Virtual File - Item

Text: April 23, 2018

The Honorable Kurt Daudt
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Room 463, State Office Building
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155

The Honorable Paul Gazelka
Senate Majority Leader
Room 3113 Minnesota Senate Building
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155

Dear Speaker Daudt and Majority Leader Gazelka:

We now have less than a month to conclude the work of this Legislative Session. I
am still waiting for the bills that I asked you to expedite, including legislation that would:
protect elderly and vulnerable adults from abuse and neglect; ensure the safety of our
schoolchildren; address our state's opioid crisis and save lives; and stabilize the pensions
of over 511,000 Minnesota workers and retirees. I urge you again to pass these measures
without delay.

Unfortunately, it appears that the very important work you do on behalf of
Minnesotans will be jammed into just a few weeks. These excessive delays will impede
the transparency of the legislative process and deny Minnesotans the ability to engage in
testimony and public debate on matters of great significance to them. Delaying will only
increase the likelihood of errors in bills and rush important policy and budget decisions
that need careful consideration.

As we look to the final weeks ahead, I want to outline the parameters that I believe
will allow us to come to a productive and timely conclusion to the Legislative Session.
Transparency and Accountability in End-of-Session Negotiations -
First, I ask that we prioritize transparency and public accountability in our
end-of-session negotiations. Bills should be negotiated in Conference
Committees that are open to the public and allow public participation. They
is the appropriate places for my Commissioners and members of the public
to provide feedback on the bills you are developing.

All Offers Must Be Made in Writing - Further, all offers that are
exchanged between the Conference Committees and my Commissioners
should be conveyed in writing and made available to the public. It will
minimize confusion, clarify our positions, and ultimately expedite our
decision-making.

Bills Must Be Available for Public Review - Before final negotiated bills
are voted on, they should be posted and publicly available for review for at
least 24 hours. The public deserves to know what is in these proposals, and
Legislators and Administration officials need time to review the bills for
errors and to ensure they accurately reflect our negotiated agreements.

Negotiations Must Include Commissioners and Minority
Representatives - I insist that our negotiations include Members of the
Minority and my Commissioners. Each member of the Legislature was
elected to represent the interests of her/his constituents, and it is imperative
that those Minnesotan voices are brought to the table in negotiations. It will
expedite the process and lead to favorable outcomes, if you include your
colleagues and my Cabinet Members up-front.

House and Senate Must Agree on Unified Positions - Prior to the
Executive Branch engaging in final negotiations with the Legislative
Branch, the Legislature must first establish unified positions on budget bills
and other key legislation. I will not engage the House and Senate separately
in three-way negotiations. Rather, I expect to negotiate with the Legislative
Branch as a whole, once a unified position is established on any given bill.

Joint Budget Targets Must be Reached No Later than May 11- In order
to facilitate a constructive end the Legislative Session, we need to set joint
budget targets. I suggest that Legislative Leaders and I agree on final joint
budget targets no later than Friday, May 11, 2018. This will require the
Legislature to set its targets by Friday, May 4, 2018 to provide at least a full
week for our two branches to negotiate. This timetable will allow 10 days
to finalize our work on supplemental budget items and a Tax Bill, based
upon our joint budget targets. If we use the final week of session to
reconcile the finer points of the budget bills, we will accomplish what we
set out to do: pass fiscally responsible Supplemental Budget and Tax Bills
before the end of the Legislative Session on May 21, 2018.

Setting and abiding by these parameters serve not only our better interests, but also
the public's interests. Conducting our work with higher measures of transparency and
public accountability will produce better results for the people of Minnesota. And setting
achievable, responsible deadlines for concluding our work is essential to avoid the lastminute
confusion, clashes, and mistakes, which hinder needed progress, and of which
Minnesotans are rightly tired.

Finally, I remind you again that I will veto any budget bills, which contain
objectionable policy provisions or cut the operating budgets of state agencies. As I have
said repeatedly, policy bills should travel separately and be debated and negotiated, based
on their own merits. If you wish to send those policy measures to me, please send them
separately and send them soon. And, with a $329 million surplus, cuts to state agencies
are entirely unwarranted. Agency budgets were negotiated and agreed to last year, and I
will not reconsider those decisions.

I urge you not to waste what little time remains in this Legislative Session by
sending me bills that contain provisions I have clearly indicated I will veto. If you must,
please do so as soon as possible, so that ample time remains to consider proposals, to which
we can all agree, before your Constitutional deadline for adjournment.

As I have said earlier, I will not call a Special Session.

There is still time remaining in this Session for Legislators to debate publicly and
act on legislation, upon which we can all agree. Minnesotans want and deserve a
Legislature that is able to complete its work in a timely fashion. I urge you to do that work
now, without further delays.

I look forward to coming to agreement on a shared framework for achieving a
timely and productive conclusion of the 2018 Legislative Session.

Sincerely,
Mary Dayton
Governor

cc: The Honorable Tom Bakk, Senate Minority Leader
The Honorable Melissa Hortman, House Minority Leader