tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47028650170343646312024-03-12T17:07:53.963-07:00Paul Gardner's blogPaul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.comBlogger153125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-11430254660700885362011-02-01T08:58:00.000-08:002011-02-01T09:09:29.639-08:002010 Campaign Finance Report for MN House District 53AThe Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure Board published its 2010 candidate campaign finance reports.<br /><br />I have no axe to grind here, but I thought readers would be interested in seeing a comparison of the candidate reports for 53A. I started with a cash balance of over $5000 that is not included in the comparison. My opponent loaned herself $5,000 (the maximum allowed) and paid it back; both of her transactions are listed in the chart. The large "non-campaign" disbursements from my campaign mostly came from a session wrap-up mailing in the spring of 2010.<br /><br />The one thing that differentiated the two campaigns is the heavy reliance on big donors by the GOP candidate. Sixty-three percent of my contributions came from donors who gave less than $200. My opponent collected 33% from this group and 67% from donors who contributed $200 or more.<br /><br />I haven't checked yet, but the amount of "independent expenditures" made by outside groups and political parties was likely greater than $50,000 and perhaps as much as $100,000.<br /><br /> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="437"><col style="width: 136pt;" width="181"> <col style="width: 62pt;" width="82"> <col style="width: 34pt;" width="46"> <col style="width: 62pt;" width="82"> <col style="width: 35pt;" width="46"> <tbody><tr style="height: 13.2pt;" height="18"> <td class="xl38" style="height: 13.2pt; width: 136pt;" width="181" height="18">Receipts<br /></td> <td class="xl25" style="border-left: medium none; width: 62pt;" width="82"> Gardner</td> <td class="xl33" style="border-left: medium none; width: 34pt;" width="46"> </td> <td class="xl29" style="width: 62pt;" width="82"> Runbeck</td> <td style="width: 35pt;" width="46"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 13.2pt;" height="18"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 13.2pt; border-top: medium none;" height="18"><span style=""> </span>Individual contributions</td> <td class="xl25" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>21,931 </td> <td class="xl33" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"> </td> <td class="xl29" style="border-top: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>24,701 </td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 13.2pt;" height="18"> <td class="xl27" style="height: 13.2pt; border-top: medium none;" height="18"><span style=""> </span>contributions > $200</td> <td class="xl28" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>8,011 </td> <td class="xl34" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;" align="right"><br /></td> <td class="xl30" style="border-top: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>16,510 </td> <td class="xl37" align="right"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 13.2pt;" height="18"> <td class="xl27" style="height: 13.2pt; border-top: medium none;" height="18"><span style=""> </span>contributions < $200</td> <td class="xl28" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>13,920 </td> <td class="xl34" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;" align="right"><br /></td> <td class="xl30" style="border-top: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>8,191 </td> <td class="xl37" align="right"><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 13.2pt;" height="18"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 13.2pt; border-top: medium none;" height="18"><span style=""> </span>Lobbyist & PAC contributions</td> <td class="xl25" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>-<span style=""> </span></td> <td class="xl33" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"> </td> <td class="xl29" style="border-top: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>850 </td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 13.2pt;" height="18"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 13.2pt; border-top: medium none;" height="18"><span style=""> </span>Political party contributions</td> <td class="xl25" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>5,000 </td> <td class="xl33" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"> </td> <td class="xl29" style="border-top: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>3,505 </td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 13.2pt;" height="18"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 13.2pt; border-top: medium none;" height="18"><span style=""> </span>Public subsidy</td> <td class="xl25" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>6,412 </td> <td class="xl33" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"> </td> <td class="xl29" style="border-top: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>5,634 </td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 13.2pt;" height="18"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 13.2pt; border-top: medium none;" height="18"><span style=""> </span>Loans payable</td> <td class="xl25" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>-<span style=""> </span></td> <td class="xl33" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"> </td> <td class="xl29" style="border-top: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>5,000 </td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 13.2pt;" height="18"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 13.2pt; border-top: medium none;" height="18"> </td> <td class="xl26" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>$<span style=""> </span>33,343 </td> <td class="xl35" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"> </td> <td class="xl31" style="border-top: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>$<span style=""> </span>39,690 </td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 13.2pt;" height="18"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 13.2pt; border-top: medium none;" height="18"> </td> <td class="xl24" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"> </td> <td class="xl35" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"> </td> <td class="xl32" style="border-top: medium none;"> </td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 13.2pt;" height="18"> <td class="xl38" style="height: 13.2pt; border-top: medium none;" height="18">Disbursements</td> <td class="xl24" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"> </td> <td class="xl35" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"> </td> <td class="xl32" style="border-top: medium none;"> </td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 13.2pt;" height="18"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 13.2pt; border-top: medium none;" height="18"><span style=""> </span>campaign</td> <td class="xl25" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>31,166 </td> <td class="xl33" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"> </td> <td class="xl29" style="border-top: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>31,939 </td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 13.2pt;" height="18"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 13.2pt; border-top: medium none;" height="18"><span style=""> </span>non-campaign</td> <td class="xl25" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>4,424 </td> <td class="xl33" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"> </td> <td class="xl29" style="border-top: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>266 </td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 13.2pt;" height="18"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 13.2pt; border-top: medium none;" height="18"><span style=""> </span>other</td> <td class="xl25" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>-<span style=""> </span></td> <td class="xl33" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"> </td> <td class="xl29" style="border-top: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>6,500 </td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 13.2pt;" height="18"> <td class="xl24" style="height: 13.2pt; border-top: medium none;" height="18"> </td> <td class="xl26" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>$<span style=""> </span>35,590 </td> <td class="xl36" style="border-top: medium none; border-left: medium none;"> </td> <td class="xl31" style="border-top: medium none;"><span style=""> </span>$<span style=""> </span>38,705 </td> <td><br /></td> </tr> </tbody></table>Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-11511291698039150552011-01-12T14:06:00.000-08:002011-01-12T14:15:08.395-08:00Capitol Conversations Interview on Budget GuideLast night I appeared on Capitol Conversations with Marty Owings for about ten minutes to talk about the Plain English Guide the State Budget. <br /><br /><embed src="http://blip.tv/play/AYKbnU8A" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="320" height="270" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed><br /><br />Here is the entire show, which featured Senators John Marty and Warren Limmer as well as IP candidate for Governor, Tom Horner.<br /><br /><embed src="http://blip.tv/play/AYKbnRIA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="320" height="270" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-28106790886251100822011-01-03T09:26:00.000-08:002011-01-07T21:02:49.354-08:00Plain English Guide to the Minnesota State Budget!Well, readers, the election is over and I'm no longer in the state legislature. However, one of the things that I enjoyed doing the most at the Capitol was "de-mystifying" the legislative process, and I'd like to post some things regularly about how things get done (or don't get done) at the State Capitol. There are a lot of news sources out there, but they give very little insight into the nuts and bolts.<br /><br />I thought I would start with the budget process, since Gov. Dayton and the legislature will be tackling a $6.2 billion deficit over the next few months. I must confess, there was no document like this available when I was in the legislature, at least not in one place! You just had to figure it out.<br /><br /><strong>What's the timeline for approving a state budget?</strong><br /><br />Here are a set of deadlines by which certain budget tasks have to get done. (These dates are for the FY2012-2013 budget only.) There is more detail on these steps later in the post. <ul><li><u>First week of December 2010</u>: Minnesota Management & Budget (MMB) Commissioner presents forecast of revenues and expenditures and projects a surplus or deficit</li><li><u>February 15, 2011</u>: Governor must send budget proposal to legislature</li><li><u>Last week of February 2011</u>: MMB Commissioner presents revised forecast of revenues and expenditures; and Governor may issue a revised budget proposal in response</li><li><u>March through early April 2011</u>: State agencies present detail of Governor's budget to the legislature</li><li><u>Date TBD by legislature 2011</u>: Budget targets are set by Ways & Means Committee that define how much funding will be in each finance committee's budget</li><li><u>Mid-April 2011</u>: Finance bills must be reported out of their respective finance committees</li><li><u>May 23, 2011</u>: Constitutionally mandated adjournment for regular legislative session </li><li><u>July 1 2011</u>: Fiscal year 2012 begins</li><li><u>December 2011, February 2012, December 2012 & February 2013</u>: MMB gives additional forecasts that show if revenues and expenditures are in line with the approved budget</li><li><u>2012 legislative session & 2013 legislative session</u>: Legislature approves supplemental budget(s) that keeps the budget biennium ending on 6/30/13 in balance based on forecasts</li></ul><p>The state budget we are talking about is for a two-year period--or biennium--starting July 1, 2011 and ending June 30, 2013. (Hereinafter Fiscal Year or FY2012-2013.) The state constitution, <a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/cco/rules/mncon/Article4.htm">Article IV, Section 12</a>, requires that the legislature complete its work by the "first Monday following the third Saturday in May" (this year that would be May 23rd). So the legislature needs to submit a budget that can be signed by the Governor by May 23rd, unless the Governor calls a special session after that time. If a budget is not signed by June 30th, 2011, then the state government would shut down. This happened in 2005 and it was not pretty. </p><strong>How does the process get started?</strong><br /><br />The executive branch starts the process, which starts usually in the late fall and early winter, when state agencies begin to prepare estimates of their budget needs to fulfill program obligations set by previous legislatures. Everyone knows that cuts are going to happen this year, so agencies are likely preparing smaller budgets that take cuts into account. Governor Dayton's staff will review these draft agency budgets to see if they fit with his vision for the state. His staff will likely ask agencies to re-submit budget proposals based on the direction that the Governor wants to go, e.g., put more money in program A but reduce the amount in program B, cut program C and add a new program D, etc.<br /><br />Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB, or the old Department of Finance) compiles all the budget proposals into one document and is responsible for making sure that everything adds up. In addition, Governor Dayton is likely to propose additional revenue and so his Department of Revenue will produce revenue estimates for how much new funding would be available for the budget under certain scenarios (e.g., increasing the income tax rates on the highest earners, as the Governor has proposed).<br /><br />The Governor will submit a final budget proposal to the legislature by the third Tuesday in February (February 15th for 2011) as required by <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=16A.11">Minnesota Statute (M.S.) 16A.11</a>. (If the Governor was not new, the deadline would be the fourth Tuesday in January.) The Governor and his MMB Director will likely make a public statement about the budget and how big it would be, where the cuts will be, how much revenue might be raised in taxes, and how the numbers add up. A flurry of press conferences and press releases by legislative leaders will ensue.<br /><br />The State of Minnesota requires a balanced budget, but that requirement is not in the state constitution. It is in law in Minnesota Statutes (M.S.) 16A.11 subdivision 2; 16A.15 subdivision 1.<br /><br /><strong>How do they figure out how big the budget and the deficit will be?</strong><br /><br />The state relies on accurate budget forecasts. In Minnesota, the state contracts with an economic forecasting firm called <a href="http://www.ihsglobalinsight.com/">Global Insight </a>to figure out how much tax revenue will come in and how great the state's spending obligations will be. These forecasts factor in all sorts of variables like the price of oil, home ownership trends, consumer data, and so on. By calculating what the state's economy will be like, the forecast tells you how much the state will receive in business, sales, and income taxes. This information will help with spending estimates too, since a lot of state spending relies on how many people are in need of services, like unemployment insurance, health care coverage, transportation, etc. when people are out of the workforce.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=16A.103">M.S. 16A.103 </a>requires two forecasts each year. One is presented by the end of the first week of December and the other is presented by the end of February. The state's MMB commissioner, usually with the state's economist, presents the findings. The forecast must be presented to both the Governor's office and the legislature in the same day, presumably to keep anyone from altering it for political gain.