On Wednesday morning, the House Committee on Rules and Administration approved an amendment that would codify a ban on gay marriage within the Minnesota Constitution by a vote of 13 to 12. One Republican, Rep. Tim Kelly of Red Wing, joined the DFL in voting against the measure. The bill heads to a House floor vote. The committee took no public testimony before the vote.

DFLers pleaded with Republicans on the committee.

“The founding fathers warned against tyranny of majority,” said Rep. Kathy Brynaert, DFL-Mankato. “Don’t do this.”

Rep. Kate Knuth, DFL-New Brighton, said. “Why take away rights in our constitution? Why tear the people of our state apart?”

She added, “It makes me physically ill to think of the division we’ll see.”

Rep. Carolyn Laine, DFL-Columbia Heights, said, “Clearly this isn’t about the sanctity of marriage; it’s about discrimination.”

As the roll call was being taken, several protesters shouted “Shame!” and “You are damaging my life and my family!” One was dragged from the committee room.

According to OutFront Minnesota, five Republicans would need to vote with the DFL to defeat the amendment in the House. Along with Rep. Tim Kelly who voted against the amendment in the committee, Rep. John Kriesel, R-Cottage Grove, has said he will vote against it on the House floor.

The House will need to take the bill up before Monday, which is the last day of the session. The Senate has already passed the amendment, and if the House approves the measure, it will be on the ballot in 2012.

Members of the DFL House caucus chastised Republicans Tuesday for introducing legislation in the House that would eliminate the 1984 Pay Equity Act. At a press conference, Democrats said the law is still necessary to ensure women are paid the same as men in local government units. But just as they were rallying against the bill, Republican Sen. Mike Jungbauer introduced a bill — the third GOP bill on the issue — to repeal the law in the Senate.

Rep. Erin Murphy of St. Paul said that during tough economic times, it doesn’t make sense to eliminate protections for women.

“Republican leaders want to make it much harder for working moms and women, harder for them to earn an equal salary,” she said. “We are here to demand that Republicans stop trying to take steps backward.”

Rep. Kate Knuth

Rep. Kate Knuth of New Brighton echoed Murphy. “Women for generations have fought for equality in this country and around the world, and I think all the women you see standing here are the results of this equality,” she said. “We are making progress in equality but despite the progress, women still only earn about 77 cents on the dollar of what men make. They are still not earning an equal amount to men.”

She added, “It doesn’t really make any sense to me that the Republicans would repeal legal protections that help us make this progress.”

The bill, HF7/159, contains a series of repeals of mandates on local governments including a repeal of the Pay Equity Act. It has 22 sponsors in the House and Senate, all of whom are Republicans.

Rep. Lyndon Carlson of Crystal was serving in the House when the bill was passed in 1984. He voted for that bill and authored another one that added state employees to the Pay Equity Act. “I have a long history of being an advocate for equity in pay for our women employees in the state of Minnesota and local units of government,” he said.

He added, “For those who wonder if this is still needed, just last year as a result of a review there was an adjustment of $1.59. The point is: it’s still needed. It’s still actively being utilized to bring about pay equity.”

Rep. Terry Morrow of St. Peter said the act need to stay in place for the future women of Minnesota, including his teenage daughters who are just entering the workforce.

“I am deeply disturbed that HF7 sends a threatening message about Minnesota’s commitment to equal pay,” he said. “Bills send messages, and as a dad I reject the misguided message that equal pay is no longer a right in Minnesota.”

He added, “My daughters and my wife are equal contributors and they deserve equal pay for equal work.”

As DFLers were speaking out against the bill, Jungbauer, an East Bethel Republican, announced a third bill to repeal the Pay Equity Act. SF 282 will be introduced in the Senate on Wednesday morning.

Rep. Kim Norton of Rochester told reporters at the press conference, “The only reason to remove this mandate when we have a deficit like this is to cut the pay of women and save money.”

