This afternoon, and for the second time ever, I went to testify at the
Legislature. Two weeks ago, I went to the House Government Operations
Committee to oppose Rep. Kahn's H.F. 67. Today it was the House Local
Government & Metropolitan Affairs Committee. In the first committee there
were very few new members and it was clear most of them had already made up
their minds. In fact the chair began by asking Rep. Kahn, "when we pass
your bill, which committee do you want us to send it to?" He already
assumed the outcome before anyone had spoken.
Today was very different. There were at least 11 freshman out of 16
committee members present. They were actually listening when we spoke. They
asked questions.
Mayor Rybak, Council Members Don Samuels, Natalie Johnson Lee and Scott
Benson and 5 or 6 citizens spoke against the bill. Our group included
Democrats,
Republicans, Independents and Greens. Our central argument was that the
Legislature should respect the voters and not change the terms of a local
election after the fact just because some people didn't like the results.
Other topics included supporting the principle of local control and opposing
unfunded mandates. Scott made a solid legal argument that went undisputed.
This wasn't a legal issue, it was political.We pointed out that Rep. Kahn
amended her bill to just target Minneapolis when 29 other cities in
Minnesota had council elections in 2004 or 2005. We dispelled the myth that
H.F. 67 supported the interests of communities of color.
Rep. Ellison moved to table the bill. This motion failed on a 9-7 hand vote.
We could at least see how people were voting. Rep. Lesch voted against
tabling
even though he had already opposed the bill in the previous committee. He
clearly didn't want a delay -- he wanted a vote one way or the other.
Obviously so
did Rep. Klinzing, a Republican. Because after some further conversation,
both Klinzing and Lesch joined the others in a voice vote opposing H.F. 67.
It was divided, but the "nays" were clearly louder than the "ayes."
In a situation when there is a close voice vote, it is the responsibility of
the Chair to make the initial judgement as to which side prevailed or to
call for a roll call vote. Although this was obviously a divided vote, the
Chair did not call role - he ruled that the "ayes" had prevailed and
immediately adjourned the committee, apparently not hearing Rep. Hornstein
call for "division" (meaning a hand vote to accurately count). When the
Chair finally acknowledged Hornstein and Ellison, he said it was too late
for division - the committee had adjourned.
So there you have it. The merits of your argument don't matter.
Unbelievably, even the VOTE doesn't matter - as long as your side can
manipulate the
process. If anyone wonders why people hate politics, this is why.
Final observation: From our vantage point it looked like 8 out of 11
freshman from both parties opposed H.F. 67. In particular the four brave
freshman
Republicans deserve much praise. Perhaps because they are new, they are
still willing to put their convictions (supporting the principle of local
control, opposing unfunded mandates) above politics ("getting" Minneapolis).
They voted their beliefs despite arguments in favor of H.F. 67 made by Tax
Committee Chair Ron Abrams. Let's hope freshman of both parties remain
willing to buck their leaders and vote their own minds.
After seeing process manipulations prevail over actual votes, I don't know
what else to hope for except new voices in politics.
Michelle Martin
Armatage
P.S. - This is what we saw from the audience. Unfortunately, there is no
roll call vote to look at.
Jerry Dempsey (R) aye
Mark Buesgens (R) aye
Ron Abrams (R) aye
Peter Adolphson (R) aye
Greg Blaine (R) aye
Laura Brod (R) aye
Karen Klinzing (R) nay (swing from tabling vote)
Morrie Lanning (R) nay
Carla Nelson (R) nay
Dan Severson (R) nay
Judy Soderstrom (R) aye
Carlos Mariani (DFL) --
Kent Eken (DFL) nay
Keith Ellison (DFL) nay
Debra Hilstrom (DFL) --
Frank Hornstein (DFL) nay
Ann Lenczewski (DFL) --
John Lesch (DFL) nay (swing from tabling vote)
Rebecca Otto (DFL) nay
ayes 7
nays 9
three members absent
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