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

Minnesota Senate bans drinking water on floor
(Image credit: iStock)

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.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.