Elsewhere in Minnesota news this morning …

ST. PAUL: And then there were seven. The DFL now says it had designated four more donations to House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher’s gubernatorial campaign in addition to the three revealed last week, but the party chair calls it a “blunder, not a conspiracy.” [Star Tribune; Pioneer Press]

NEW BRIGHTON AND NORTH BRANCH: No wonder they’re leaders on energy. The combined ages of Kate Knuth and Jeremy Kalin, the two Minnesota legislators in Copenhagen for the big climate-change conference, is 60. [MinnPost; ECM Publishers]

CHISHOLM: Let the Iron Range research re-commence! Iron Range Resources will spend $450,000 to keep the heat on and research center open at the recently shuttered Minnesota Discovery Center, formerly known as Ironworld. [Duluth News Tribune]

ST. PAUL: Governor rejects racino. There goes Tim Pawlenty’s chance to make his own video for Racino Now! [Polinaut]

ST. CLOUD: A noble experiment. Removing parking meters downtown netted the city $60,000 less in small change. [St. Cloud Times]

WILLMAR: So cold the wind froze. Two new municipal wind turbines haven’t turned in a week and a half because they lack heaters. [West Central Tribune]

Ominous news about job losses and financial woes at Minnesota hospitals over the last week coincide with Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s line-item veto of $381 million in General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) grants and his vow to make even more cuts by unallotment. But as bad as the doomsday scenarios are, they shouldn’t include St. Paul’s Regions Hospital closing — a prospect that the DFL warned of over the weekend.

Here are some headlines from the last week that, to some at least, read like plot lines for a series-ending episode of TV’s “House” doctor drama, if not a medical prequel to the post-apocalyptic “Mad Max” movies.

» Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) in Minneapolis will lay off 100 staffers.

» Park Nicollet Health Services lays off 240 and closes a clinic in Hopkins. The owner of Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park has already laid off more than twice that number over the last six months.

» Willmar’s Rice Memorial Hospital continues to shed staff. Layoffs have left the city-owned hospital with its smallest workforce in a decade.

» In rural areas of the state, doctors are scarce. Health care organizations must dangle bonuses to attract debt-laden med school grads to the hinterlands.

» St. Peter bucked the trend by expanding a local clinic of Mayo Health System, but Mayo’s flagship facility in Rochester will lose $30 million from Pawlenty’s GAMC veto alone.

» Losing patients, North Memorial Health Care is cutting 100 jobs. A 6-percent decline in stays at the Robbinsdale hospital hides one area in which business is up by 22 percent: charity care.

» Two metro hospitals that care for the poor — Regions in St. Paul and HCMC in Minneapolis — will make deep cuts. HCMC Medical Director Michael Belzer says revisiting state cuts during the 2010 Legislative session will be too late, as hospitals will have set budgets and take actions necessary to meet them by then.

But Regions is not in danger of closing its doors, contrary to a DFL Party announcement (see below) from the closing days of the legislative session.

“That’s not going to happen,” Regions spokesman Vince Rivard told the Minnesota Independent on Monday, adding that a hospital expansion financed with St. Paul municipal bonds is still set to open this summer.

Still a variety of program cuts at Regions and even imposition of new, restrictive geographical boundaries are possible, Rivard said. The hospital sees patients from as far away as Montana but is only obligated to provide Ramsey County residents with non-emergency services.

And Rivard agreed with HCMC’s Belzer that fixes the Legislature next year makes to the governor’s vetos would come too late to forestall drastic cutbacks.

Here’s the press release from the DFL House DFL Caucus that asserted that Regions Hospital could close. It was sent out Saturday, midway between Pawlenty’s Thursday night line-item veto of GAMC and the end of the Legislative session Monday night.

NEWS STATEMENT
Minnesota House of Representatives

May 16, 2009

PAWLENTY VETO MAY RESULT IN FULL OR PARTIAL CLOSURE OF REGIONS HOSPITAL

Local lawmakers speak out against Governor Pawlenty’s deep cuts to
Regions Hospital

After announcing Thursday he plans to make billions of dollars in
budget cuts alone without public or legislative input, Governor Tim
Pawlenty eliminated General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) in Minnesota.
With one line item veto late Thursday night, the governor cut $381
million that was dedicated exclusively to treat the poorest people in
the state – including veterans, senior citizens, and the mentally ill.

Those cuts may result in the full or partial closure of Regions
Hospital in St. Paul. By eliminating GAMC, the hospital will face a $46
million budget cut – 10% of its gross revenue. Regions Hospital employs
roughly 5,000 people and serves nearly 23,000 patients every year.

