November-December 2009 Update

Greetings! With the holidays I haven't updated this in a while. Here's a summary of my November and December activities.

I'll start by including this campaign flyer for my grandfather that I just unearthed from a box. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Massachusetts House of Representatives in (I think) 1916 as a Democrat. He and his father were supporters of William Jennings Bryan during the progressive era. His father had been a legislator for one term in 1884 on the "Greenbacker" ticket.

Hearings and committee meetings: The Health Care & Human Services Policy Committee (HCHS) met several times. One was on the redesign of State Operated Services (SOS). SOS includes health care facilities run by the Department of Human Services (DHS) primarily for people with mental illness and chemical dependency issues. DHS is undertaking a re-design to maximize the use of its existing beds in the state and to help save money.

We also had a hearing on different proposals for salvaging the General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) program that serves about 33,000 Minnesotans who don't have insurance coverage and who have assets of less than $8,000. About 30% of this population is homeless and around 70% have either a mental health issue or chemical dependency issue, or both. In short, most people in GAMC are not able to function on their own. The Governor made a line-item veto of this program for fiscal year 2011 and then unalloted the program for March to June 2010. Advocates for GAMC have made serving this population a top priority. My colleague Rep. Erin Murphy and Sen. Linda Berglin have proposed an alternative that would increase a surcharge on hospitals that would then leverage matching federal funds. This would salvage GAMC to a degree and return some money to the general fund to help balance the budget. My Republican colleague Rep. Matt Dean has another proposal to have who I would call more high-functioning people on GAMC put on Minnesota Care and then use dollars from the Health Care Access Fund (HCAF) to fund the people who really need additional guidance. Money for the HCAF comes from a 2% health care provider tax--doctors often call it the "sick tax" because you only pay it when you go to the doctor. HCAF dollars pay for Minnesota Care, which serves Minnesotans who have jobs but don't have health coverage. Neither proposal is perfect--rural hospitals are not liking the idea of a higher surcharge to fund what is mostly a metro area issue, and putting GAMC patients on Minnesota Care will deplete the HCAF a lot quicker than expected.

A summary of Minnesota's health care programs is at the DHS web site.

On December 22nd, I participated in a reading of names of those on GAMC with local volunteers from Take Action Minnesota at the Shoreview Community Center.

Environmental Committees: The Environmental Finance Committee met to hear from the MN Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and the DNR about various issues. I sat in on the oversight hearing dealing with "total maximum daily load" (or TDML) compliance. The MPCA must test all waters in the state every ten years for a variety of pollutants. Pollutants that exceed the TDML for a particular watershed will put that watershed into "non-compliance" and trigger a variety of government action. Of chief concern is that the Lake Pepin watershed continues to be non-compliant. The good news is that metro area residents have already paid for significant improvements to the Metro Wastewater Treatment Plant at Pigs Eye to reduce the amount of major pollutants going back into the Mississippi. The bad news is that the Minnesota River continues to be a major problem. One issue I brought up at the hearing was that Minnesota's TDML data is not particularly user-friendly for the public. I suggested that the MPCA look at Maryland's example called BayStat.

Presentation to Jobs Task Force: The House Jobs Task Force is a group of several dozen legislators seeking ways to trigger improved job growth during the recession. On November 30th, I gave a three-minute presentation on how the state could use recycling as a way to boost job growth, since recycling leads to more economic value and growth than throwing recyclable waste away. For example, in Wisconsin, the state has required that all public building projects recycle 50% of their construction waste. For every $1,000 in construction costs, this requirement saves a dollar. It also provides cheaper raw material to manufacturers of concrete, asphalt, steel, aluminum, etc. Quite a few metro area recycling businesses are ready to hire more people if something like this was more widespread.

Check your water data: The New York Times did a recent major article about pollution in drinking water in the U.S. They created a database that you can search for your community's water quality report. All cities in 53A are listed. We have fewer contaminants probably because we don't get water from the Mississippi. On a related issue, the MN Department of Health received some additional funding from the new dedicated sales tax to detect new contaminants in our drinking water. The MPCA has also produced an endocrine disruptor study that shows what kind of contaminants are in our lakes that could mess with the endocrine systems of fish and possibly humans. Lake Owasso in Shoreview was among the lakes tested. At the federal level, the U.S. EPA is considering possible federal regulatory action on pharmaceuticals in drinking water. I'm working on a bill-HF1217-that would reduce the amount of pharmaceuticals being flushed into our wastewater treatment systems. During the fall, I've met with various public, private, and nonprofit stakeholders on the bill so we can make it the best we can make it.

Health care: I found this interesting New York Times article called If Health Reform Fails, America's Innovation Gap Will Grow. It asserts that entrepreneurs will not take risks if they are concerned about not having health coverage.

Energy conservation: My house was one of 50,000 Xcel Energy customers to have an energy usage report with my bill. My energy use was compared to that of my neighbors and the Xcel web site has lots of useful tools for reducing wasted energy. Reporting to customers like this in other states has resulted in a two percent reduction in energy use.

Vikings stadium: The debate on a possible new Vikings stadium is heating up. Many constituents know that I am not a big supporter of public funding for stadiums. Our House Research department has done a great background study of previous stadium funding efforts.

Spending amendment: Governor Pawlenty has proposed the use of a constitutional amendment to cap state spending at the level of the previous budget except in cases of emergency. Here's a link to an analysis that shows that this is not a great idea.

Visitors: Department of Human Services on mental health & State Operated Services; MN Pharmacists Association on HF1217; WasteCap Wisconsin about construction site recycling; constituent about athletic trainer certification bill; constituent about market-based health care bill; Senator Sheran about HF1372; Legal Aid about a water utilities bill; DHS and House Research about HF1217; Ramsey County lobbyist and solid waste staff; Partnership for Affordable Energy about promoting coal as a power source; MN Hospital Association about mental health; League of MN Cities about water utilities bill; constituent and advocates for natural burials; Circle Pines constituent visting the Capitol; Health Partners staff and lobbyists about GAMC; Aging Services of MN & Care Providers of MN about HF1217; Healthy Legacy about HF1217 and HF2407

Visits (where I was the vistor): Ace Solid Waste in Ramsey, Delkor Systems in Blaine; North Oaks for St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce event; NorthStar line opening at Fridley station; E3 Conference presentation on compostable bags; Metro North Chamber of Commerce Working Green Business Expo in Blaine; Allied Waste recycling center in Minneapolis; Courageous Conversations about Health Care event in Mahtomedi; National Caucus of Environmental Legislators conference in Chicago (no taxpayer dollars spent for my travel); House DFL Caucus fundraiser; MPCA meeting on waste issues; Ramsey Conservation District; House DFL Caucus retreat; Anoka County Juvenile Detention Center in Lino Lakes (The Pines School) to talk to students about government

October 2009 Update

October turned out to be as busy as September, plus I had flu-like symptoms twice that knocked me out for a couple of days. Wash those hands!

Conservation Minnesota Award: On October 26th, I received a conservation leader award from Conservation Minnesota for my work on water conservation and solid waste. I am very honored to be in the company of Will Steger as well as my constituent Dr. Michael Kilgore for his work on the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council.

Endocrine disruptors in Lake Owasso: The MPCA just issued a study that measured chemical compounds in our rivers and lakes that disrupt the endocrine systems of fish. Lake Owasso in Shoreview/Roseville was among those tested. The good news: Lakes where houses are connected to the city sewer have fewer endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in them. The bad news is that the EDCs go to sewage treatment plants where we can't get rid of the EDCs either. Lake Owasso has high level of organic wastewater compounds in it including DEET and high level of caffeine compared to other lakes tested.

Mental Health: Representative McFarlane and I attended a meeting hosted by NAMI-MN (National Association for Mental Illness), Health Partners, the Archdiocese Office of Social Justice, and the MN Psychiatric Society. The purpose was to discuss the Governor's unallotment and line-item veto of General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC), a program that covers the health care costs of 30,000 people who have virtually no assets and are often chemically dependent and mentally ill. I voted to override the Governor's veto and Rep. McFarlane did not. My assertion in the meeting was that people with private health care coverage end up paying for people without health coverage who show up at the emergency room, and that saving GAMC is cheaper for those with insurance.

