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House and Senate, they could ram bills through the Legislature without consulting Democrats.
• "I just don't think that's good government," Lust said.
• Republicans hold a 28-7 advantage over Democrats in the Senate and a 53-17 edge in the House.
• Senate Democratic Leader Jason Frerichs said members of the two parties cooperated and respected each other last year, and he sees signs that will continue this year. However, Republicans and Democrats may wind up at odds over changes in the management of legislative staff and investigations into the failure of a beef packing plant that received state money, he said.
• Senate Republican Leader Tim Rave of Baltic said current lawmakers seek to avoid the bitter remarks that characterized some past sessions.
• "There are certainly are issues we won't agree on, but that's OK. That's part of the process," Rave said.
• Neither party has a lock on good ideas, Rave said.
• "Together, I think good ideas come out of some good disagreement sometimes," Rave said.
• Hunhoff said he remembers years ago when lawmakers used four-letter words in debate, and he believes term limits that took effect more than a decade ago have improved civility in the House and Senate. Some leaders who had been in the Legislature for decades before term limits were accomplished at partisan fighting, he said.
• "Personal attacks are just about a thing of the past now," Hunhoff said. "It's not the wild frontier it was. It was maybe a little more fun, but it wasn't as productive."
•

• MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The Minnesota Twins have launched their 2014 Winter Caravan.
• The 54th annual Twins Winter Caravan kicked off Monday. The caravan features stops in more than 50 communities in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin through Jan. 23.
• The Twins Winter Caravan is one of the longest running and most extensive offseason team caravans in pro sports. The tour features teams of current and former Twins players visiting schools, hospitals, corporations and service clubs during the day with a "hot stove" program each evening.
• It's six weeks until the Twins' first official workout of spring training.

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