MN State House
By Eric Ostermeier on June 24, 2009
The Minnesota House Republican's selection of Kurt Zellers (32B-Maple Grove) as their new Minority Leader may not be unusual in terms of the 4-term legislator's political ideology (conservative) or policy positions (pro tax cuts and fiscal responsibility), but it is unusual within the context of his electoral track record and...
By Eric Ostermeier on June 4, 2009
GOPer Marty Seifert (21A-Marshall) announced yesterday that he would be stepping down as Minority Leader of the House of Representatives on June 24th, explaining he did not think it was appropriate to represent his caucus while contemplating a new position - that of governor of the Gopher State. While stating...
By Eric Ostermeier on May 20, 2009
In his final media availability at the Capitol for 2009, House GOP Minority Leader Marty Seifert cast a very critical look in his (Tuesday) morning quarterbacking of the 86th Legislative session for 2009. Calling it "a session of lost opportunity," Seifert continuously employed downbeat prose in his review of the...
By Eric Ostermeier on May 19, 2009
One of the reasons cited by Governor Tim Pawlenty in his recent declaration that there will be no special session this year to resolve the state's budget crisis, is that he does not believe residents of the Gopher State should endure the additional costs associated with calling the legislature into...
By Eric Ostermeier on May 15, 2009
Governor Tim Pawlenty delivered a shot across the DFL's bow Thursday afternoon, or perhaps it was the dropping of an A-bomb, when he declared there would be no special sessions to resolve the state's budget matters and that, if need be, he would use his executive power of line-item vetoes...
By Eric Ostermeier on April 26, 2009
Although House DFLers were able to push through a tax bill on Saturday to raise approximately $1.5 billion in revenue for the State of Minnesota, 20 percent of its caucus peeled off to join the Republicans in voting against the legislation. The DFL was able to pass the tax hike...
By Eric Ostermeier on April 5, 2009
Smart Politics recently examined Governor Tim Pawlenty's approval rating and highlighted its remarkable strength and stability in the face of the current economic crisis. But Pawlenty's popularity is also noteworthy when viewed in the greater partisan environment of the Gopher State. A Smart Politics analysis of state and federal officeholders...
By Eric Ostermeier on April 3, 2009
In a colorful speech delivered at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs on Wednesday afternoon, Minnesota House Minority Leader Marty Seifert (HD 21A-Marshall) discussed some of the differences between a 'Marty Seifert Republican' and a 'Washington, D.C. Republican' as well as drew some policy distinctions between himself and Governor Tim...
By Eric Ostermeier on March 30, 2009
With the release of the DFL's budget earlier this month, the war of words (and policies) in the budget battle between the DFL leadership and Minnesota Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty has seemingly intensified. During her media availability last Friday, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher described her recent meeting with the...
By Eric Ostermeier on March 22, 2009
During the House DFL leadership's press conference last Thursday in which they unveiled the broad strokes of their balanced budget plan, Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Majority Leader Tony Sertich used biting language to characterize the budget plan of their political opponent, Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty. In defending their own...
By Eric Ostermeier on March 11, 2009
Although Minnesota has the 4th highest percentage of women serving in state legislatures nationwide, the Gopher State only ranks 40th in the country in terms of proportional representation of African-Americans in St. Paul. Out of the 201 legislators in the State House and Senate, only 2 members are black -...
By Eric Ostermeier on March 9, 2009
"The word-mincing going on around here gets creative." That was what Republican House Minority Leader Marty Seifert said at a media availability session last Friday in reference to 'Democratic-speak' and how he believes the DFL will seek to raise taxes, without saying they are about to raise taxes. Seifert...
By Eric Ostermeier on March 7, 2009
Unlike its Upper Midwestern neighbors, Minnesota continues to be among the nation's leading states in electing women to state legislative office, according an analysis by Smart Politics of data compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures. For the second straight election cycle, 34.8 percent of Representatives and Senators in...
By Eric Ostermeier on March 4, 2009
One of the frequent refrains heard throughout the DFL leadership this session has been a criticism of Governor Tim Pawlenty's budget as failing to be structurally balanced beyond the 2010-2011 fiscal years, and a disapproval of the Governor's use of one-term solutions, such as tobacco bonds, to facilitate the State's...
By Eric Ostermeier on March 2, 2009
8:05 a.m. Minnesota House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher is giving a talk at the Humphrey Institute this morning entitled, "Leading for Minnesota's Future." 8:08 a.m. Speaker Kelliher compares the time of her childhood in the 1970s and early 1980s to the current budget and financial crisis today. Her family had...
By Eric Ostermeier on March 1, 2009
The DFL's failure to secure a veto-proof majority in the State House in the 2008 elections means, among other things, that they are required to take more heed of Governor Tim Pawlenty's proposals in this session's battle over how to balance the budget (and how structurally balanced it should be...
By Eric Ostermeier on March 1, 2009
Although the new budget forecast for the state of Minnesota will not be released until Tuesday, state lawmakers are already confirming the doom and gloom that many Gopher State residents fear they will soon be facing. At the end of January, during the unveiling of his budget proposal, Governor Tim...
By Eric Ostermeier on February 26, 2009
The Rothenberg Political Report came out with its first U.S. House rankings for the 2010 election cycle on Wednesday, and both of Minnesota's competitive Republican-held Congressional districts made the list. Erik Paulsen's 3rd CD and Michele Bachmann's 6th CD are listed as "Republican favored" - two of ten GOP seats...
By Eric Ostermeier on February 13, 2009
In a media availability held at the Minnesota House Minority Leader's office Friday morning, Republican Marty Seifert expressed great 'disappointment' that voter ID, his caucuses' top priority on election reform, failed to get out of committee this week. Seifert is fairly confident his caucus will get another shot at...
By Eric Ostermeier on February 12, 2009
To the surprise of few, the House State and Local Government Operations Reform, Technology and Elections Committee voted down Republican Tom Emmer and Mary Kiffmeyer's "Voter Integrity Act of 2009" on Thursday morning by a vote of 11 to 8. The bill would have required residents to show a valid...
