Should budget negotiations at the Minnesota Legislature be more open to public scrutiny? There are vastly different views on that topic at a pre-session hearing this afternoon at the Capitol. Lobbyist John Kaul says, “I think we need to put a[n] end to these massive, mega-mother-of-all-conference committees, and do the work in the open.”
Incoming House Democratic Majority Leader Ryan Winkler responds it’s important to know where the other side is coming from, “even to the point of more negotiations happening behind closed doors. I think part of it is because that’s where people feel like they have space to actually give-and-take.”
Any changes to current rules would be debated and voted on after the legislature goes back into session in early January.