The following is a statement from local state lawmakers deeply
concerned about these devastating cuts to Regions Hospital and the
potential impact on residents of St. Paul and the surrounding suburbs:

“Governor Pawlenty’s veto pen single-handedly put Regions Hospital in
St. Paul at serious risk of significantly cutting back critical services
or potentially closing its doors. This is a devastating blow to tens of
thousands of citizens in St. Paul and the surrounding communities who
rely on Regions Hospital for quality, expert medical care. It has
threatened thousands of jobs, and the health and safety of our
communities.

This deep and devastating cut could have been avoided. Lawmakers
offered a responsible alternative that would have cut Regions Hospital
only $5.7 million – a budget reduction the hospital could have sustained
without significantly drawing back critical medical services to our
community.

By eliminating GAMC, Governor Pawlenty has cut 30,000 of Minnesota’s
poorest, sickest citizens off health care. Many are veterans, senior
citizens, people with mentally illness, or those who are homeless. 70%
have expensive mental health or chemical dependency challenges, and 40%
have chronic disease that leads to frequent hospitalization. Without
care, these Minnesotans will be at risk of devastating health
implications.

Finally, these cuts have made the state’s budget shortfall even
worse. Eliminating GAMC in Minnesota costs the state $100 million in
federal matching funds. It also requires that inmates in county jails
and sex offenders who are constitutionally required access to medical
care must now be paid for in general fund dollars.

We are deeply disappointed in Governor Pawlenty’s decision to balance
the budget with jobs and deep cuts to hospitals. In the final days of
session, we’ll keep fighting to protect jobs and keep Minnesota’s
hospitals whole.”

Officials whose names appeared at the top of the release are State Reps. Joe Atkins, John Lesch, Karla Bigham, Leon Lillie, Paul Gardner, Tim Mahoney, Mindy Greiling, Carlos Mariani, Rick Hansen, Erin Murphy, Alice Hausman, Michael Paymar, Sheldon Johnson, Bev Scalze, Kate Knuth and Cy Thao.

But Kulick Jackson wasn’t discouraged. The Milaca attorney kept right on campaigning. “She’s had lots of challengers, of course, over the years,” Kulick Jackson says of the incumbent, “but nobody ever tried it twice.” In 2006 she cut Erickson’s margin down to 459 votes.

Over the years Kulick Jackson continued building goodwill in the conservative district. “I do so much little work for little people,” she says of her law practice. “I’m the one who does grandma’s will and the neighbor’s deed.”

This year the Democrat finally cracked the electoral code, besting Erickson by just 89 votes. Owing to the closeness of the race there will be a recount, but Kulick Jackson is confident she’s headed to the Capitol in January. “Statistically the likelihood of finding one hundred errors in Sondra Erickson’s favor is so unlikely that I’m not terribly worried about it,” she says.

This year there were at least nine state House contests that were rematches from 2006. In three instances, challengers successfully avenged their previous defeats.

In 2006 Democrat Mike Obermueller fell 163 votes short of knocking off Rep. Lynn Wardlow. But this year Obermueller prevailed, topping the incumbent by just over 500 votes.

Gregory Davids served eight terms as a Republican legislator prior to being knocked off by cattle farmer Ken Tschumper in 2006. This time around Davids won by roughly 400 votes in the southeastern Minnesota district. One possible factor in the electoral reversal: Tschumper’s cows have repeatedly escaped from his property, drawing the wrath of neighbors and two tickets from the local authorities.

Other repeat challengers received no such bovine assistance. Republican Judy Soderstrom came closest to avenging defeat, falling roughly 300 votes short of ousting incumbent Tim Faust in House District 8B, which includes Pine City and Hinckley. The Democrat has now taken two of three contests with Soderstrom.

In the other five rematches, incumbents expanded their winning margins. In House District 30B, for instance, Democrat Andy Welti defeated Bill Kuisle for the third consecutive time. While each of the first two contests in the Rochester-area district were decided by less than 800 votes, this time around the DFL’er carried 56 percent of the vote.

The other rematches:

House District 2B: Rep. Brita Sailer (DFL) v. Doug Lindgren (GOP). Lindgren loses for the third time, by a 54-46 percent margin in this northwestern Minnesota district.

