After bumps, transportation bill set

A leading DFL senator and Gov. Tim Pawlenty traded verbal jabs Tuesday over a series of automobile safety measures in a sign that patience is running thin as the legislative session heads into its final 12 days.

The day's events began when Sen. Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing, said Pawlenty had sent word that one of three proposed safety measures -- a primary seat-belt law, license restrictions for teen drivers or a plan to require booster seats for children younger than 8 -- would need to be jettisoned to gain the governor's support for a transportation policy bill.

"He's asking us to choose the lives of which Minnesotans we want to save," Murphy, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, fumed at a morning press briefing.

By midday, Pawlenty spokesman Brian McClung said Murphy had misunderstood the governor's intent, and said the episode was "the latest example of erratic behavior by Sen. Murphy." McClung said the governor's office "did not tell him the bill would be vetoed unless one of the three provisions was removed."

By late afternoon, as things settled down, Murphy acknowledged that "it may have been a misunderstanding on my part."

The day's emotions -- Murphy at one point suggested having legislators march to Pawlenty's office for answers -- ended when a conference committee included all three safety provisions in the bill, which is likely to have a House floor vote today.

Late Tuesday night, Pawlenty planned to meet again with legislative leaders to seek agreement on another matter -- a budget-balancing plan, one of the last hurdles for legislators as they face a May 19 adjournment.

Tuesday morning, Murphy said the three safety provisions had in effect been made into a bargaining chip by the governor. "I was a little bit upset," said Murphy, who said an aide to Pawlenty told him at nearly midnight Monday that all three safety initiatives would be "too much to swallow" politically.

In a letter to Murphy later in the day, Pawlenty said: "We are disappointed with your continued misstatements."

Pawlenty said that he supported legislation letting police stop motorists for not wearing seat belts -- a so-called "primary seat belt law" -- and that he backed additional teen driving restrictions but favored allowing parents to "opt out" of the restrictions. The House-Senate conference committee didn't include the opt-out provision.

In his letter, Pawlenty said the transportation bill was in danger of not having bipartisan support because it went too far. "We understand Republican and Democrat members of the House have substantial concerns," he wrote.

But at least one Republican dismissed those concerns, as well as the implication that the provisions might be overly protective. "Some people can call those boundaries being a 'Nanny State.' I don't think so in my mind," said Sen. Mike Jungbauer of East Bethel.