LEA evaluates legislative session, decries unconstitutional lawmaking patterns and announces
honorees. 2019 LEA Report

St. Paul, MN, October 22, 2019 — Legislative Evaluation Assembly of Minnesota (LEA) has completed its evaluation of the 2019 Minnesota legislature’s performance. In its report, released today, the LEA criticizes the growing role of “omnibus” bills derived through non-transparent, unaccountable legislative processes.

“Good lawmaking requires an open and accountable process,” says LEA president Don Lee. “Minnesota’s constitution requires each bill to embrace one subject, a requirement flouted in 2019. The house speaker and senate majority leader met with the governor behind closed doors to make deals, which they expected to be rubber-stamped by legislators without amendment or debate. The result was over 2100 pages of legislation and nearly all of the biennial budget contained in 13 ‘omnibus’ bills, passed in a one-day special session.”

Fifteen House floor votes and fourteen Senate floor votes, chosen to illustrate important principles and issues in lawmaking, are summarized in the 2019 LEA Report. They deal with such diverse topics as the damage done by excessive regulation and fees, profligate spending on higher education, inserting new “wage theft” rules and various new policies into omnibus budget bills, and the dangers of putting a poorly-defined “equality” amendment into the constitution. Awards are given to those whose votes most closely match LEA recommendations.