Later in the month, I met with an assistant commissioner for the Department of Human Services and his staff about their proposed re-design of State Operated Services (SOS), which are the state's treatment facilities for mental health.

On October 14th, several House committees held an informational hearing about mental health costs in the criminal justice system. We could save a lot of taxpayer dollars by better integrating information about mental health into law enforcement and corrections training.

Phone books: I had a good meeting with members of the Yellow Pages Association and Dex to hear about their efforts to allow consumers to opt-out of yellow pages delivery. State rules still require delivery of a white pages, and we might work on legislation to get rid of that rule.

Water: The MN Rural Water Association invited me to their training class on October 27th in St. Cloud about how to set water/sewer rates that create enough reserves to fund future upgrades. Not enough cities do this and they are often stuck going to the state for funding. They also talked about the conservation rate structure legislation that I authored last year.

Arsenals and race tracks: One proposal made to the City of Arden Hills for the use of the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP) is for a NASCAR track. I happen to be a NASCAR fan, but I am not a fan of this proposal. The 35W corridor between 694 and U.S. Hwy 10 is one of the most congested spots in the north metro because several corridors converge there. In addition, 694 is only two lanes wide from 35E to 35W. So this would be a congestion nightmare. Finally, the noise would likely carry for many miles.

Bioplastics/yard waste: KARE-11 did a story about my legislation on yard waste bags and the Star Tribune did an article as well. On October 19th I spoke about the topic to a national conference focused on using organic waste as an energy source. The MN Pollution Control Agency hosted a great panel discussion on-line on October 16th about biopolymers and their potential in Minnesota.

Campaign finance: A recent New York Times column outlines the many ways in which state campaign finance law there hinders democracy. The State Legislature has ceased to be an effective organization in recent months. I am pleased to say that many of the proposed reforms in the column are already law in Minnesota!

Reporting unsafe drivers: The MN Department of Public Safety has a web page where you can report unsafe drivers. The driver gets a letter notifying that somebody noticed them driving unsafely, and your contact information is not divulged.

Visited these folks or attended these meetings: Product Stewardship meeting in Eagan and Minneapolis about innovative ways to cut taxpayer costs for waste managment; gathering of north metro MN Utility Investors members in Shoreview; waste haulers in Prior Lake; White Bear Lake Area senior transportation meeting; Turtle Lake Elementary School kindergartners; water expert; Qwest area office in Shoreview; Capitol Beverage in Fridley; CTV15 cable TV station for interview on bike commuting; visit with Express Scripts in Bloomington about HF1217; boy scouts in Shoreview; Golden Lake PTA in Circle Pines; RAM/SWANA Conference on recycling, composting, etc.; Sierra Club members in Shoreview; Senator Rummel on issues of mutual interest; UPS Freight tour in Blaine

Visitors: Healthy Legacy lobbyist about state purchasing/bonding ideas that promote less toxic products; Chamber of Commerce representatives about product stewardship; group of about 20 members of the MN Council of Nonprofits learning about the legislature; lobbyists for syringe manufacturer and pharmaceutical products about my legislation; member of League of MN Cities regarding product stewardship proposals; General Accountability Office (GAO) researchers from Washington, D.C. following up on MN's e-waste recycling law; industry representatives from biopolymer sector

September 2009 update

Here's an update of my September 2009 activities and other information.

District happenings

Domestic violence: I was very troubled to hear of the second case of fatal domestic violence in district 53A in as many months. The murder-suicide was covered in two articles in the Star Tribune here and here. I'm talking to a few legislators to see if any changes in legislation would help avoid this situation in the future. Alexandra House, the only women's shelter of its kind in Anoka County, was mentioned several times.

Constituent suffering from PTSD: Minnesota Public Radio recently covered the case of a Circle Pines Marine who is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his service in Iraq. I've spoken to a few people involved and it is clear that we have a big job ahead of us in treating the large number of returning servicemen and women with PTSD. Some officials at Fort Snelling are doing their best to avoid the worst case scenario of suicide among veterans. [10/11/09 update: The Pioneer Press reported on 10/08/09 that the Marines are calling into question the story of the Circle Pines Marine. It's a little hard to tell what the truth is on this case but I would still point out that PTSD is a major problem.]

Scrap tires on Highway 14: Anoka County rebuilt Highway 14 through Centerville and Lino Lakes recently. Because the section that crosses the Rice Creek Chain of Lakes does not have a very stable base underneath, the county used 2.6 million shredded scrap tires to shore up the road. I know the tire recycling folks and the U.S. produces about one scrap tire per person per year, which means that this project used about half of all scrap tires collected in MN in one year.

Energy savings in Mounds Views SD: Congratulations to the Mounds View School District for the first year of results from its Schools for Energy Efficiency (SEE) program. The district saved $400,000 by reducing energy use by 12%! Well done.

Mounds View SD requests lottery funding: The Mounds View School District, which owns the Laurentian Environmental Learning Center (ELC) in Britt, MN, and several other ELCs have proposed a project to the commission recommending uses for lottery proceeds. The Legislative Citizens Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) is hearing proposals this fall for possible recommendations next session. The ELC proposal would request funding for energy efficiency upgrades as well as educational programs on energy.

Centennial levy: The Centennial School District is putting a levy referendum on the ballot this fall. There will be two questions. The first will be asking to renew the existing five-year levy and the second questions would ask for some additional funding. There is more info at the Vote Yes site for the referendum.

Anoka County inmates going to Sherburne: Part of Anoka County's budget cutting includes transferring some inmates from Lino Lakes to Sherburne County in Elk River.

Local business and Gopher Stadium: The new Gopher football stadium includes a novel stormwater treatment system developed by a local company. Rehbein Environmental Solutions in Blaine created a system that can store 132,000 gallons of water at a time instead of releasing it immediately into the stormwater runoff system. WCCO did a story on the stadium's green components.

Sewer charges and Blaine interceptor: The Met Council is considering changes to sewer rates. Revenue for sewage capacity from new development in the outer suburbs has slowed because of the lack of new construction, so the MC may charge people in developed areas (that's us) more.

Health care

Insurance for those rejected from other plans: The Health Care & Human Services Policy Committee that I serve on had a recent hearing on several topics including MCHA--the Minnesota Comprehensive Health Association. MCHA (pronounced EM-cha) is a program run by the insurance industry to offer coverage to people who, among other things, have been rejected by health insurers because of a pre-existing condition. It's not a state government program but it was created by the legislature. Premiums make up about half the revenue of the program and the rest comes from the insurers through an assessment on their regular customers' policies of about three percent. However, self-insured plans (like those created through large employers) do not get charged the assessment, leaving the cost to small businesses and individual policy holders.

Hidden health care tax: A group called Families USA has updated information about how much consumers with private insurance are paying as a "hidden tax" to cover the cost of the uninsured. In Minnesota we have almost half the number of uninsured as the national average so hospitals and clinics have to write off fewer losses, but the average family policy pays $650 more a year in this state in the "hidden tax."

Transportation

Bike commuting: During the first few weeks of September I've been commuting on my bike to the Capitol and using the bus as part of that once in a while. I'm not the first in our area to do this by any means but it's been a good way to get in shape. The Met Council has a Bike2Benefits program on-line where you can log in your miles and see how many gallons of gas you are not using and how much in greenhouse gas emissions you are not creating. You can also track the location and arrival times of your buses in real-time using a PDA on the Metro Transit web site.

694 & 35W: MnDOT plans to update one of the exit ramps at 694 and 35W.

Transit: One of the most used forms of transit in the northern suburbs is paratransit or dial-a-ride. Seniors and the disabled use this service regularly. I'm following the work of the Interagency Committee on Transportation Coordination (ICTC, or "Ick-tick") to find out how to encourage more coordination among our state and local agencies so that we can maximize the use of all our transportation assets. The Met Council is also consolidating its dial-a-ride program in a way that will bring this service to Shoreview for the first time.

