Legislators learn the tangled ropes
Dan
Wascoe -
Star Tribune
Published July 5, 2005
In January, three suburban moms moved into the State Office Building
as
legislative freshmen. They'd studied school finances for years and
advocated vocally for their kids' schools. Now they're six-month
veterans who have climbed a steep learning curve at the Capitol and at
home. They've endured a mix of frustration, pressure and exhilaration,
occasionally crossing their DFL leaders in the House. And they value
the
support they've received to keep their households going.
Rep. Denise Dittrich, DFL-Champlin, who has three kids, hired extra
help
at home. Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, complains that
making
laws isn't as orderly or fair as her old job practicing law. Rep.
Maria
Ruud, DFL-Minnetonka, expects to decompress after final adjournment by
staring at a blank wall.
All three agree that legislators should have finished their work on
time, avoiding the special session. Symbolically, none of the three is
accepting the special-session pay for which legislators are eligible.
As newcomers in the House minority party, they learned to cope
simultaneously with legislating, parenting and living. They also
learned
that to help their districts, they sometimes had to vote against the
insistent wishes of their caucus leaders.
They say they are heartened by what they describe as a flickering of
collaboration and moderation that they hope will grow and help avoid
the
political standoffs that have blocked House action in recent years. Dittrich, Hortman and Ruud are this year's freshmen with strong
education connections. They're among at least 25 members (15 DFLers,
10
Republicans) who have come to the Legislature with experience on
school
boards, classrooms, parent action groups and such. But they've had to
deal with differing views on education matters. And they've had to
learn
and vote on other issues ranging from power lines to ethanol to
minimum
wage.
Mary Cecconi, a former Stillwater school board member who heads the
Parents United Network, said she has watched the three struggle with
their votes. They have come to realize the need to consider "the whole
of a state," she said. Nevertheless, she added, "They all seem to be
really very much dedicated to their [local] constituencies."
House Speaker Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon, said the three DFL freshmen may
have found it "eye-opening" that positions they favored on education
issues were supported more strongly by Republicans than by their own
party. At the same time, he said, they may have felt frustrated and
learned that "nobody gets everything the way they want it."
***Rep. Karen Klinzing, R-Woodbury, is a legislative sophomore who
understands. She's a Bloomington high school social studies teacher
who
campaigned in 2002 because of what she called her passion for
education
and disenchantment with the application of the Profile of Learning, an
experience-based system of education.
Once in office she found that getting things done at the Capitol "is
very incremental" because it takes awhile to build trust, develop
relationships and educate other members about certain issues. She said
she has seen progress and momentum on some issues as a sophomore that
she did not see during her first session.
One of her bills this year would require that 65 percent of public
schools' operational dollars be spent in the classroom--a measure
whose
fate rests in a House-Senate conference committee.
But she said her most meaningful victories have come on issues she
never
expected. One allows the parents of stillborn infants to receive a
birth
certificate. The other allowed students to carry epinephrine, normally
a
drug that must be locked up, as a countermeasure to potentially fatal
allergic reactions.
Those bills "might not be huge in the big scheme of things," she said,
but they meant a lot to those involved.
She has gotten to know DFLers Dittrich, Hortman and Ruud better than
she
did some Republicans in her own freshman class, she said.
"I've approached them" on some measures "and they've done likewise,"
she
said, adding, "We have to be careful to not judge a person's character
on their political philosophy. There will be issues on which those
with
conservative or liberal philosophies, believe it or not, will
converge."
It doesn't require a moderate bloc or core to reach across the aisle,
she said, but it does take a willingness to oppose someone on
philosophical grounds "and still be friends."
Sviggum said that it's important to reach out and build coalitions but
that it is "more important to have leaders than moderates" because
moderates also can be regarded as "wishy-washy" and "not standing for
anything."
As legislators waited for a negotiated agreement by House and Senate
leaders and Gov. Tim Pawlenty on key financial and policy issues,
Dittrich, Hortman and Ruud talked about the lessons of their first
terms.
