Opening day of Legislature brings no respite from DFL-GOP tension over Iron Range unemployment

Minnesota's legislative session got off to a contentious start Tuesday as lawmakers squabbled over and failed to make any progress on a proposed extension of unemployment benefits for laid-off mine workers on the Iron Range.

DFLers and Republicans at the State Capitol both claim to support the 26-week extension in benefits for several thousand northeastern Minnesota workers idled by a global downturn in steel prices, at a total cost of about $30 million. But less than an hour into the new session, the House descended into partisan rancor over the Republican majority's move to pair the extension with a reduction in unemployment taxes for businesses.

"Why are you doing this to the Iron Range and its workers? Why?" asked Rep. Jason Metsa, DFL-Virginia. "There isn't a case in our history where a party has dug in and held a worker's hardship for political chips."

The move by Republicans to tie the benefits extension to the unemployment tax reduction put House DFLers in the uncomfortable position of voting to block consideration of the entire bill, even though they support the underlying extension. In order to take up the bill on Tuesday, Republicans would have needed votes from at least a handful of DFLers in order to suspend House rules.

"We can have this done in 20 minutes," said Rep. Dale Lueck, R-Aitkin, the only House Republican whose district includes a portion of the Iron Range. "If you folks on the other side of the aisle are bound and determined to hold up unemployment benefits for another day to people who need it, that's your prerogative."

It was an inauspicious start to this year's relatively brief session, which must adjourn by May 23. DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and legislators have a lengthy to-do list that's topped by figuring out what to do with a $900 million projected surplus in the state treasury.

The ensuing debate over spending vs. tax cuts will play out against an election-year backdrop, with all 201 legislative seats on the ballot in November. Republicans are defending their House majority, while the DFL tries to hold its control of the Senate, upping the partisan heat.

"Your decision to put a 'do not enter' sign to the people and the press is the wrong way to go," House Minority Leader Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, said to Speaker Kurt Daudt, R-Crown.

Thissen said the House instead could have held its session in the new Minnesota Senate Building across the street, which is where the Senate is holding its floor sessions this year.

"This is a historic and necessary renovation of the Capitol. It's unprecedented," countered House Majority Leader Joyce Peppin, R-Rogers. "The speaker has made a good-faith effort to allow public access to the Capitol."

Opening-day sniping between DFLers and Republicans was not confined to the House. In the Senate, Republicans in the minority complained that changes to the structure of a committee that governs environmental and agricultural spending was a slap to rural areas.

Last week, the Senate DFL put Sen. John Marty of Roseville — an avowed environmentalist — in charge of a committee with financial jurisdiction over the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and its Board of Water and Soil Resources. Senate Minority Leader David Hann, R-Eden Prairie, said that "puts Greater Minnesota at a disadvantage regarding important environmental and agricultural issues."

Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, said it was a mistake for Republicans to try to link the two issues.

"Setting a precedent at the Legislature that people get to tack things onto emergency or disaster-related bills is a terrible precedent," Bakk said.

Daudt said it was hypocritical for DFLers to complain about the job climate on the Iron Range when, a day earlier, Dayton said he would not grant access to state land for the development of a proposed controversial copper-nickel mine next to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

"The sad reality is this governor does not support mining in the Range," Daudt said. "The Democratic Party is controlled by Minneapolis and St. Paul environmentalists who want to stop mining on the range."

Rep. Carly Melin, DFL-Hibbing, said about 6,600 people have been laid off on the Iron Range in recent months. Of those, she said, about 2,000 were mine workers and another 4,600 were vendors and suppliers who rely on contracts with the mining companies.

"We have situations where both husband and wife are laid off right now, where their family income is down to zero," Melin said.

Dayton initially called last fall for a special session to extend unemployment benefits, but he and Senate DFLers were unable to reach agreement with Daudt and Republicans on a full list of issues to take up.

The provision that Republicans now want to attach to the measure would return a $272 million balance in the state's unemployment insurance fund to businesses in the form of credits against future unemployment taxes owed.

"This fund is at record high levels," said Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington. He noted that DFLers have supported legislation in the recent past to rebate unemployment taxes to businesses when the fund balance reaches certain levels.

"Why are you arguing against a bill you have voted in favor of in the past?" Garofalo asked. "It makes no sense."

Dayton, meanwhile, urged the business community to support efforts to eliminate racial economic disparities, which the governor warned could harm the state's future economic development.

Star Tribune reporters Ricardo Lopez and J. Patrick Coolican contributed to this story.

Patrick Condon • 651-925-5049