It's Late Afternoon and We Have a Need for Action. The teacher mandatory health pool legislation passed the Senate about two hours ago on a vote of 43-23. Senator David Hann (R-Eden Prairie) moved to send the bill back to conference committee because the amendment offered by Senator Betsy Wergin (R-Princeton) providing districts with an opportunity to opt out of the pool was removed in conference committee. That motion was defeated on a vote of 38-28.

It's now in the hands of the Governor. I have written a letter that I will be delivering shortly to the Governor outlining our organization's opposition to this measure and urging his veto, but, if you are so inclined, you should also call the Governor's office and urge him to veto this stinker.

The Governor's office phone number is 651-296-3391.

His e-mail address is: tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us