MPR: The Art of No Deal

The Art of No Deal
by Michael Khoo
April 19, 2000

House Speaker Steve Sviggum says the unicameralism issue is dead, and for that Sviggum says the governor has no one to blame but himself.

GOVERNOR VENTURA BEGAN the day with a defensive maneuver: touring the state planning department, which has come under attack by House Republicans who want to cut its $4.4 million budget nearly in half. Afterwards, Ventura said the department plays an important role in charting a long-term course for the state. He said if legislators were so keen on reducing government, they should look elsewhere. "Maybe they ought to look into the mirror for a change instead of trying to micro-manage the executive branch of government," Ventura said.

Ventura has made unicameralism a top priority, but the issue remains stalled in the legislature. The governor said lawmakers had never been serious about unicameralism. "Maybe it was strictly lip service to start with because by everything I've seen out of the Legislature, they're not about to cut themselves," Ventura said. "They'll cut everything else but themselves first."

But House Speaker Steve Sviggum says his committment to unicameralism is real, is strong, and stretches back many years. Nonetheless, he says the issue is dead. And for that Sviggum says the governor has no one to blame but himself. Last week, Ventura vetoed an abortion-related bill angering many House Republicans who felt they had an agreement with the administration. Sviggum says that move makes it more difficult to promote the governor's initiatives, including unicameralism.

"I'll find it very difficult to spend my political capital doing that when caucus members will respond by saying, 'Well, why would you do that for the governor, why would you bend over and work so hard to bring that issue forward when in fact, you know, he just stuck it in our face last week, you know? And he didn't follow his word?'"

"The old style of government is, 'You do this for me and I'll do that for you,' and that isn't how I operate.My style of government is each bill stand on its merits alone, and I treat them all separately."

- Governor Ventura

Ventura insists neither he nor his staff made any commitments regarding the abortion bill. And he says it's disappointing to see lawmakers link it to unrelated issues. "You know, the old style of government is, 'You do this for me and I'll do that for you,' and that isn't how I operate," Ventura said. "My style of government is each bill stand on its merits alone, and I treat them all separately. Because I disagreed on one particular bill with one body of government doesn't necessarily mean I'll disagree with them on another bill that is completely different from the other. But that doesn't seem to be the case, at least by the posturing that's being done over there."

Last year, the governor succeeded in carrying many of his initiatives through the legislative session, including a sales tax rebate, light-rail transit, and tobacco money endowments. This year, most of his major proposals have foundered. He professes not to keep a legislative scorecard, but Speaker Sviggum believes otherwise. "I can't believe that the executive officer of the state, the CEO of the state, the governor of the state, who is elected to lead this state, does not care about the consequences and does not care about the product that's going to affect people's lives," he said. "I'm assuming he's caring. He needs to get engaged in the process. He needs to be involved here in Minnesota."

Ventura, for his part, says there's not much to negotiate. Disagreement over the amount of money available for tax cuts and permanent spending has become the main sticking point of the session. The state finance department puts the number at $549 million. But House Republicans are holding out for a higher figure. Ventura says until GOP leaders accept the finance number, there's nothing to discuss. And on that front, at least, he's found support from Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe.

"Once the House agrees to that, then I'm sure the governor's going to be very much engaged in -because he has some issues that he wants to see out of the budgeting process, just as the Senate and just as the House does," Moe said.

As yet, consensus remains elusive. When the session began, lawmakers anticipated wrapping up their work by Easter. Now, all three sides seem to have dug themselves in and are prepared to continue the session well into the next month.

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