The House Governmental Operations, Reform, Technology and Elections Committee is exploring reforms to increase legislative efficiency.
Noting the deterioration of the legislative process he has witnessed over his more than two decades in the House, committee chairman Rep. Gene Pelowski Jr. (DFL-Winona) said the committee members have an opportunity to look at how things have been done under both Democrats and Republicans and make it better.
During meetings held April 15-16, Brenda Erickson, a program principal in the Legislative Management Program of the National Conference of State Legislatures, presented reforms the Legislature could adopt to help maintain the Legislature’s part-time status and avoid the “end of session logjam.”
According to Erickson, one thing that could make the legislative process more efficient, particularly since the Legislature has a limited number of legislative days it can use, would be formal organizational sessions before the start of the regular session.
Members would be sworn in, caucus leaders elected, rules and session deadlines adopted and the committee structure established.
Erickson also suggested there is a strong committee process, where issues can be worked out before a bill arrives on the floor.
She said a balance is being sought on any procedural changes with the goal to find the perfect balance of majority rule and minority rights. “Minorities tend to use parliamentary procedures to make their points because they don’t have the votes.”
Other reform options the committee explored were:
• the use of “veto sessions,” which are special sessions specifically convened to consider bills vetoed by the governor;
• deadlines for bill introductions, committee action, first and second house action, and conference committee work;
• members setting a priority of one, two or three for their introduced bills; and
• better use of the interim for planning purposes.
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