Environment

New technology for treating garbage: I visited a company's R&D facility in Blaine recently that can pre-treat garbage in what is called a thermal vessel. The garbage is heated up to 280 degrees or so and the resulting organic material can be put in an anerobic digester to create energy, and recyclables can be separated out also. The company is Visiam and its main office is in White Bear Township. Their web site has a video of the process. I also had the chance in September to visit a new landfill site in Lynd, Minnesota in Lyon County where I met with county commissioners from seven southwestern MN counties.

My bills

Scrap law working: In 2007, I got legislation passed that required scrap metal recyclers to keep records on the people selling them scrap because of a rampant metal theft problem. This recent article highlights one scrap yard that is successfully working with police on the issue.

Product stewardship: Several of my bills for 2009-2010 relate to a concept of product stewardship (PS). PS would assist taxpayers by asking for industries that create products that are difficult to dispose of safely to take some financial responsibility for the waste material. Senator Doll, Rep. McNamara, and I recently spoke to a gathering of local government officials about legislative ideas on PS. I also attended a recent panel discussion at the MPCA on sustainable packaging. Presenters included NatureWorks LLC, Aveda (based in Blaine), and General Mills. Aveda has a very successful plastic bottle cap program that you can get involved with at local schools.

Compostable bag legislation media: WCCO recently gave some coverage about my legislation requiring compostable plastic yard waste bags if you use a plastic bag.

Pharmaceuticals in our water: Blog readers may be familiar with my bill that would create a secure "take-back" system for unused medications that are often flushed. Many of these medications end up in our rivers and streams because wastewater treatment cannot remove certain endocrine-disrupting compounds. The U.S. Geological Survey has just reported that of nine rivers tested nationwide, Lake Pepin on the Mississippi has the highest number of fish that have both male and female sex characteristics! During October and November, I'm meeting with various stakeholders to get their input on my bill, HF1217, for next year to work out technical issues.

Taxes

Cuts to county program aid: One of the least-known programs at the state level to help reduce your property taxes is county program aid. This MinnPost article (albeit with a partisan bent) describes the effects of the Governor's recent unallotment to county program aid. Non-partisan House Research also has this info on the program.

Cuts to market value homestead credit (MVHC): One of the way that the state lowers your property taxes is to give you a market value homestead credit via your city. Lino Lakes along with Shoreview lost all its MVHC from the Governor's unallotment. Due to the loss of MVHC and declining property values, Lino Lakes is making some significant budget cuts.

Meetings: I had the chance to visit Second Harvest Heartland in Maplewood, which has a very sophisticated operation in supplying our community food shelves. Senator Rummel and I hosted a meeting with Shoreview residents who live around Kerry Pond to hear from the DNR about changes in aquatic plant management permits. I also visited Lifetrack Resources in St. Paul, which provides child care and other services for children who are under court protection. I enjoyed greeting 4th graders from Rice Lake Elementary School in Lino Lakes at the Capitol.

August 2009 Update

Einhausen group: Shoreview has a sister city relationship with Einhausen, Germany, and this year a group of Einhausen residents came to visit Minnesota. Senator Rummel and I met with them in early August for a tour of the state capitol. Find out more about the sister city organization here.

Business visit: I visited Old Dominion Freight Co in my district in Blaine, where they are celebrating 75 years. It included a very cool traveling trailer with exhibits, including a Wii truckdriving game (I crashed) and a radio-controlled 18 wheeler that I successfully backed up after 10 minutes. Argh.

Group house: Senator Rummel and I received a lot of e-mail from irate Lino Lakes residents about a proposed group house in Centerville that would house the developmentally disabled. After the house was vandalized and after a crowded public meeting, the organization proposing the facility, Zumbro House, cancelled the project. KSTP did a story on the controversy. I still don't have all the facts about what type of residents were to live there, other than that they were teenaged and disabled. Some of the information I received but couldn't confirm was that the residents were to be either low-level sex offenders or had serious behavioral issues.

Recent criminal activity: A murder recently took place in 53A, where a Circle Pines man killed a Blaine resident over what appears to be a drug case. A Star-Tribune article has the details. There was another murder in Circle Pines earlier this month in a case of domestic violence.

LEED certified building: I recently visited a house in Lexington that is LEED certified--meaning it has many green components to its design. A husband and wife team designed it and operate their business there. You can visit their web site and see how it was built!

Meeting with Senator Franken about pharmaceutical waste: On August 13th, I attended a great meeting in North Branch for Sen. Franken on Chisago County's successful take-back program for unused pharmaceutical waste. My bill HF1217 would help expand this statewide--look for it in 2010. A description of the problem we are seeking to solve comes from the Product Stewardship Institute. Chisago County worked on this because they originally had a big meth problem, and now teens have moved from meth (which is harder to make now) to "pharm" parties where they swipe drugs like painkillers from adults and mix it with alcohol. When certain pharmaceuticals are flushed down the toilet, our wastewater treatment plants cannot break down some endocrine-disrupting compounds and that can change the genetic structure of fish and also end up in someone's drinking water.

Rice Creek Trail: The Rice Creek Trail that I tried to get state funding for in 2008 will be partially completed by next spring. John VonDeLinde, Director of Parks and Recreation for Anoka County sent me this update:

"...Lino Lakes Town Center to Rice Lake Elementary Trail

"At this point, all of the cultural resources review is complete, and we have found a way to construct the trail through the park, while avoiding any buried artifacts, etc. As you may know, the Rice Creek Chain of Lakes area is rich in Native American history and we are taking the
normal protocols in avoiding disturbance.

"Wetland assessment is also complete. Our engineer, SRF Consulting, has been working with the Rice Creek Watershed District on wetland impacts and floodplain mitigation. We do have enough credits from previous wetland creation projects in the park, so all appears to be good in that regard.

"Construction documents are complete for the trail from the Lino Lakes Town Center to Rice Lake Elementary. Our consultant has also completed the Project Memorandum for this section, which is a federal project requirement.

"In designing the project, we have determined that the old snowmobile bridge over the Rice Creek will need to be removed and replaced. It does not meet federal standards. The new bridge will provide more clearance over the creek and will be shared with the snowmobile trail.

"So, the project design for the main trail is now nearing completion.

"Hodgson Road to Baldwin Lake Trail

"Given the good bids the county has been receiving this year, we have also decided to move forward with construction documents on the section from Birch Street and Hodgson Road to Baldwin Lake Park. Originally, we did not think that this would be financially feasible - it may be now.

"This additional section will require similar planning and construction documents. We expect those to be completed within a month. Once those are in-hand, we can submit the entire design package to MnDOT for review and approval.

"In summary, my expectation is that we will be out for bids in July or August. Construction should be underway by September or October. The project will no doubt carryover to June of next year for completion...."

More information on the project was published in the Quad Communities Press.

Till next time: I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. My family and I spent two weeks in June and July visiting Glacier National Park, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and the Black Hills.

My 2009 Bills That Passed

Here's a wrap-up of my legislation that passed from 2009. You can look up the text of the bills at the House web site.

HF167/SF0185: The Governor signed SF2082 (the State Government Finance Bill) on May 16th. In that bill there was the text of my HF167, which extends the term of the Legislative Coordinating Commission Working Group on Ethnic Heritage & New Americans. I'm the House DFLer on the working group, which brings together business, labor, and advocates on the issue of immigration to help find pragmatic solutions. The bill is now Chapter 101 of 2009 Session Laws, Article 2, section 1. This bill was an initiative of the Working Group.

