T.W. Budig
ECM Capitol Reporter

Sen. Ray Vandeveer got what he wanted last week and more.

Vandeveer, a conservative Republican from Forest Lake, has been critical of a Jan. 10 Senate committee vote to increase daily allowance for state senators from $66 to $96 a day.

At a press conference on Feb. 12, Vandeveer played a video of a Senate floor debate — enlivened by a mocking tune — which accused the Senate DFL majority of thinking it “best to raise their pay behind the closed doors of the Rules Committee where they wouldn’t have to answer to the taxpayers.”

It also charged that DFL leaders silenced Vandeveer on the Senate floor.

The issue of the video, along with several of Vandeveer’s bills, surfaced during a testy meeting of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration on Thursday, Feb. 15.

As promised, committee chairman Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, heard Vandeveer’s bills. It’s his policy to hear all bills, Pogemiller noted.

A new vote

Indeed, after some inclusive debate, Pogemiller himself offered a resolution that gave Vandeveer what he wanted — votes on the floor.

“I’m willing to take the heat,” Pogemiller said of pursuing a floor vote on the daily allowance.

“I will take the responsibility,” he said.

Voting on salaries and benefits is a politically sensitive thing for elected officials.

But Pogemiller’s resolution will have the full Senate doing exactly that.

Those voting in the affirmative — voting green — will be paid the allowance without further action.

Those senators voting against will not be paid a daily allowance in any amount without a written request stating that amount, up to the maximum permitted.

“To his (Pogemiller) credit, I think he’s doing the right thing,” Vandeveer said after the hearing.

An apology

But the Republican freshman did not walk out the committee room before hearing sharp words directed at him.

“I was outraged,” said Pogemiller of the video. Pogemiller accused Vandeveer of bringing disrepute — a term often found in ethics complaints — to the Senate through a factually incorrect video.

Pogemiller persistently pointed out the Jan. 10 Rules Committee hearing was not held behind closed doors — it was entirely open.

The press was there. There public was there, he pointed out.

Pogemiller also dismissed Vandeveer’s assertion that he was silenced on the Senate floor. He depicted Vandeveer as forcing his legislation onto the Senate.

Vandeveer apologized several times, both personally to Pogemiller and to the Rules Committee, for the “behind closed doors” reference in the video.

That was a mistake, he explained.

He thought Senate staff had taken that part out, he said.

Vandeveer received little support from Republicans serving on the Rules Committee during the prolonged exchange with Pogemiller.

Senate Minority Leader David Senjem, R-Rochester, at one point argued the closed doors reference was intended to portray a general scheme of things rather than an actuality.

“Frankly, I’m tired of listening to this,” said Sen. Gen Olson, R-Minnetrista, at one point during the exchange.

If Pogemiller and Vandeveer wanted to fight, they can go elsewhere, she said.

“I’m not afraid of him,” Vandeveer said of Pogemiller in the Capitol corridor after the hearing.

But Pogemiller isn’t afraid of him either, Vandeveer added with a thin smile.

“I think the people of Minnesota are served by this,” Vandeveer said of the committee action.

Now it’s a matter of seeing the resolution come to the Senate floor, he explained.

While repeatedly saying the use of “closed doors” phrase in the video was wrong, Vandeveer stuck to his assertion he was silenced on the floor debate.

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