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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 Republicans

Both sides prepare for marriage battle at Minnesota Capitol

Posted by: Baird Helgeson Updated: December 20, 2012 - 1:59 PM

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The group that defeated the marriage amendment last month is reforming to persuade legislators to legalize same-sex marriage.

“Our intention is to make sure gay and lesbian couples have the freedom to marry after the 2013 legislative session,” said Richard Carlbom, campaign manager for Minnesotans United for All Families.

Minnesotans United, which raised millions of dollars and united tens of thousands of volunteers, is in the early stages of converting from a statewide campaign into a Capitol lobbying effort. The group plans to continue to urge supporters to have conversations around the state about the need to legalize same-sex marriage.

“It’s going to continue to be a massive grassroots campaign,” Carlbom said.

Minnesota for Marriage, the group that unsuccessfully pushed the amendment, plans to work just has hard to persuade legislators to not redefine marriage. They note that a majority of voters in most counties voted to pass the measure, which would have added a same-sex marriage ban into the state Constitution.

Minnesota for Marriage met with supporters this week to plan their effort and have already embarked on a massive fundraising effort.

“We anticipate that the Legislature will move to redefine marriage, most likely this year, which is one principal reason why Minnesota needed a marriage amendment,” said Jason Adkins, executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference.

Adkins and other same-sex marriage opponents warn that new Democratic majorities in the state House and Senate risk alienating Minnesota voters if they press the marriage issue.

“The new DFL majorities will burn enormous political capital ending the conversation and imposing same-sex marriage,” Adkins said. “It could undermine the rest of their legislative goals.”

Democratic legislative leaders have so far not embraced plans to change the definition of marriage this session. They say the focus will be on wiping out a $1.1 billion budget deficit, overhauling the tax system and stabilizing education funding.
 

Rep. Franson offers proposal to limit unionization

Posted by: Baird Helgeson Updated: December 19, 2012 - 8:52 PM

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State Rep. Mary Franson is trying to head off new unionization efforts with a proposal to block groups from forcing independent contractors to join a union.

The Alexandria Republican said DFL Gov. Mark Dayton wants to allow labor leaders to unionize home childcare providers and in-home health assistants as payback for political support.

“Dayton is helping his union allies at the expense of family care providers,” Franson said. “His efforts are nothing but a raw political and financial power grab, and I won’t stand for it.”

The governor does not believe anybody should be forced to unionize, a spokeswoman said.

“Governor Dayton believes it is the right of individuals to vote on whether or not to form a union—holding an election is the American way of resolving differences in a group,” said Katharine Tinucci, a Dayton spokeswoman.

Dayton signed an executive order last year calling for a unionization vote for state-subsidized home childcare providers, which a judge threw out after union opponents filed a lawsuit.

Tinucci noted that even if child care workers had voted to form a union, no individual would have been forced to join.

Franson called the unionization effort a “money laundering scheme” to divert taxpayer money through at-home daycares and home healthcare providers back to unions, which typically support Democrats.

The children, the sick and the elderly “don’t deserve to be caught up in a money laundering scheme,” Franson said.

Union leaders said legislators like Franson have spent years cutting their wages and making it harder for them to make a fair living.

“We need to join together as a union to protect ourselves from politicians like Mary Franson," said Lisa Thompson, president of Child Care Providers Together/AFSCME. "They’ve cut our pay. They’ve eliminated quality improvement grants for our profession. And they’ve ignored the 7,000 parents who are waiting for child care so they can go to work.”

To see the proposal or sign a petition supporting the idea, check here.

Franson’s proposal is not likely to get far in the Legislature. Starting in January, Democrats take over control the House and Senate and are not expected to embrace proposals to limit unions. It's also not clear whether Franson's proposal has broader support among GOP members.

 

Rep. Terry Morrow of St. Peter will step down to take new job

Posted by: Jim Ragsdale Updated: December 19, 2012 - 4:44 PM

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He was just re-elected without opposition, but Rep. Terry Morrow, DFL-St. Peter, announced Wednesday that he will be leaving the Legislature instead of serving a fourth term.

Morrow announced that he has decided to take a job in Chicago with the Uniform Law Commission, a nonpartisan organization that works with states and foreign nations in drafting uniform statutes. Morrow said the opportunity arose after he was re-elected on Nov. 6.

He said he plans to step down at the end of his current term in early January.  A special election will have to be called by Gov. Mark Dayton to choose a successor.

"It's been a fantastic six years," Morrow said. "Getting to know the people in my district, people from all political persuasions, getting work done together. These six years have not only restored but confirmed my faith that Americans can govern, and can govern themselves, despite what we may sometimes see in the media."

Morrow said Republican Rep. Morrie Lanning of Moorhead was among his closest friends. The two worked together to help pass a Vikings stadium bill last session. He said he is also proud of working to improve Highway 14 in his district.

Morrow is a lawyer and professor who teaches at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, where he directed the college's pre-law program.

He said the Uniform Law Commission works to develop uniform statutes among states and nations in such areas as wills, trusts and estates, and developed the uniform commercial code to standardize sales and transactions. The commission also works with nations on such issues as human trafficking.
 

 

Bipartisan bunch pushes National Popular Vote

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

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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

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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.

inside the StarTribune