HF239: For two years, several of us from the suburbs have worked to assist homeowners who have been hassled by their builders or remodelers over breaches of warranty. Some Shoreview residents I know have spent $100,000 out of pocket in legal fees while the builders delay a settlement, hoping that the homeowner will give up. Others in the state have had to spend thousands of dollars in hotel or rental housing costs when their house is uninhabitable. My bill, HF239, would allow homeowners to be reimbursed for short-term housing if they have to be out of their house as a result of warranty work. It passed the House and Senate and was presented to the Governor on May 15th. The bill is now part of Chapter 103, 2009 Session Laws. The Governor vetoed the bill and discusses details in his veto letter. I dispute his rationale for the veto but we need to move on. This bill was initiated by advocates for homeowners and Shoreview constituents.

HF356: HF2088 is an omnibus economic development and housing bill that the Governor signed recently to replace a previous bill that he vetoed. It included my legislation from HF356 to maintain the solvency of the manufactured housing relocation trust fund. The bill is now Chapter 78 of 2009 Session Laws, Article 8, Sections 1 to 3. (The Governor made some line-item vetoes in the bill but not my legislation.) This bill will help make sure that owners of manufactured housing (aka mobile homes) will be able to tap into a self-insurance pool should the owner of their mobile home park sell the land, requiring all residents to vacate. There are about 500 manufactured homes in my district. This bill was an initiative of All Parks Alliance for Change.

HF403: HF2123, the environment and energy finance bill, passed with a high number of votes on the House floor from both parties. It included budgets for the MN Pollution Control Agency, the DNR, and several other smaller agencies. My legislation in the bill included provisions that will boost two industries in Minnesota--bioplastics and compost. Many district residents are asked by their waste hauler to dispose of their yard waste in a rolling cart or a compostable bag because the regular plastic bags contaminate the finished compost. Haulers pay a higher fee to get rid of plastic and compost site operators can't sell their compost. The legislation has all metro area residents use certified compostable bags starting January 1, 2010 if they use a bag. (Carts and reusable bags are fine too.) The idea is to increase quality and streamline rules across multiple jurisdictions. We have several Minnesota manufacturers of compostable bags who will be able to meet consumer demand, and they are part of our growing bioplastic industry. The original bill was HF403. This bill was signed by the Governor and is now Chapter 37 in Minnesota statutes. This bill was my own initiative.

HF1333: The Governor signed HF1298, a non-controversial bill with various tax compliance and other tax provisions. My bill HF1333 that authorizes bonding for Met Council transit facilities was included. The bill is now in Chapter 88 of 2009 Session Laws in Article 6, Section 20. This bill was initiated by the Met Council.

HF1373: My legislation to promote greater coordination of transit for the disabled and others who cannot drive passed. It's actually in two parts. The legislation creates the Minnesota Council on Transportation Access, where state and regional agencies that serve the disabled come together to figure out how to make a very fragmented and inefficient network of transit services more efficient and cost-effective. HF1373 was the original bill and the funding ended up in HF1309 and the enabling legislation ended up in the omnibus transportation policy bill in HF928. HF928 passed the House on May 17th and is now Chapter 151 of 2009 Session Laws, Section 28. The Governor vetoed the bill, and mentioned my legislation in his veto letter. The Governor signed HF1309 that is now Chapter 36 of Minnesota statutes. However, the Governor did direct the Department of Transportation to add additional members to the Interagency Committee on Transit Coordination (ICTC) as would have been required in my bill. Senator Dibble and I initiated this legislation.

2009 Bills That Will Be Back in 2010

These are bills I introduced in 2009 that I would likely bring up again in 2010. You can look up the text of the bills at the House web site.

HF170: This bill would require publishers of telephone directories to allow consumers to opt out of delivery. I asked for an informational hearing only since I want to spend most of my legislative time helping to create jobs or address the deficit. The Yellow Pages Association and R.H. Donnelly testified about the bill and demonstrated Dex's opt out web site. You can hear audio of the hearing on-line. This hearing concluded my work on this issue for the year. KARE-11 did a web article on the bill on the KARE website. This bill was my own initiative. The 2010 version of this bill would likely just remove the state’s requirement that phone book publishers must distribute a White Pages.

HF298: This bill would remove some regulatory barriers for day training & habilitation (DT&H) organizations to serve more people with their bus and van fleets. Nonprofits in our area that pick up and drop off adults with developmental disabilities are interested in transporting other clients from other organizations to be more efficient, but their insurance rates would go way up, making the venture prohibitive. I don't have a Senate author, and after talking to a senator about it, I chose to invest time in HF1372 instead because it was a more wide-ranging initiative. This bill was initiated by Merrick Inc. and other DT&H providers.

HF336: This bill would allow homeowners associations to inform their residents about pesticide applications up to 48 hours in advance using newsletters, e-mail, etc. in lieu of sticking up those little signs after the application. This bill was initiated by a constituent with sensitivity to lawn chemicals. I didn't get a Senate author for this bill this year but would plan to proceed with this in 2010.

HF418: This bill would allow local governments to enact their own tougher ordinances to combat the spread of buckthorn. The bill received a hearing in the Agriculture Policy Committee and passed, and then was held up in the local government committee due to lack of time. This bill was initiated by a North Oaks resident, and I would like to proceed with it in 2010.

HF457: This bill would allow Minnesotans to donate their remains after death to an organization accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks instead of just to a university. This bill ran into opposition to a consortium of mortuary science stakeholders (seriously) that had worked on some reforms in this sector several years ago. I was under the impression that some other reforms would be forthcoming from another member this year and I could incorporate this legislation into that bigger bill, but the legislation did not materialize this year. I plan to pursue this issue in 2010. This bill was initiated by a constituent.

HF500: This bill would create standards for recycled water so that builders, plumbers, and others would have some guidance from the state when they are creating greywater systems that use treated wastewater. The dialogue among stakeholders was late in coming during the session so I did not proceed with this bill by the committee deadline in March. I hope to work on this in 2010. The bill was initiated by Sen. Jungbauer.

HF1118: This bill would change the allocation formula for revenue from the Solid Waste Management Tax (SWMT). The SWMT is collected on your waste hauler bill and up to 70% of it goes to the state's environmental fund to pay for cleaning up old landfills, recycling programs, etc. The bill would set an allocation formula for county funding. The bill received a hearing in the House Taxes Committee and was referred to the Environmental Finance Committee for consideration in 2010. The bill was originally authored by Rep. Demmer, who didn't have time to work on it. The bill was initiated by the Association of Minnesota Counties.

HF1217: This is a bill to set up a product stewardship program for unused pharmaceutical products to keep them out of our wastewater and drinking water and to keep them out of the hands of kids. Old medications often get flushed down the toilet and the chemical compounds do not break down in the wastewater treatment process. Many of these compounds are endocrine disruptors, meaning that they can change the DNA of fish and other aquatic life. They can also end up in our drinking water when it comes from a source where treated wastewater feeds into that source, like the Mississippi River. The bill would have the drug industry fund a secure "take-back" system at pharmacies. This is a pretty complicated bill so I introduced it this year so that stakeholders and I can discuss it during the interim and then I can modify it in 2010. This bill was my own initiative.

HF1286: This bill would give free fish and game license eligibility for disabled veterans. This bill was heard in the Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee and was referred to the main Agriculture & Veterans' Affairs Committee but it was too late in the session to get through. This bill was initiated by a constituent.

HF1372/SF1323: This bill would require that retailers of more than 90 syringes in a carton must provide a "sharps" collection container for the consumer to store used syringes. Used syringes are one of the biggest safety hazards to waste haulers and other maintenance people. After passing the Senate easily and after passing the House Environment Committee on a voice vote, I was contacted by a national organization working on the issue and they asked for a delay in a floor vote on the bill in order to make some necessary changes. I will be working on this bill during the interim and will present some changes in 2010. This bill was initiated by a Minnesota vendor of collection containers.

HF2182: This bill would require the Department of Finance to request more information from state and local government agencies when they submit bonding requests for capital investment projects. This relates to the annual "bonding bill." I was interested in seeing more objective information when public entities want state funding so legislators can compare projects more clearly. The bill was introduced too late to be heard in the Capital Investment Committee, but the chair was interested in having an informational hearing. This bill was my own initiative.

