Greetings from the House Floor,
Major action last week on the floor was the adoption of the rules for the House this session. In 2013, debate on the House rules lasted 11 ½ hours and revolved around a new rule the DFL proposed regarding amendments to bills. This rule was known as the 24 Hour Rule and mandated that any amendment, in committee or on the floor, must be made public at least 24 hours in advance of debate on a bill (amendments to amendments had to be made public at least 18 hours prior to debate). I had reservations about what the 24 Hour Rule would do to debate and the overall process in the House, as did the GOP; but after seeing the rule in practice I think it makes for better government. Talking with folks in the district last session, people liked the rule as it provided more transparency to the process and gave people a better sense of what was happening in state government. The 24 Hour Rule was proposed by the GOP for this session and adopted by the full body on Thursday.
I introduced a bill last week to mandate that any contract the Minn. State College and University (MnSCU) system enters with an outside consultant for matters pertaining to the system’s operations or governance must be made public by the MnSCU Board of Trustees within 30 days of the contract finalization. This includes information about the identity of the consultant, the terms and conditions of the contract and the nature of the consultant’s work. This provision would apply if the contract is pro bono or for compensation of the consultant’s services. This bill is important as MnSCU is a public institution using public dollars, and contracts for consulting services related to the overall direction and mission of the system need to be transparent.
News from the Capitol last week came over Governor Dayton increasing the salaries of state agency and department leaders. In 2013, the Legislature passed the recommendations of the bi-partisan Minnesota Compensation Council to increase salaries of the state’s Constitutional Officers and gave the governor authority to increase the salaries of the state agency and department leaders without legislative approval. On Thursday, the Senate took a vote on what is known as a “Deficiency” Bill to repay some hospitals for costs related to last year’s Ebola preparations, help the Minnesota Zoo with shortfalls and provide increases for security needs at a state security hospital in St. Peter. Included in the bill were Senate provisions to delay the agency and department leaders’ salary increases until July. A House GOP proposal, to which the governor is agreeable, would spread some of the costs of the increases over cuts to the Departments of Health, Human Services and Natural Resources. The House has not yet taken up the “Deficiency” bill. Although I understand the frustration over the governor’s unilateral salary increases, I do not agree that the right thing to do is play politics with the spending areas in the “Deficiency” bill. The governor acted in accordance to the law and that is where any legislative action should take place; discussions on the Chief Executive’s authority to increase pay without legislative approval.
Thank You for the Opportunity to Serve,
Ben