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Politics and Government News
Tim Pugmire
St. Paul

Legislators head to SE Minnesota for ‘mini-session’

Legislature
Representatives gather on the floor of the Minnesota House in the Capitol in St. Paul in May for a special session to finish work on the state's two-year budget. State House lawmakers will go on the road Wednesday to hold a series of meetings in southeastern Minnesota. They call it a “mini-session.”
Steve Karnowski | AP Photo file

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Legislators travel from all corners of the state to do their jobs at the Minnesota Capitol. But only some of their constituents ever make the trip. DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman said Minnesotans should have easy access to the Legislature, and a mini session is one way to provide it.

“We believe that the Legislature should be in all parts of the state. And the most important part of our job is listening and learning. There’s no replacement for being there. So, being in different places than St. Paul is important,” Hortman said.

From 1987 to 1997, the DFL-controlled House held 14 mini-sessions all over the state. The last one was in Willmar. They fell by the wayside when Republicans won the majority and were all but forgotten during a stretch of budget deficits.

Longtime Rep. Gene Pelowski, DFL-Winona, was around for those earlier mini-sessions, and he led the charge to bring them back. The last time Winona played host was 1989. Pelowski said the agenda for this mini-session, like those of the past, is focused on important regional issues.

“Almost all of the committees of the House will have some part in the mini-session, and this will be an opportunity for local individuals who won’t usually have the time to go to the Capitol to come and tell us a couple of things,” he said. “One is how did we perform last session, and then what are the needs that they would like to see us address in the upcoming session?”

The hearings are informational only. No votes will take place. The topics include childcare, clean energy, property taxes and transportation issues.

The House Health and Human Services Finance Committee is scheduled to discuss prescription drug pricing during a hearing in Rochester. The committee chair, Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL- Rochester, said the location will give it a different flavor.

‘We’re going to have some local experts coming in and speaking about what’s going on in this area too. So, we are going to take advantage of having a different location and have it be a little different than what you’d get here at the Capitol.”

House Republicans say the mini-session agenda falls short. They want time to address problems with the Department of Human Services, including it recent leadership turnover and several financial missteps.

Assistant Minority Leader Anne Neu of North Branch said the lack of a DHS discussion would be a wasted opportunity.

“It’s hard to imagine solving other problems at DHS when we have the mess that we do. It is in complete disarray. We’ve got money flowing out the doors. We don’t know where it’s going. We’ve got a mess that needs to be cleaned up,” Neu said.

Since they began in the 1980s, mini sessions have always been House events. The Senate has never participated, and that remains the case this week. Republican Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka was reluctant to judge the motives of House Democrats, but he said the mini session “could be perceived as a bit political.”

He also questioned the cost of the mini-sessions and their value to legislating.

“In the end, we still have our session next year where the House and Senate have to align bills and move forward,” he said. “So, there are different ways to talk about issues and gather research when we’re not in session.”