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Lori Sturdevant’s Oct. 18 column on the failures of divided government (“Divided government at the Minnesota Capitol may sound good, but …”) is a clear case of massaging the facts to fit a theory. The reality is that the 1990s were a time when states were celebrated as the innovators of reform and referred to as the “laboratories of democracy.” Their efforts paved the way for national health care and welfare reform — and Minnesota, with a divided government, was at the forefront.
From 1991 to 1999, I served as a moderate Republican governor with a House and Senate controlled by the DFL. Sturdevant describes that period as one of “persistent gridlock.” In reality, that divided government worked and produced one of the most productive eras in Minnesota history.
Scott Crass in his book “Statesmen and Mischief Makers” cited our administration as “innovative, responsible, and successful,” and that happened because we worked with the Democrats and formed a meaningful partnership that permitted a host of solid legislation to be enacted.
The first challenge was to eliminate the inherited $2.3 billion deficit and institute long-term planning with effective budgetary controls. This resulted in all three primary Wall Street bond-rating agencies granting Minnesota the highest bond rating of AAA and citing our state for excellence in financial management. By 1999, we amassed a surplus of more than $2 billion that funded a massive tax cut.
On a bipartisan basis, we passed MinnesotaCare, which is still a centerpiece of our health care system today. Further, this team approach led to the passage of the most comprehensive wetlands protection in the nation; financed a recovery plan for Northwest Airlines that protected our hub and some 20,000 jobs; instituted school choice hailed by the Wall Street Journal as a “model for the rest of the nation”; passed into law the most comprehensive civil-rights legislation in the nation for the LGBTQ community; initiated the state’s first light-rail system; awarded the University of Minnesota a historic investment for science, technology, libraries, the Medical School, the Business School, etc.; reformed workers’ compensation; created major welfare reform to help single mothers obtain employment by providing health care; organized a Children’s Cabinet to coordinate efforts for children and more.
Overall, this bipartisanship was honored nationally for its excellence in financial management, environmental protection, its fostering of the arts, its commitment to human rights and the appointment of women to major governmental posts.
