Update: May 6, 2014:
SF1614 passed in the Minnesota on a 48-18 vote; the margin is veto-proof.
The whip count "no" tally was one vote off as unknown/undecided Senators broke "yes," regardless of party.
The wide, bipartisan vote makes us wonder: why isn't Carly Melin showing the political courage to bring the Senate's companion bill, HF1818, to a vote in the House?
Instead, she seems chained to the cop-lobbyist sanctioned "compromise" observational study that would at most serve around 5,000 Minnesotans as opposed to the 35,000 or so people who may have their suffering eased by the Senate bill.
The House should rewind and get HF1818 (amended to match SF1641' final engrossment) on the floor. Melin has said in the past that the house version had the votes to pass. Quit playing patty-cake with law enforcement and get 'er done.
Update; May 5, 2014:
The bill is heading to the Senate floor, date TBA, after being heard in the full Senate Finance Committee and passing on a 14-7 roll call vote.
Here's the vote on the motion to recommend the bill to passed by the Senate:
Affirmative (Bipartisan)
Chair Cohen
Bonoff
Champion
Dibble
Latz
Lourey
Newman
Nienow
Pappas
Saxhaug
Sieben
Stumpf
Tomassoni
Wiger
Negative (All GOP)
Anderson
Fischbach
Ingebrigtsen
Limmer
Miller
Pederson
Westrom
These new committee votes leave the Whip Count at Yes: 27; No: 16; Undecided/Unknown, 23.
Update: SF1641 is moving through committees on the way to the Senate floor. It's more important than ever that Minnesotans ask their state senators about their position on the bill.[end update]
As Bluestem noted in our Minnesota House medical marijuana people's whip count:
The Minnesota legislature reconvenes Tuesday, April 22, and will scramble to conclude business by the end of day on May 18. One high profile issue, the legalization of medical marijuana, enjoys overwhelming popular support, according to recent polling.
And yet as Forum Communications' veteran political reporter Don Davis reports in his Minnesota political notebook: Minnesota marijuana issue remains clouded. Davis writes:
Medical marijuana legislation stalled in the Legislature until Dayton told reporters that lawmakers were “hiding behind their desks” from the issue. That prompted Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, D-Cook, to kick the issue into committee meetings.
The Senate measure awaits a vote, while a House bill sits in a committee.
Dayton says he will not sign a medical marijuana bill until law enforcement and medical organizations get behind one.
The Minnesota House whip count can be found here.
Curious where your state senator stands? Senate rules only allow five people to author a bill, so we don't quite have the same amount of information as we do for where House members stand.
Bluestem is asking readers to help fill in the blanks If your state senator hasn't gone on record on the bill, please politely contact her or him (click on the link under the names; if you don't know who represents you in the Minnesota Senate, click here) and ask her or him where she or he stands on SF1641.
When you get an answer, please email Bluestem your answer at sally.jo.sorensen {at} gmail.com or leave the answer in our comments.
We won't publish your name or comment (absolutely NO temporary, fake, or spoofed emails acccepted in comments), but we do need to have documentation of constituent contact before we add the information you've collected to the Whip Count chart below the fold (click on the "continue reading" link if you can't see the chart):
|
Senator |
Supports SF1641 |
Media |
Notes |
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NO in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm |
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(serving in House) |
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Yes/media |
Post Bulletin 4/8 |
Majority Leader; will bring to floor vote |
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Yes/media Yes/ media report on Health, Human Services and Housing committee hearing
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CBS MN 4/10 |
NEW: Yes vote in HHS committee hearing on Dibble bill 4/25 |
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Yes in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm |
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Likely/ media |
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Yes in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm |
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Yes on vetoed 2009 bill (serving in House) |
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Yes in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm |
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Yes/email to constituent |
KYMN Radio 2/28 Didn’t think it would come up this session |
"I voted for the bill in committee earlier this week. I am supporting the bill."
