When they’re not busy with petty attacks against the DFL, the MNGOP’s big focus this year is supposed to be “reform.” That’s the agenda they hope will convince the public to forget about how the GOP sold them out last year when it comes time to vote. Of course, their so-called “reform” is just the same garbage the GOP has been pushing for the last 30 years, but at least it’s a better election-year platform than “sorry we put the state $1.4 billion in debt!”

Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley) says that if we’re going to talk about “reform,” we should be starting by reforming the legislature itself. Winkler and other DFL legislators are introducing a package of reforms that includes the following:

• Require parties to disclose when legislators are on the party payroll.
• Prohibit party officials from holding public jobs in the House, Senate, and Joint Legislative Commissions.
• Ban closed door meetings and meetings between midnight and 7 am.
• Require the Legislature to institute a plan for record retention.
• Prevent future state shutdowns by continuing appropriations at current levels if no budget agreement is reached by the end of the budget period.
• Create a redistricting commission to draw political boundaries in the future.
• Limit the amount a governor can unilaterally reduce spending via the process known as “unallotment.”

These all seem like simple common sense to me. The redistricting commission might be a bit controversial, but there’s one major reason to support it: The legislature and Governor haven’t been able to agree on a redistricting plan for decades now, making the existing system completely useless.

So will the GOP legislature consider these reforms? Given that they haven’t been written for them by the masters at ALEC, it’s unlikely.