Preview of 2012 Minnesota Legislative Session

After a historic state government last year, the Minnesota legislature goes back to work tomorrow to begin what could be a short session.

With Gov. Mark Dayton’s recent bonding proposal, a Vikings stadium to build, and questions about reform, House Speaker Kurt Zellers (R-Maple Grove) thinks he’ll be busy through the end of April.

In an interview with the Minnesota House Public Information Services, Zellers mentioned that the legislature will be looking at reform ideas, though many of the ideas are not new and don’t need to be rehashed.

In addition to reform, Zellers hopes Gov. Dayton will revisit the photo ID bill, a bill that would require Minnesotans to present identification prior to voting.

“We’ve vetted the photo ID issue through 60 committees,” Zellers said in the YouTube video. “We would like the Governor to sign it.”

Gov. Dayton vetoed the Republican-backed bill last spring, saying that the bill would make local government spend unneeded money. But Republicans hoped the bill would help prevent voter fraud. Zellers said that he thinks voters should make the final decision about the photo ID issue by voting on a constitutional amendment this November, something that Gov. Dayton wouldn’t be able to veto.

Constitutional amendments aside, in an interview with Minnesota Public Radio, Zellers said the focus of this session should be jobs and the economy.

“If we’re not going to be able to look at expanding jobs in a quick fashion, what are the little, incremental things that we can do to make it simpler to do business in the state of Minnesota?” Zellers asked in his interview on MPR.

When it comes to Gov. Dayton’s $775 million bonding proposal—an outline of capital investments that the governor believes could create thousands of jobs—Zellers thinks that the legislature needs to focus on current needs before adding more new construction.

One of the largest construction projects on Minnesotan’s minds is the building of a new Vikings stadium. Zellers told MPR that if a plan, a site and a funding source are presented, government leaders might vote on the issue in the upcoming session, though he disagrees with the use of public money to construct the stadium.

House Speaker Kurt Zellers (R-Maple Grove), Sen. Warren Limmer, (R-Maple Grove) and Rep. Joyce Peppin (R-Rogers) have not yet responded to requests from Maple Grove Patch for an interview about the upcoming legislative session.

Editor's note: What do you think should be legislative priorities this session? Share your ideas in comments.