<br /><br />Eventually, each house of the legislature sets "targets." This is where House and Senate leadership determines how big the budget will be. For example, leaders might say that the budget will be $33 billion for FY2012-2013. Then they indicate how large the budget for each finance committee will be, e.g., K-12 education gets $11 billion, health and human services gets $9 billion, and so on. Then each finance committee drafts a budget in the process outlined below that meets that target. If leadership wants there to be an increase in revenue beyond what is forecast, then the tax committee in each house has to figure out how to raise that new revenue with its own target. The entire set of targets must be in balance, so proposed revenue and expenses need to be equal.<br /><br />During committee and floor debate on budget bills, you may often hear the phrase, "Your proposal is going to 'blow' the targets." That just means that a proposed amendment or change to the finance or tax bills will put the budget out of balance. The House and Senate may set their own targets and they may differ from the Governor's proposal. Eventually all three entities need to agree on the same targets. Sometimes they work together ahead of time to do this (usually when they are all in the same party, which is rare), but usually they don't do this until the end. (More detail on why each entity might do this, see a fuller description below.)<br /><br />One valid complaint about the budget target setting process is that it makes it harder for the legislature to set priorities <em><u>across</u></em> different parts of state government. Finance committees can set priorities <em><u>within</u></em> their budget target but if you look at the whole budget one could say that most programs in committee A's budget are a lot more important than programs in committee B's budget. Eventually you see some fur fly on the House and Senate floor when the minority says, "Why are we funding this less important program (arts and anything appearing to be "touchy-feely" are always a target) when nursing homes, veterans, and education are struggling?"<br /><br />In recent years (at least in the House) the Ways & Means Committee approved the budget targets but there have been attempts to require the entire body to vote on them.<br /><br /><strong>Where <u>is</u> the budget?</strong><br /><br />The Governor's office produces both paper and electronic copies of the budget. By February 15th of this year, legislators will get several three-ring binders of the budget, and the sections are divided by agency. MMB will make it available <a href="http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/budget">on its web site </a>as well for the public.<br /><br />As the legislature reviews the budget through committee hearings and input from state agencies and the public, the budget gets put in a different form. By late April or early May, each finance committee in the House (there are 11, I think) and Senate (roughly the same) will put the budget in a bill format. Usually a committee takes a bill that is "dead" in committee and amends it to replace the contents with the committee's budget so that a new bill does not have to be introduced. This is called a "vehicle" bill so you don't have to re-introduce a whole new bill. This leads to a lot of confusion for members of the public who are trying to track the budget. The committee's finance bill obviously has to be within its budget target.<br /><br />The full House and Senate usually pass each committee finance budget separately on the floor, then it usually goes to a conference committee to work out differences, then each house votes on the conference committee report, and then the final bill goes to the governor. Then the bills become "<a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?view=info">session law</a>" and go into effect. If the Governor vetoes the whole bill, the process has to start over back in committee, where another vehicle bill is created. At this point, the Governor and the legislature start negotiating the final details of the budget. The Governor can also sign a finance bill and make line-item vetoes of specific expenditure items. An official veto message comes back to the legislature in either case explaining the vetoes.<br /><br />Any tax bill has to originate in the House, but there are ways to get the Senate to act first. For example, the House might pass a simple bill that might raise a small fee and send it to the Senate as a vehicle for a much bigger tax bill. The Senate votes on it and sends it back to the House.<br /><br /><strong>How hard is it to track some of these budget bills? When I watch budget bill hearings, it all looks like stuff has been worked out behind the scenes.</strong><br /><br />The public will usually get frustrated by this process because when deadlines approach you can't figure out which finance bill moving through the committee process is the current draft of the budget. Usually the lobbyists and other interest groups who camp out at the Capitol are the only ones who can keep track of it in time.<br /><br />For example, the House Environmental Finance Committee might take a dead or small finance bill sitting in committee (say, a hypothetical House file 1234 on fishing license fees) and create a vehicle bill that includes the committee's budget. Now HF1234 is the environmental finance bill. This is after the committee chair works with members of his/her own party in private meetings to figure out what programs will get funding and at what level. (Sometimes a chair will just have the finance bill drafted and just tell everyone else what is in it and not ask for input!) The minority party members on the committee usually get notification of the bill's contents a few hours or a day in advance should those members want to propose amendments in committee. Some committees have a "24-hour rule" so any bills or amendments to be considered have to be available a day ahead of time so members can review them. The committee chair works closely with a non-partisan fiscal analyst to make sure all the numbers add up.<br /><br />The committee might take testimony over the course of a few meetings and then vote on the bill once members introduce and perhaps pass various amendments. This often happens late at night. Within a few days, the finance bill moves through other finance committees that might have to look at a specific section of the bill, and eventually it goes to the full Finance Committee and Ways & Means Committee. At each stop the bill has become a new draft (or "engrossment") because it has usually been amended in each committee. The legislative web site may not have the most up to date version available for the public until the next committee meeting, such as "HF1234, 4th engrossment." You really have to stay on top of it by talking to committee administrators to get the latest draft, as well as proposed amendments. Vehicle bills passed near the end of session from the floor are very hard to track as well.<br /><br />Then the bill hits the House floor, where there is no opportunity for public comment or testimony. The people who usually testify in committee on finance bills are organizations who have a major stake in the outcome, such as state agencies, business organizations, and nonprofit advocacy groups. It is pretty rare to have testimony from the general public just because it is so hard to track the bills and interpret all the detail. Legislators do hear from constituents <em><u>a lot</u></em> when advocacy groups notify their members of pending votes, as in "Tell your legislator to vote YES on the Gardner amendment to the Environmental Finance bill!" Those phone calls, e-mails, letters, and visits make a difference, and the more personalized those communications are the better.<br /><br />Once the budget passes, it is still in about a dozen pieces in many different finance bills. The explanatory information about each government program that you find in the agency budgets back in February does not show up in the law. There is no central and/or user-friendly place to find the approved budget along with an explanation of what each program does. I introduced legislation during my tenure that would require state government to use an <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/01/igov/7200/#">Application Program Interface (API)</a> so that the public could access budget data more easily and "mash up" the information for innovative analysis. Alas, the computer guys at the state said it couldn't be done in a timely way and it would cost too much. The federal government has accomplished this at the <a href="http://www.usaspending.gov/">USASpending.gov </a>web site.<br /><br />There are some time rules for how soon a bill can move through committee or be voted on on the floor. For example, a conference committee report usually has to be on members' desks or on the internet for a 12 hour period. Some legislators have tried to change the internal rules so that it takes longer to get bills through committee so people have a chance to give more input.<br /><br />There are efforts to show what the impact of budget proposals will be. The <a href="http://www.mncn.org/bp/about.htm">Minnesota Budget Project </a>is one of the better conduits of information. In many cases, the bill summaries they put together on finance bills, especially for health care and human services, are better than what legislative staff put together. In particular, the MBP gives some plain-English description of what each affected program does and what changes to their budget will mean in real terms.<br /><br /><strong>How do legislators know how much an idea will cost?</strong><br /><br />Legislators introduce bills that can save or cost money, or raise or cut revenue. State agencies have staff who review these bills and create a "fiscal note" to determine the cost of the idea. Legislators with an ambitious idea often become downcast when a fiscal note appears on their desk that shows their idea would cost more than they thought, or that it wouldn't save as much as they thought. If your idea involves revenue, the Department of Revenue produces a "revenue estimate" instead of a fiscal note. The agencies show their math and assumptions in the note or estimate. Occasionally politics filters its way into fiscal notes. Democrats in the House often complained that the Republican administration was trying to kill an idea by overestimating the costs of a Democratic idea or by taking a long time to produce the fiscal note. Sometimes agencies will just simply not like a legislator's idea and do the same thing, which often has nothing to do with politics. My observation was that if an agency didn't want to do what the legislator was suggesting, the agency will say, "Oh, Representative Gardner, that will cost a lot" and produce a hefty fiscal note. If they really <em>want</em> to carry out the idea, they will say, "Rep. Gardner, we will absorb the cost of the program."<br /><br /><strong>What about zero based budgeting?</strong><br /><br />Zero based budgeting is the concept that we shouldn't just look at what agencies received last year and then just add or cut some money from year to year. ZBB would require starting from scratch and have state agencies, the Governor's office, and the legislature justify each program again. This can sound pretty appealing to a legislator who doesn't like the idea of just "tweaking" the budget when it's not clear which programs are more effective than others. However, it would be a daunting project. The legislature has about five months to pass a budget, and as you can see from the timeline, the work does not get started in earnest until March. This kind of effort would have to be a multi-year effort. The House Public Information Office did a <a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/sessionweekly/art.asp?ls_year=86&issueid_=25&storyid=718&year_=2009">very good article </a>on the opportunities and pitfalls of ZBB in 2009.<br /><br />During hearings you will hear people talk about the "base budget." Most items in the state budget, unless there is specific language that something "is a one-time appropriation," are part of the "base budget." That means that agencies expect that the base budget level of funding will be the same in the future. When cuts are made they can be identified as one-time cuts or cuts to the base budget. This is often done to help agencies with planning and expectations, but the process pretty much conflicts with zero-based budgeting efforts!<br /><br /><strong>How does politics get integrated into the budget process? </strong><br /><br />Many voters wonder why the legislature only solves a short term budget problem. The requirement is for a balanced two-year budget, and after going through the process above, you can see why that is all you can get sometimes! Legislators fight tooth-and-nail for their priorities. Republicans beat up Democrats for raising taxes and Democrats beat up Republicans for cutting spending. Sometimes it seems miraculous that a budget gets passed at all just for <em>two</em> years! The MMB does give information on revenues and expenditures for the next four years, but it isn't as accurate as the two-year forecast because economic conditions can change rapidly. So it's hard to nail down a budget for longer than that.<br /><br />Of course, legislators always look toward the next election. Everyone is always envisioning what the attack postcards in your mailbox are going to look like ("John Doe wants to kick grandma out of the nursing home!" "Richard Roe wants to kill jobs with more taxes!") and that can affect how legislators behave. Do you want to take a principled stand, lose the next election, and let someone with the opposite viewpoint take the seat and swing the majority? Should you accept the risks of the job and do what needs to be done? It makes for short tempers and a lot of stress in April and May.<br /><br />The amendment process says a lot about politics in the budget. The majority party has to assemble a budget and get it passed. The minority party will try to change the bills by introducing amendments that support its priorities. If you can get enough majority votes on your amendment to pass it, you can have an impact. The minority party is also trying to get their colleagues on record supporting a view that can be used in the next election. Committee mark-up sessions and floor sessions on finance bills end up taking a while for these two reasons. This year will be interesting because the DFL and GOP are only a few seats apart and the DFL could get some GOP members to join them on some selected amendments. During the last four years, the DFL had sizable majorities so the GOP introduced amendments mostly to make political hay.<br /><br /><strong>Why do Governors and/or the Legislatures propose budget bills that they know won't pass or get signed into law? It seems like a waste of time.</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />There are a few reasons. First, one party will want to show public support for their idea even if they think it will not succeed. This is where the Governor and the legislature are appealing to their political bases. You can say that you tried and so the vote is "symbolic." Legislators in competitive districts hate symbolic votes! That's because you take the risk of an unpopular (if preferred) vote and get little benefit out of it. Second, you might present your proposal because it is based on your principles and you think it is the best idea. Third, since you might be negotiating later for something less, you should aim high and then negotiate downwards so you can get the best deal. Finally (and this was the case with Gov. Pawlenty during my tenure), you might not actually know what the other side will do until you put the proposal on their desk, which will get the other side to fish or cut bait!<br /><br />Well, that's it from my perspective. If you are interested in other topics, let me know! Thanks to Alissa Harrington for helpful input.<br /><br />Copyright 2011 Paul D. GardnerPaul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-11643183941979199752010-09-28T19:08:00.000-07:002010-09-28T20:14:20.216-07:00Fact Check on CMB Mailer on Birds<span style="font-size:100%;">Campaign season is in full swing and the attack mailers are hitting mailboxes. Here's a fact check on the mailer that arrived on September 28th ("That blank check for migrating bird habitat..." with two ducks talking on the beach.)<br /><br />The mailer is referring to a change to the <a href="http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/eco/nongame/checkoff.html">non-game wildlife fund</a> that is supported by a voluntary check-off (often called the "chickadee checkoff") on your income tax form. Revenue from the check-off goes to a dedicated fund at the DNR, which then protects habitat for non-game wildlife. Note: Ducks are not non-game wildlife! No blank check.