GAMC showdown: Can the House muster enough votes to override the governor?

At first blush, it would seem that Democrats should have little difficult overriding Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto of General Assistance Medical Care legislation. The bill passed both DFL-led legislative chambers, after all, by overwhelming margins. The House backed the revamped health-care program — which provides coverage to poor, single adults — by a 125-9 margin.  The Senate then ratified the decision by a 47-16 margin.

“I’m not quite sure what the new standard is for bipartisanship, but in my experience around here that’s a pretty good bipartisan vote,” said House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, DFL-Minneapolis. “Nobody gets everything they want around here.”

But almost immediately after Pawlenty’s decision to veto the legislation was announced, House Minority Leader Kurt Zellers issued a statement promising Republican unanimity in backing the governor’s decision. In essence, Zellers’ explanation for the seeming about face by GOP legislators is that the Democrats failed to play by the rules. Republicans expected the House bill to proceed to conference committee where it could continue to be tweaked. But instead the Senate opted to immediately pass the House version of the bill and send it to the governor’s desk.

“The senate short-circuited the process,” Zellers said on Friday morning.  ”There should have been a conference committee. It should have been worked on. It shouldn’t have gone right straight on through.”

It would take just three GOP defectors to provide the House with sufficient votes to pass an override. But it’s not difficult to understand why Republicans might be hesitant to buck Pawlenty on the health-care measure. In 2008, six GOP House members voted to override the governor’s veto of a transportation funding bill that increased the state’s gas tax. Two of the Republican defectors were subsequently denied GOP endorsement by local party activists and lost re-election bids, while two others decided not to seek re-election. Of the six, only Reps. Jim Abeler and Rod Hamilton remain in the House.

One Democratic legislator presciently noted after the lopsided House vote — with 38 Republicans joining the DFL majority in backing the measure — that it wouldn’t necessarily translate into an override. “A couple of years ago, the Republicans who voted to override the governor’s transportation veto had a very rough time at their endorsing conventions,” said the DFLer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Most of them got beat. And the endorsing conventions are starting to happen now. It isn’t very good timing [for an override vote].”

House Majority Leader Tony Sertich also invoked fear of reprisals from the GOP leadership and party activists as an explanation for the unwillingness of legislators to cross Pawlenty. “It comes down to a choice of who are you standing with?” Sertich stated. “Are you standing with the governor and your state party bosses from St. Paul? Or are you standing with the people back home and your hospital back home?”

Abeler, who is the ranking Republican on the Health Care and Human Services Policy Oversight committee, would seem a likely prospect for bucking the governor. But the Anoka Republican says he has no intention of voting for the bill as currently formulated if it’s brought up again in the House.

“They should have sent the bill to conference comittee and let the normal process work,” he said.

Abeler also takes issue with Sertich’s characterization of Republican motives in vowing not to support the GAMC legislation if it comes up again.

“Statements like this do nothing to produce a positive working environment,” Abeler says. “They produce postcards for campaigns and that’s the worst kind of government.”

The ball is now in the Senate’s court. Because it was the upper chamber’s bill that landed on the governor’s desk, it would have to act first in overriding the veto. Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller indicated at a press conference on Friday morning that he didn’t expect that to happen on Monday, but wasn’t specific on a time frame for action.

There’s little doubt, however, that the Senate has the votes to thwart Pawlenty’s veto. But the House looks like it will have a difficult time following suit.

6 Responses to “GAMC showdown: Can the House muster enough votes to override the governor?”

1. Jacob Says:
   February 19th, 2010 at 2:01 pm

   Tony Sertich is the Majority Leader, not the Minority. I’m referring to the 7th paragraph.

2. Bob Says:
   February 19th, 2010 at 2:22 pm

   I find it interesting that this article discusses all sorts of republican vs. democrat chicanery, but fails to address the content of the vetoed legislation even once.

3. Matt Says:
   February 19th, 2010 at 2:29 pm

   ““Are you standing with the governor and your state party bosses from St. Paul? Or are you standing with the people back home and your hospital back home?””

   OR

   Do you stand with the Governor or do you stand with the collectivists who’s policies have financially crushed Michigan, Calinfornia and Massachussets? MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!!!

4. Thomas C. Inskip Says:
   February 19th, 2010 at 2:56 pm

   What is in the vetoed bill?
   content please…

5. Sonal Patney Says:
   February 20th, 2010 at 12:12 am

   Whatever happened to a level playing field? And, the Speaker is absoutely right - nobody gets it all, if you get some of what you want that’s great and the rest you have to work with to make our system work.

6. Karen Says:
   February 20th, 2010 at 11:28 pm

   Looks as if the same old same old is going on in the legislature. They are all afraid of voting to get us out of debt but rather what will keep them in office with their votes to this group and that one. Rolling GAMC clients into MN Care sounds reasonable and putting the poverty rate at a higher rate for MN Care also sounds reasonable. Are we going to go the financial way of California, Michigan and New York? I think we are on our way, if we keep doing what we are doing in MN. Everytime I go to the Doctor and Dentist and get slapped with the MN Care tax, I think what is my husband working for: our family or everyone else’s?