Rep. Denise Dittrich, DFL-Champlin
Home: Champlin
Occupation: Homemaker
Education: B.S., elementary education, University of Minnesota
Elected: 2004
Committees: Education Policy and Reform, Transportation
Dittrich, a former teacher and Anoka-Hennepin school board member, was
pleased to be appointed to the two committees she most coveted:
Education Policy and Reform and Transportation. She was one of only
two
DFL freshmen named to one of the House's 32 conference committees,
according to the office of Speaker Steve Sviggum.
She supported a bonding bill that will help build the North Star
commuter rail line -- an issue in her campaign. Her predecessor
opposed
the project. Dittrich also is hopeful that schools will emerge with
more
state money this session. Those results alone would constitute
success,
she said. But she acknowledged it has been difficult sometimes to decide: "Do I
vote for the party, my district or our own principles? ... It's a
lonely
place to be some days."
She bucked DFL leaders by voting for a Republican-backed education
bill
that provided a tempting sweetener: $4 million in the next two years
for
a pilot project in her Anoka-Hennepin School District, the state's
largest. She could not refuse the offer, she said, because the
district
needs more than it gets from state formulas that do not reflect the
district's circumstances.
Her own circumstances have led her to rely on a cell phone, an
electronic e-mailer and scheduler and a reminder "to bring enough cash
to have something to eat. ... I did not realize [the job] would be
full-time in the day and in the evening."
Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park
Home: Brooklyn Park
Occupation: Lawyer, family businessperson
Education: B.A., political science/philosophy, Boston University;
J.D.,
University of Minnesota
Elected: 2004
Committees: Environment and Natural Resources, Transportation
Of the three, Hortman was most critical of "the pretend world" of the
Legislature. She doesn't like being expected to stand in line behind
her
party's leadership, she said, although "it is very difficult to make
your party unhappy." But she did, voting for the same bill that
Dittrich
did to gain extra money for Anoka-Hennepin.
She also does not appreciate "gotcha scheduling" -- meetings called on
short notice if one side thinks it can gain an advantage.
The special session "has infuriated me," she said, because the process
of relying on data to make decisions and of hearing pros and cons
gives
way to "a dictatorship of three": the leaders of the House and Senate
and the governor, she said. "In the special session they have all the
power."
Meanwhile, she has tried to get to know Republican colleagues
personally
because "relationships are the basis for getting things done."
Even so, she said that "proposals have gotten crossover votes because
of
what's in them," not as the result of deals.
Hortman, once a staff member for U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.,
criticized "the rural/metro divide" because Twin Cities area
legislators
seem to begrudge aid to the outstate areas whose agriculture and
mining
"helped build this state."
Rep. Maria Ruud, DFL-Minnetonka
Home: Minnetonka
Occupation: Nurse practitioner
Education: B.S.N., nursing, University of Minnesota; M.S.N., nursing,
University of California, San Francisco
Elected: 2004
Committees: Education Policy and Reform, Regulated Industries
Ruud, a practical nurse, plastered her office walls with art from
schoolchildren in her district -- "a reminder of why I'm here."
Like her two colleagues, she voted for the House education bill
because
"it was a way to move the process forward" by allowing districts to
raise more property taxes than currently permitted. But DFL leaders
"wanted me to be aware that I may be angering and isolating certain
special-interest groups." She said she appreciated that some of those groups understood that
"there's a difference between being an activist and a representative."
With a 12-year-old and 14-year-old at home, she said, she appreciated
the help of relatives and friends to get her through the session: "It
takes a village to help your representative survive."
One of her frustrations, she said, was with the Legislature's "glacial
pace."
"I understand strategy and why things don't happen," she said, "but I
don't understand why they can't."
She added that in the legislative give and take, "you hold your nose,"
although "you don't want to compromise your integrity."
Nevertheless, she said, "I'm not one of those who sees compromise as
failure."
Dan Wascoe is at
dwascoe@startribune.com.
(c) Copyright 2005 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
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