<br /><br />In 2010, The Pawlenty Administration and the DNR asked the legislature to specifically allow the use of this funding for protecting habitat in other countries. The reason was to protect habitat for migratory birds that live in MN during warmer months and then go south.<br /><br />Here is the language that was passed with only 25 dissenting votes as part of the omnibus environment and natural resources policy bill. (The underlined language is what passed this year.) Governor Pawlenty also signed the bill.<br /><br />2010 Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 361 (cited in mailing as House Journal, p. 12973, SF3275, May 12, 2010 </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Sec. 67. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 290.431, is amended to read:<br /><b>290.431 NONGAME WILDLIFE CHECKOFF.</b><br />Every individual who files an income tax return or property tax refund claim form may designate on their original return that $1 or more shall be added to the tax or deducted from the refund that would otherwise be payable by or to that individual and paid into an account to be established for the management of nongame wildlife. The commissioner of revenue shall, on the income tax return and the property tax refund claim form, notify filers of their right to designate that a portion of their tax or refund shall be paid into the nongame wildlife management account. The sum of the amounts so designated to be paid shall be credited to the nongame wildlife management account for use by the nongame program <s>of the section of wildlife</s><s>None of the money provided in this section may be expended unless the commission has approved the work program.</s><br />The state pledges and agrees with all contributors to the nongame wildlife management account to use the funds contributed solely for the management of nongame wildlife projects and further agrees that it will not impose additional conditions or restrictions that will limit or otherwise restrict the ability of the commissioner of natural resources to use the available funds for the most efficient and effective management of nongame wildlife.<u> The commissioner may use funds appropriated for nongame wildlife programs for the purpose of developing, preserving, restoring, and maintaining wintering habitat for neotropical migrant birds in Latin America and the Caribbean under agreement or contract with any nonprofit organization dedicated to the construction, maintenance, and repair of such projects that are acceptable to the governmental agency having jurisdiction over the land and water affected by the projects. Under this authority, the commissioner may execute agreements and contracts if the commissioner determines that the use of the funds will benefit neotropical migrant birds that breed in or migrate through the state.</u></span> in the Department of Natural Resources. All interest earned on money accrued, gifts to the program, contributions to the program, and reimbursements of expenditures in the nongame wildlife management account shall be credited to the account by the commissioner of management and budget, except that gifts or contributions received directly by the commissioner of natural resources and directed by the contributor for use in specific nongame field projects or geographic areas shall be handled according to section 84.085, subdivision 1. The commissioner of natural resources shall submit a work program for each fiscal year and semiannual progress reports to the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources in the form determined by the commission. </p><span style="font-size:100%;"> I actually chaired the Environment and Natural Resources Policy Committee on the day that the DNR presented this idea to the legislature. In fact, I asked pointed questions about how we would be able to determine how well this funding would be used. DNR reported that reputable non-profit organizations whose financial records could be audited by the state would administer the funding. You can <a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/htv/programa.asp?ls_year=86&event_id=2329">watch the video of the March 4, 2010 committee meeting here</a>, and the discussion about this program starts at 2 hours 16 minutes and ends at about 2 hours 20 minutes. The DNR refers to a group called <a href="http://www.fishwildlife.org/allbird_LAC_projects.html">Southern Wings</a> that would administer the funds.<br /><br />In short, the mailer gives people the misleading idea that as a legislator I was responsible for using your tax dollars for overseas bird habitat. The facts are that funds for overseas habitat come from voluntary contributions by taxpayers on their state income tax form and there is no "blank check" for this program.</span>Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-55475895628593542902010-08-19T10:19:00.001-07:002010-08-19T11:02:49.548-07:00Anoka County-Blaine Airport UpdateOn August 18th, I attended a public meeting convened by the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC). The MAC was interested in having an annual meeting where they could answer questions about the airport, especially noise, from local residents. There were about 25 residents there, including some city council members from Blaine, Lexington, and Circle Pines.<br /><br />The first issue raised by residents was that there was not a lot of advance notice about the meeting. I heard about it from a member of the airport's local community advisory council by e-mail on Monday, as did many of the attendees. There was a newspaper ad in one local paper but it was not very obvious. The MAC staff said that they would improve on communicating about the meeting in the future. (This all took about a half hour to discuss and people kept bringing it up, so I think they were sincere about improving communication next time!)<br /><br />There was discussion about local perceptions of what the MAC, Anoka County, and/or Key Air (the operator of the airport) has or has not been trying to do regarding airport expansion. MAC staff said that there was no effort by the MAC to request extension of the east-west runway to 6,000 from 5,000 feet. The initiative last year came from Key Air and then Anoka County but then local residents began objecting. MAC staff also said that their planning document for the airport would have to show the need for an extension but there are no plans to do so. After some direct questioning, MAC staff responded that it was "not impossible but improbable" that any change would be made in the near future.<br /><br />Here are some other informational highlights:<br /><br />* <a href="http://www.lifelinkiii.com/index.html">Lifelink </a>has a helicopter base at the airport for their air ambulance service in the north metro. This is new.<br />* Airport staff deliver a pilot guide for the airport to non-local pilots upon landing and re-fueling. <a href="http://www.macnoise.com/relievers/ane">The guide</a> shows what steps pilots should take for takeoff and landing to minimize noise. (I asked about this since on any given day the airport may not know what out-of-state planes will be heading to Minnesota.)<br />* Federal law prohibits the airport from requiring the steps in the pilot guide, such as quiet times from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. The guide is advisory.<br />* A 2005 study from Wilder reports a local economic impact of the airport of $35 million as well as 103 on-airport jobs and 350 jobs total. (We didn't have a copy to look at though.)<br />* About 80,000 "operations" (one takeoff or one landing = one operation) are expected in 2010.<br />* There are 437 aircraft based at Blaine.<br />* Recreational flights in the U.S. are expected to decline over time and corporate flights are expected to increase.<br />* Newer jet aircraft are usually quieter than older models so technology is trending toward quieter planes.<br /><br />The MAC has a noise complaint phone line at 612-726-9411. It is staffed from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. You can leave a message at other times. We met the staff person who takes the calls. You can also <a href="http://www.macnoise.com/complaint">make a complaint on-line</a>. MAC staff said that complaints often involve one or two specific aircraft and they can follow up with the operator to give them to adhere to the pilot guide. Residents at the meeting discussed one particular type of plane that they have noticed making all lot of the noise--a <a href="http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/piaggio/">Piaggio Avanti II</a>--that looks like a "hammerhead shark."<br /><br />Overall, I thought it was a good meeting. More like this one will take place in the future so that residents can discuss noise issues with the Metro Airports Commission. They DO want to hear from you.Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-3975709253474691622010-05-18T12:51:00.000-07:002010-05-25T19:20:21.999-07:00My Legislation for 2010<span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Every year I post the results of my legislation with links to where you can find the actual bill language. These are my bills that passed. When the House and Senate each pass a similar bill but with different numbers, eventually only one bill number is used (or “substituted”) for conference committees, final passage, and action by the Governor. The bill number that is underlined is the substituted bill. </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">An “omnibus” bill incorporates smaller bills on a similar topic to facilitate passage. Chapter numbers refer to 2010 Session Laws. Session laws are compilations of legislation passed by the legislature and acted upon by the Governor each year. Each chapter is one bill. </span></span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Public Safety</span> </span><o:p style="font-family: georgia;"></o:p><p style="font-family: georgia;"></p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal">HF2864/SF2636: <u>Electronic</u> <u>monitoring of domestic abuse offenders</u>. <span style=""> </span>Inserted into an omnibus domestic violence bill (HF2608) and then substituted by <u>SF2437</u>, <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=299&doctype=Chapter&year=2010&type=0">Chapter 299</a>, Section 12. Self-initiated with assistance from the MN Coalition for Battered Women.<span style=""> </span>House Public Information Services has a <a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/sessionweekly/art.asp?ls_year=86&issueid_=60&storyid=1952&year_=2010">summary</a> of the bill. I authored this bill as a response to the two domestic violence murders in Circle Pines and Lino Lakes in 2009.</p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><u><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></u></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><u>HF1217</u>/SF1568: <span style=""> </span><u>Safe Drug Disposal Act</u>. <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=223&doctype=Chapter&year=2010&type=0">Chapter 223</a> and initiated by me. This bill makes it easier for law enforcement and county solid/hazardous waste staff to collect old prescription drugs and destroy them. <span style=""> </span>I initiated the legislation as a way to keep people from flushing old drugs down the toilet, which leads to endocrine disrupting compounds that harm aquatic life getting into our rivers and streams. However, I discovered that law enforcement is very concerned about prescription drug abuse and they were very supportive. This bill didn’t go as far as I would have liked in terms of industry funding for drug collections, but it’s a good step forward.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b style="">
<br /></b></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Transportation<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">HF3779/SF3360: <u>Metro transit bonding</u>. Inserted in omnibus tax bill (<u>HF3729)</u>, <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=389&doctype=Chapter&year=2010&type=0">Chapter 389</a>, Article 7, Section 8 and awaiting signature. Initiated by the Metropolitan Council. This bill allows the Met Council to sell bonds for transit and paratransit assets like bus shelters, new buses, park-and-ride facilities, etc. They have been retiring their old debt at about the same rate that they are incurring new debt, and they require statutory authority to borrow.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">HF1373/SF1226: <u>Transportation access council</u>. Inserted into Omnibus Transportation Policy Bill (<u>SF2540</u>/HF2807), <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=351&doctype=Chapter&year=2010&type=0">Chapter 351</a>, Section 51, initiated by Sen. Scott Dibble and me. A previous version of this bill was in the vetoed 2009 Omnibus Transportation Policy Bill. The purpose of the bill is to strengthen the <a href="http://www.coordinatemntransit.org/ICTC/index.html">Interagency Committee on Transportation Coordination</a> (ICTC). We stand to save some serious money because we have lots of overlapping paratransit programs at the federal and state level for paratransit. Paratransit includes thing like dial-a-ride and other vans and buses that serve seniors and the disabled. Paratransit is about five times more expensive than mass transit.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b style="">
<br /></b></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Public Health & Health Care<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">HF1372/<u>SF1323</u>:<u> Safe sharps management. </u><span style=""> </span><a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=286&doctype=Chapter&year=2010&type=0">Chapter 286</a>, and initiated by UltiMed, a St. Paul company. <span style=""> </span>Taxpayers, employers, and health care policyholders pay more than a billion dollars a year nationwide to pay for injuries from needle sticks, especially to workers in waste management and the hospitality sector. The legislation requires manufacturers of “sharps” such as syringes, lancets, etc. and the pharmaceutical companies that make injectable medications to post information on safe sharps disposal on their web sites. I ended up brokering this legislation among pharmaceutical companies, sharps manufacturers, waste haulers, and home users of sharps. It was very complicated!</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">HF2614A108 amendment to <u>HF2614</u>: <u>Pharmaceutical waste reduction</u>, initiated by me. HF2614 was vetoed but this language was adopted in the final budget balancing bill, HF1, 1<sup>st</sup> 2010 Special Session <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=1&doctype=Chapter&year=2010&type=1">Chapter 1</a>, Article 19, Section 21, and awaiting signature (search for "prescription drug waste"). Nationwide, it is estimated that we are wasting up to $10 billion a year in taxpayer money on prescription drugs that are paid for but never used in long-term care facilities. This is due to inefficient dispensing and prescription techniques and a lack of appropriate technology. The federal health care reform law includes legislation that will help avoid $5.5 billion of this waste over the next decade. This amendment (as eventually adopted by the conference committee) asks the MN Board of Pharmacy to recommend better techniques and technology to save money in the state’s Medicaid program, prisons, and veterans’ homes.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b style="">
<br /></b></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Elections<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">HF2510/<u>SF2226: </u><span style=""> </span><u>Fair Race bill</u>, initiated by Senator Sandy Rummel, <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=291&doctype=Chapter&year=2010&type=0">Chapter 291</a>, vetoed by the Governor. The bill clarifies our election statutes so that someone who threatens a candidate for public office to make them drop out of the race is committing coercion. The Governor vetoed the bill, arguing that our coercion statute is sufficient. This is technically correct, but local elections officials asked for statutory clarification. House Information Services had <a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/sessionweekly/art.asp?ls_year=86&issueid_=60&storyid=1934&year_=2010">this article</a> on the bill.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b style="">
