Global Search

politics

Change Location

Enter Zip Code

Use this as my default zip.
With an insider’s eye, Hot Dish tracks the tastiest bits of Minnesota’s political scene and keep you up-to-date on those elected to serve you.

Contributors in Minnesota: Jennifer Brooks, Baird Helgeson, Mike Kaszuba, Patricia Lopez, Jim Ragsdale, Brad Schrade and Rachel E. Stassen-Berger. Contributors in D.C.: Kevin Diaz and Corey Mitchell.

Posts about Minnesota state senators

Tips for Capitol newbies

Posted by: Rachel E. Stassen-Berger Updated: January 4, 2013 - 10:45 AM

  • share

    email

From secret Capitol spots to warnings about echoing tunnels, Minnesota Capitol veterans are offering advice for all the new folks who will storm the domed building when session starts on January 8th.

Check out their tips for Capitol newbies below and add your own on Twitter using the hashtag #tipsforcapitolnewbies.

 

 

Taxpayers' reimbursement of senators shows wide range

Posted by: Baird Helgeson Updated: December 22, 2012 - 4:58 PM

  • share

    email

DFL state Sen. Keith Langseth collected $36,339 in state-paid living expenses this year, the most of any state senator.

Republican Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen took in $33,821, the most of any Republican senator. That includes $7,743 in mileage reimbursement for the Alexandria senator.

The final list of taxpayer paid expenses for 2012 shows a wide range of reimbursements for Minnesota senators, with most members collecting thousands of dollars for meals, mileage and lodging while they are in St. Paul.

Republican Sen. Roger Chamberlain collected just $360, which was only for his communication costs. He collected no other money for food, lodging or mileage.

Most of the senators who collected higher mileage checks live in the far reaches of the state or serve on committees that require them to drive to faraway meetings.

Langseth, a cattle rancher in Glyndon who traveled as part of his role on the Capital Investment Committee, got $10,419 in mileage, the most of any senator.

More than a dozen senators were not reimbursed for any mileage.

Ten senators took taxpayer-funded trips.

Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem, R-Rochester, spent the most on travel, $1,040. Sen. Doug Magnus, R-Slayton, was reimbursed for $9 in travel.

Here’s the complete 2012 list below:


 

2012 Senators' Expenses

Bipartisan bunch pushes National Popular Vote

Posted by: Rachel E. Stassen-Berger Updated: December 17, 2012 - 11:39 AM

  • share

    email

On the same day Minnesota's presidential electors will ceremonially cast their votes for President Barack Obama, a bipartisan bunch of Minnesota lawmakers proposed exchanging the power of the Electoral College and making the national popular vote supreme.

The new system, backed by a diverse group of legislators, would give weight to the number of actual votes presidential candidates get, rather than just number of Electoral College votes, in presidential elections. A diverse group of Minnesota backers say it would  mean every vote would have equal value during presidential campaigns, removing the candidates' incentive to focus primarily on the handful swing states.

"Everyone understands that places like Ohio, Pennsylvania, swing states, this is a really good process for them right now. Unfortunately, the rest of the country gets hosed," backer Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, said Monday.

The idea of swapping the power of the electoral college for a popular vote system is not new. A Minnesota measure to join a national compact pass a single committee passed a Republican-controlled House committee last year but never got a full vote in either the House or the Senate.

But, with another presidential election in which Minnesota was all but ignored in the rear view, supporters hope the change will be embraced.

"It's an idea whose time is come," said backer Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope. Rep. Steve Simon, incoming chair of the House elections committee and a St. Louis Park Democrat, is a support and outgoing House Speaker Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, supported the 2011 measure.

Detractors fear the a popular vote system would mean that candidates would focus only on populous states and fear the specter of a national recount, which could paralyze the process.

This year's national Republican Party platform took a strong position against the idea.

"We recognize that an unconstitutional effort to impose “national popular vote” would be a mortal threat to our federal system and a guarantee of corruption as every ballot box in every state would become a chance to steal the presidency," the GOP platform says. The national Democratic platform lacks a similar position.

The current proposal would not dump the electoral college system completely, which would require a constitutional amendment. Instead, if it wins approval, it would guarantee that presidential electors would give their votes to whomever wins the popular vote. 

For the change to take effect, states across the country, whose votes are worth 270 electoral college votes, would have to approve a compact giving power to the national popular vote. So far, nine states, with 132 electoral votes, have approved the plan.

"We're almost half way to where we need to be to change the system constitutionally," said Pat Rosenstiel, consultant to the National Popular Vote campaign.

