Steve Cooper to the Rescue
Walking the corridors the next morning, devastated at losing the million dollars for my neighborhood idea (see Tribute before), I ran into old friend Steve Cooper. Steve was another person Spencer Blaw had introduced me to, back when Steve was the Director of the Neighborhood Justice Center (mentioned above in Spencer Tribute). I always talked about Steve as being famous for having secured the most recent murder one acquittals in each of the seven metropolitan counties – i.e., a really good attorney! (And still is – The Cooper Law Firm is now in downtown Minneapolis doing Civil Rights cases.) At the time I ran into him at the State Capitol, he was Gov. Rudy Perpich’s Commissioner of the Human Rights Dept.
Steve may be surprised to read this tribute to him. Although he and others in his law office were mentors to me, he probably barely remembers this story of coming to my rescue.
As I explained in the previous Tribute, somehow, miraculously, as a brand-new legislator, I had secured a million dollars for my neighborhood’s housing idea – only to lose it in a midnight raid by Roger Moe, the Senate Majority Leader. And that’s not all I tell Steve:
“Just yesterday, on the House floor, I successfully beat back fellow Democrat Linda Scheid’s bill to eliminate the usury law for loans under one thousand dollars, but just minutes ago the lobbyist for the bill, Jim Erickson, was in my office saying he had gotten Wally Sparby to offer a motion to reconsider, and lined-up the votes to get the damn bill passed on reconsideration. F***ing two victories to two defeats in the last 24 hours!”
Some background for readers: A “motion to reconsider” is in order when someone on the prevailing side wishes to change their vote, but it has to be within 24 hours. The day before, Rep. Wally Sparby had voted with me to defeat the Scheid bill, but had changed his mind after lobbyist Erickson explained to him the loan industry needed the bill because so many poor people default on their loans, the industry will quit making loans to poor people unless they can make more money on interest, over and above the usury law.
“Sparby is making his motion this very afternoon!” I angrily tell Steve. Well, Steve hears all this and says to me:
“You know that lobbyist, Jim Erickson, happens to be really good friends with Majority Leader Moe. Think about it this way: Will the poor folks in your district be better off with a new housing program even if some are paying higher interest on their loans? Go tell lobbyist Erickson that you won’t fight the motion to reconsider if he can get Roger to give your million back.”
Thank you forever, Steve, for that great advice. Sure enough, I get lobbyist Jim Erickson back in my office and tell him if he gets my million back from Moe, I will walk off the floor when Sparby makes his motion (i.e., not fight it). Erickson comes back a half hour later saying I got you your million back. What I didn’t tell Erickson is that while he was gone getting me my million, I had enlisted Reps. Paul Ogren and Jim Rice, both oratory giants, to fight the motion in my place.
photo below: Paul Ogren on the left – more about Paul: Another mentor, another life-long friend. Paul retired to Hawaii. We catch-up every New Year’s Eve on the phone – regaling each other with life’s adventures. Paul, a strong progressive, was popular enough to be our next Governor after Arne Carlson, but – like I learned later, see upcoming Jane Prince Tribute – it was still too early to elect former hippies to high office.
And the Scheid bill went down to an even worse defeat that afternoon! Two victories – to two defeats – to two victories in less than 24 hours – Thanks a Million, Steve!
caption: Planting a tree for the new homeowners at one of the fixed-up houses