One Senator Dissents

My Senator, Ann Rest, was the only vote against the emergency flood funding bill passed in the forced-march special session of the legislature on Tuesday. It was a protest vote. She was protesting the fact that an urgently needed transportation funding bill was not even considered. Good for her. Too bad there's only one of her.

"I'll Talk To Margaret"

I started out in front of the House and didn't see many lawmakers before I had to switch to the Senate side to try to catch some lawmakers from both bodies. Both bodies were convening at 10:00 so I couldn't cover both completely. As it turned out, I wound up seeing most of the Representatives anyway coming up the Senate stairs on their way to the House. Two birds with one stone, eh.

Senate Majority Leader, Larry Pogemiller (above) stopped to apologize to me for the failure of the legislature to provide some equity for same-sex couples. I had the "SAME-SEX SAME RIGHTS" shower curtain. I wasn't sure exactly what he meant because I knew Domestic Partner Benefits for state workers was dead, but I wasn't aware of anything else, so I asked him if he'd heard anything from Pawlenty about his intentions with regard to the Hospital Visitation bill. I added that I thought it is a disgrace that a bill dealing with such basic humanity was even generating debate. He agreed. He asked me if the bill had cleared the House yet and I said no. Then, as he was leaving, he said, "I'll talk to Margaret," meaning Speaker of the House, Margaret Anderson Kelliher. It'd be nice to get something out of this session because it's surely going to be worse next session with elections coming up.

This morning I had a chance to thank my Senator, Ann Rest, for signing onto the Hospital Visitation bill. She smiled and said, "Well, I support you."

Sen. Ann Rest Supports DP Benefits Bill

Senator Ann Rest (my senator) has indicated to me, in an email, that she will vote for the Minicipal Health Benefits bill when it comes to the floor of the Senate. Good for her. The bill gives Minnesota municipalities the option of offerring same-sex spousal benefits to their gay employees. Such benefits were made illegal by an infamous court ruling in the 1990s, Lilly vs Minneapolis.

One must wonder how many spouses of gay, city employees have gone without needed healthcare since that fucker, Lilly, brought his malicious case to court.