Three members of the Minnesota State House have been honored in the Legislative Evaluation Assembly’s 2017 Report on the Minnesota Legislature. Nine legislators received an honorable mention.

The 2017 Report

This year’s evaluation focuses on sixteen floor votes that highlight important principles and policies. The 2017 report emphasizes the increasing use of unconstitutional multi-subject bills in place of the single-subject bills required by the Minnesota constitution. Multi-subject bills, often hundreds of pages long, have dominated the content of recent legislative sessions.

“Multi-subject bills are not only unconstitutional, but they derail accountability and allow special interests to manipulate the system at the expense of the citizens,” says LEA president, Don Lee.  “Politicians love them for closed-door, team-based, deal-making. Citizens should hate them for the same reason.”  The report condemns processes that create constitutional conflicts between the executive and legislative branches, such as making appropriations contingent upon passing certain policies. The governor signed bills and then tried to renegotiate by withholding the legislature’s funding. In another case, portions of a bill that the governor vetoed and did not become law were implemented by him anyway.

Download the 2017 LEA report here.