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Despite calls for bipartisanship, bickering rules the day at Capitol
February 3, 2005

Sen. Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater, is proposing that I-494/694 be renamed Ronald Reagan Beltway. (MPR Photo/Laura McCallum)

St. Paul, Minn. — (AP) Even in death, Ronald Reagan can't catch a break in Minnesota.

A resolution honoring the former Republican president's birthday caused partisan friction in the state Senate Thursday and passed only after it was retooled to mention the fact he never won Minnesota and tax increases that occurred under his watch.

The Democratic-controlled Senate spent more than 30 minutes debating the Republican-offered resolution, which recognizes Reagan's Feb. 6 birthday. Reagan died in June of complications from Alzheimer's disease at age 93.

Minnesota was the only state Reagan lost in 1984. It went for Democrat Walter Mondale, a native son.

Democrats criticized the original resolution as ideologically skewed. It said, among other things, that Reagan "worked in a bipartisan manner to enact his bold agenda of restoring accountability and common sense to government which led to an unprecedented economic expansion and opportunity for millions of Americans."

The revised version ends that sentence with "not paralleled until the Clinton presidency," a nod to the two-term Democratic president. Democrats also added lines about tax increases under Reagan and hold up his presidency as "a lesson to the current administration in the areas of bipartisanship, economic recovery, and the need for world support in foreign initiatives."

Senate Republicans were taken aback by the changes but supported the revised resolution rather than put off a vote.

"This is just a simple little happy birthday," said Republican Sen. Dave Kleis of St. Cloud. "It's silly that there's even a discussion on this."

But Sen. John Marty, a Roseville Democrat, said it went too far beyond birthday greetings.

"There are disappointing, wrongheaded things this country did under his leadership," Marty said.

The House approved the original resolution without discussion later in the day.

The resolution debate might not be the only fight over Reagan in Minnesota's Legislature this year. Also Thursday, two Republican legislators said they would try to name a beltway around the Twin Cities after Reagan. Other Republicans are pushing a bill to rename a legislative office building after him.