Unicameral plan on course for House vote

ST. PAUL (AP) -- Supporters of Gov. Jesse Ventura's plan for a one-house Legislature tried Monday to make its second swing through the House less rocky than the first.

The House Governmental Operations and Veterans Affairs Committee approved the unicameral bill on a 13-10 vote, bypassing an unfriendly panel in the process. The bill is slightly different than one legislators previously defeated.

House Speaker Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon, said it was ''more likely than not'' that the bill would get a vote by all 134 House members.

Monday's vote puts the bill -- which would give Minnesotans the chance to vote on whether to cut one chamber from the Legislature -- one stop from the House floor. The bill heads to the Rules and Administration Committee, which is considered agreeable to the structure now used only by Nebraska.