HF2402: This bill would increase the fee charged by auto shops for unreturned used auto batteries from $5 to $10. Right now battery manufacturers are charging $10 to auto shops that do not exchange a used battery for a new battery, instead of the $5 they used to charge. State law requires that auto shops charge $5 to consumers when they don't return a used battery, so the auto shops are $5 short when this happens. Obviously consumers who bring in an old battery when they buy a new one get a total refund of $5. The bill was introduced too late to get a hearing but it will come forward in 2010. The bill was initiated by the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of MN, Inc.

HF2407: This bill is a sweeping product stewardship initiative to keep hazardous or valuable waste materials out of the garbage. It would create a process by which the MPCA would suggest products that would require special attention. This was introduced on the last day of the session so that I could get feedback from industry and government before requesting a hearing in February. This bill was my own initiative.

My 2009 Bills That Did Not Proceed

Here are bills of mine that did not proceed in 2009.

HF625: The Governor signed SF2082 (the State Government Finance Bill) on May 16th. The final bill did not include my HF625 that would require the state to use an Application Program Interface (API) that would allow third parties to analyze exported state budget information. Who says that the state must be the only entity that holds data and information that we paid for? Politics in Minnesota has followed this legislation and reported on the need for this legislation for greater government transparency. They have also aggressively followed up on it in articles on May 6th and May 7th. (The state Department of Finance doesn't like it because it is pretty sweeping legislation.) HF625 got in the House file of the State Government Finance Bill but not the Senate file and it was not accepted in the final conference committee. This bill was my own initiative.

HF663: This bill would require that truth in taxation notices for your property taxes get mailed before the November general election. You can see the video of the hearing. The bill was "laid over" by the Property Tax Division of the Taxes Committee so it might get included into an omnibus bill by that division. There were several lobbyists for the school board association and the Association of Minnesota Counties as well as the Department of Revenue who testified against the bill. The legislation got into part of a bigger tax bill but was ultimately removed because of objections from local governments. This bill was initiated by a constituent.

HF808: This bill would increase the reimbursement rate for an intermediate care facility for the developmentally disabled (ICF/MR) in Shoreview. Reimbursement rates are set by the state, and a group house in Shoreview has increasing costs to care for these adults who have no family. The bill was initiated by Lutheran Social Services and did not receive a hearing.

HF1548: This bill would cap property taxes as a percentage of income for seniors. This bill was initiated by the Minnesota Senior Federation and a constituent. It did not receive a hearing.

HF1642: This bill would create a Health Opportunity Account (HOA) pilot project for medicaid patients in Minnesota. Patients would have a high deductible account but the state would pick up the deductible. The idea is that the total cost of this arrangement would be lower than our existing Medical Assistance program while providing the same level of service. Earlier this spring, Congress prohibited new HOA pilot projects, making the bill moot. This bill was initiated by a constituent.

HF1643: This would change the levy referendum component of the K-12 education funding formula. Specifically, it would increase the referendum market value equalizing factor that has not been raised in many years. In English, this means that school districts like Centennial that have a smaller commercial tax base would see an increase in state funds for education. The bill was heard by the K-12 Education Finance Committee and was held over for possible inclusion in their omnibus bill. It was not included because of the cost during this difficult budget year. The bill was initiated by constituents in the Centennial School District.

End of Session Wrap-Up

The 2009 legislative session just ended and news reports say that a “deal” was not made on the budget. In fact, the Legislature did deliver a balanced budget to the Governor after five months of rigorous work.

During the last five months, all committees in the legislature worked to enact significant cuts to the state budget and hold the line on spending in major areas. We cut ethanol subsidies, agency administrative budgets and bureaucracy, reimbursement rates for certain health care providers, and many more items.

We also made significant reforms. We reduced mandates on schools and other local governments, reduced reporting requirements, and restructured health care payments. We also agreed with the Governor to delay $1.8 billion in payments to K-12 schools.

In addition, we made prudent use of federal money to maintain health care eligibility for more than 100,000 people, many of whom have recently been laid off, and to cap higher education tuition increases.

That left us with a $1 billion gap in a $6.4 billion deficit that could only be solved in one of four ways. The first option included the Governor’s proposal to borrow the money and pay off the bonds for 20 years plus $600 million in interest. Constituents overwhelming rejected this idea in my legislative survey, and Democrats and Republicans voted against this option on the House floor almost unanimously.

The second option was increased gambling revenue. We also voted on this idea and it did not pass. The Governor said he would not sign a bill that increased revenues from gambling.

The third option was a tax increase. We passed a bill that would raise the money from a higher income tax rate for joint filers making more than $250,000 a year, a surcharge on credit card companies that charge higher than 15% in interest rates, and increased taxes on alcohol. Our plan dedicated this funding to K-12 schools, nursing homes and similar facilities, and our hospitals. We felt that this was a pay-as-you-go approach as opposed to a borrow-and-spend approach. The Governor vetoed this bill.

The final option was more cuts. The Governor signed all of our finance bills, but vetoed our bill to raise revenue. To close the gap left by his veto, the Governor said he would make some line-item vetoes in those bills and then use his unallotment power to unilaterally make cuts starting on July 1. The first line-item veto he made was $380 million in General Assistance Medical Care. GAMC provides health coverage to 30,000 adults who make less than $7,800. Seventy percent of these patients have a serious mental illness and many of them—including veterans—are homeless. In public testimony, the Governor’s own Department of Human Services Commissioner Cal Ludeman said these people are the “poorest of the poor, and the sickest of the sick.” These are precisely the people—the least of these—for whom a government safety net is required.

In addition, our hospitals like Regions and HCMC are expected to make significant job layoffs and reductions in services because this funding makes up such a large part of their budgets. HCMC in Minneapolis could be cut up to $100 million and Regions could be cut up to $46 million. This will drive up health care premiums for those of us with private health coverage.

Readers of my columns and blog will know that I do not engage in a lot of partisan rhetoric and finger-pointing. But that line-item veto, and the subsequent party-line vote in the House that upheld the veto, were the coldest and fiscally counter-productive political actions I have ever witnessed.

The Governor’s unallotment is also likely to cut higher education significantly, and the University of Minnesota tells us that will likely increase tuition by about 15%. Circle Pines and Lexington residents will likely see increased property taxes due to his proposed cuts to local government aid and the rest of us will lose a lot from cuts to the market value homestead credit and the property tax refund program. Taxes hurt, but so do cuts.

There was a lot of good legislation that ran under the radar this session, due to the budget shortfall, including some of my own legislation. But that can wait for a future entry. Have a good summer, and I hope that you will share your thoughts with me in the months to come.

Questions about the End of Session

Minnesota Budget Bites posted a good set of frequently asked questions about what happens at the end of the legislation session, such as discussing deadlines, vetoes, overrides, and so on.

The House of Representatives Session Weekly includes a good article about unallotment, which is the tool that the Governor says that he is going to use to balance the budget.

At this writing, the details are sketchy as to where the Governor unallot once the new fiscal year starts on July 1. I'll defer judgment until we see the details, but he would have to unallot something like ten times the amount that has ever been done in state history, and I don't know how he can pull it off.

Here's what the Governor is saying about what he will do.

Week of May 10 & 17, 2009

This is the last full week of the session, and the major budget bills and omnibus policy bills are coming forward. Here's a quick summary.

Tax or Borrow: The major sticking block in our budget negotiations with the Governor is about $1 billion. Our bill that the Governor vetoed on Saturday would raise $1 billion in taxes (see entry from last week) and his proposal since January is to borrow $1 billion, then to spend the next 20 years paying it off along with $600 million in interest. We have made major cuts to our hospitals, people with disabilities, nursing homes, economic assistance to needy families, as well as curbed spending in other areas like education. We are also looking at deferring some of our state payments (a "shift") to schools. That still leaves us with big gap that the $1 billion will help fill.

