Commentary; Posted: 6/21/06
Tidy session atones for past mistakes
Sometimes politicians do mean exactly what they say.
Even before the just completed legislative session began, leaders in flat, earnest tones spoke of the need for a tidy, speedy session.
If they wouldnít be finished in time to plant corn, theyíd certainly be home in time to spray the dandelions. There was that kind of talk.
The 2005 session, as might be remembered, set a standard of rancor and mulishness that lawmakers were not anxious to repeat with the elections short months away.
So updating Teddy Rooseveltís old saw to read ìSpeak softly and carry a big whisk broom,î lawmakers set to work on tidy agendas that ultimately focused on the possible, the obtainable.
Within the set boundaries, results were impressive, even historic.
The University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Twins got stadiums. No small matter.
A well-padded, $1 billion bonding bill was passed and here and there other bills of distinction or notoriety - the funeral protest bill, for instance - became law under watchful eyes.
But the presiding spirit of the session was to keep it tidy and keep it moving.
The debris swept aside tells the tale.
Messy, controversial issues like immigration, same-sex marriage, abortion - policy areas pulsing with partisanship - were whisked aside late session in favor of expediency.
Other issues that lacked a certain polish such as the so-called fraction or sales tax dedication bill, the transportation bill and the Vikings stadium proposal, fell victim to the spic and span.
So as the 2006 legislative session recedes into history, it departs with a sparkle, leaving a whiff of Mr. Clean hanging in the air.
Whether this tidiness atones for past messes at the Capitol is something voters will decide in November.
Meanwhile, smiling legislative leaders are standing on curiously lumpy rugs, refusing to move.
ó An opinion from the ECM Editorial Board. The Forest Lake Times is part of ECM Publishers, Inc.
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