Remember how much new stuff was crammed into conference committee bills at the end of the session?
According to Bill Ingebrigtsen (R-Alexandria), that so didn't happen. The elimination of the MPCA Citizens Board? The bonding bill? Jobs and energy, rushed at the last minute to the House chambers? Here's that moment enshrined on YouTube by The Uptake:
Nothing to see here, the retired Douglas County told the Fergus Falls Daily Journal in Local politicians dispute claims of legislative chaos:
Ingebrigtsen rejected concerns that bills were being passed without enough time for legislators to be aware of the content.
“With a more even government, there had to be some give and take,” he said.
What it comes down to in the final days of the session is deal making over issues that have been thoroughly discussed, he said.
Ingebrigtsen said there is a enough blame to go around for both parties.
Will the talking point for 2016 be "A pox on both our parties, but the cankers on those guys over there are a lot worse than ours?" Or will citizens demand that the process become more transparent and directed toward the needs of Minnesotans rather than special interests and hirelings?
Photo: State senator Bill Ingebrigtsen, listening to the industrial hemp discussion on April 8. Photo by Don Davis.
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The last time I checked, "thorough discussion" meant more than a thirty-second conversation in the atrium outside the chambers.
Posted by: Mike Worcester | Jul 10, 2015 at 03:46 PM