DNR Game & Fish Bill (HF1132): This always has some interesting sounding provisions like "free either-sex deer permit for recently discharged service members" and "elimination of slot limits for spearing northern pike." But they are important to many folks. This is also the first bill I've seen since my first election that deals with firearms, and that is always controversial. The bill contains a provision that would allow uncased firearms in your vehicle. The idea is that if you are hunting and you are going from one area to another close by, it takes a long time to case up your gun or bow. The Public Safety Policy Committee chair had the bill amended to maintain current law in the seven county metro area. There are various conditions under which you can have an uncased gun or bow that make this more palatable to me. The bill also has an amendment that would require gun show vendors to do a background check on their customers just like gun dealers at a store. I support this provision--I don't think requiring a 10-minute check is particularly burdensome and this is the law in 18 other states.

Manufacturing Housing Legislation Passes Again: HF2088 is an omnibus economic development and housing bill that the Governor signed recently to replace a previous bill that he vetoed. It included my legislation from HF356 to maintain the solvency of the manufactured housing relocation trust fund. The bill is now Chapter 78 of 2009 Session Laws, Article 8, Sections 1 to 3. (The Governor made some line-item vetoes in the bill but not my legislation.)

State Government Finance Bill: The Governor signed SF2082 on May 16th. In that bill there was the text of my HF167, which extends the life of the Legislative Coordinating Commission Working Group on Ethnic Heritage & New Americans. I'm the House DFLer on the working group, which brings together business, labor, and advocates on the issue of immigration to help find pragmatic solutions. The bill is now Chapter 101 of 2009 Session Laws, Article 2, section 1. The final bill did not include my HF625 that would require the state to use an Application Program Interface (API) that would allow third parties to analyze exported state budget information. It was in the House file but not the Senate file and it was not accepted in the final conference committee.

Technical Tax Bill: The Governor signed HF1298, a non-controversial bill with various tax compliance and other tax provisions. My bill HF1333 that authorizes bonding for Met Council transit facilities was included. The bill is now in Chapter 88 of 2009 Session Laws in Article 6, Section 20.

Transportation for the Disabled: My legislation to promote greater coordination of transit for the disabled and others who cannot drive has passed. It's actually in two parts. The legislation creates the Minnesota Council on Transportation Access, where state and regional agencies that serve the disabled come together to figure out how to make a very fragmented and inefficient network of transit services more efficient and cost-effective. HF1373 was the original bill and the funding ended up in HF1309 and the enabling legislation ended up in the omnibus transportation policy bill in HF928. HF928 passed the House on May 17th and is now Chapter 151 of 2009 Session Laws, Section 28, awaiting action by the Governor.

Homeowner warranty bills pass: For two years, several of us from the suburbs have worked to assist homeowners who have been hassled by their builders or remodelers over breaches of warranty. Some Shoreview residents I know have spent $100,000 out of pocket in legal fees while the builders delay a settlement, hoping that the homeowner will give up. Others in the state have had to spend thousands of dollars in hotel or rental housing costs when their house is uninhabitable. My bill, HF239, would allow homeowners to be reimbursed for short-term housing if they have to be out of their house as a result of warranty work. It passed the House and was presented to the Governor on May 15th. He has three days to sign it, which would be May 18th, the last day of session. The bill is now part of Chapter 103, 2009 Session Laws.

Public Safety Finance Bill: coming soon

Health & Human Services Finance Bill: coming soon

Capital Investment Bill: coming soon

E-12 Education Finance Bill: coming soon

Higher Education Finance Bill: coming soon

Agriculture & Veterans Affairs Finance Bill: coming soon

Facts about Recent GOP Mailing about Home Heating Fuel

Many district residents received a mailing from the Republican Party of Minnesota during the last few days that makes some misleading statements about my bill (HF1584-which is incorporated into an omnibus tax bill, HF2323).

It suggests that all consumers would be taxed on their home heating fuel, which is not correct. Right now heating fuel is exempt from sales tax during the period November to April. The bill (as I amended it in the Tax Committee) would have the sales tax kick in ONLY after one's cumulative use exceeds 130% of average use for the whole winter, which right now is about 875 "therms" on your Xcel bill for natural gas. Only about 10% of all heat that could be taxed in the state would be taxed. I looked at my own bill in my 2,000 square foot 1972 rambler with four people and I didn't reach 700 therms for the whole winter, so LOTS of people will not even be taxed at all.

The idea here is that the largest energy users tend to drive up prices for everyone else because during the coldest periods demand for these users disproportionately higher. We have also been advised by experts to focus on narrowing or ending certain sales tax exemptions (so called "tax expenditures") to avoid tax revenue volatility from year to year. This is why many people recommend charging the sales tax on clothing, for example.

However, critics believe that there will be too many drafty houses, especially in rural areas, where people with low or fixed incomes live. I can't get them to prove to me that the tax would apply to them, but just in case, we amended the bill to exempt anyone on heating assistance. Also just in case, I have an amendment to exempt anyone who is affected by the Cold Weather Rule who has trouble paying their bills, often because of a job loss.

It looks like this bill will not proceed in any case--the metering technology in rural Minnesota for electric heat is not very uniform and the variability in the housing stock is too great to precisely target the legislation to the right people. But it certainly raised some helpful issues for future deliberations. Sometimes we propose ideas that might seem like a "stinker" on the surface but it's important to have the dialogue and in so doing we often stick our necks out a bit in the legislative process.

Improving communications with your legislative colleagues

Greetings. I am posting the text of an e-mail I sent out to my colleagues today along with an attached letter.

Dear colleagues,

At this time in the session, the pressure builds, the deadlines loom, and the differences among us start to magnify. We're tired and a little cranky. That said, we still need to maintain high standards in our communications to each other, either with the opposite caucus or within our own.

I recently failed to maintain those high standards in some electronic communications regarding two of our members. I have attached a letter that I shared with Rep. Emmer and Rep. Buesgens.

Education & Health Care/Tax Bill & Legacy Funding Bill (May 8, 2009)

The House and Senate are voting today on a new education and health care bill that would raise about $1 billion in revenue and use the funds for K-12 education, nursing homes and similar facilities, and hospitals.

Here's the breakdown. There would be three accounts set up: E-12; Nursing Homes & Long-Term Care; and Hospitals.

* K-12 Education: The bill would generate $585.7 million in the next two year budget cycle for an E-12 account. If we were to cut $500 million from K-12, it would break down this way.

Centennial School District: Loss of $3.8 million, or $566 per student
White Bear Lake: Loss of $4.7 million, or $580 per student
Mounds View: Loss of $5.5 million, or $584 per student

Statewide, 12,000 teachers would lose their jobs.

* Nursing Homes & Long Term Care: The bill would generate $287.5 million in the next two-year budget to a specific account. The bill passed today would have us cut 30% less than the Governor to our nursing homes. Many rural nursing homes in particular are in danger of closing. The funding would also avoid deeper cuts to services for Minnesotans with disabilities. We have a lot of group homes in our district and families with disabled children so this is of particular interest to our area.

* Hospitals: A hospital account in this bill would receive $114 million in the next two years. Support from the state comes in different forms including General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC), which serves indigent Minnesotans who do not have health care and often have other major mental health or chemical dependency issues; Medical Assistance (MA) which usually supports health care for the disabled; Minnesota Care, health coverage for low-income adults who have a job but no coverage; inpatient mental health treatment that is cheaper than institutionalization, and others. Under the Governor's proposal, our hospitals would be cut significantly. Here's how our area's hospitals would be affected under the Governor's budget proposal:

Unity (Fridley) cut of 7.3%

HCMC (Minneapolis) cut of 15.1%
Abbott Northwestern (Minneapolis) cut of 4.1%
Regions (St. Paul) cut of 9.9%
Bethesda (St. Paul) cut of 7.2%
St. Joseph's (St. Paul) cut of 5.9%
St. John's (Maplewood) cut of 5.0%

These cuts all get passed along to the rest of us who have health coverage through private plans, so this bill would help lessen the impact of the cuts on our premiums.