<br /></b></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Housing/Property Taxes<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><u>
<br /></u></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><u>Homestead tax treatment for manufactured housing cooperative</u>. I didn’t author the bill but worked with stakeholders on a technical piece of legislation that avoided a major property tax hike for some residents of Lexington. The Department of Revenue offered a provision in a technical bill that would have altered the homestead status for residents of manufactured home (aka mobile home) park cooperatives. There are a handful of these co-ops in the state, and one of them is in the City of Lexington. The technical change would have vastly increased the property taxes for these residents. I moved to delete the provision several months ago and then asked the Department of Revenue and affordable housing advocates to come up with a compromise. They did so, and Rep. Marquart and I introduced the legislation as HF3760/SF3348. This was inserted into the Omnibus Tax Bill (HF3729), <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=389&doctype=Chapter&year=2010&type=0">Chapter 389</a>, Article 1, Section 15, and is awaiting signature.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b style="">
<br /></b></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Environment<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">HF2402/<u>SF2152: </u><span style=""> </span><u>Changes to battery recycling fee</u>. <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=258&doctype=Chapter&year=2010&type=0">Chapter 258</a>, initiated by Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of Minnesota. Since 1987, when a consumer buys a new auto battery, they need to bring in the old battery. If they don’t bring in the old one, state law says that the consumer has to pay $5. The retailer then passes the $5 to the battery manufacturer. This system has worked well for 23 years; the recycling rate for auto batteries is 97%! Auto service retailers asked me to carry this bill because battery manufacturers now charge $10 or more when the retailer does not provide the old battery. That means Minnesota retailers get shorted $5. So the bill increases the fee charged by retailers to consumers to at least $10.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">HF2655/SF2286: Construction <u>and demolition debris recycling requirement for state bonding projects</u>. Inserted in bonding bill (<u>HF2700</u>), <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=189&year=2010&type=0">Chapter 189</a>, Section 33, and self-initiated. My old recycling colleagues from Wisconsin showed me data that their state administration agency requires that new state building projects valued over $5 million recycle 50% of their construction waste. The result is that these building projects are saving a lot of money! For every 1,000 square feet of construction, projects there have saved an average of $179 in disposal costs. Recycling also sustains more jobs than disposal. I drafted legislation to mirror the requirement in Wisconsin. We have a robust construction waste recycling industry in Minnesota and they are prepared to handle this material. </p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">HF2667/SF2202: <u>Redwood County Materials Recovery Facility</u> (MRF). Inserted in bonding bill (<u>HF2700</u>), <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=189&year=2010&type=0">Chapter 189</a>, Section 9, Subdivision 3. Line-item vetoed by the Governor. Initiated by Redwood County. Every two years the MN Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) makes capital assistance requests to the legislature to pay for solid waste facilities. They usually get about $3 million. I authored this bill on behalf of Redwood County staff, who I worked with in my recycling career, because it would do what we all say is necessary: consolidate county functions to reduce costs and increase efficiency. The project would replace the dilapidated Redwood County Recycling Center with a facility that could serve several West Central Minnesota counties and increase the value of the recycled materials. The private haulers in that area do not have an interest in constructing a facility of their own.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><u>
<br /></u></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><u>HF2949</u>/SF2925: <u>Metropolitan Council Sewer Availability Charge modification</u>. <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=223&doctype=Chapter&year=2010&type=0">Chapter 212</a>, initiated by Metropolitan Council. Because of the slow pace of new construction on the outskirts of the Twin Cities, the Metropolitan Council is running very slow on cash reserves for expanding sewer capacity. When a new building is built, the owner pays a Sewer Availability Charge (SAC) that is set aside for reserves and some of it goes to pay for operations of the metro sewer system. This bill will temporarily allow more of the SAC to go to the reserve fund and less to the general operations. While this may increase the sewer bill for the current users of the metro sewer system by a slight amount, it will keep the financial system of the entire system from collapsing, which will be more expensive for everyone.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">HF2698/SF2630: <u>Aquatic vegetation control fees modified for drainage ponds</u>. Inserted in Omnibus Environment & Natural Resources Finance Bill (<u>SF3275)</u>, passed as <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=361&doctype=Chapter&year=2010&type=0">Chapter 361</a>, Article 4, Section 60. Initiated by Sen. Sandy Rummel. Senator Rummel and I heard from Shoreview residents living around Kerry Pond last year about proposed DNR permit fees for controlling aquatic vegetation. We held a public meeting for the neighborhood last fall. The proposed permit fee increase for Kerry Pond residents would have gone up from about $7 per year to something like $90! We recognized that the DNR was trying to recover costs for issuing permits, but to us it appeared that metro area lakes with a high number of residents were bearing the brunt of the cost. This bill would cut the permit fee in half for residents needing a permit on small drainage ponds, which is what Kerry Pond is, as opposed to a lake.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b style="">
<br /></b></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Bills that received a hearing but were not acted upon or did not reach the House floor</b>. </p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">It’s often helpful to introduce legislation to initiate a broader policy discussion, especially if a legislator thinks the bill might not make it through the process or get signed by the Governor. Once a bill gets introduced and gets a number, lobbyists, the media, and other stakeholders suddenly start appearing out of the woodwork and start discussing the issue.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/bldbill.php?bill=ceH0170.1.html&session=ls86">
<br /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/bldbill.php?bill=ceH0170.1.html&session=ls86">HF170</a>/SF129: <u>Removing the requirement that telephone directory publishers deliver a white pages</u>.<span style=""> </span>Self-initiated. This idea got more play in the media than it deserved, or perhaps there are a lot of reporters who hate getting phone books! After discovering that yellow pages publishers are developing ways for consumers to opt-out of getting a yellow pages, I found that state rules require the delivery of a white pages, whether you want one or not. Verizon surveys have shown that one in seven people use the white pages. The bill, as amended this year in the telecommunications division, would require the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to expedite rulemaking and delete the requirement but would require the phone company to deliver white pages if you ask for them. Several Democrats didn’t like this idea because they didn’t trust the phone company to get it right. Since I spent a total of about one hour on this bill and it was not worth spending any more time on, I asked that the bill be tabled in the Commerce and Labor Committee.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0418.2.html&session=ls86">
<br /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H0418.2.html&session=ls86">HF0418</a>/SF1176: Allowing <u>municipalities to require control or eradication of buckthorn</u>. Initiated by a North Oaks resident. This bill actually made it to the House floor this year but didn’t move in the Senate. Buckthorn is a decorative shrub that can block out native trees and plants. Many Minnesotans are working hard to remove the plant but it is an uphill battle. This bill would give authority to a municipality to pass an ordinance requiring the removal of the plant. The legislation was “permissive,” meaning that a city could pass an ordinance if it wanted to but it would not be required. MnDOT raised objections because they might be required to remove buckthorn in their right-of-way in a city that passed an ordinance, and that would keep them from working on roads. The <a href="http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/89307222.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter">Star Tribune</a> did a nice article on the issue.<span style=""> </span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H2407.0.html&session=ls86">
<br /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H2407.0.html&session=ls86">HF2407</a>:<span style=""> </span><u>Creating a product stewardship framework</u>. Self-initiated. This received an informational hearing in the Environment & Natural Resources Policy Committee. <span style=""> </span>There are a lot of bills introduced every year that would require some industry responsibility for covering the cost of safely disposing of certain solid and hazardous wastes, like electronics, paints, etc. This type of product stewardship is designed to remove or reduce taxpayer costs for protecting the environment and public health. These bills take up lot of legislative time and legislators often don’t have the expertise necessary to sift through conflicting testimony. This bill would create a framework through which the MN Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) could recommend products for legislative action and provide necessary technical background. The State of Maine <a href="http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/bills_124th/chapters/PUBLIC516.asp">enacted legislation</a> this year that passed on a bi-partisan basis with support from their state chamber of commerce, and I hope to learn from their model in 2011. You can listen to the audio of the informational hearing on the <a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/audio/archivescomm.asp?comm=86136&ls_year=86">Environment & Natural Resources Policy Committee website</a> for the May 5, 2010 meeting starting at 36:39.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/bills/billnum.asp?Billnumber=HF2182&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Search&ls_year=86&session_year=2009&session_number=0">
<br /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/bills/billnum.asp?Billnumber=HF2182&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Search&ls_year=86&session_year=2009&session_number=0">HF2182</a>: <span style=""> </span><u>Rating criteria required for capital project funding requests</u>. Self-initiated. I requested a hearing in the Capital Investment Committee on this bill that would add more transparency to the bonding bill. The bonding bill is often very political because many projects get included based on who represents the area. Projects often look like “earmarks.” My bill would require the Commissioner of Finance to ask for specific information about jobs and other data when public entities submit funding proposals. Then legislators would be able to compare and rank projects based on merit. The media and the public would also have access to this information so that they can hold legislators accountable. I received a polite hearing but there was resistance to the idea from members of both parties, particularly from rural Minnesota where bonding bills are popular. </p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H2512.0.html&session=ls86">
<br /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/bldbill.php?bill=H2512.0.html&session=ls86">HF2512</a>: <u>Discouraging state purchasing of bottled water</u>. <span style="">Self-initiated. </span>The State of Minnesota spends about half a million dollars annually on bottled water. It usually comes in the form of five-gallon jugs. It turns out that using tap water is hundreds to thousands of times cheaper, even with a good tap filter. As a means of saving a modest amount of taxpayer dollars, I introduced the bill. It would be a bit picky to put this in law, but the related media attention got a lot of people talking in their workplaces about the wisdom of buying bottled water during difficult economic times. The <a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/89009262.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUs">Star Tribune</a> did a nice article on the issue.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/bills/billnum.asp?Billnumber=HF2559&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Search&ls_year=86&session_year=2009&session_number=0">HF2559</a>/SF2655: <u>Public water suppliers required to recover costs of providing service</u>. Self-iniated. The goal of this legislation was to push some cities (especially in rural Minnesota) to stop subsidizing water rates. Some cities and towns under political pressure will charge less than it actually costs to provide the service, and then when the water infrastructure is in need of upgrades there is no money in reserve to pay for it. Then the city goes to the state for a bailout through the Public Facilities Authority that provides low interest loans. Only after negotiating a loan will a city be required to raise rates to pay for the bonds. My goal was to keep the city from needing a bailout in the first place. The legislation also required that water rates only be used for the water service and infrastructure so that the money is not used to subsidize other city services. 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<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/bills/billnum.asp?Billnumber=HF2429&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Search&ls_year=86&session_year=2009&session_number=0">HF2429</a>/SF2418: </span><u style="font-family: georgia;">Bonding request for an anaerobic digester</u><u1:p style="font-family: georgia;">. Self-initiated. This was a request for $3 million in state bonds to support the construction of an anaerobic digester for municipal solid waste in the Twin Cities metro area. A digester is something like a slow cooker but about the size of a small house. It heats the organic contents and result in creating small pellets that encapsulate methane, which then can be burned to create energy. I introduced the bill to get a lot of stakeholders to start talking about locating a digester in the metro area that can handle a variety of organic wastes. The St. Paul Port Authority and many other stakeholders are interested in this and so I had quite a few good meetings. I did not intend for the bonding bill to include this item in 2010 but I may come back with it in 2012.</u1:p></span></p> <o:p style="font-family: arial;"></o:p><p style="font-family: arial;"></p> Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-807520682812162132010-04-15T11:30:00.000-07:002010-04-19T11:20:20.122-07:00Survey Results<span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >[Note on 4/19/10: Based on some comments from constituents, I have some additional clarifying language that is in <span style="font-style: italic;">italics </span>below.]