Testy times at the Capitol as angry Republicans walk out of committee meeting

These are testy times at the Capitol.

A dozen Republicans walked out of  a noontime House Ways and Means Committee session Friday, saying they were angry over “process.”

Interestingly, the GOP didn’t express their anger over the major portions of the tax bill, which includes such things as higher income taxes on the wealthiest, a “blink-off’’ surcharge and other items House DFLers are pushing in an effort to raise revenue.

Rather, their anger involved an amendment to the omnibus tax bill that would require workers and management to sign “labor peace agreements” for publicly funded projects in the counties that include the state’s four largest cities.

The labor-supported amendment was proposed by Rep. Tom Anzelc, DFL-Balsam Lake.

Republicans claimed the bill represented putting “policy” into the tax bill.

Republican after Republican voiced objection to the amendment, none more colorfully than Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston.

‘Smoke-filled room’

“I feel like I’m in a smoke-filled room with a bunch of lobbyists,” Davids said.

He and other Republicans admitted that the DFLers eventually would pass the labor peace legislation but argued that it should be heard by the commerce committee.

When the bill did pass, with no Republican support and a couple of DFLers not voting, the committee Republicans packed up their coffee mugs, briefcases and laptops and headed out of the room.

“Chair [Lyndon] Carlson is running a kangaroo court,” Davids said after the walkout. “This is a major policy issue that was inserted without public testimony, without discussion. I will not take part in a kangaroo court.’’

Not surprisingly, Carlson disagreed with Davids’ assessment of how he’s running the committee.

“Just rhetoric,” said Carlson of Davids’ charges. “He spoke four times on the amendment. He continued to want to dominate the discussion.”

Without Republicans in the meeting room, DFLers quickly passed the omnibus transportation finance bill.

All of this, of course, is more about theater than policy. The House tax bill still has to go to the floor, where it will be disparaged by Republicans before it passes.

More importantly, the bill ultimately will have to go to a conference committee. There are major differences between Senate and House tax bills.

Entertaining — and informative — theater

Nonetheless, the theater was entertaining — and perhaps even informative.

Republicans, now in the minority, have complained from the beginning of the session about the DFL “abusing” its majority status. It’s worthwhile to remember, that when they were in the minority, DFLers complained of being poorly treated by Republicans.

The amendment did have the feel of a policy provision.

Anzelc, a longstanding friend of labor, said the amendment was justified because it “protects the public” when public funds are used in a project.

A “labor peace agreement” does not require projects being built by the public to use union labor. But Anzelc made it clear that such an agreement does allow workers to organize without interference from developers and management.

More importantly, he said, a “labor peace agreement” means there will be no disruptions in a project which receives public funding.

Anzelc said his amendment “protects the public interest.”

Though some of the Republicans on the committee clearly were angry that the amendment is overly friendly to unions, most avoided that argument and focused on process.

Some Republicans even insisted they might be interested in voting for the amendment, if it had gone through normal legislative processes.

Sometimes, the GOP arguments were humorous displays of tap-dancing.

There was, for example, the dance done by Rep. Denny McNamara, R-Hastings.

“I’m a friend of labor,” he said.

He paused.

“And I’m a friend of business.”

Then he said that it was the DFL process that was the problem — and the reason he would not support the amendment.

Such “peace agreements” have been used in several large public projects, such as construction of the Metrodome, Target Field and Xcel Energy Center.

Proponents of the agreement noted that many large corporations have labor peace agreements with their work forces. New York has a labor peace requirement, as do such municipalities as Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Minneapolis.

Davids, who does love the theater of politics, was both angry and funny after the walkout.

Because of the walkout, he said, he was unable to deliver “a great little speech” he had been prepared to deliver at the conclusion of the committee meeting.

His speech was going to tie together the nasty April weather and his disgust of DFL policies and process, by quoting from a 1977 rock song by the British-American group Foreigner:

You’re as cold as ice,
You’re willing to sacrifice our love
You’ll never take advice
Someday, you’ll pay the price.