At noon on Monday, Minnesota's presidential electors -- all Democrats -- will meet to cast their ballots for Obama at the State Capitol.

 

Minnesota Senate okays legal bill, bringing total cost so far to just under $200,000

Posted by: Rachel E. Stassen-Berger Updated: December 13, 2012 - 6:46 PM

  • share

    email

As part of the last official action for the Republican-controlled state Senate, lawmakers on Thursday approved paying a $90,000 legal bill to defend the Senate against a suit from an ex-employee.

All told, the Senate has paid more than $190,000 to deal with the suit from former Senate employee Michael Brodkorb. Brodkorb was fired in the wake of his affair with then-Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch a year ago.

Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem said the issue is "not fun" but they have been well served.

"It is been the goal to aggressively defend, to not settle based on the belief that this is without merit," said Senjem, R-Rochester. He said that if the Senate did settle with Brodkorb, who would have earned about half of the current legal bill had he be kept on, "it would be perceived to be...a cover-up."

Brodkorb is claiming gender discrimination played a role in his firing last year because past female legislative employees had affairs and were allowed to keep their jobs. To prove that claim, he would have to interview others who had affairs at the Legislature. His legal team may soon start seeking information from people who he claims were treated better, his attorney said.

Senate officials say  Brodkorb was an "at will" employee who could be legally fired at any time. Senjem said it would be precedent setting if they settled, therefore it is in the best interest of Senate history to fight. The Senate panel, made up Wednesday of six Republicans and two Democrats, quickly approved paying the bill.

The most recent bill includes thousands of dollars for charges for court-ordered settlement talks that went nowhere. It also includes hundreds of dollars of fees to prepare a press release that was never released. If the case ends up in trial, the costs could rise even more quickly.

Republican officials said that the cost is worthwhile because they are winning.

"Assuming the Senate continues to prevail, to win," the Senate could actually recoup its legal fees from Brodkorb,  Sen. Geoff Michel, R-Edina, said.

Michel was the deputy majority leader of the Senate when Brodkorb was fired. He did not run for re-election this year.

Secretary of the Senate Cal Ludeman backed up Michel's claim of victory so far because several of Brodkorb's initial claims have been dropped and a judge is deciding whether three more should be set aside.

Brodkrob said the claims of victory are "completely uninformed" and is Michel's "attempt to do damage control about his time as the leader of the Senate when the bulk of this situation arose."

Phil Villaume, Brodkorb's attorney, said the idea that anyone would declare victory at this point is "very premature."

"The case is far from being over," Villaume said.

Right now, the case is in what Ludeman said was a "holding pattern" as both sides wait for a federal judge's decision on whether the three claims should be set aside. In one of those claims, Brodkorb accused the senate secretary of defamation.

Villaume said he expects that decision in a few weeks.

"Once that's completed we proceed with discovery on the gender discrimination claim," he said.

After the judgment comes down, he said, their team will begin collecting information from the people Brodkorb claims had affairs and were treated differently. First they will seek written information then, he said, they will seek to interview people who have had legislative dalliances.

Dayton, lawmakers lay out agendas for upcoming session

Posted by: Jennifer Brooks Updated: December 10, 2012 - 1:09 PM

  • share

    email

Gov. Mark Dayton and legislative leaders found a bit of common ground and plenty room for disagreement as they looked ahead to the upcoming legislative session.

Democrats will have complete control of state government for the first time in more than two decades, but the governor and the DFL leadership tried to tamp down expectations in the shadow of the fiscal cliff and a still-shaky economy.

"Any tip-toe we take, we'll be accused of overreaching," Dayton told reporters during a Monday morning roundtable with incoming House Speaker Paul Thissen, Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt and Senate Minority Leader David Hann.

"This is not going to be, as some fear and some hope, a sky's-the-limit sort of approach. We have a $1.1 billion deficit we have to offset...We still owe the schools," Dayton continued. "We're not out of the fiscal hole that we dug for ourselves over the previous couple of bienniums. That's going to be the first reality."

For their part, GOP leaders balked at Democratic talk of tax increases -- a move Hann warned could cost jobs, sparking an argument with Dayton over the data Hann was using to back up his claim. Daudt signaled that there could be Republican support for another bonding bill, as long as it benefits rural areas as well as the big cities.

On social issues like gay marriage, Democrats were cautious, calling for more statewide debate on the issue. Bakk noted that he wouldn't be opposed to a bill legalizing medical marijuana, if it could address law enforcement concerns.

 

 

 

inside the StarTribune