Private: “Withdrawn from company or observation”

Gov. Pawlenty is scheduled to meet with legislative leaders of both parties today to discuss a fix to General Assistance Medical Care and the bonding bill. Those meetings will be behind closed doors, which is a common occurrence on some negotiations.

Why is this interesting? Well, Pawlenty and his spokesman Brian McClung blasted Democrats for negotiating a bonding bill behind closed doors.

Here's what Pawlenty wrote to DFL Rep. Alice Hausman and DFL Sen. Keith Langseth when he was expressing concern about the bill:

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"It is my understanding that much of this bill was assembled behind closed doors by some conference committee members and the completed bill was unveiled to the public at approximately 1:00AM this morning. This lack of transparency is unacceptable."

His spokesman Brian McClung went a step further

"This is a 97 page bill that was negotiated by Democrats behind closed doors and only revealed to the public at 1:30AM. That is simply unacceptable. The people of Minnesota expect better."

When I asked McClung whether Pawlenty's meetings with lawmakers would be in private, he e-mailed this response:

"The meetings will be held in the Governor's office with invited legislators and staff. Unlike the behind-closed-door bonding meetings on Sunday, these meetings will be conducted during regular working hours, the attendees will be known to the media and others, and the public discussion would occur immediately afterwards and not at 1:00 a.m."

When I followed up to ask whether the meetings are, in fact, being held behind closed doors, this was his response:

"Invited legislators and staff are welcome."

For those wondering, here's Merriam-Webster's definition of private.