Where the revenue comes from:
* A 9% income tax rate on joint filers with $250,000 in taxable income a year (2.3% of all filers), raising $516.3 million. This provision would sunset in four years.
* An increase in the alcohol tax, raising $240.9 million.
* Surtax on credit card companies on interest penalties charged on rates above 15%, raising $216.3 million.

The amount of revenue raised equals what the Governor is proposing should be raised through appropriation bonds. Our proposal chooses taxes over borrowing, and I voted in favor of this bill.

Legacy funding bill: The other bill taken up this evening is the Cultural & Outdoor Resources Finance Division finance bill, HF1231. This bill allocates the funding derived from the new dedicated sales tax approved by the voters in November. There are four funds in the bill: outdoor heritage (for habitat); clean water fund (including money for drinking water); parks and trails fund; and the arts and cultural heritage fund. There is some controversy with the bill among hunting and fishing organizations because they want the legislature to adopt 100% of the recommendations of the Lessard Outdoor Heritage Council, which recommends projects to be funded by the outdoor heritage fund. We actually are likely to pass all of the PROJECTS recommended by the council, but the House has cut the amount of administration money that the council wants. We also are requiring that there be a web site for the public to see where the money is being spent, and some folks don't like that apparently. We are still in the middle of debate, but I plan to vote for this bill.

Weeks of April 26th & May 3, 2009

The last two weeks have seen a lot of floor activity and plenty of constituent e-mail, letters, calls, etc., so it has been pretty hard to keep up!

Earlier this week, the House and Senate passed three finance bills out of about nine that need passage. These bills were among the least controversial so the Governor and legislative leaders decided that we should proceed with these first to help "set the table" for the big bills. Two of these bills also don't have that much funding from the General Fund that is in deficit. The bills included environment & energy, economic development, and transportation. All of them had some legislation of mine that deal with bioplastics, housing, and transit for the disabled.

HF1309, the transportation bill, relies mostly on dedicated funds from the motor vehicle sales tax, the gas tax, and so on and was pretty uncontroversial. My provision in the bill will help better coordinate transit for people who cannot drive. There is a lot of room for taxpayer savings in this area because there is a lot of duplication in bus and van fleets that serve seniors, the developmentally disabled, and others. The legislation (originally from HF1373) would set up a coordinating body of the folks who operate the fleets. The Governor signed this bill just before midnight on Thursday and is now Chapter 36 of Minnesota statutes.

SF2081, the economic development bill, included a wide variety of legislation related to housing, economic development programs, funding for the Department of Employment and Economic Development, and some cultural resources programming. This bill contained controversial language about forgiving the last remaining debt that St. Paul has on the Xcel Energy Center loan. The loan forgiveness would not actually kick in for four years so it would not affect the next two two-year budgets. The city would then use the dollars to build a community ice rink across from Xcel. I am not enthusiastic about this proposal but we also have some important stuff in this bill for assisting people who are losing their homes. My provision in this bill was a revision to the manufactured housing (mobile homes) relocation trust fund so that a fund that helps these homeowners relocate when their mobile home park closes will be solvent. The Governor vetoed this bill over the Xcel Energy Center provision.

HF2123, the environment and energy finance bill, passed with a high number of votes on the House floor from both parties. It included budgets for the MN Pollution Control Agency, the DNR, and several other smaller agencies. My legislation in the bill included provisions that will boost two industries in Minnesota--bioplastics and compost. Many district residents are asked by their waste hauler to dispose of their yard waste in a rolling cart or a compostable bag because the regular plastic bags contaminate the finished compost. Haulers pay a higher fee to get rid of plastic and compost site operators can't sell their compost. The legislation has all metro area residents use certified compostable bags if they use a bag. (Carts and reusable bags are fine too.) The idea is to increase quality and streamline rules across multiple jurisdictions. We have several Minnesota manufacturers of compostable bags who will be able to meet consumer demand, and they are part of our growing bioplastic industry. The original bill was HF403. This bill was signed by the Governor on Thursday and is now Chapter 37 in Minnesota statutes.

We have several other bills which are in conference committee and are ready to go pending a few minor decisions that have to be made. The state government finance bill includes language from my HF625 that would require the state Department of Finance to allow the exporting of state budget information into a common format so that enterprising and tech-saavy people can develop third-party applications for this information. Who says that the state must be the only entity that holds data and information that we paid for? Politics in Minnesota has followed this legislation and reported on the need for this legislation for greater government transparency. They have also aggressively followed up on it in articles on May 6th and May 7th. (The state Department of Finance doesn't like it yet.)

Federal funding for local roads and bridges: Anoka County just informed me that the federal recovery program will provide funding for the 35E & Highway 14 intersection at $4.825 million. You can track the accounting on these projects at www.recovery.gov. I believe that a park and ride lot will get installed there after it's all done.

The way it was: The Minnesota Legislative Library has a 30 minute documentary posted on line about the legislature in 1976. The filmmaker follows Rep. Tom Berg. The technology (typewriters!) is interesting to see, as well as all the smoking and plaid suits. Thought readers might be interested! A lot of the experience is still very much the same.

Mounds View Schools survey and article: The Mounds View School District recently performed a survey in the community, and the results can tell you about the possible results of state budget cuts.

Tax bill from April 25th: I voted against our first tax bill. While I thought there were some good ideas in it, it was really a lot to ask of almost all Minnesotans. My particular concern was the provision for allowing a local options sales tax of one-half of one percent. We have another tax bill coming on May 8th and I look forward to considering it thoughtfully.

Constituent contacts: The volume is so high right now that I can't list all of them as in the past. However, I can give you a flavor of what people are sending me. They include: weatherization funding from federal recovery legislation to be used for low-income Minnesotans (all pro); K-12 education funding (all pro); alcohol tax increase (all against, from beer distributor employees in district); state agency enforcement of law against internet gambling (all against); DNA newborn screening (several MDs for, many conservative constituents against), medical specialist reimbursement rates (all MDs against cuts); provider tax (all MDs against increasing it); mortgage interest deduction changes in first tax bill (a lot, all against); tax cuts (all pro and all form e-mails generated by Minnesota Majority website); freedom to breathe act/smoking ban (all pro); medical marijuana (all pro); tax increase on the wealthiest (all pro and all form letters)

Some misinformation about heating fuel tax

On Saturday during the House Tax Bill debate, there was a lot of hay made about my legislation to narrow the sales tax exemption on home heating fuel. But there was a lot of misinformation about it, with other members suggesting that all Minnesotans' heat would be taxed. Not true.

According to current law, home heating fuel during the months of November through April is exempt from the sales tax. My bill would narrow this exemption for the first 850 therms (or hundred cubic feet or ccf) for natural gas and for the first 5,750 kilowatt hours of electric heat. My concern is that there are a lot of big homes out there that consume a lot of non-renewable energy while we are cutting health care, education, and so on. We could help with the deficit while incentivizing conservation at the same time.

Two commissions of business leaders and financial experts have repeatedly told the legislature that we need to consider extending the sales tax to certain things that are currently exempt to avoid the wild volatility of our budget over many years.

In the FY2009-2010 biennium, if the state collected sales tax on all residential heating fuel users, the state would bring in $320,000,000. My legislation (see text below) would bring in $34,200,000, or only 10.68% of all taxable heat.

Liquid propane, propane gas, fuel oil, wood, coal, steam, and hot water heating fuels are not covered by this provision and would remain exempt. It only covers metered electric heat and natural gas, mostly because it is much easier to calculate and collect tax through our regulated utilities instead of 850 other energy vendors.

The legislation would help to stabilize volumes during peak times which holds prices down for everyone. 100% of natural gas and most of our electricity comes from fossil fuels, so we have an opportunity to smooth out or curb the use of finite natural resources.

Some of my colleagues are saying that folks in drafty houses will end up paying the tax. Well, if that is the case, there are more FREE weatherization services available due to the stimulus package through county community action programs (CAPS) than ever before, so Minnesotans in need will have resources available for sealing older homes and even getting some new furnaces and other appliances. So there are a lot of opportunities for avoiding the tax if indeed there would be people who exceed the tax-exempt threshold. (I do not think that there will be that many.)