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No/media |
5/3 |
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Author of bill yes/ 4/25 committee hearing Yes in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm |
Pioneer Press 4/25/2014 |
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No/ media report on Health, Human Services and Housing hearing |
Pioneer Press 4/25/2014 |
Negative remarks in Senate committee NEW: No vote in HHS committee hearing on Dibble bill |
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Co-author of bill |
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Yes on vetoed 2009 bill (serving in the House) |
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NO in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm |
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Eden Prairie News 2/26 |
Undecided, needed to learn more |
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No /Media No/ Media tweet |
Medical marijuana advocates really want to legalize pot |
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Co-author of bill |
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Supports medical marijuana if enough safeguards in place |
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No/ Media |
Eden Prairie News 2/20 |
Supports law enforcement position |
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Yes/ 4/25 committee hearing |
Pioneer Press 4/25/2014 |
(serving in House) |
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Yes/constituent meeting Yes/ 4/25 committee hearing |
Pioneer Press 4/25/2014 |
supports bill as amended with seed tracking, other controls |
|
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Undecided/ email |
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"I've been listening to both sides, and I'll be interested in what the final bill language actually says. " |
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NO 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm No/ colleague letter |
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Yes if no smoking and home growing |
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(serving in the House) |
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(serving in the House) |
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Yes in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm |
Sun Sailor 2/13 Supports idea, needs to be well controlled |
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No/ conversation with constituent NO in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm |
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No in committee |
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Yes/ 4/25 committee hearing Yes in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm |
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Yes/ 4/25 committee hearing |
Appears to be yes |
||
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Yes/ One-to-one individual 4/ 29 |
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NO in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm |
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No/media No/ 4/35 committee hearing |
KAAL-TV 3/4 Pioneer Press 4/25/2014 |
Hasn’t seen evidence it’s credible medicine |
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Yes in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm No/media |
Independent Review 4/25 |
wants Board of Pharmacy review; against dispensaries;shares law enforcement's concerns |
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Yes in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm |
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No/media |
Chaska Herald 2/26 |
||
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No/media |
Chaska Herald 2/26 |
Could support if controls much tighter |
|
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Yes in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm |
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Yes in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm no to bill/ media |
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Co-author of bill NEW: yes/ email to constituent |
|
From email to constituent: "I do intend on voting for this bill if given the opportunity." |
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Shakopee News 2/14 Could support with right controls |
Believes medical marijuana good for some illnesses |
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Yes on vetoed 2009 bill (serving in the House) |
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Yes/email to constituent |
Sun Post 2/21 |
" I am hopeful we can move on this issue yet this year." |
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No/ colleague letter No/ media report on Health, Human Services and Housing committee hearing |
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Yes in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm |
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undecided/ constituent email |
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" I won't decide my vote until I see the final bill and amendments and listen to the testimony." Yes on vetoed 2009 bill (serving in the House) |
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KAAL-TV 3/ 4 Doctors must tightly control use |
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Yes/ 4/25 committee hearing |
MFP, 3/15 Positive, but wants controls |
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Yes in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm |
MNMCC 4/9/2013 supported general idea but no bill yet |
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Austin Herald 2/3 On fence |
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Yes in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm |
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No/ media |
SCTimes/AP 3/24 |
Running for governor/ says he doesn’t support any current bill |
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Co-author of bill Yes in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm |
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NO in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm |
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(serving in the House) |
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Yes in 5/5 hearing in Finance Comm Yes/ constituent email and letter |
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Yes/ 4/25 committee hearing |
Pioneer Press 4/25/2014 |
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TOTALS |
Yes (media/constituents, committee votes): 27 No (media/constituents. committee votes): 17 Unknown/Undecided: 23 |
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2009 vetoed bill votes, either chamber Yes:23 No: 14 |
UPDATE: We've added today's votes on sending the amendment to the whip count, although a "yes" vote isn't a guarantee that the Senator will vote "Yes" on the final bill. This being the case, we've added new "yes" and "no" categories in the totals for those Senators for whom the committee vote is the only record of a stand.
If no information about the 2009 medical marijuana vote appears next to a senator's name, that individual wasn't serving in either the Senate or the House.
Photo: Senator Scott Dibble, author of SF1641, the senate version of the medical marijuana bill.
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