(AP) St. Paul When Rep. Katie Sieben and her fiance were picking a date for their wedding, the second-term Democrat from Newport figured the second weekend in July was a safe bet.
After all, the regular session was constitutionally required to end on May 23, and even if there was a special session, most people assumed it would have to wrap up before the state's two-year budget ran out at the end of June.
Wrong, and wrong again.
As leaders struggle to put together a budget deal, the special session has dragged into its seventh week and Minnesota has its first-ever partial government shutdown. For the state's supposedly part-time citizen legislators, the interminable process of governing is crowding out plans for weddings, family vacations and regular jobs.
On Thursday, Sieben was waiting to find out whether she would be on the House floor voting Saturday, after her hair appointment and before changing for the ceremony. But the 28-year-old representative said she would draw the line at coming to the Capitol in her wedding dress.
"If there is some sort of agreement reached, obviously I want to be here to vote, so I'll try," said Sieben, who will marry Josh Straka at 4 p.m. Saturday in St. Paul, budget agreement or not. "I was elected to represent my district and I want my constituents to have a voice."
As Minnesota slides toward a more full-time, year-round Legislature, the job of lawmaker is becoming less attractive, said Joseph Kunkel, a political science professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Legislators have to keep working even as citizens blame them for not finishing on time. That could make it harder to find qualified candidates to run for office.
"You can't get no respect," Kunkel said. "For the rank-and-file legislators, it's got to be frustrating because they have very little to do with what goes on in the special session."
Lawmakers, who make $31,140 a year, are entitled to daily expense checks of $66 and weekly mileage allowances during the special session. But some members, including all first-term House Democrats, have vowed not to collect those expenses.
The Senate had paid out a total of $27,643 for special session expenses through June 15, with some 20 members skipping either per diems, mileage or both. Numbers for the House weren't immediately available.
Republicans control the House by a one-vote margin, meaning a single absence or defection can tip the balance. But more representatives have been skipping floor sessions since the special session started. Ten members were absent Thursday, 17 skipped a Saturday session on the July Fourth holiday weekend and 31 missed a perfunctory May 27 session.
If there's a House floor session this weekend, Sieben's potential absence might cause her Democratic colleagues more concern, if it weren't for the plans of Rep. Ray Cox, R-Northfield. Cox, a second-term lawmaker, will walk his 23-year-old daughter Marja down the aisle at 3 p.m. Saturday in Northfield, no matter what happens in St. Paul. It's a date he already cleared with his caucus leaders back in January, just in case the session went deep into overtime.
"I'm going to be gone, and Katie Sieben is too, so that's one Republican and one Democrat," said Cox, who added that some 300 people, including friends from England, are on the guest list.
The long-running session has also eaten into jobs and other plans. Rep. Maria Ruud, a nurse practitioner from Minnetonka who's serving her first term, said about 10 of her patients lost their appointments Thursday afternoon because of the House floor session.
Ruud also skipped a family trip to northern Minnesota last weekend, when the House met. Rep. Larry Hosch, a first-term Democrat from St. Joseph who has a contracting business, said he pulled out of four home remodeling projects because of the special session.
"They're supposed to be done Aug. 1 and I just can't handle them," Hosch said. "Everything's on hold, and it's frustrating." Hosch hopes the special session will be over by October, when his wedding is scheduled.
Sieben hopes it doesn't derail her honeymoon plans -- a long-awaited trip abroad this fall. "As long as I get married, I'm not too worried," she said. "That's the important part."
Email this article | Permanent link | Topstories news | Topstories news archives
Minnesota State
University, Mankato
Mankato, MN 56001
1-800-722-0544
© 2005-2013 Minnesota State University, Mankato. Minnesota State University, Mankato is a member of
Minnesota State Colleges & Universities system and an affirmative action/equal opportunity university.
