Did You Know Minnesota Senators are Banned from Looking at Each Other?
You really do learn something new every day.
During one of my on-air shows I do a segment featuring random facts and trivia tidbits, and today I found one about a strange rule in the Minnesota government.
In 2015, the Minnesota Senate voted to keep a rule forbidding members from looking at one another during floor debate and also continued to ban everyone from having drinks on the Senate floor.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk at the time disagreed with the passing of this, because "when you can look at the senator speaking, he said, debates could become longer and more personal." At the same time, Sen. Warren Limmer said he found the looking rule to be antiquated.
The vote shook out in favor of eye contact with the senate president, and it's been the case for seven years running now.
As for the drink rule, the ban wasn't on pop, flavored drinks, or alcohol, the ban is for regular plain-jane water. The Pioneer Press reported:
Unlike in the Minnesota House, food and drink is banned from the Senate floor. Bakk said any drinks could damage the Senate’s historic desks and noted that there is water available just a few steps from where senators sit.
That makes total sense to me. The last thing historic pieces need are water rings from sweaty water bottles. And this is coming from a girl who carries a water bottle with her everywhere she goes.
You learn something new every day. For different fun facts on-air every weekday, listen to 96.7 The River at 7:40 AM for "Believe It, or No?"
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