by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter

It’s a new day at the Minnesota Legislature, with a revised cast of characters and enough money to put a shoulder behind collective will.

Gone from leadership are familiar figures — Speaker Sviggum, Senate Majority Leader Johnson — removed by state voters who put Democrats in complete control of the Legislature with majorities to govern with a strong hand.

Property tax relief will be a presiding spirit in the upcoming legislative session.

That was made clear last week.

What form the relief will come in — relief made possible by a sizable budget surplus — remains to be seen.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has indicated he favors the notion of Minnesotans getting property tax rebate checks in the mail.

But whether the idea of mailing “Timmy Checks” across the state strikes everyone as a swell idea might be questioned under current political conditions.

More likely, a less dramatic form of relief will be found that might have tax assessors wiggling their toes in delight but otherwise extract less general glee.

Back to the leaders.

Sen. Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, will be Senate Majority Leader next session as Sen. Dean Johnson lost re-election — a major casualty for Democrats in an otherwise kind election.

Scorched-earth style politics

Pogemilller, who rarely if ever held press conferences as Senate Tax Committee chair or senator and moves in the periphery, has been portrayed by Republicans in almost hushed tones as a practitioner and advocate of scorched-earth style politics, the kind of politics where it is better to grind things to a halt than strike a bargain with the opposition.

Democrats recognize this unflattering portrayal, arguing focusing on personality is demeaning and serves no one any good.

At any rate, Pogemiller’s absence last week from a post budget forecast press conference renewed speculation on how the Pogemiller-era will differ from the Johnson years.

Sen. Tarryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud, will apparently be the public face of the caucus, not Pogemiller.

At least Clark said last week she will be doing a lot of the media work for the caucus.

Another Minneapolis Democrat, Rep. Margaret Anderson Kelliher, has been elected Speaker of the House.

Sviggum will be a backbencher.

What’s in store for the suburbans under the new structure?

Arguably, one way to judge how a given area might fare is to take count of the number of committee chairs from the region controls.

In the Republican House last session, a belt of committee chairs — Vandeveer, Krinkie, Westerberg, Abeler, Tingelstad, Johnson, Hackbarth, Olson, Knobloch — extended all the way across the north metro.

In the southern metro, the roster included Holberg, Wilkin, Erhardt, Ozment, and Paulsen.

Suburban leaders

Although the current House committee structures do not exactly match the old, only six suburban DFL lawmakers will chair House committees out of a possible 35 chairmanships. In the Senate, out of 25 committees, suburban lawmakers will chair seven.

As second term and newly elected suburban Democrats gain seniority, the committee chair balance will presumably shift.

But currently big city and Greater Minnesota Democrats hold sway.

And what of Gov. Pawlenty?

Pawlenty went through the last campaign talking about compromise and not letting the perfect get in the way of the good.

Basically everyone agrees on the main issues — it’s just a matter of degree, he’s explained.

It will be interesting to watch when and on what issue the governor will begin to shake his head “No.”

The 2007 legislative session convenes Wednesday, Jan. 3.