It’s with great frustration that I write to you today. Like all other Minnesota citizens, I expect the legislators to take their time in St. Paul seriously, and not play down the needs of the people for political gain. The 2004 Legislative Session was an inexcusable disappointment for all citizens. Questions arise in the minds of voters when stagnation like this occurs: Why wasn’t anything done? Who prevented things from getting done? Why would the people who represent us stop progress? And what can we do to show the legislators that we are frustrated? The answers to these questions are clear-cut and hard to accept. It is without any doubt in my mind that the lack of progress made in this state is placed solely at the feet of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party and their marginal majority in the Minnesota Senate. May 16, the deadline lawmakers had to meet in order to pass legislation in the State of Minnesota, came and went, with very serious issues unresolved, including balancing the budget. How is it that the Legislature was able to cut the deficit in Minnesota by three billion dollars last year, but can’t cover a deficit of less than one twentieth the size? The answer is compromise. Neither party (Republican or Democrat) was willing to compromise their views on the budget, or any other issue. It is interesting to note that to pass a law, the House and Senate need to pass the bill, and then the Governor needs to sign the bill to make it law. The Governor is a Republican, the House is overwhelmingly Republican, and the Democrats hold a three-person majority in the 67 member Senate. So the reason for the lack of production is either because the Republican Party is weak-willed, or the DFL-Senate stonewalled any means of progress in the state. Well, I’ll put all my eggs in one basket when I say the DFL put Minnesotans aside and tried to prove their party strength in the three and one-half month session. In a party-line vote, the Minnesota Senate silenced the voices of Minnesotans by failing a bill that would put the issue of gay marriage on the ballot in November. I guess the DFL leaders in the state feel that we are incapable of deciding the issue of gay marriage. It is my hope that they cited their own elections as the reason why the people of Minnesota cannot be trusted with voting. In a party-line vote, the Minnesota Senate halted the progress of cleaning up the re-established Department of Education by failing to confirm the former Commissioner of Education, Cheri Pierson Yecke. After the realized failures of the Profiles of Learning and the Department of Children, Family, and Learning, there was an immense desire among many lawmakers to repeal to profiles and promote an agenda of change. Today, we are a state which repealed its education policy, and because of special interest groups, has no leadership for the future of education in Minnesota. The list goes on. We are left to wonder what rational explanation can be given to the political games played by the DFL? Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson (DFL-Willmar) seemed to sum it up pretty well, in my perspective, when two weeks ago he was quoted as saying, "Democrats aren’t up for election this year." There you have it. The Senators who are not up for election this year did not care about the people of Minnesota. Politics as usual if you ask me, dirty politics as usual. What can we do about it? First, I would suggest showing our appreciation of a responsible House of Representatives by sending back incumbent members. We also need to keep an eye on members of the Senate to make sure they are putting the interests of Minnesota before the interest of partisan politics. Maybe if we start keeping a closer watch on members, they would realize that the citizens of Minnesota are real people, and not pawns in whatever game they play. If they realize this, maybe they will take their session deadline seriously, and not spend the last few weeks of session having drinks with lobbyists. Joe Schomacker Luverne
