On the first day of the legislative session, Minority Leader Paul Thissen proposed a rule that would have made solving the budget crisis the legislature’s number one priority. Here’s Thissen’s proposed rule:

During an odd-numbered year, a House or Senate bill that proposes a constitutional amendment must not be considered in a committee or on the calendar for the day, the fiscal calendar, or any other floor calendar until bills necessary to provide a balanced general fund budget for the biennium beginning on July 1 of that year have been enacted into law.

House Republicans referred it to a committee to kill it, but the DFL won’t give up on the budget that easily. Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley) sent a letter to Majority Leader Matt Dean, who is also the chair of the rules committee, asking him to hold a hearing immediately and adopt Thissen’s rule.

Considering the severity of Minnesota’s economic and fiscal crises, I was disappointed that as Majority Leader you did not encourage all members to vote for Representative Thissen’s amendment. As Speaker Zellers himself has stated, job creation and the budget deficit must be the legislature’s highest priorities.

Now I am asking you, as chair of the Rules Committee, to hold a hearing on this measure as soon as possible. I also request that you include this provision in the Permanent Rules that you will soon propose.

You can view Winkler’s full letter here [PDF].