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Pawlenty floats idea of lame-duck session for bonding bill
November 19, 2004

Gov. Tim Pawlenty didn't say when the session would be if he called one, but House Speaker Steve Sviggum mentioned the first week in December as the ideal time. (MPR file photo/Laura McCallum)

St. Paul, Minn. — (AP) Gov. Tim Pawlenty made a fresh appeal to legislative leaders Friday to return to the Capitol for a one-day special session to pass a slimmed-down bill funding construction projects. In a letter to House and Senate party leaders, Pawlenty said lawmakers could make progress before the 2005 legislative session, which begins in January. The last session ended in stalemate and all previous special session pitches have fizzled.

"While we are mindful and respectful of the fact that the composition of the Legislature is about to change, acting now to address only consensus items will not undermine the election results and will move Minnesota forward in a positive and needed direction," Pawlenty wrote.

	House Speaker Steve Sviggum

He was referring to the Nov. 2 election, which significantly narrowed the Republican majority in the House to 68-66. But a special session would involve the pre-election Legislature, since the new members don't begin their terms until January.

It takes 81 votes in the House to pass a bonding bill. Before the election, Republicans held 81 seats to the Democrats' 53. But only 77 Republicans could take part because three have resigned to take executive branch jobs and one is now a senator. One Democrat resigned after being appointed to a public board.

Pawlenty didn't say when the session would be if he called one, but House Speaker Steve Sviggum mentioned the first week in December as the ideal time.

House Minority Leader Matt Entenza, DFL-St. Paul, said he was willing to meet with Pawlenty to discuss ways to revive Capitol cooperation, but not willing to move forward under the governor's terms.

"It doesn't make a lot of sense that five weeks before we're going into a new session that we're bringing back lame-duck legislators," Entenza said. "The public has already fired them and brought new folks in."

He took issue with the size of the proposed package and Pawlenty's suggestions of what would be in it. Those items would need to be negotiated, Entenza said.

	Sen. Dick Day

Pawlenty generally described about $400 million in construction projects, from environmental conservation to university buildings.

Sviggum, R-Kenyon, said adding projects like the Northstar commuter line backed by many Democrats would only bog the bill down.

"Why would you hold the things up you have in common, the things that everybody agrees to?" Sviggum asked.

Senate Minority Leader Dick Day, R-Owatonna, supports the quick action. He said passing a bill now would put those projects in the pipeline for next spring's construction cycle. Waiting until the 2005 session would probably push approval into May and delay construction, he said.

A small bonding bill could be passed now and a second package with more projects could follow in spring, Day said.

But a two-installment bill could be tough to pull off, making it less enticing to legislators who favor a bigger overall package or projects not included in the first wave.

Bonding bills require three-fifths majorities to pass, which typically means the bills grow to attract the necessary votes. If a second bill has fewer projects sought by fewer legislators it might be difficult to amass enough votes.

Even with Entenza's skepticism, Sviggum said the dynamics for a special session are more favorable this time. He said one pre-election stumbling block, a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, wouldn't be part of the discussion as Democratic leaders feared when past special-session proposals were made.

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