<br /><br />Every year I send out an electronic constituent survey. Some members send out a mailing to all or some households with a survey and then someone has to tabulate all the results, which takes a long time, and it usually costs some taxpayer money to send out the survey. I prefer the electronic survey on Survey Monkey because it's cheap and about 90% of the constituents who contact me do so by e-mail, so I send the survey to all people who have e-mailed me since 2007. Survey Monkey also tabulates the data immediately.<br /><br />This year the survey was sent to 888 people. So far 522 people have responded! To be a statistically valid survey, I would have to survey people at random, so one must take this fact into account when reading the results.<br /><br />One of the House staffers who proofread the survey said, "It looks from the questions and the answers provided that you are <span style="font-style: italic;">actually </span>interested how people respond?" YES! Many surveys do not actually provide that much useful data. However, I write my own surveys in order to help me with decision-making at the legislature on issues I will likely vote on. So here are the results along with some analysis.<br /><br /></span><span class="notranslate" style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Question 1</span>. "Education Funding: Currently the Legislature plans to eliminate the $1 billion deficit by cutting parts of the state budget in virtually all categories except K-12 education. Cuts have been made or are being deliberated in higher education, the environment, agriculture, services for the disabled & seniors, etc. K-12 education comprises just under 40% of the state budget. Even if there is no cut to K-12 schools, previous state budget decisions are causing school districts to cut teachers, reduce class offerings, reduce related services, and/or ask for increases in property tax levies. What are your thoughts about what the Legislature should do about K-12 education funding?"</span><span class="notranslate" style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><ul style="font-family:georgia;"><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">Without raising taxes, continue to cut other parts of the budget except K-12 to balance the budget: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">23.5%</span></span></li><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">Without raising taxes, cut K-12 funding so that other parts of the budget are cut less, or just cut K-12 spending to balance the budget: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">29.8%</span></span></li><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">Without raising taxes, increase funding for K-12 education by cutting other parts of the budget more: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">6.3%</span></span></li><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">Raise taxes or other revenue to meet the needs of K-12 education: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">37.0%</span></span></li><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">I don't know/I'm not sure: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">3.5%</span></span></li></ul><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" class="notranslate" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">My take</span>: There was strong support for K-12 education on this question. Just under 30% said we should cut education. Based on some of the written comments, some of these respondents are likely disability advocates who would like to see cuts to education equal to those taken by human services. Forty-two percent believed that the state should increase education funding either by raising taxes or cutting other parts of the budget. Another 23.5% preferred a strategy of holding K-12 education harmless when cutting the budget.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Some constituents have interpreted my comments above to imply that the majority of respondents wanted to raise taxes for education. My interpretation is that education has strong support because the majority of respondents don't want to cut K-12 education when we are cutting everything else</span>.<br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" class="notranslate" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Question 2</span>. "One option for balancing the budget over the next few years is to limit or eliminate some tax exemptions, credits, or deductions that reduce revenue to the state. Studies show that some of these policies don't accomplish their intended goal (e.g., creating jobs, encouraging home ownership, etc.). Other policies favor one group of people (e.g., the wealthy or low-income) or one group of businesses (e.g., rural vs. all other) over another. Please indicate what your thoughts are about changing some of these tax policies. PLEASE CHECK ALL THAT APPLY."<br /></span><ul style="font-family:georgia;"><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">I would support giving tax breaks just to people who really need it based on their income: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">31.4%</span></span></li><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">I would support ending tax breaks that don't accomplish their stated goal: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">52.8%</span></span></li><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">I would support changing tax policies so that everyone or every taxpayer pays the same percentage of income in taxes: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">40.4%</span></span></li><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">The state needs to give more tax breaks because some or all taxes are too high; cut more spending to balance the budget: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">29.6%</span></span></li><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">I don't know/I'm not sure: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">1.4%</span></span></li></ul><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" class="notranslate" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">My take</span>: The second and third questions have to do with what we call "tax expenditures." Each year, Minnesota does not tax certain people, businesses or items while taxing everyone else, and the lost revenue adds up to $11 billion a year. Some of these policies make a lot of sense--for example, we don't tax food. There is a perennial discussion about the wisdom of expanding the sales tax to clothing and professional services. In addition, some kinds of individual and corporate income have lower tax or less tax in order to provide tax relief, to be competitive with other states, or to promote a certain activity such as business development in depressed rural areas. See a <a href="http://www.taxes.state.mn.us/legal_policy/research_reports/content/expenditure.shtml">list of them all </a>on-line.<br /><br />The purpose of the second question is to gauge how people view the fairness or utility of these tax breaks, and I asked respondents to check all items that they agree with. Only one response got more than 50% and that was to get rid of tax breaks that don't accomplish their goal. Less than 30% of respondents fit the most fiscally conservative position, which was to cut taxes and cut spending at the same time. I'm not really sure what I will do with the responses to this question, since the question was pretty complicated and there were quite a few complicated answers to pick from. Tax policy is very complicated and it's hard to boil down to a simple question. It's clear that respondents don't like tax breaks that serve no purpose.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Question 3</span>. "The mortgage interest deduction is one tax break that could be limited at the state level. You can currently deduct all of your mortgage interest even if you have a house worth up to $1 million. People with expensive homes tend to benefit the most from the deduction; 41% of all mortgage interest deductions are claimed by the top 10% of income earners. Wisconsin does not allow mortgage interest deductions on state taxes and yet still has a higher home ownership rate than Minnesota. Please indicate your reaction to the proposal to change the mortgage interest deduction. (Note: this would not affect the more valuable federal mortgage interest deduction.)"<br /></span><ul style="font-family:georgia;"><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">Do not change any policy on deducting mortgage interest: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">31.0%</span></span></li><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">Limit the mortgage interest deduction to mortgages on houses worth $500,000 or less: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">27.4%</span></span></li><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">Limit the mortgage interest deduction to mortgages on houses worth $250,000 or less: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">12.3%</span></span></li><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">Get rid of the mortgage interest deduction and replace it with a tax credit that is the same for all homeowners: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">12.9%</span></span></li><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">Get rid of the mortgage interest deduction altogether: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">10.3%</span></span></li><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">I don't know/I'm not sure: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">6.2%</span></span></li></ul><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" class="notranslate" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">My take: <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">This question is a foll0w-up to the second question. One of the more well-known tax expenditures is the mortgage interest deduction. When you buy a house, you can deduct your mortgage interest from your gross federal and state income so that your taxable income is lower. The cost to the State of Minnesota of this deduction (and therefore a benefit to the taxpayer) is more than $400 million a year. People with higher incomes tend to benefit the most from this deduction because they tend to itemize on their taxes. You can deduct all of your interest for mortgages worth up to $1 million.<br /><br />Half of all homeowners don't itemize and therefore don't take advantage of the deduction. Last year, the House proposed a bill that would have capped the mortgage interest deduction and then given all homeowners a credit. (Deductions reduce your taxable income but credits are better because they are dollar-for-dollar reductions in your taxes payable.) Most households would have done better under this proposal but it ran into a lot of opposition based on a lot of misinformation from opponents. My goal with this question was to see just how much that taxpayers understand about this deduction and what they would be willing to give up.<br /><br />From the responses, more than 62% said that the status quo--that you can deduct all your mortgage interest even if you have a million-dollar mortgage--should change. However, the preferred method of changing the policy did not emerge in the responses. I admit that this question was pretty complicated. </span><br /><br />Question 4</span>. "The Minnesota Vikings would like a public subsidy to cover part of the cost for a new stadium. Please indicate your thoughts on this idea.</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >"<br /></span><ul style="font-family:georgia;"><li><span style="font-size:100%;">I would not support using any public funding for a Vikings stadium: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">46.4%</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">I would support using a user fee (e.g., limiting any tax to those who use the facility, hotels, parking, etc.) to support funding a Vikings stadium: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">27.1%</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">I would support using a dedicated source of public funding like increased legalized gambling, a county-wide sales tax increase, hospitality tax, etc. for a Vikings stadium: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">19.6%</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">I would support using public funding from any source for a Vikings stadium: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">4.5%</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">I don't know/I'm not sure: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">2.4%</span></span></li></ul><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Generally speaking I have been against public financing of stadiums. I was not in the legislature when the Twins stadium deal was approved so I missed that debate. When I go door-to-door the vast majority of local residents tell me that they they don't like public financing either. But since there's talk of a Vikings proposal, I thought it prudent to "check in" with constituents on the issue. Almost half of respondents said no to public financing and another quarter would only support a user-fee financing system, or a total of 73.5%. So it's pretty clear that constituents don't want to be on the hook for a stadium.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I got a lot of constituent e-mail about my interpretation on this question. As a result, I should state more clearly that a majority of constituents responding the survey don't want to have a broad-based tax to pay for a Vikings stadium. It's a bit of a stretch to say that the majority of respondents support public funding because that support is very conditional, but one could read the results to say a "user-fee" arrangement would have majority support among respondents.</span><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" class="notranslate" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Question 5</span>. "The legislature is being asked to consider alternative teacher licensure for K-12 education. Advocates, including the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and Teach for America, are concerned about the achievement gap between white students and students of color. They believe that the teacher licensing process needs to be easier in order to attract candidates to teach in underachieving schools. The proposed changes would include giving someone a temporary two-year license after they complete a bachelor's degree and 200 hours of training but that is not in a classroom. What are your thoughts about this proposal? Free free to add comments."<br /></span><ul style="font-family:georgia;"><li><span style="font-size:100%;">I strongly support the idea of an alternative teacher license: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">16.2%</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">I would probably support the idea of an alternative teacher license: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">27.5%</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">I would probably not support the idea of an alternative teacher license: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">14.8%</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">I strongly do not support the idea of an alternative teacher license: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">30.0%</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">I don't know/I'm not sure: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">11.5%</span></span></li></ul><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" class="notranslate" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">My take: <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I got more "I don't know" responses on this than any other question, where </span></span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" class="notranslate" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">43.7% said they support or probably would support alternative licensing and 44.8% said that they did not.</span></span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" class="notranslate" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> <a href="http://www.educationminnesota.org/issues/legislature/10priorities.aspx">Education Minnesota</a> (the statewide teacher's union) has been strongly against this idea and I have a lot of teachers who live in the district and who got this survey, which might explain the strong opposition to this idea at 30.0%. But I've met with some very thoughtful--and yes, some liberal--people who support alternative licensure in order to recruit more teachers of color and Teach for America volunteers who can help address the achievement gap. