The 2006 regular session of the Minnesota Legislature begins at noon today with hope that this one will be better than the past two.

One of the few things Republicans and Democrats could agree upon in 2004 and 2005 was that the legislative process was broken. Two years ago, the Legislature failed its most basic test — passing a bonding bill to fund construction projects around the state.

Then came 2005 when the Legislature and governor failed at their most basic test of odd-year sessions — passing a two-year state budget. There was a partial shut-down of state government in July when the previous budget expired. A settlement was finally reached two months after the constitutional deadline.

The fear of voters coming to the same conclusion on Nov. 7, when all state elected offices are on the ballot, will give incumbents the incentive to make sure this session runs more smoothly than the last two, according to area lawmakers.

Rep. Bob Gunther, R-Fairmont, predicts that lawmakers will be walking in parades and talking to potential voters at county fairs — not locked in another gridlock-forced special legislative session.

“If we aren’t, we’re history,” Gunther said, looking ahead to the general election.

Two of the state’s top three leaders express optimism that the session starting today will be more civil.

“We’re hoping the session will have an overall attitude of cooperation as opposed to confrontation — of doing the people’s business,” House Speaker Steve Sviggum said during an interview last month.

Two priorities of the 2006 session could bring the Republican-controlled House and the DFL-controlled Senate together, said Sviggum, a Republican. The first one is passing a bonding bill, which is generally a popular bill because it distributes construction projects around the state. The second is passing some tax relief for property owners who have seen tax levies skyrocketing in the past several years.

Sen. John Hottinger, DFL-St. Peter, said Pawlenty and Republican lawmakers are also planning to raise divisive issues — abortion, constitutional amendments on marriage and illegal immigration legislation — in preparation for the fall campaign season.

“If there’s a breakdown, it’s probably not going to be a budgetary one,” Hottinger said. “It’s going to be a social one.”

Hottinger, who is retiring from the Senate at the end of the year, said the self-interest of other lawmakers and the governor should drive them to compromise this spring as they look ahead to re-election campaigns. If politicians are rational, they will want to have a much more positive session this year and get their work done on time.

“But there was no rational reason that it wasn’t completed on time last time,” Hottinger said. “It was all politics.”

Gov. Tim Pawlenty makes a distinction between the way sessions have been conducted during his first term and the final result, a process he called “procedurally ugly but substantively productive.”

During a telephone news conference Tuesday, Pawlenty hoped that the presence of a budget surplus this session will mean more harmony under the Capitol dome in the next two and a half months.

Still, a desire for a more harmonious session can’t trump basic convictions, according to Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, who likes to tell the story about the constituent who bawled him out during last year’s stalemate.

The woman spotted him in a store in Amboy, scolded him for the Legislature’s inability to get along and told him to learn how to compromise.

“And just before I reached the door, she said ‘But don’t you dare raise my taxes,’” said Cornish, laughing at the contradictory advice. “That’s what the (stalemate) was all about.”