The days since the election have been bountiful with the periodic release of new tidbits of information on the upcoming legislature. This of course creates a great opportunity for policy wonks to discuss what that means for their causes – in our case a clean and healthy environment. Since I’ve been able to be a part of some of these conversation, I can turn around and post some of the talk here with hopes of appearing smart. The most recent news? House Republican leadership, House committee chairs, and Senate DFL committee members.
House Republican Leader
The House Republicans have chosen Representative Marty Seifert (from Marshall) as their Minority Leader. About the only thing I really know about him is that he almost didn’t run for reelection. But since I posted something on the other legislative leaders, I thought I’d mention him too because of his importance. He was the third most powerful Republican in the House last session and I believe some considered him the “status quo” choice for the caucus – so choosing him is a bit of a surprise to me. Nonetheless, given the power dynamics created by the DFL to Republican ratio in the House, environmentally-friendly Republicans should have quite a bit of room to vote their desires and so I’d expect a pretty cordial relationship between environmental and conservation advocates and Minority Leader Seifert.
House Committee Chairs
Yesterday, the House DFL released their listing of committees and the respective chairs. The committees that should see the bulk of environmental legislation include (in alphabetical order):
- Agriculture, Rural Economies, and Veterans Affairs Budget Division – Chair Rep. Al Juhnke (Wilmar)
- Agriculture, Rural Economies, and Veterans Affairs Policy Division – Rep. Mary Ellen Otremba (Long Prairie)
- Capitol Investments – Chair Alice Hausman (St. Paul)
- Energy Finance and Policy – Rep. Bill Hilty (Finlayson)
- Energy and Natural Resources Finance – Rep. Jean Wagenius (Minneapolis)
- Environment Policy – Rep. Kent Eken (Twin Valley)
- Game, Fish, and Forestry Division – Rep. David Dill
- Transportation Policy and Finance – Rep. Bernie Lieder (Crookston)
- Transportation and Transit Policy Subcommittee – Rep. Frank Hornstein (Minneapolis)
There are some strong environmental advocates on this list. For example, Rep. Hausman has been a great advocate for ensuring that environmental and conservation programs receive funding in the past few bonding bills (which borrow money for big ticket items such as buying wildlife habitat, building lightrail lines, and upgrading waste water treatment plants), so her chairing that committee should be good when they take up the next bonding bill (in theory not until 2008). I also expect big things from the committees of Rep. Wagenius, Rep. Hilty, and Rep. Hornstein. That’s not to say the others won’t also do good (or that they’ll do us wrong), but these four have a strong record of leadership on environmental issues.
Most environmental bills (with the likely exception of energy issues) should start in the smartly named Environment Policy committee, chaired by Rep. Eken. He did not serve on an environmental committee last session and his track record is a little too sparse to pass any kind of judgment. His district is north of Detroit Lakes, which puts it in a part of the state that is often a bit of a mixed bag on environmental protections. To match that, it looks like his score card vote with the League of Conservation Voters is a bit of a yo-yo. Thus, I say we kick back and wait to see what his priorities look like before stating a judgment.
Senate DFL committee members
Here are some of the key Senate committees and their DFL members (I don’t believe the Republicans have chosen their committees yet):
- Environment and Energy Budget Division
Sen. Ellen Anderson (St. Paul), Chair
Bakk
Chaudhary
Kubly
Rummel
Saxhaug, Vice Chair
Torres Ray
Vickerman
4 Republicans to be named - Environment and Natural Resources Policy
Sen. Satveer Chaudhary (Fridley), Chair
Anderson
Dibble
Saxhaug
Sheran
Sieben
Skogen, Vice Chair
Stumpf
Vickerman
5 Republicans to be named - Energy, Utilities, Technology and Communications Policy
Sen. Yvonne Prettner Solon (Duluth), Chair
Anderson
Carlson
Dibble
Doll, Vice Chair
Olseen
Rest
Rummel
Sheran
Sparks
5 Republicans to be named - Agriculture and Veterans Budget Division
Sen. Jim Vickerman (Tracy), Chair
Chaudhary
Erickson Ropes, Vice Chair
Kubly
Langseth
Lourey
Murphey
Skoe
Skogen
5 Republicans to be named - Transportation Budget and Policy
Sen. Steve Murphy (Red Wing), Chair
Bonoff
Carlson, Vice Chair
Dibble
Doll
Langseth
Larson
Moua
Olseen
Rest
Saltzman
Sieben
Skoe
6 Republicans to be named
There are a lot of new Senators in these lists, many of whom captured the excitement of some of the environmental organizations who endorse candidates for office. There are also some folks that I’d rather not see having influence over our state’s environmental policies and spending. Assuming some environmentally friendly Republicans are added to these lists though, then things should be starting off from a good place.