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce is an advocate as well, and <a href="http://www.mnchamber.com/priorities/k12.cfm">their position is on-line</a>. The Obama Administration's rejection of Minnesota's Race to the Top application in part over alternative licensing is pushing stakeholders to get together on this issue, and I welcome the debate. </span><br /><br />Question 6</span>. "Federal health care reform: Future state budgets and the health of Minnesotans will be impacted by the federal health care reform legislation passed by Congress in Washington, D.C. Under the legislation, it is predicted that hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans would receive health coverage; Medicare would be come more solvent; patients would not be denied coverage based on a pre-existing condition; and the federal deficit would shrink over time due to greater efficiencies. The legislation comes with new taxes, mandates, and participation by the federal government that are controversial. Since this legislation will have an impact on Minnesota, I would like to know how you feel about this legislation.</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >"<br /></span><ul style="font-family:georgia;"><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">I support the legislation, but I don't think it went far enough: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">21.6%</span></span></li><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">I strongly support the recently enacted federal health care reform: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">12.2%</span></span></li><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">I support the legislation but I have some concerns about parts of it: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">12.0%</span></span></li><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">I don't support the legislation, although there are some good parts to it: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">16.0%</span></span></li><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">I strongly do not support the legislation:<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> 35.5%</span></span></li><li><span class="notranslate" style="font-size:100%;">I don't know/I'm not sure: <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">2.7%</span></span></li></ul><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" class="notranslate" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">My take</span>: While I'm not in Congress, I thought I would just see what people think about federal health care reform. There was strong opposition, with 51.5% of respondents not supporting the legislation and 45.8% supporting it. Those supporting single-payer or at least a strong public option likely picked the first answer about the legislation not going far enough. The level of support is actually higher than national polls and the percentage of people saying "I don't know" was lower than national polls. Many constituents asked me why I didn't leave a comment option for this question. It wasn't on purpose--I forgot to click the right box!<br /><br />Thanks to all who participated in the survey!<br /></span>Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-49709886682936998292010-03-26T12:39:00.000-07:002010-03-26T14:20:10.285-07:00The Legislative Session At HalftimeThe House and Senate are off for a week starting Monday, March 29th for the Easter/Passover Break. We will have a lengthy floor session on Monday and then we come back Tuesday, April 6th. Usually the legislature is accused of working at a snail's pace. While that is often true and is a function of 201 people all with different views trying to achieve consensus, the House and Senate hit the ground running in February. After seven weeks, we have completed the following tasks (or will complete them as of Monday afternoon).<br /><br />* <span style="font-weight: bold;">Fixed General Assistance Medical Care</span>. This week we passed a fix to the General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) program. GAMC is a health care program that covers about 33,000 Minnesotans at any given time (about 80,000+ a year) who have assets of less than $7,800 a year. About 70% of them have a mental health or chemical dependency problem, and about 30% of them are homeless. The Governor unalloted the program for the period April 1 to June 30 2010 and line-item vetoed the program for July 1 2010 to June 30 2011, so a bi-partisan team of legislators put together a series of proposals to serve this population until the Governor agreed to something he could sign. The fix cuts the program significantly but we hope to have a better long-term solution in the future.<br /><br />* <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cut the budget by $313 million and set budget targets for the remaining deficit</span>. The state has a projected deficit of $1 billion for the two-year budget ending June 30, 2011.<br />Both the House and Senate passed separate bills to cut $313 million from all parts of the state budget except health & human services and K-12 education. This bill is now in conference committee and we are likely to vote on a final version to send to the Governor on Monday.<br /><br />About $105 of this cut would be in aid to cities and counties. Shoreview, Blaine, Lino Lakes, and North Oaks would not see much change from the state from their present situation since they don't receive local government aid (LGA) and they would lose any market value homestead credit funding (MVHC) but they already lost it for this budget year because of previous cuts. Circle Pines and Lexington receive LGA and MVHC and they would lose a substantial portion. In the House Tax Committee (I'm a member) we did our best to make sure that these cuts do not translate into property tax increases in 2010. That may not be the case in the future.<br /><br />In addition, both bodies adopted "targets" that show how much more we must reduce the budget in health & human services and K-12 education. Right now the only cut to K-12 would be about $1 million from the MN Department of Education. We also plan to have a net change to health & human services of $710 million. We have not acted on this part of the budget yet because there is still a lot of number-crunching that has to happen to figure out how Congressional action will affect our state Medicaid program. Usually the feds pay half and the state pays half for Medicaid. Right now we believe that the federal government will be sending $408 million our way to support Medicaid programs that serve the disabled and seniors. This is all before any calculations from the newly-passed federal health care form bill are factored in. In addition, the GAMC bill will save $147 million from the health & human services budget. So $147 million + $408 million = $554 million. That leaves $710 million - $554 million = $155 million left to cut after the break.<br /><br />* <span style="font-weight: bold;">Passed a bonding bill (aka Jobs Bill 1)</span>. Every two years the legislature produces a capital investment bill for "bricks and mortar" projects in the state. You can see more detail at the last blog entry below. It is expected that this bill will lead to about 15,000+ construction, design, and engineering jobs over the next few years.<br /><br />* <span style="font-weight: bold;">Passed tax credit bill for angel investors (aka Jobs Bill 2)</span>. The House Tax Committee that I'm on passed a bill that would create an angel investor tax credit and a historic rehabilitation tax credit to spur job growth. The angel investor credit would give a tax break to venture capitalists seeking to invest in MN companies. Right now we have been losing start-up businesses to Wisconsin because they have a credit and we do not. In addition, the historic rehabilitation credit would make it easier to start projects to renovate historic buildings. These buildings require a lot of specialized labor and craftsmanship. In addition, the bill includes a CarZ program (suggested by the Governor) that would promote re-use by technology businesses at the Ford assembly plant in St. Paul once it is vacated (with no state fiscal impact). The bill also has an extension of tax increment financing (TIF) programs for about a dozen cities that are trying to attract development at a few specific sites (with no state fiscal impact). Finally, the bill includes some flexibility for some existing tax incentives to expand the Mall of America. The mall plan does NOT include state subsidies but allows the City of Bloomington to increase the sales tax at the Mall of America and adjoining facilities ONLY. That was in place already but now we are giving the mall some other options for how to arrange the financing using those tools.<br /><br />This bill has not passed the House yet but it is likely to on Monday after the House and Senate leadership agree on the final version. It would not go to conference committee so the Governor would get the bill next week. There are areas of disagreement between the House and Senate for how to backfill the loss of revenue resulting from the two tax credits but I think readers will fall asleep if I mention them in any detail!<br /><br />* <span style="font-weight: bold;">My bills</span>: Quite a few of my bills have finishing going through committees and either reside on the House floor or have passed. The bonding bill included a section that I authored that requires recycling of construction waste from state building projects valued greater than $5 million. In Wisconsin, a similar measure saved more than $150 per thousand square feet. HF1217 dealing with disposal of pharmaceutical waste passed the House floor on Thursday, as did HF2949 that will help maintain the Met Council's financial reserve fund for wastewater treatment. More updates on these and other bills will come later in the session.<br /><span class="UIStory_Message"><br /></span>Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-3149469590816151012010-03-14T15:36:00.000-07:002010-03-18T10:42:39.104-07:00Sex offenders & the bonding billThe legislature just passed and sent to the Governor a new version of the capital investment bill, or "bonding bill." Like our first bonding bill (see last entry), it is just under $1 billion while the Governor's original request was $725 million. The Governor made line-item vetoes this week to reduce the bill to $680 million.<br /><br />The difference between this bill and the first is that we have included funding for a proposed Moose Lake treatment facility for sex offenders and we took out a bunch of projects in order to include it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sex Offenders</span><br /><br />The debate over the bonding bill centered heavily on the Moose Lake facility, and that has caused many people to ask not only about the merits of the $89 million proposal but about the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) in general.<br /><br />When a sex offender is sentenced for his crime, he serves the sentence in a Minnesota Correctional Facility (MCF), which is a prison administered by the Department of Corrections. About 15 years ago, policy makers decided that the state should not be releasing certain sex offenders back into society after the offenders completed their sentences. That led to the creation of the MSOP, which is run by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS). MSOP facilities are not prisons, but rather treatment facilities. The Moose Lake facility would therefore be a treatment facility and not a prison. In order to be placed at a MSOP treatment facility, a sex offender must receive a "civil commitment" from a judge. After the Dru Sjodin murder several years ago, the number of civil commitments has skyrocketed. There are more than 500 people in the program currently.<br /><br />Some analysts believe that the constitutional basis for the MN Sex Offender Program (MSOP) is on thin ice because there hasn't been an offender released from the program since its inception. The result has been an exploding growth in the MSOP population, leading to the request for the Moose Lake facility. There is a concern that someone could bring a lawsuit against the state challenging the constitutionality of the program because offenders aren't being successfully treated, and if the decision went against the state, the MSOP patients would be released. Politics in Minnesota <a href="http://politicsinminnesota.com/blog/2010/03/legal-scholar-argues-that-the-minnesota-sex-offender-program%E2%80%99s-failures-could-lead-to-legal-troubles/">carried a good article</a> about the issue.<br /><br />The Governor proposed legislation, which we are considering seriously in the Legislature, to double the criminal sentences of sex offenders. It would cost $12 million a year but keeping someone in prison is considerably cheaper than in a sex offender facility.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Objective Criteria on the Bonding Bill</span><br /><br />One of the problems I've always had about the bonding bill is that is often one of the most political documents considered by the Legislature. Every even-numbered year the Governor's office makes recommendations for capital investment (and a smaller "emergency" bonding bill every other year) based on suggestions by state agencies as well as other public entities like cities, counties, colleges, universities, etc. Some projects get recommended or don't get recommended based on more subjective than objective criteria. For example, the current Legislature approves fewer projects in GOP districts, and the Governor vetoes more projects in DFL districts. There should be a better way.<br /><br />My bill, HF2182, would require that the Department of Finance (now called MN Management & Budget) give the Legislature some more detailed information about projects like jobs created, wages paid, how a building project will bring a building up to code, etc. so that we can better compare projects. The public and the media would then be able to bring some pressure to bear on the Governor and the Legislature to select projects based on merit.<br /><br />I got a bill hearing in the Capital Investment Committee last week and presented the idea along with two Republicans who had similar bills. The reaction was not so positive from both the executive branch and at least one DFLer on the committee. <a href="http://www.finance-commerce.com/article.cfm/2010/03/12/House-committee-considers-bonding-policy-measures-Some-lawmakers-officials-worry-proposed-mandates-c">See an article that sums up the bill here</a>. I'll keep trying!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How Much Debt Does the State Ring Up?</span><br /><br />A few constituents have asked how much debt the state incurs on the bonding bill. My previous entry has a lot of info about our relative debt levels, but I came across this info from MN Management & Budget <a href="http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/bonds-home/120-120">here</a>. You can see that the percentage of our budget that goes toward debt services is considerably low and consistent using a variety of measures.Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-41407365227062432462010-02-12T13:05:00.000-08:002010-02-12T15:14:20.553-08:00A blurb about the bonding billMid-February will see passage by the Minnesota House of the capital investment or "bonding" bill. I'm already getting a lot of e-mail (generated--I think--by a GOP or conservative group action alert) about the bill, so I thought it would be a good time to review what the bonding bill is.<br /><br />Every two years the Legislature and Governor work on this bill to provide funding for publicly owned buildings, property, and land. In particular, state agencies have buildings or property that are in need of repair, renovation, or replacement. Our state colleges and universities tend to have a large request because they have a lot of buildings. To be "bondable" the project has to be publicly owned, be of state or regional significance, and be a capital project--meaning it has to be "bricks and mortar" and not for ongoing operation costs. The state raises money for these projects by selling general obligation bonds on the bond market. The state then pays the debt service to pay off the bonds over time.