Commentary; Posted: 3/12/03

Conservative agenda sees methodical advance

T.W. Budig
ECM Capitol Reporter

Legislation that constitutes a conservative social agenda is advancing in the Legislature. And its advance is not independent of the times.

Two pieces of legislation ó the so-called 24-hour waiting and concealed carry bills ó stand good chances of being enacted this session.

This is especially true of the former. The waiting bill, which would require certain medical information be supplied a woman prior to an abortion, is speedily advancing in the Republican House.

Twice vetoed by Gov. Ventura, its passage in the DFL-controlled Senate is likely, according to Senate Majority Leader John Hottinger, DFL-St. Peter.

Itís more a question of what final form it will take, he indicated.

The debate over the bill has been emotional; some House Republican lawmakers wept after Gov. Ventura vetoed the bill the first time, believing they had reached a compromise with the governor.

No gubernatorial roadblocks exist with Gov. Pawlenty.

Concealed carry is more uncertain. Passage of the bill in the House, which makes applying for a concealed carry gun permit more of a procedural matter, seems assured.

The Senate will be the real battleground for the legislation.

Sen. Leo Foley, DFL-Coon Rapids, on the Senate floor promised Sen. Pat Pariseau, R-Farmington, that her bill would receive a hearing.

The bill is not on the committee schedule this week.

Foley questions whether the bill would pass his Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee. Conservative Senate DFLers have indicated that if a concealed carry bill reaches the Senate floor, it will pass by a handful of votes.

Pariseau attempted to bypass the committee and bring the bill directly to the Senate floor.

But the attempt failed.

Less problematic is the repeal of the Profile of Learning.

This week, Children, Families and Learning Commissioner Cheri Pierson Yecke will present the first proposed installment of the new statewide educational standards to the Legislature.

Conservatives hail the standards as being more fact-centered ó allowing classroom teachers more freedom as to mode of instruction.

Repeal of the politically drenched Profile seems a foregone conclusion. And with the repeal, conservatives can check off a promise that has been prominently displayed on their campaign brochures for several election cycles.

(Their trust of local school boards is not boundless, as the patriotically prescriptive pledge of allegiance legislation illustrates.)

So a number of initiatives that arguably form a conservative social agenda are posed for passage.

What changed from previous legislative sessions? For one thing, the Republican electoral romp of last November.

For anyone who thought otherwise, elections matter.

Still, the frontier markers may have appeared in recent days showing where the hinterland of the conservative agenda begins.

Gov. Pawlenty, for one, apparently has drawn the line on Rep. Arlon Lindnerís bill (carried in the Senate by Sen. Michael Jungbauer, R-East Bethel) to strike sexual orientation as a protected class in the stateís human rights act.

A Republican spokesman said he sensed no groundswell of support for Lindnerís bill within the House Republican caucus.

Last week, bill opponents gathered in the Capitol for what was as large of an indoor rally yet seen this session.

Among Democrats speaking eloquently against the legislation was House Minority Leader Matt Entenza, DFL-St. Paul, whose rhetorical skills in recent weeks has provided something of an anchor for a party whose leadership seems adrift.

The conservative agenda has advanced in less of a rush than methodically ó step by step, coaxed forward by beckoning poll results.

It represents something larger and perhaps more enduring than the musings of one corner of the caucus room.

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