by John Sucansky
Thisweek Newspapers

Was the Minnesota Legislature's special session worth it?

"Never. How can you say it was worth it. It was horrible for state workers, horrible for legislators' families and horrible for the state,î said Rep. Mary Liz Holberg, R-Lakeville.

In retrospect, Holberg said some compromise was reached between the House and the Senate, but at a cost greater than the outcome.

Her project, a transportation bill, was vetoed by the governor. She said she begged and begged for it to be passed, but it was too easy to veto.

"The governor may have been talked into something more reasonable,î but her bill didn't have a chance, she said.

A cigarette tax was increased, which Holberg saw as a regressive tax that challenges the people least likely to be able to afford it. She did not support the tax increase, but it was an option that was easier to swallow for most, she said.

Another failed enterprise was a proposal for the gas tax and structured tab fees. She said she wanted people to support what was possible, not perfect and that there was a need for legislators to be more realistic.

This bill never made it out of committee, she said. With consumers moving toward hybrid vehicles and the fluctuations of gas prices, her first choice was the tab fee. She said economists have reported the gas tax will be the dinosaur for funding transportation soon.

The state is ripe for reform in some areas though, she said. Minnesota has the Cadillac of health care systems and she doesn't believe the state can continue to fund it at the current level. She believes reforms are needed here.

She's looking forward to not starting the next session until March of 2006 though. Holberg said the longer break, coming out of a special session, should help bring legislators back to looking at the real issues.

The House, during the regular session this year, met all of the committee deadlines, but Holberg said the only hope for avoiding a special session in the future, might be to look for a law or agreement that the House and Senate meet a joint target deadline together.

This might avoid situations that occurred this year like her example of the House finance chair who had all the bills out months in advance and spent time waiting in frustration.

She said there will also be very little to do in the next session and the bonding bill will be the major focus.

A highlight out of this recent session for Holberg was the work done to accomplish the Comprehensive Incident Based Reporting System (CIBRS), which corrected the problem law enforcement agencies had with their old reporting system that conflicted with data privacy.

Holberg said the Police Chief's Association had to shut down the old system because it was illegal.

Working with the Legislature, the law enforcement community was able to develop CIBRS to meet current legal needs. The first reporting system had no legislative oversight, she said. Now, law enforcement agencies will once again have a way to share information among each other in Minnesota within the legal boundaries.

In the future, Holberg said no to another special session, but if there has to be one someday, she said it should only last a day.

John Sucansky is at lakeville.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.

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