Text: State of MinnesotaHOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESMARTIN OLAV SABO, SpeakerNovember 16, 1978Memo to : Representatives Searle, Doug Carlson, Knickerbocker,Nelsen, Dean and Legislative StaffFrom: John J. Finnegan, Jr./StaffRe: Legislative TiesAs Representative Knickerbocker requested, the NCSL provided me withthe following information which is basically the same informationthat it provided to Mr. Peter Levine.Since the 1970 elections there have been 13 legislative ties in theseveral states. The bulk of these ties have occurred in State Senates.The ties in State Houses that would be of interest to us occurred during1973-74 in South Dakota and during 1977-78 in North Dakota. Presently,there is a tie in the Washington House that is interesting since theRepresentatives there had been in a distinct minority and have stronglycome back to parity status. This is similar to our situation and I willcontact the Republican leadership out there this afternoon.The method by which ties have been resolved do not seem to be applicableto our situation here. This is especially the case in Senate ties whereorganization was sometimes decided by the flip of the coin. The one tiethat does seem to apply to our situation here would be the situationin North Dakota of which we are already familiar. I will do someadditional checking into the South Dakota situation, but my own knowledgeof that state suggests that the matter does not provide much insight for us.I would like to point out that Montana must have experienced such problemsbefore because that state has a statute that provides for the Speaker tobe selected by the party with the Governor when ties occur in the State House.I believe that Montana also has a similar provision for the Senate but I didnot discuss that with NCSL officials.The breakdown of ties since 1970:1971-72 - Alaska SenateMichigan Senate,,lMemo to Representatives Searle, Doug Carlson,Knickerbocker, Nelsen, Dean and Legislative StaffNovember 16, 19781973-74 - California SenateMichigan SenateSouth Dakota House1975-76 - New Hampshire SenateWyoming Senate1977-78 - Montana SenateNew Hampshire SenateNorth Dakota House1979-80 - Alaska SenateMinnesota HouseWashington HouseJJF :jrPage 2