Minnesota Senate keeps rules banning eye contact, water-drinking on floor

Like shy teens at their first school dance, members of Minnesota's Senate will continue to avoid eye contact during floor debate after a vote Monday failed to overturn a ban regulating lawmakers' gazes.

By a 44-15 vote, the Senate opted not to nix a rule requiring lawmakers to look at the Senate president — and not at each other — when speaking. The reason: Lawmakers feared that overturning the ban could lead to confrontational debate and erode Minnesota nice.

"Our decorum would probably not be as Senate-like as we would like to have it," Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk said, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

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Also Monday, lawmakers declined to end a ban on food and drink on the Senate floor, with Bakk arguing that water — available nearby for all to sip — could damage desks if left unregulated.