House forced to deal with Right-to-Work Amendment

The Minnesota House tabled a measure that would have let voters decide if union membership and the payment of union dues should be voluntary for all workers. Rep. Mark Buesgens made a motion to send the proposal to the Rules Committee. He told reporters before he took the action that he wanted to get the bill moving again.

"It's obviously not getting a hearing where it's at," Buesgens told reporters. "It is very important to a large amount of my constituents. In fact, I heard more on this issue in the crowds that I hang around with than a stadium bill."

Buesgens also told reporters that he believed his motion would be the last chance for the House to vote on the issue this session.

"If they vote against this procedural motion, they have voted to kill Right-to-work for this session," he said.

The House voted 118-9 to table the bill.

This is the second time that a member tried to move the Right-to-Work amendment in the House. Rep. Doug Wardlow, R-Eagan, made a similar motion a few months ago. He was absent from the chamber when he was called to act on his motion.

The state's labor unions have been lobbying heavily to defeat the Right-to-Work amendment in the Legislature. The Senate successfully move the bill to the Senate Rules Committee but Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem said it doesn't have the votes to get out of committee.

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