<br /><br />Many people have written me assuming that when the Legislature passes a bonding bill that the amount of the bill is actually added dollar-for-dollar to the budget. For example, the Senate just passed a $1 billion bill and someone said that they added $1 billion to the deficit. That's not the case. In our current budget, we will now just pay the debt service on the $1 billion, which is in the tens of millions or so.<br /><br />The state agency Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) starts the process by asking public entities to submit requests. Usually the requests are something like five times greater than funding available, so MMB winnows them down and eventually the Governor's office submits a proposal to the Legislature with projects he wants. This year the Governor submitted $685 million worth of projects and those projects were mostly for state agencies and higher education institutions. The House and Senate are likely to approve a bill in the $1 billion range. According to staff, this difference of $315 million would increase our debt service for FY2010 by zero and by just $2.5 million in FY2011.<br /><br />The bonding bill is often touted as a jobs bill. It is true that the private sector creates most jobs, but in bad economic times when the private sector is not hiring, government can spur job growth by spending on public projects that are generally needed anyway. (This is a basic tenet of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_economics">Keynesian economics</a>.) Right now, construction costs have declined considerably so many of us believe that if we have a larger bonding bill this year it does two things: we get more projects done for less money and we can spur additional job growth albeit temporarily. A general rule of thumb is that for every $100,000 in bonding projects, you get one job. (Someone gets paid for doing the work, but there are also costs to fuel, supplies, construction materials, etc.)<br /><br />So if we pass a $1 billion bonding bill instead of the Governor's proposed $685 million (a difference of $315 million), we could see the creation of 3,150 additional jobs for just an additional $2.5 million during the next fiscal year. At least in the short term, that's $793 per job when we need to put people to work. WOW.<br /><br />How do we figure out what an acceptable debt level is? Well, there is no law that limits our debt level, but several decades ago, Governor Perpich used three percent of the general fund budget as a guideline and the state has pretty much stuck to that level.<br /><br />Moody's (an agency that sets bond ratings) said this about our debt management: "Minnesota's debt levels have historically been a neutral-to-positive part of the state's credit profile. The state's debt issuance is highly centralized and controlled, with the bulk of bonds issued carrying the full faith and credit pledge of the state. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Minnesota's metrics have tended to place the state about average or slightly better among the states for debt issuance. Moody's 2009 State Debt Medians Report shows that Minnesota ranks 25th in debt per capita and 32nd in debt as a percent of personal income</span>, largely a result of the state's increasing personal income levels."Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-86628381267263157042010-02-04T14:36:00.000-08:002010-02-04T14:56:03.386-08:00A blurb about bottled water....It is the first day of session today and an AP reporter asked me about a bill I have (HF2512) about bottled water. We talked a little bit and I thought it would be mentioned as a short blurb on the back page of something, since we have a jobs bill, a bonding bill, General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC), etc. By 4:00 p.m. I started getting interesting e-mail about the bill because the AP put it on the wire and the Star Tribune website had a <a href="http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/83571747.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUZ">link on the front page</a>. So to anyone interested for the rationale for the bill, here's some more info...<br /><br />The text of the bill isn't exactly as clear as it could be, but here's the gist of it:<br /><br />When state agencies buy bottled water in five-gallon jugs (something seen in many offices) it costs taxpayers about 80 cents to $1.00 per gallon. In contrast, tap water in Shoreview is about 80 cents per <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">ten thousand</span> gallons. An intern of mine last year calculated that even with a high-end tap filter to get out any sediment, hardness, etc. in the water, the bottled water still costs about five to ten times more. And one of the two vendors of bottled water to the state uses tap water anyway.<br /><br />The bill says that state employees should be discouraged from drinking bottled water, but the intent is that our state agencies should move from bottled water to tap water or filtered tap water because it's cheaper. (If you want to bring or buy your own, go right ahead.)<br /><br />This isn't something that ought to be in state statute, but I was trying to get people's attention that is this something that could save some money. Not a lot, but when we are going to be laying off state workers and all sorts of other public employees, it is something we should look at.<br /><br />There are also some compelling environmental reasons for sticking to tap water, since it takes a lot of energy to transport bottled water everywhere, but that was not the impetus for the bill.Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-2513369796059290812009-12-23T12:05:00.000-08:002009-12-28T17:49:54.222-08:00November-December 2009 Update<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCuHa3Y19JTgCjQiKTFDzVkp1Bw4gC2IcpWCm8xaxjTKvNG1629_mZgXFHfNbs9n_jRQAUkXyib5wfykgidWUVVsrJeh0xVfkDC0p3oXL2zFMsgYfO5YGUkaFsZncw_g-ro3HXZvhfYnOA/s1600-h/AHPcandidate.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 184px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCuHa3Y19JTgCjQiKTFDzVkp1Bw4gC2IcpWCm8xaxjTKvNG1629_mZgXFHfNbs9n_jRQAUkXyib5wfykgidWUVVsrJeh0xVfkDC0p3oXL2zFMsgYfO5YGUkaFsZncw_g-ro3HXZvhfYnOA/s320/AHPcandidate.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418532027360137778" border="0" /></a>Greetings! With the holidays I haven't updated this in a while. Here's a summary of my November and December activities.<br /><br />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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hearings and committee meetings: </span>The Health Care & Human Services Policy Committee (HCHS) met several times. One was on the redesign of <a href="http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/idcplg?IdcService=GET_DYNAMIC_CONVERSION&dID=112958">State Operated Services (SOS)</a>. 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.<br /><br />We also had <a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/members.asp?id=15284">a hearing on different proposals for salvaging the General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC)</a> 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 href="http://www.osjspm.org/savegamc.aspx">a top priority</a>. 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.<br /><br />A summary of Minnesota's health care programs is at the <a href="http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/idcplg?IdcService=GET_DYNAMIC_CONVERSION&RevisionSelectionMethod=LatestReleased&dDocName=id_006257">DHS web site</a>.<br /><br />On December 22nd, I participated in a reading of names of those on GAMC with local volunteers from <a href="http://takeactionminnesota.org/index.asp?Type=B_PR&SEC=%7BB67776A5-FF79-4F38-A5CC-73D2A428E13F%7D&DE=%7B686BEF52-F19B-40FC-A8E0-2FBC6E7207B9%7D">Take Action Minnesota</a> at the Shoreview Community Center.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hinfo/sessiondaily.asp?yearid=2009&storyid=1960"></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Environmental Committees</span>: 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 "<a href="http://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/tmdl/index.html">total maximum daily load</a>" (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 <a href="http://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/tmdl/tmdl-lakepepin.html">Lake Pepin watershed</a> continues to be non-compliant. The good news is that metro area residents have already paid for significant improvements to the <a href="http://www.metrocouncil.org/environment/Tour/index.htm">Metro Wastewater Treatment Plant</a> 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 <a href="http://www.baystat.maryland.gov/">BayStat</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Presentation to Jobs Task Force</span>: The <a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/taskforces/jobstaskforcesls86.asp">House Jobs Task Force</a> 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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Check your water data</span>: 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. <a href="http://projects.nytimes.com/toxic-waters/contaminants/mn">All cities in 53A are listed</a>. 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 <a href="http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/risk/guidance/dwec/index.html">detect new contaminants</a> in our drinking water. The MPCA has also produced an <a href="http://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/edc.html">endocrine disruptor study</a> 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 <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gPAO8ZyrcKTttZipY00Pm6kjRoVQD9COHC0O0">possible federal regulatory action</a> 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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Health care</span>: I found this interesting New York Times article called<span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/business/economy/16leonhardt.html?_r=1">If Health Reform Fails, America's Innovation Gap Will Grow</a>. It asserts that entrepreneurs will not take risks if they are concerned about not having health coverage.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Energy conservation</span>: My house was one of 50,000 Xcel Energy customers to have an <a href="http://xcelenergy.opower.com/posnet/home.do?null">energy usage report </a>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.<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Vikings stadium</span>: 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 <a href="http://www.leg.state.mn.us/lrl/issues/football.asp">great background study</a> of previous stadium funding efforts.<a href="http://www.leg.state.mn.us/lrl/issues/football.asp"></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Spending amendment</span>: 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 <a href="http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=753">an analysis that shows that this is not a great idea</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Visitors</span>: 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<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Visits</span> (where I was the vistor): Ace Solid Waste in Ramsey, <a href="http://www.delkorsystems.com/index.html">Delkor Systems</a> 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 governmentPaul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-31563047780870697742009-11-03T12:29:00.000-08:002009-11-03T14:08:41.141-08:00October 2009 UpdateOctober 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!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Conservation Minnesota Award</span>: On October 26th, I received a <a href="http://www.conservationminnesota.org/news/?id=4086">conservation leader award </a>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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Endocrine disruptors in Lake Owasso</span>: The MPCA just issued a study that <span style="font-family: georgia;font-size:100%;" >measured chemical compounds in our rivers and lakes that disrupt the endocrine systems of fish. Lake Owasso in Shoreview/Roseville was among those tested.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="UIStory_Message"> 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 </span></span>to other lakes tested.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mental Health</span>: Representative McFarlane and I attended a meeting hosted by <a href="http://www.namihelps.org/blogs/letter-writing-campaign-to-restore-gamc.html">NAMI-MN </a>(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.<br /><br />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 <a href="http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/idcplg?IdcService=GET_DYNAMIC_CONVERSION&dDocName=id_000087&RevisionSelectionMethod=LatestReleased">State Operated Services (SOS)</a>, which are the state's treatment facilities for mental health.<br /><br />On October 14th, several House committees held an <a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hinfo/sessiondaily.asp?yearid=2009&storyid=1942">informational hearing</a> 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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Phone books</span>: I had a good meeting with members of the Yellow Pages Association and Dex to hear about <a href="http://www.ypassociation.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Environmental1&Template=/CustomSource/ZipSearch.cfm">their efforts to allow consumers to opt-out</a> 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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Water</span>: <span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="UIStory_Message">The <a href="http://www.mrwa.com/">MN Rural Water Association</a> 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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Arsenals and race tracks: </span><a href="http://www.twincities.com/ci_13605744?IADID=Search-www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com&nclick_check=1">One proposal made</a> 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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bioplastics/yard waste</span>: KARE-11<a href="http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=826912&catid=391"> did a story</a> about my legislation on yard waste bags and the Star Tribune <a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/64856077.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUsZ">did an article</a> as well. On October 19th I spoke about the topic <a href="http://www.biocycleenergy.com/monday_pres.html">to a national conference</a> focused on using organic waste as an energy source. The MN Pollution Control Agency hosted a <a href="http://www.pca.state.mn.us/oea/stewardship/speakers.cfm">great panel discussion</a> on-line on October 16th about biopolymers and their potential in Minnesota.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Campaign finance</span>: A recent <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/opinion/19mon1.html?pagewanted=1">New York Times column</a> 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!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reporting unsafe drivers</span>: The MN Department of Public Safety <a href="https://www.dps.state.mn.us/patrol/unsafe/report.htm">has a web page</a> 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.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Visited these folks or attended these meetings</span>: 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<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Visitors</span>: 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 sectorPaul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-23031323724205449732009-10-05T14:15:00.000-07:002009-10-11T16:05:52.023-07:00September 2009 update<span>Here's an update of my September 2009 activities and other information.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />District happenings</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Domestic violence</span>: 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 <a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/north/63253237.html?elr=KArks:DCiUMcyaL_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr">here </a>and <a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/north/63455982.