Incoming legislators get lessons in history, decorum and how things are done.
A new class of state lawmakers filed into the ornate House chamber Wednesday afternoon for a presentation on decorum, some posing for selfies before taking a seat behind desks that do not yet bear their names.
The 39 new members of the Minnesota House — some of whom are returning after a term or two out of office — are in the middle of a crash course on how the Legislature works. The large freshman class will constitute more than a quarter of all state House members, and 45 percent of Democrats, when the Legislature convenes Jan. 8.
“We’re learning the nuts and bolts — how to create a bill and get it through committees, and just the detail-y things of what it will mean to be a legislator,” said Rep.-elect Kelly Morrison of Deephaven, one of the many new Democrats who ousted a Republican incumbent and helped put the DFL in control of the House.
View the complete November 28 article by Jessie Van Berkel on The Star Tribune website here.
