This is supposed to be the year the Minnesota Legislature undoes as much as it does.
The "unsession," as Gov. Mark Dayton dubbed it, is being pitched as a chance for state lawmakers to do away with antiquated and unnecessary laws and policies. But with the first day of the 2014 session still weeks away, the Capitol is already a hive of activity.
Almost 300 bills have been introduced in the House, ahead of the Legislature's Feb. 25 start date, and the legislative calendar is bristling with scheduled hearings. In St. Paul and back in legislators' home districts, the unsession presession is in full swing.
When the polar vortex hit in early January, state Sen. Matt Schmit, DFL-Red Wing, was at a community forum about broadband Internet access in Park Rapids, hoping his engine would turn over once the mercury hit 30 below. Schmit, who hopes to spend the upcoming session working on the issue of broadband access in outstate Minnesota, has held dozens of meetings around the state and met with more than two dozen House and Senate colleagues in their home districts, hoping to drum up interest in the idea.
"I've been surprised at the level of need that's out there," said Schmit, who said he heard from everyone from small businesses and students to farmers who need faster Internet connections for their increasingly high-tech equipment. "I also think there's a way of framing this in terms of the unsession. If you look at our telecommunications laws on the books right now, there are more references to the telegraph than there are to the Internet. That just boggles the mind. Some of those statutes are more than 100 years old."
In most years, the Legislature would be in session already. Lawmakers with big plans for the 2014 session are taking full advantage of the extra weeks of planning time before the session starts. This year's session will include big pushes for a higher state minimum wage, a possible billion-dollar bonding bill and a vigorous debate over what, if anything, to do with the state's anticipated budget surplus.
A late February start date means every day will count for lawmakers hoping to get their bills passed into law before the session ends in the spring. State Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, is pushing legislation that would raise the state minimum wage to $9.50 an hour, welcomed the extra weeks as a chance to work on his issue without the distraction of a full schedule of committee hearings and floor votes.
"We've got to make sure hearings are ready to go and strategy's ready," said Winkler, who has held hearings in the off-session. A later start date "forces us to set some clear priorities about things we want to work on."
