Elections and Legislative Reform

Issue

How can we make changes to elections and the legislative process to increase the Legislature’s accountability to all Minnesotans?

Policy

• Draw legislative district lines by commission.  It is time for Minnesota to adopt a system that works to more effectively redraw district lines every 10 years to ensure that the criteria reflect our population’s growth and mobility.  An independent redistricting commission, selected by the Legislature, governor and secretary of state, would remove a time-consuming step from the redistricting process, and insulate elected officials from the perception that lines have been drawn for political reasons. 
• Stagger terms for state senators.  The Minnesota Chamber supports switching to a staggered system for electing state senators for two reasons. First, overlapping terms promote continuity.  A body should not be subject to replacement entirely in response to short-lived, controversial political issues that largely mobilize the electorate in one direction. Second, staggered terms mean that at any given time, a portion of the Senate will behave more like trustees (those not facing re-election for three to four years) and the other half more like delegates, representing the immediate interests of their voters. Having the trustee and delegate roles evenly split among members at all times ensures that a balance between sound policy-making and representative government is fostered. 
• Return to biennial legislative sessions.  Until 1972, the Minnesota Legislature met once every two years to set the state’s budget and pass laws.  Since 1973, sessions have been held annually – historically a “long” session in odd-numbered years, where legislators’ main work is to pass a biennial budget, and a “short” session in the election year, where legislators pass a capital expenditures (bonding) bill.
• More recently, bonding bills have been proposed and passed in the same year as budget bills, proving that the work can be completed in one session, even in today’s more complicated environment.  
• Returning the Legislature to a biennial, part-time, citizen-led body would increase the quality of legislation, the accountability of legislators, and the effectiveness of both bodies by focusing the Legislature’s work and maximizing legislators’ contact with their constituents and their own private-sector jobs.
• Reform the legislative process so it’s more transparent to the public.  In 2008, the House Government Operations, Reform, Technology and Elections Committee studied ways to improve the legislative process.  Its report lists several options that would make the process easier for citizens to understand.  They include:

• Establish an annual deadline for introduction of bills to be considered that year.

• Require committees to give better notice of their agendas, including notice of major amendments to be considered. 

• Prohibit committees from scheduling a bill for a hearing until the bill is introduced and available to the public.

• Require omnibus budget bills to contain only budget-related material.  Language items should relate to budget decisions made in the bill or to general matters with a fiscal impact within the jurisdiction of the bill. 

• Require finance and tax committees and divisions to receive applicable fiscal and revenue notes for the correct version of the bill before the committee or division acts on the bill.

Business Impact

Businesses invest in Minnesota.  From the moment a business is started, it adds to the economic fabric of our state.  It is also, like every Minnesota citizen, subject to taxes, regulations and laws.  This formula has led to a perceived accountability gap among the Legislature and its business stakeholders that should be addressed before it becomes unmanageable. Increasing the Legislature’s attention to private-sector concerns would be a good first step. Many businesses have begun to conclude that the process of making laws has been overwhelmed by politics, and by elected officials who have fewer ties to the private-sector economy. Changes to the process by which we elect legislators and conduct legislative sessions is becoming a “business issue.”  It is a necessary first step to getting more attention to private-sector issues.

Furthermore, there exists a de facto disincentive for Minnesota business owners and private-sector leaders to run for office.  The commitment necessary to gain enough traction in the party nominating process, and, if elected, serve in the Legislature, makes service an impossibility for otherwise qualified, motivated Minnesotans with a direct stake in their government.  Reducing the barriers to service in the Legislature by returning the Legislature to biennial sessions will greatly enhance the likelihood that businesspeople will run for, and serve, in the Legislature, adding much-needed experience to the process.