House District 22B: Rep. Rod Hamilton (GOP) v. Richard Peterson (DFL). Another three-peat, this time running away with a 60-40 victory in a district that includes Worthington.

House District 26B: Rep. Patti Fritz (DFL) v. Otto Luknic (GOP). Fritz solidifies her hold on the seat after three terms, winning 58 percent of the vote in a district centered around Faribault.

House District 50B: Rep. Kate Knuth (DFL) v. Lori Grivna (GOP). The Democrat widens her margin of victory, taking 57 percent of the vote in the northern suburban district.

In the most infamous incident, then-Preston Mayor David Pechulis furtively recorded a phone call during which Davids threatened to sue opponents of the tire-burning plant. The state legislator was particularly incensed about a letter that had recently run in the Republican-Leader newspaper accusing him of “slimeball politics.”

“That’s not acceptable,” Davids said during the phone call, as recounted in a 2004 City Pages cover story. “That’s lawsuit city.” Davids went on to threaten other member of the main group opposing the tire-burning plant, Southeastern Minnesotans for Environmental Protection (SEMEP), with litigation. “Does this SEMEP group have insurance?” Davids asked. “You better get some. This happens again, I’ll sue them. I’ve got good attorneys. Junkyard-dog-killing attorneys that will rip their eyes out and pee in their brains.”

The election proved to be one of the most tightly contested in the state, with Tschumper eking out a 52-vote upset victory. The triumph was one of many for Democrats in 2006, as they picked up 19 seats, giving the party a 85-49 majority. This year the DFL is hoping to add at least five more seats, establishing a veto-proof majority in the House, while Republicans will seek to stop the electoral bleeding.

Among this year’s marquee contests is a rematch between Tschumper and Davids in House District 31B. In the ensuing two years, Tschumper has developed a staunchly progressive legislative track record, while Davids is a largely doctrinaire conservative. “This is perhaps the most ideologically striking contest in the state,” says Sarah Janecek, publisher of Politics in Minnesota. “Ken Tschumper voted his liberal conscience, which is not necessarily the greatest politics for 31B.”

The Democrat has also picked up some baggage of his own. He’s twice been ticketed for allowing his cows to escape.

Tschumper v. Davids is perhaps the most intriguing rematch of the electoral season, but it’s far from the only one. There are at least seven other competitive state House contests that pit foes against each other for a second — or even third — time. Here’s a rundown of the electoral rematches from 2006:

House District 8B: Rep. Tim Faust (DFL) v. Judy Soderstrom (GOP). During the last two election cycles, voters in 8B have rendered a split decision in this contest. In 2004 Soderstrom retained her seat by less than 100 votes against first-time candidate Faust. But two years later the Democrat turned the tables, winning by a 52-48 percent margin. Now Soderstrom is hoping to regain her post at the Capitol. She argues that Faust’s vote to increase the gas tax doesn’t sit well with voters in the district. “I hear that all the time,” she says. “There’s a lot of people in our district that travel a long distance to their jobs.” Faust counters that he’s spoken to roughly 4,000 or 5,000 people in the district while campaigning this year and only a handful have been critical of the transportation bill. “To claim that there’s a huge pushback is certainly not correct,” he says. “If that’s the best issue they’ve got I feel pretty good.” 8B includes parts of Isanti, Kanabec and Pine counties, and is considered a swing district. In 2006 Amy Klobuchar took 54 percent of the vote in the U.S. Senate race, but Pawlenty narrowly defeated Mike Hatch in the gubernatorial contest.

House District 16A: Rep. Sondra Erickson (GOP) v. Gail Kulick Jackson. (DFL). The Democratic challenger is hoping that the third time is the charm. In 2004 Kulick Jackson took 44 percent of the vote, but two years later upped her margin to 49 percent, coming to within 500 votes of victory. Erickson (pictured) is a retired English teacher who has been her church’s organist for 34 years (according to Politics in Minnesota). Kulick Jackson is an attorney based in Milaca. 16A includes parts of Benton, Mille Lacs and Morrison counties, and is solidly Republican. Pawlenty defeated Hatch by 13 points in 2006, while President Bush bested John Kerry by 17 points two years earlier. One wildcard factor: the shenanigans of former GOP Rep. Mark Olson, who is running as a write-in candidate in Senate District 16. Will his behavior tarnish other Republican candidates in the area?

