Mr. Dahle Goes to St. Paul

Today we processed bills.  Many bills.  We took up 91 bills from Senate General Orders today, between 10am and 5pm, without a break.  The general orders are really the second reading of the bills.  Debate occurs, amendments are added, but generally most of these bills will move along after a voice vote.  In a couple of days, these bills will show up for a final reading and we will cast our electronic vote.  What kind of bills are being passed?  If there were 91 bills there were 91 topics.   Here is a sampling:

• a bill providing farm implements to comply with bridge maximum allowable weights
• a bill providing minimum statewide standards for local ordinances on long term disability parking
• a bill upadating the State Veteran’s Cemetary statutes
• a bill allowing dogs at outdoor restaurants
• a bill eliminating the Dept. of Employee Relations (duties to be tranferred to the Commissioner of Finance and Adminstration)
• a bill prohibiting health care providers from directly contacting individuals injured in an auto accident in order to convince the person to receive treatment
• legislation requiring insurers to provide written notification to customers that their homeowners insurance policy does not cover flood damage
• a bill that allows for the Dan Patch commuter rail line be included in future planning and discussion at the Metropolitan Council, MnDot, and regional and county rail authorities

These last 2 bills were bills I had authored and while they both passed, the Dan Patch line bill did have some extended discussion on the Senate floor.  A couple of Senators from the northern end of the Dan Patch line are still opposed to any further study or discussion of this line.  There are cities who oppose a commuter rail line in their backyard and would not like to see this particular option revived.  As I mentioned in the “debate,” this bill allows those entities mentioned to professionally prepare long-range transit plans that would identify ALL potential future transitways and not exclude one based solely by legislative decree.

  A lot of discussion took place on a variety of topics as we processed the bills that found their way to the Senate floor today.  Another important vote will occur on these general orders before we send them to the Governor for his approval or veto. 

Tomorrow we will take up a couple of bills: the tax bill and the bonding bill.  We may spend as much time in the Senate chamber tomorrow as we did today.