Special Session Likely to Focus on Flood Relief, Taxes, Transportation Issues

With the I-35W bridge collapse and the recent flooding, August has been an eventful month in Minnesota.

Inquiring minds have been asking whether or not Gov. Tim Pawlenty will convene a special session, but until just the last few days or so, he has been playing it close to the vest. We Minnesota Monitor certainly haven’t  hasn’t been able to get any response to our inquiries from the governor’s office, and the legislators we’ve contacted haven’t been able to shed any light.

But some indications have leaked out in other outlets.

The Strib reported last week that Pawlenty has met with legislative leaders and that a special session is “likely and could be held in mid-September or earlier.” The article also states that Pawlenty sent a letter to legislative leaders on Tuesday that proposed an agenda “centered on flood relief, a ‘limited bonding bill’ for roads and bridges, property tax relief and a comprehensive transportation package that could include ‘a reasonable gas tax increase.’”

Also from the same article is this: “Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, and House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, both DFL-Minneapolis, said they would agree to focus on the items Pawlenty had outlined earlier, including a transportation package that ‘follows the principles’ in his earlier letter.”

Pawlenty’s previous intransigence seems to have been overcome, at least in part, by political pressure to call a special session in light of the recent flooding, according to the Strib.

There is still no indication whether the performance of Lieutenant Governor Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau–in her dual other role as the head of the Minnesota Department of Transportation–will be an issue in the upcoming special session. Pawlenty has remained loyal to Molnau amid expressions of no confidence in her from several quarters following this month’s the  I-35 bridge collapse.