House District 30B: Rep. Andy Welti (DFL) v. Bill Kuisle (GOP). This is another race in which the candidates are facing each other on the ballot for the third time. The first two rounds went to Welti (pictured), who won by just over 700 votes in 2006. But Bruce Kaskubar, co-chair of the Olmsted County Republican Party, points out that Kuisle was suffering from colon cancer when he was ousted in 2004 and drowned in a nationwide Democratic tidal wave two years later. “Frankly I was surprised by that,” Kaskubar says. “I didn’t think our local Republicans deserved those coattails, but they got them in spades.” He argues that Kuisle is a better ideological fit for the district. “Welti votes with the left-leaning Democrats,” Kaskubar says. “Kuisle will vote for smaller government and low tax rates.” But while Olmsted County has traditionally been a GOP stronghold, in recent years it has trended strongly Democratic. All three state legislative spots in Senate District 30 are now held by DFL’ers. Lynn Wilson, chair of the Olmsted County DFL, doesn’t see that trend changing this election cycle. “Because of a lot of hard work, grassroots politics, people have learned they can have another voice down here and they have liked the opportunity to vote for Democratic representation,” she says. “Andy has won the trust of the same electorate twice. I think this district has shown where it wants to go and we intend to prove it again on November 4.”

House District 22B: Rep. Rod Hamilton (GOP) v. Richard Peterson (DFL). Hamilton was a member of the “override six” who voted to overturn Pawlenty’s veto of the transportation bill during the last legislative session. But unlike some of his GOP colleagues (most notably Rep. Neil Peterson, who was defeated in a primary contest), Hamilton (pictured) doesn’t seem to have paid much of a political price for straying from Republican orthodoxy. The vote has even helped him pick up endorsements from some labor groups such as Education Minnesota. Even so he’ll face a tough contest from third-time challenger Richard Peterson. The DFL’er has twice garnered at least 48 percent of the vote, but has so far failed to knock off his Republican nemesis. The district, which includes the Turkey Capital of the World, tilts slightly GOP. Pawlenty carried the area by four percentage points in 2006, while Bush won by an 11-point spread two years earlier. Few observers, however, believe Hamilton is in serious danger. “I would think that even if it’s a DFL blowout year that Rod Hamilton will be re-elected,” says Janecek, of Politics in Minnesota.

House District 26B: Rep. Patti Fritz (DFL) v. Otto Luknic (GOP). Fritz is used to repeat opponents. It took her two tries to knock off conceal-and-carry poster child Lynda Boudreau, succeeding in 2004. This year Fritz will face Luknic for the second consecutive election. Two years ago the Republican garnered 48 percent of the vote, falling roughly 500 votes short. The district, which is centered around Faribault, leans slightly Republican. While Klobuchar won the area handily in the 2006 senate contest, both Bush and Pawlenty have scored victories there in the last two election cycles. “It’s a tough district,” concedes Brandon Rettke, political action specialist for Education Minnesota, which is supporting Fritz. “It’s never going to be a safe district for her. But I think she’s going to pull it out.”

House District 2B: Rep. Brita Sailer (DFL) v. Doug Lindgren (GOP). This will be the third contest between Sailer and Lindgren. The Democrat squeaked out a 50-48 victory four years ago, but increased her margin to eight points in 2006. So it’s somewhat surprising that Lindgren is taking another crack at the post. Former House Speaker Steve Sviggum has called Sailer a “liberal, leftist extremist” and Republicans have clearly targeted the seat. But the northwestern district, which includes Park Rapids, will not be easy to swing. Hatch, for instance, won the area by six percentage points in 2006.

House District 50B: Rep. Kate Knuth (DFL) v. Lori Grivna (GOP). This open seat was tightly contested in 2006, with Knuth ultimately prevailing with 54 percent of the vote. Grivna is again running a vigorous campaign, but faces an uphill battle in a suburban area that leans Democratic. All three state legislative posts in Senate District 50 are currently held by DFL’ers. Few political observers view Knuth as facing much danger.