Rep. Olin and I worked on an amendment to exempt people on low income heating assistance (LIHEAP) from the tax. I am also working on an amendment to exempt people who are behind on their bills (for something like job loss) and are covered by the Cold Weather Rule.

Here's the text of the legislation from HF2323, 3rd engrossment.

177.15 Sec. 28. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 297A.67, subdivision 15, is amended to read:
177.16 Subd. 15. Residential heating fuels. (a) Residential heating fuels are exempt
177.17as follows:
177.18(1) all fuel oil, coal, wood, steam, hot water, propane gas, and L.P. gas sold to
177.19residential customers for residential use;
177.20(2) for the period encompassing the billing months of November, December,
177.21January, February, March, and April, the first 850 hundred cubic feet per dwelling unit of
177.22natural gas sold for residential use to customers who are metered and billed as residential
177.23users and who use natural gas for their primary source of residential heat; and
177.24(3) for the period encompassing the billing months of November, December,
177.25January, February, March, and April, the first 5,750 kilowatt-hours per dwelling unit of
177.26electricity sold for residential use to customers who are metered and billed as residential
177.27users and who use electricity for their primary source of residential heat.
177.28(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), residential heating fuel sold to a customer
177.29registered with their natural gas or electricity service provider and receiving assistance
177.30through a federal or state low-income home energy assistance program is exempt as
177.31follows:
177.32(1) for the billing months of November, December, January, February, March, and
177.33April, natural gas sold for residential use to customers who are metered and billed as
177.34residential users and who use natural gas for their primary source of residential heat; and
178.1(2) for the billing months of November, December, January, February, March, and
178.2April, electricity sold for residential use to customers who are metered and billed as
178.3residential customers and who use electricity for their primary source of residential heat.
178.4EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective for sales and purchases made after
178.5June 30, 2009.

I don't know if this provision will survive conference committee or not, but I offered the idea as one way to help with the deficit in a means-tested way. We'll see.

Weeks of April 12 & 19, 2009

During the week of April 19th, we have been taking up our omnibus finance bills. Every two years, our finance committees put together a budget within a funding target set earlier in the session. There are about 10-12 of these bills.

Schedule: On Monday, April 13th, I met with a business owner and constituent about how S-Corps fit into the state tax code. On Tuesday, April 14th, I attended the House Taxes Committee and we heard my bill HF1118 about the solid waste management tax. We had a short floor session and did a cable TV interview. On Wednesday, April 15th we had two Taxes Committee meetings and two caucus meetings and I met with our GIS office about a map. Thursday, April 16th included a Taxes Committee meeting, a floor session, and a meeting at the North Metro Mayors Association. On Friday, April 17th we had the Taxes Committee meeting, a meeting with Rep. Dean Urdahl and his Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. Later in the afternoon we had a short floor session and a Taxes Committee meeting. On Saturday, April 18th, the Taxes Committee met and then the committee caucus met until about 9:00 a.m. to discuss the omnibus tax bill. I also went to a town hall meeting in White Bear Lake with Rep. McFarlane about health care. On Sunday, April 19th, we had a tax committee caucus in the evening.

On Monday, April 20th, I met in Tax Committee where the committee unveiled its tax bill. (More info below.) Afterwards we had a caucus meeting and a floor session, followed by a committee caucus meeting and another Tax Committee meeting where we took public testimony on the tax bill. On Tuesday, April 21st, I met with a Centennial high school student who is a page this week. Then I attended the Taxes Committee where we marked up the bill. We had a floor session in the afternoon and had a lengthy House DFL Caucus meeting.

On Wednesday, April 22nd, on the floor we voted on the agriculture and veterans affairs finance bill, the higher education finance bill, and the environment and energy finance bill. In the agriculture and veterans affairs budget, we cut ethanol subsidies by 20% and when a vote came up to eliminate the remaining subsidy (about $26 million or so) I voted in favor, although the amendment failed. Last year the amendment only got about 37 votes and this time it got 49. Find out more at this MPR story. (We received a report from the legislative auditor about biofuel subsidies and how we need to change them.) The higher education bill included a cap on tuition. After a recess we handled the environment bill, in which my legislation regarding compost and bioplastics are located. We started at 9:30 a.m. and finished at 12:15 a.m.

On Thursday, April 23rd, we took up the early childhood education finance bill, the K-12 education finance bill, and the state government finance bill.

Minnesota leads in public health: The New York Times ran a strong article about how the Minnesota Department of Health did excellent work for the rest of the country on detecting food-borne illness including the recent peanut food poisoning issue. Way to go!

35W bridge collapse fund: Survivors of the collapse praise the work of the special master appointed to administer the compensation fund. MPR did a good story.

House and Senate Tax Bills and Mortage Deductions: The House has set "budget targets" where the body decides how many dollars will be available for spending and how much will be cut, how many payments would be deferred to the next fiscal year (a "shift"), and how much new revenue must be raised. Our target for new revenue is $1.5 billion for the budget. The House Tax bill (HF2323) raises the revenue this way:

$11,535,000 resulting from conformity with new federal tax laws
$913,656,000 from individual income taxes increases and modifying a lot of income tax breaks
$122,925,000 from corporate sources, mostly closing of loopholes
$20,600,000 from changes to the estate tax
-$11,570,000 from loss of sales tax revenue (mostly due to modification of transportation taxes)
$413,272,000 from special taxes (half from alcohol and half from tobacco products)
$21,250 from "other"

That adds up to $1,501,363.

Here's how the individual income tax increases of $913,656,000 break out.

$489,365,000 from ending or modifying tax breaks for individuals
$467,700,000 from raising the highest income tax bracket to 9% on single filers making $156,000 or more or joint filers making $300,000 or more
-$43,409 from various changes in tax code

Here's the deal about the $489 million in tax breaks. A big amount of this comes from changing the current state (not federal) income tax deduction for mortgage interest and from eliminating the deduction of property tax payments. There is a lot of misunderstanding about the mortgage interest payment deduction. A homeowner would still be able to deduct up to $10,000 from their state taxable income but not beyond that. A deduction is a deduction from your taxable income, not a dollar-for-dollar subtraction from your income taxes. The House bill would replace the deduction with a dollar-for-dollar tax credit so everyone would get a credit whether or not they itemize their taxes. The idea here is that we stop subsidizing million dollar mortgages and let all homeowners benefit. This has the same net effect as raising taxes on the wealthiest Minnesotans because people who are wealthier tend to live in big houses with big mortgages. Wisconsin has tax law similar to this. Our researchers have put together a one-page summary that is linked to this Politics in Minnesota web page.

While I support progressive taxation, the parts of the House tax bill that I find objectionable include a local option sales tax and street improvement districts. Under the bill, counties would be able to levy a 1/2 percent sales tax in their county to pay for local expenses. However, the bill's language about how citizens are made aware of this possible tax increase and how they can have a reverse referendum on this tax is extremely weak, and counties are just going to levy this tax without much public input. In addition, the language about what counties can use the money for is WAY too vague and I am concerned that it will not be used for reducing property taxes. We are asking for Minnesotans to sacrifice a lot in this recession, either through program cuts or higher taxes, and I am concerned about this method to increase the sales tax, which has been raised twice in the last year already. It is for this reason that I did not support the bill in committee.

The Senate proposes raising $2.2 billion, mostly from the rolling back of income tax increases from 1998 legislation. These dollars would come from all taxpayers, not just the highest earners. I am opposed to the Senate version because even people making less than $33,000 would pay higher income taxes.

Visitors: Shoreview constituent and U of M student who introduced me to about half a dozen immigrant students; Circle Pines and Lino Lakes residents representing American Parkinson's Association; lobbyist for MN Grocers Association about HF403; Environment Minnesota about nuclear power plant moratorium; kindergarteners from Island Lakes Elementary in Shoreview; building trades lobbyist about a construction stimulus package; two constituents about GLBT issues

Constituent contacts: hard to keep up with--hopefully I will get this in soon