At a town hall meeting in Hutchinson on Saturday, state senator Scott Newman assured those in attendance that Senator Majority Leader Tom Bakk is so not letting the bill allowing the freedom to marry come to a floor vote, the Hutch Leader reports.
Also: representative Dean Urdahl (R-Grove City) wants Senate District 18 voters to know that some of Glencoe representative Glenn Gruenhagen's friends are straight people.
Bluestem is unsure when the Hutchinson Republican backbench senator became a DFL state caucus insider, but the sidebar report from Leader staff writer Jorge Sosa, Defining marriage, reads as if Newman claims to know the deepest sentiments in Bakk's heart:
Sen. Scott Newman thinks it will be a long shot for either a bill legalizing same-sex marriage or civil unions to come to the Senate floor for a vote this year.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, he said, may be a DFLer but he’s an Iron Ranger who hails from a fiscally liberal yet socially conservative district. “In the Senate, they’d have to get past (Bakk) and I doubt they can do it.”
Perhaps that's why Patrick Condon reported on April 5 in Group in Minnesota House DFL key to gay marriage fate:
All sides agree the House is the chamber to watch. Gay marriage has already survived a procedural vote in the full state Senate, suggesting enough votes to pass there, and Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk has said it’s on hold pending House passage.
In Hutchinson on Saturday, Newman--senate author of the ill-fated voter restriction amendment that with the marriage amendment that helped remove his party from power--was joined by SD18 representatives Urdahl and Gruenhagen. Urdahl was certain that the matter would come up for a vote in the House:
Rep. Dean Urdahl said he’s “pretty confident” it will come up for a vote in the House, although he and Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen will not vote in favor of either a same-sex marriage or civil union bill.
Gruenhagen assured the audience that some of his best friends were gay:
“Traditional marriage is the economic cornerstone of our civilization,” Gruenhagen said, and added, “I have gay friends and I have former gay friends who are now married with children — and there are thousands of them.”
Dean Urdahl wasn't comfortable with that assertion and moved to clarify the nature of Gruenhagen's friendships for those attending the town hall:
“Glenn, you also have some straight friends,” Urdahl quipped.
In March, Gruenhagen drew national attention when he misused a point of personal privilege to call Kevin Petersen to the attention of the Minnesota House. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reported that Gruenhagen's strange behavior drew gentle dismay from both Speaker Thissen and Minority Leader Daudt:
GOP House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt initially sidestepped questions about Gruenhagen's comments, but later issued a statement calling Gruenhagen's comments "inappropriate." He agreed with Thissen on the decision to stop allowing members to announce guests on the House floor.
Sosa also reports that Gruenhagen believes that cutting alleged fraud in the HHS budget can totally close a projected $627 million budget deficit in 2014-15. After all, $2.7 million of fraud was found in the system:
He cited findings by DHS inspector general Jerry Kerber, appointed in 2011 to identify fraud, waste and mismanagement in state health and welfare programs. “Inspector Kerber found $2.7 million of fraud in the system,” Gruenhagen said.
Bluestem agrees that fraud is a bad thing, but isn't certain that the other $623.3 million can be made up by eliminating fraud in the health and welfare programs, or through the needed cross-checking of eligibility discrepancies in public assistance programs that the Legislative Auditor has recommended.
Perhaps Gruenhagen could identify additional revenue sources that aren't taken out of the hide of Minnesota's poor and vulnerable.
Photo: Scott Newman (middle) and Dean Urdahl (right) keep straight faced while listening to Glenn Gruenhagen (left) talk at a town hall at the Hutch Cafe. Photo by Jorge Sosa.
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