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Capitol View®
Tom Scheck

About that pay cut..

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One day after Republicans announced a proposal to cut pay for state lawmakers and the state's five constitutional officers, DFL Sen. Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller implemented a state Senate hiring freeze for the remainder of the year, is freezing state Senate wages and will allow any member of the Senate to cut their salary by submitting a written request.

"These are common-sense measures to show the public that we are taking the budget deficit seriously and we will be sharing in the pain," said Sen. Pogemiller in a news release. "Our state is in the midst of a budget crisis and these actions are a continuation of the cutting we've been doing this year in the Senate. We will continue working together in these tough times and sharing in the sacrifice that many Minnesotans will be asked to make."

The move, which was approved by the Senate Rules Committee, is a body blow to the Senate GOP. That caucus recently released Dan Wolf as Chief of Staff and was reportedly looking to hire (which was first reported by MN Progressive Project) Norm Coleman's campaign manager.

Update:

I'm told that Dan Wolf is still currently serving as chief of staff.

GOP Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem was visibly upset and declined comment after the meeting. During the Rules Committee hearing, Senjem asked the DFL majority to delay the freeze until they could fill the chief of staff position next week. He described the move as "disturbing" and "not fair to the minority."

Pogemiller's proposal also puts those who back the pay cut in a compromising position since the press corp can regularly check to see which members decided to take the voluntary pay cut.

UPDATE

Senate Republicans say DFL leaders are using the hiring freeze to punish them for speaking out on budget issues.

During an afternoon news conference, Sen. David Hann, R-Eden Prairie, said he was disappointed by the DFL vote to prevent his caucus from filling a chief of staff position. Hann also claimed the freeze is payback for recent GOP proposals to trim spending. He said this week's Republican plan to reduce lawmakers' salaries was the last straw for Democrats.

"To us it clearly is politically motivated because they have gotten tired of our attempts to make issues of things that we believe are important," Hann said.

Hann insisted the Senate GOP caucus will continue proposing alternative ideas.