Session 2003 Budget and Taxes Environment Higher Education K-12 Education Health and Welfare Public Safety Stadium Transportation Audio Legislature convenes amid worries of what's to come (story audio) Senate Majority Leader John Hottinger Rep. Alice Seagren, R-Bloomington, discusses K-12 education Sen. Richard Cohen, DFL-St.Paul, Chair State Government Finance Committee Sen. Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar; Rep. Wm. Kuisle, R-Rochester. Chairs of Transportation Committees Sen. Ellen Anderson, DFL-St.Paul, discusses Prairie Island nuke storage House Minority Leader Rep. Matt Entenza, DFL-St. Paul Sen. Sheila Kiscaden, IP-Rochester. House Majority Leader Rep. Erik Paulsen Health and Human Services Commissioner Kevin Goodno discusses future of social services Photos A Capitol protest A family affair More from MPR Session 2003 preview (12/30/2002) Live coverage of the opening session Legislative leaders preview 2003 session (11/18/02) (11/18/2002) Your Voice News Forum: What is your impression of opening day

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Legislature convenes amid worries of what's to come
by Laura McCallum, Minnesota Public Radio
January 7, 2003

Members of the Welfare Rights Committee protest at the opening session of the Minnesota Legislature. (MPR Photo/Michael Khoo)

While the opening session of the Legislature was festive and largely ceremonial, lawmakers face a daunting task: dealing with a $4.5 billion projected budget deficit. The new Legislature includes an unusually large crop of freshman lawmakers who say they're eager to get to work on tackling the budget crisis.

St. Paul, Minn. — For nearly a third of the Legislature, this was the first time they've been part of opening day at the Capitol.

Proud family members filled the House chamber and crammed into the Senate gallery to celebrate the occasion. Forty-three House members were sworn in for the first time, along with 21 senators, although five of them used to serve down the hall in the House.

Senators elected Sen. Jim Metzen, DFL-South St. Paul, as Senate president. Metzen won't have nearly as much power to control legislation as Majority Leader John Hottinger, but he'll nonetheless be a key gatekeeper during floor debates. Meanwhile, House members re-elected Republican Steve Sviggum of Kenyon as speaker, that body's most powerful post. Sviggum, now in his 13th term, says the House has a wide range of experience, from longtimers like him to the new freshman class.

	A family affair

"First-termers, remarkable persons, such as Morrie Lanning from Moorhead, such as Frank Hornstein, such as Lynn Osterman and Katie Sieben, who, by the way, was just a baby when I was first elected," said Sviggum.

Sviggum says the Legislature faces tough choices, and must protect taxpayers rather than the government. Sviggum leads a sizable majority, with 81 Republicans and 52 Democrats in the House. One seat is vacant, with the appointment of former Burnsville Republican Dan McElroy as Finance Commissioner.

Sviggum says House Republicans will work with Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty to balance the budget without raising taxes. Democrats worry the result will be massive cuts in services, and tax increases at the local level.

House Democrats held a news conference to raise concerns about potential cuts in local government aid, which Pawlenty has said is likely. House Minority Leader Matt Entenza of St. Paul says some communities in greater Minnesota get as much as 80 percent of their budgets from local government aid. Entenza says many Republicans will have a hard time going along with local aid cuts.

"You're going to see a breaking down of party lines once a lot of these Republican representatives see the impact that Republican cuts are going to have on your community. I mean, I think that people are going to be diving under manhole covers pretty quick," he said.

Newly-elected Republicans say they'll try to hold the line on taxes, but only a dozen of them signed the "no tax increase" pledge that Gov. Pawlenty did.

Freshman Carla Nelson, a teacher from Rochester, says she didn't sign the Taxpayers League pledge because she wanted to keep her options open.

"I don't think you can legislate well when you are already tied to a position. And I'm very glad I didn't sign that pledge, I think the first time I was asked to sign that pledge, we were looking at a $3 billion deficit. Now we're looking at $4.65 (billion)," she said.

But Nelson says she's well aware that Minnesota's tax rates are among the highest in the country. One freshman lawmaker who did sign the pledge, Sen. Paul Koering, R-Fort Ripley, says he believes he was elected on the basis of that campaign promise.

"My word is good, and you know, if your word isn't good, then you're no good. So that's why I will be voting accordingly to balance the budget without raising taxes," Koering said.

Members of the Welfare Rights Committee protested at the Capitol as the House and Senate began the session. Committee member Trishalla Bell says the group's message to lawmakers is don't balance the budget on the backs of the poor.

"There's enough rich people for them to spread the pain, through everybody who's in corporate America making millions and millions of dollars each year. There's plenty of those people that they can spread the pain through, but don't come spreading pain on people who are already trying to survive from day to day on barely anything," Bell said.

Bell doesn't think the Legislature can balance the budget without raising taxes. Lawmakers plan to quickly plunge into the task at hand. Budget hearings are scheduled for later this week, and Gov. Pawlenty will soon release his plan for dealing with a $356 million shortfall in the budget cycle that ends in June.

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