Abrupt End To Messy 2016 Legislative Session
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The 2016 legislative session ended in a chaotic mess.
A pile of work remains unfinished and last-minute attempts to pay for transportation projects and use the budget surplus went nowhere.
Just ten seconds from the final 30 minutes before the midnight wrap, lawmakers were still engaged in heated discussions about certain bills. House Speaker Kurt Daudt was muting microphones just to move things along.
Now, as the session wraps Monday only three of the top goals were met.
Bills for public works projects, road and bridge repairs did not pass, and lawmakers did not spend the entire $900 million budget surplus.
Legislative leaders from the Republican-controlled House and Democrat-led Senate immediately began casting blame on one another for the measure's failure.
When the session started 11 weeks ago, Gov. Mark Dayton said he wanted a long-term transportation funding package to fix roads and bridges for the next decade. Lawmakers debated different ways to pay for all that work, such as a gas tax increase, license tab fee hikes, borrowing and surplus money.
In the last hour of the session, House Republicans came up with a one-time funding plan for road and bridge repairs.
The details of that package — with more than $1 billion in borrowing and a chunk of the state's budget surplus earmarked for the transportation fixes — were subject to no public hearings and didn't emerge until just 30 minutes remained in session.
After the House hurriedly passed the bill, the Senate added a provision critical to urban Democrats that freed up some extra funding for mass transit projects that Republicans have opposed. As a legislative aide ran the bill across the street to the House chamber for final approval, House Republicans abruptly moved to close their session for the year — ahead of schedule, as the Legislature wasn't set to adjourn until later Monday.
"Just like last year, 90 page bill with two minutes. We got a little more time here, but no one knows what's in the bill. It's just another example of the lack of transparency, the lack of willingness to give the people a voice in this process and it's really unacceptable. The people of Minnesota should not put up with it," Rep. Paul Thissen, DFL Minority Leader, said.
"The press asked me earlier in the week if I would kill Southwest Light Rail. I think it's pretty obvious that I'm not a supporter of Southwest Light Rail but tonight it may look like Southwest Light Rail killed $700 million worth of money for roads and bridges across the state of Minnesota," House Speaker Kurt Daudt said.
The Legislature also failed to pass a Real ID bill.
The federal government said Minnesota driver's licenses need to be updated by 2018 so Minnesotans can board domestic flights.
Still, Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk called it a productive session, noting the tax bill and extra spending measures. But whether Gov. Mark Dayton would sign the bills was still unclear. There is also talk of passing more bills in a possible special session.
As for what did pass, lawmakers were able to pass a tax bill that includes tax credits and cuts to help farmers, parents, businesses and college students.
They also passed $25 million on a statewide voluntary preschool program and $35 million in extra grants for broadband Internet.
Lawmakers passed a bill setting ground rules for police use of body cameras and $35 million on programs to help racial disparities.
The Democratic governor has insisted that he wouldn't sign a bill with tax cuts unless it was paired with spending he deemed essential, including $100 million to boost broadband Internet, another $100 million to tackle racial economic disparities and $25 million for a new preschool program. Though the Legislature approved those initiatives, only the preschool measure was fully funded to Dayton's liking.
They also did agree to replace Minnesota's caucus voting system with a primary in 2020.
Dayton's office has said he'd withhold comment until the final pieces of the Legislature's spending plans fell into place. He has 14 days to decide whether to sign those bills, and Bakk said he met with Dayton earlier Sunday to make his case.
"I told him, 'Governor, I think we've sent you a couple good bills,'" Bakk said.
It would be up to Dayton to call lawmakers back to St. Paul for a special session, and legislative leaders would need to sign off on the agenda ahead of time.
(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
