Last session’s Democratic control was 46-21, while the new numbers are 37-30 with Republicans in the majority.
I was hopeful but not overly optimistic about taking control of one house, let along both the House and Senate. In the face of tremendous difficulties, we have been given the task of making things better. Jobs and the economy were the drivers in this campaign, with nearly everyone feeling the consequences of the worst recession since World War II. Republicans will now try to make good on their campaign pledge of job growth through the private sector.
The governor’s race is still undecided as we face yet another re-count. That is a huge wildcard as we move forward in preparation for the new legislative session, which begins Jan. 4. If Mark Dayton maintains his lead and becomes our next governor, we face a situation similar to the last four years…namely with one party in control of the Legislature and the other holding power in the governor’s office. If Tom Emmer picks up 9,000 additional votes, he would win the election and give Republicans control over both branches of our state government.
Going back to the situation where Dayton becomes governor, there are major differences when comparing it with the previous four years. Remember, the governor cannot allocate funding or raise any funding levels. All he can do is veto bills or reduce spending with the line-item veto. With a Democratic legislature passing spending and tax bills, Gov. Pawlenty either vetoed outright or line-item vetoed several of them. With a Republican legislature bent on reducing government spending, there will probably be few, if any, spending or tax bills that Mark Dayton would want reduced. After all, he ran on the campaign promise of raising taxes on the wealthy and increased education spending. It will be difficult, if not impossible, for him to raise any additional revenue because those bills all must originate in the House.
House Republicans held their organizational caucus Saturday, the sixth of November. They selected the Speaker of the House and the majority leader. Committee chairmanships will be named later as they, too, will be manned by Republicans. All members of the Legislature will move into different offices, with Senate Democrats leaving their confines in the Capital Building for the first time ever. They will move across the street to the State Office Building (SOB), while their Republican counterparts move into the Capital. House members of both parties have always maintained their offices in the SOB, but we will be switching floors. Tradition has the Speaker’s office on the fourth floor, with members of his or her party being in close proximity.
These are exciting, yet challenging, times. My door is always open to hear your comments or concerns.
News Items
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