As legislative session ends, spin begins

Minnesota legislators took to the skies in a fit of post-session barnstorming Tuesday as they tried to put some political shine on their legislative accomplishments.

Just a day after lawmakers adjourned, DFLers and Republicans touched down around the state to crystallize months of often messy and complex legislative battles. Nuanced battles over payment shifts, cash flow accounts and health care funding formulas boiled down to easily digestible messages: Democrats fought for jobs, families and the elderly; Republicans beat back tax increases and a rush to so-called Obamacare.

"The campaign has started, and now there are clear choices for November," said Senate Minority Leader David Senjem, R-Rochester.

Democrats had stops planned in Duluth, Bemidji, Moorhead, St. Cloud, Mankato and Rochester.

Republicans touched down in Rochester, Mankato, St. Cloud, Alexandria, Moorhead and Bemidji.

Standing near a hangar at the St. Paul Downtown Airport, Democrats painted outgoing Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty as a political bully who forced passage of a $3 billion budget-cutting package that shifted the problems to his successor in a way that won't damage his run for president.

"It's been 7 1/2 years of a shotgun marriage and everyone's glad it's about over," said Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis.

"Certainly, there's some level of pride in that," Senjem said in a phone interview.

A health care debate that gripped the Capitol during the closing days of the session spilled onto the campaign trail and filled the lungs of both camps.

As part of the final budget compromise, the governor now has the authority to transition thousands of Minnesotans on state-backed health insurance programs into Medicaid, which would be paid for with state and federal money.

Democrats say shifting people into the long-running federal program makes financial sense. Under the arrangement, Minnesota would spend less than $200 million and get $1.4 billion in federal funding in return.

At the St. Paul airport, Pogemiller stood next to signs highlighting what DFLers see as potential benefits from the shift: more than 20,000 new jobs, a $2.2 billion boost to the economy, and an increase in reimbursement rates for hospitals and clinics.

Pawlenty opposes the idea, but as part of a final deal agreed to let Democrats extend the opt-in deadline to Jan. 15, a couple weeks after the next governor takes office.

"This will be a referendum on health care," Senjem said.

In terms of politics, the two planes told a story of their own.

Democrats traveled with Pogemiller, one of the party's most outspoken critics of Pawlenty's financial record, and Sen. Linda Berglin, a key negotiator on health care. Not on board: the DFL-endorsed candidate for governor, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher.

Instead, Kelliher released a statement that said, "We fought hard for every job, for every Minnesota family, every student and every senior in every nursing home. Facing impossible odds, we made real progress."

"The wind is at our back, in Washington and in St. Paul," Senjem said. "We are hoping to take that to election."