Positively politics

Skogen and Nornes talk about the issues, the mood of legislators as they get down to business, and their optimism for the session

By Amie Steffen | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, January 6, 2007

As new and returning Senate and House members converged on the state capital this week, Otter Tail County’s representatives were eager to get right to work.

“I’m learning on the fly, but it’s very exciting,” Sen. Dan Skogen (DFL-Dist.10) said after being sworn in as a freshman Minnesota legislator.

And despite returning for a sixth term, Rep. Bud Nornes (R-Dist.10A) is also feeling the anticipation of the unknown. With the Democrat-Farmer-Labor party now in power, Nornes said he and other Republicans must be open to compromise so as to avoid the deadlocks that have haunted past sessions.

“When I go to work every day, I approach it in the same way: We have a certain amount of work to do, and in the end we’re going to support the best ideas,” Nornes said. “My goal is, in my 11th year, to do the very best we can.”

An ambitious priority list, drawn up by the Senate DFL leadership (see sidebar), is expected to carry its weight in this session largely because of the funding available to legislators. In previous sessions, the state had to contend with massive program cuts to get out of debt.

“A part of it was (that) $4 billion deficit,” Skogen said. “Just the mood around here — and I’ve never served before — I hear them talk about how it’s more upbeat. We’re not still handcuffed by the deficit.”

But they might also not have as much as they hoped. Skogen said the $2.2 billion state surplus projected last year might actually come out to be less than half of that once the official revenue forecast comes out in February.

“That’s likely to be, best case, maybe a billion because some of that money didn’t have inflation factored in,” he said. “Once they see how the state is progressing, then we’ll have a more real(istic) number.”

Nornes contends the revenue forecast will still show the state has around $2 billion to handle, but that only about half of that will be sustainable.

“We need to make sure when we leave, we have used that surplus wisely,” he said, noting he’s heard the Senate has already put up property tax reform as the first issue on the table.

A big focus this year for both Nornes and Skogen is education. Nornes is the lead Republican on the E-12 Education and Higher Education committees, and said plans are in the works to freeze tuition for post-secondary students. Skogen supports all-day, every-day kindergarten in Minnesota’s public schools and says it’s his “top priority.”

“We should focus on students, how we can take care of education, make it better than it is,” Nornes said.

One bill some say is likely to gain steam this year is a proposed statewide smoking ban in the workplace, called the Freedom to Breathe Act, likely to pass due to the DFL majority but it makes business-friendly Republicans wary.

“I have been opposed to a statewide ban, and need to be convinced otherwise,” Nornes was quoted previously by The Daily Journal as saying.

“I’d have to see the bill, although I would not be opposed to a smoking ban,” Skogen said, noting there could be exceptions for restaurants or bars. “I don’t think we want to shoot too many holes in it. I’d support it if it makes sense.”

But, Nornes cautioned, the public shouldn’t expect a larger-than-usual amount of legislation to come out of this session simply because the Democrats are in control — nor should they expect more disagreements and stalemates.

“To me, that’s been overblown in past years. We’ve tried to get along,” Nornes said. “In the end, what we want to do and (what) they want to do is the same.”

If that’s true, the veteran Republican representative and the rookie DFL senator may have more in common than just the region they serve. And that’s good, if they want to pass significant legislation to benefit Minnesota.

“I expect to learn a lot, I expect to go slow, I expect to develop some relationships that allow me to reach consensus on issues that are important to me — and that’s going to take time,” Skogen said. “So far, it’s going really well.”

For Nornes, it’s all about doing the job he was elected to do.

“The issues I’m personally dealing with are not crazy and wild, so I’m expecting to have some success,” Nornes said. “I have high expectations, and expect to be completing the work that I have successfully.”