ST. PAUL -- Minnesota state Sen. Kent Eken fought for years to increase pay for those who care for the elderly and disabled, but as state legislators wound down their 2014 session, he made it personal.
"I had a brother who was intellectually disabled," Eken said about Kyle, who was two years older than the Twin Valley Democratic senator.
Eken told fellow senators about the young brothers making hay forts in a barn on the family farm. "We talk a lot about numbers; I think sometimes it is important that we put faces with those numbers."
No special education services were available in Eken's northwestern Minnesota area, he said, so his parents helped launch one. There, Kyle was happy and made progress, the senator said, thanks to people helping others like his brother with special needs.
"We are not a state that leaves anyone behind," said Eken, whose brother died in a drowning accident at age 12.
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Eken was a leader in increasing funding 5 percent for people who serve the disabled and elderly. The effort, part of a bill that passed moments before the Legislature adjourned for the year, is especially important in his area, Eken said, because nearby North Dakota pays its workers at least $2.50 an hour more.
"We have an industry that really is on the verge of collapse," Eken said, and the 5 percent increase will help keep it alive.
Eken's plea was personal and emotional during a legislative session that brought out many such testimonials. The most visible came in discussions about whether marijuana extracts should be allowed as treatment for a variety of severe medical conditions, including children's seizures.
While an estimated 5,000 Minnesotans could benefit from a medical marijuana bill that is about to become law, supporters say, some claim the bill passed leaves behind another 30,000 who also could benefit.
“Gov. (Mark) Dayton called the process that produced this bill ‘citizen government at its best,’ but it is actually politics at its worst," Brainerd mother Shelly Olander said. "Instead of listening to parents and patients about what bill would work for our families, the governor gave law enforcement the power to decide how this medical program should operate and who should have access to it."
Her son, 6-year-old Lincoln, has undergone 20 surgeries and she said police were not consulted, and should not have been, for those medical procedures. The boy will not be able to use marijuana extracts that she said could help his condition.
"Why should their approval be necessary if doctors think medical marijuana will help my son?" Olander asked about police. "We will keep fighting until Lincoln and the thousands of other seriously ill patients who have been left behind by this law are able to access the medicine they need.”
On the other hand, parents of children who suffer seizures, including during testimony in front of legislative committees, mixed broad smiles with tears of joy in recent days as it became apparent their children next year will have access to chemicals from the marijuana plant that they hope will ease the seizures.
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“This is going to help thousands of Minnesotans ..." Angie Weaver of Hibbing said after a final medical marijuana compromise was announced. "My daughter is going to be able to stay in Minnesota and grow up with her cousins.”
Personal stories were accompanied by tears when many bills were discussed this year.
For instance, victims of domestic abuse cried when telling why they felt abusers' guns should be taken away. Lawmakers agreed and approved a bill to do that.
On the other hand, tear-filled testimony did not persuade House members to reform payday lending laws. A bill never got a House vote. Supporters of stricter regulations testified that the bill was needed because many payday lenders turn poor people into victims who are forced to take out loans every couple of weeks just to pay off earlier loans.
Overall, Democrats who control the House, Senate and governor's office said that Minnesotans, especially in the middle class, will feel their actions this year.
“Two years ago, when I was asked what Minnesotans could expect from a DFL governor and a DFL Legislature, I said: progress," Gov. Mark Dayton said. "That is exactly what we delivered again this session."
Dayton and other Democratic leaders point to issues they passed that affect Minnesotans personally, such as lowering taxes $550 million this year (after boosting them more than $2 billion last year), increasing the minimum wage, improving working conditions for women and protecting children from bullying.
“We did all of this to improve the lives of Minnesotans, and to build a better Minnesota," Dayton said. "We have more work ahead to finish restoring our state to greatness; but we have made important progress.”
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Republicans differ and say Minnesotans will be affected personally by Democratic economic decisions.
While saying the Legislature worked together well this year, Senate Minority Leader David Hann, R-Eden Prairie, complained about Democrats' spending tendencies.
"Spending money isn't always evidence that we have accomplished anything," he said moments before the 2014 session ended.
Republicans like Hann said three straight months of smaller-than-expected state revenues prove that the Minnesota economy has not improved enough and Minnesotans will feel it in their wallets. Next year, Hann said, lawmakers need to do "a better job of prioritizing things that are important. ... Spending money and having good intentions are not good enough."
Democrats were not buying the GOP arguments.
"It was the most productive legislative biennium in my time here," Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, D-Cook, said seconds before he moved to adjourn the annual session at 10:13 p.m. Friday.