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUr">here</a>. I'm talking to a few legislators to see if any changes in legislation would help avoid this situation in the future. <a href="http://www.alexandrahouse.org/">Alexandra House,</a> the only women's shelter of its kind in Anoka County, was mentioned several times.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Constituent suffering from PTSD</span>: Minnesota Public Radio <a href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/news_cut/archive/2009/09/saving_pvt_hafterson.shtml?refid=0">recently covered the case </a>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. <a href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/03/18/army_suicide/">Some officials at Fort Snelling </a>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 <a href="http://www.twincities.com/ci_13519057?IADID=Search-www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com">Marines are calling into question</a> 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.]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Scrap tires on Highway 14</span>: 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 <a href="http://www.lccmr.leg.mn/RequestforProposals/2010/proposals-june/075-B3.pdf"></a><a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/61972677.html">2.6 million shredded scrap tires</a> 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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Energy savings in Mounds Views SD</span>: Congratulations to the Mounds View School District for the first year of results from its <a href="http://www.seeprograms.com/">Schools for Energy Efficiency</a> (SEE) program. The district saved $400,000 by<a href="http://www.moundsviewschools.org/news.asp"> reducing energy use</a> by 12%! Well done.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mounds View SD requests lottery funding</span>: 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 <a href="http://www.lccmr.leg.mn/RequestforProposals/2010/proposals-june/075-B3.pdf">ELC proposal </a>would request funding for energy efficiency upgrades as well as educational programs on energy.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Centennial levy</span>: 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 <a href="http://www.supportcentennialschools.com/">Vote Yes</a> site for the referendum.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Anoka County inmates going to Sherburne</span>: Part of Anoka County's budget cutting includes <a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/north/54872587.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU">transferring some inmates</a> from Lino Lakes to Sherburne County in Elk River.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Local business and Gopher Stadium</span>: The new Gopher football stadium includes a novel stormwater treatment system developed by a local company. <a href="http://www.rehbeinsolutions.com/">Rehbein Environmental Solutions </a>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 <a href="http://wcco.com/local/green.gopher.stadium.2.1170337.html">stadium's green components.</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sewer charges and Blaine interceptor</span>: The <a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/57664662.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUr">Met Council is considering changes</a> 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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Health care</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Insurance for those rejected from other plans</span>: 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. <a href="http://www.mchamn.com/">MCHA </a>(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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hidden health care tax</span>: A group called Families USA has <a href="http://www.familiesusa.org/resources/publications/reports/hidden-health-tax.html">updated information</a> 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."<br /><br /><img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Paul/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg" alt="" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Transportation</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bike commuting</span>: 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 <a href="http://www.metrotransit.org/bike/bike2benefits//">Bike2Benefits program on-line </a>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 <a href="http://www.metrotransit.org/marq2/RealTimeUpdates.asp">Metro Transit web site</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">694 & 35W</span>: MnDOT <a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/57614522.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU">plans to update</a> one of the exit ramps at 694 and 35W.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Transit</span>: 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 (<a href="http://www.coordinatemntransit.org/ICTC/index.html">ICTC</a>, 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 <a href="http://www.metrocouncil.org/directions/transit/transit2009/DialRideJul09.htm">consolidating its dial-a-ride program</a> in a way that will bring this service to Shoreview for the first time.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Environment</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">New technology for treating garbage</span>: 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 <a href="http://www.thinkvisiam.com/">web site </a>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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">My bills</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Scrap law working</span>: 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 <a href="http://www.enterpriseminnesota.org/Magazine-eNewsletter/Enterprise-Minnesota-Magazine/2009-October/Heavy-Metal-Recycles-Image.aspx">recent article</a> highlights one scrap yard that is successfully working with police on the issue.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Product stewardship</span>: 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 <a href="http://www.productpolicy.org/">legislative ideas</a> on PS. I also attended a <a href="http://www.pca.state.mn.us/oea/stewardship/speakers.cfm">recent panel discussion</a> at the MPCA on sustainable packaging. Presenters included NatureWorks LLC, Aveda (based in Blaine), and General Mills. Aveda has a very successful <a href="http://aveda.aveda.com/aboutaveda/caps.asp">plastic bottle cap program</a> that you can get involved with at local schools.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Compostable bag legislation media</span>: <a href="http://wcco.com/local/bio.degradable.bags.2.1193777.html">WCCO recently gave some coverage</a> about my legislation requiring compostable plastic yard waste bags if you use a plastic bag.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pharmaceuticals in our water</span>: 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 <a href="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2305">has just reported</a> 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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Taxes</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cuts to county program aid</span>: One of the least-known programs at the state level to help reduce your property taxes is county program aid. <a href="http://www.minnpost.com/community_voices/2009/09/22/11775/pawlentys_county_cuts_will_lead_to_higher_property_taxes">This MinnPost article</a> (albeit with a partisan bent) describes the effects of the Governor's recent unallotment to county program aid. Non-partisan House Research also has <a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/issinfo/msacpa.htm">this info</a> on the program.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cuts to market value homestead credit (MVHC)</span>: 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 <a href="http://www.yourneighborhoodnews.net/Archive/HugoEdition/2Sep09/Face.html">significant budget cuts</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Meetings</span>: I had the chance to visit <a href="http://www.2harvest.org/site/PageServer?pagename=homepage">Second Harvest Heartland</a> 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.Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-46416353530624370132009-08-14T12:03:00.001-07:002009-08-14T12:04:33.936-07:00August 2009 Update<span style="font-weight: bold;">Einhausen group</span>: 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 <a href="http://www.sesca.org/">about the sister city organization here</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Business visit</span>: <span class="story_comment">I visited <a href="http://www.odfl.com/">Old Dominion Freight Co</a> 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.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Group house</span>: Senator Rummel and I <span class="story_comment">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 <a href="http://kstp.com/news/stories/S1083917.shtml?cat=1">did a story</a> on the controversy.</span> 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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Recent criminal activity</span>: 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 <a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/53154297.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUr">Star-Tribune article </a>has the details. There was <a href="http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=820942&catid=391">another murder in Circle Pines</a> earlier this month in a case of domestic violence.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">LEED certified building</span>: I recently visited a <a href="http://www.julkowskiinc.com/portfolio/project-description.php?objectid=3">house in Lexington</a> 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 <a href="http://www.julkowskiinc.com/portfolio/project-description.php?objectid=3">their web site</a> and see how it was built!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Meeting with Senator Franken about pharmaceutical waste</span>: <span class="story_comment">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.</span> A description of the problem we are seeking to solve comes from the <a href="http://www.productstewardship.us/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=181">Product Stewardship Institute</a>. 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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rice Creek Trail</span>: 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:<br /><br />"...Lino Lakes Town Center to Rice Lake Elementary Trail<br /><br />"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<br />normal protocols in avoiding disturbance.<br /><br />"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.<br /><br />"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.<br /><br />"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.<br /><br />"So, the project design for the main trail is now nearing completion.<br /><br />"Hodgson Road to Baldwin Lake Trail<br /><br />"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.<br /><br />"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.<br /><br />"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...."<br /><br />More information on the project was published in the <a href="http://www.presspubs.com/articles/2009/08/11/quad_community_press/news/doc4a81cd9c0aa65634110859.txt">Quad Communities Press</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Till next time</span>: 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.Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-55174332468550833952009-07-19T09:00:00.000-07:002009-07-19T09:10:30.198-07:00My 2009 Bills That Passed<p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">Here's a wrap-up of my legislation that passed from 2009. You can look up the text of the bills at the <a href="https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/revisor/pages/search_status/status_results.php?body=House&session=0862009&author1%5B%5D=&legid1=15277">House web site</a>.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF167/SF0185</b>: The Governor signed SF2082 (the State Government Finance Bill) on May 16th. In that bill there was the text of my <b>HF167</b>, which <b>extends the term of the Legislative Coordinating Commission Working Group on Ethnic Heritage & New Americans</b>. 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 <a href="https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/laws/?id=101&doctype=Chapter&year=2009&type=0">Chapter 101</a> of 2009 Session Laws, Article 2, section 1. This bill was an initiative of the Working Group.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF239</b>: 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 <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Shoreview</st1:place></st1:city> 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, <b>HF239</b>, would allow <b>homeowners to be reimbursed for short-term housing if they have to be out of their house as a result of warranty work</b>. It passed the House and Senate and was presented to the Governor on May 15th. The bill is now part of <a href="https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/laws/?id=103&doctype=Chapter&year=2009&type=0">Chapter 103</a>, 2009 Session Laws. The Governor vetoed the bill and discusses details in his <a href="http://www.governor.state.mn.us/stellent/groups/public/documents/web_content/prod009530.pdf">veto letter</a>. I dispute his rationale for the veto but we need to move on. This bill was initiated by advocates for homeowners and <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Shoreview</st1:place></st1:city> constituents.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF356</b>: 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 <b>HF356 to maintain the solvency of the manufactured housing relocation trust fund</b>. The bill is now <a href="https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/laws/?id=78&doctype=Chapter&year=2009&type=0">Chapter 78 of 2009 Session Laws</a>, 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.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF403</b>: 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 <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Minnesota</st1:place></st1:state>--<b>bioplastics and compost</b>. Many district residents are asked by their waste hauler to dispose of their yard waste in a rolling cart or a <b>compostable bag</b> 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 <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Minnesota</st1:place></st1:state> 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 <b>HF403</b>. This bill was signed by the Governor and is now <a href="https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/laws/?id=37&doctype=Chapter&year=2009&type=0">Chapter 37</a> in <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Minnesota</st1:place></st1:state> statutes. This bill was my own initiative.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF1333</b>: The Governor signed HF1298, a non-controversial bill with various tax compliance and other tax provisions. My bill HF1333 that <b>authorizes bonding for Met Council transit facilities</b> was included. The bill is now in <a href="https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/laws/?id=88&doctype=Chapter&year=2009&type=0">Chapter 88</a> of 2009 Session Laws in Article 6, Section 20. This bill was initiated by the Met Council.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF1373</b>: My legislation to <b>promote greater coordination of transit for the disabled and others who cannot drive</b> 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. <b>HF1373</b> 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 <a href="https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/laws/?id=151&doctype=Chapter&year=2009&type=0">Chapter 151</a> of 2009 Session Laws, Section 28. The Governor vetoed the bill, and mentioned my legislation in his <a href="http://www.governor.state.mn.us/stellent/groups/public/documents/web_content/prod009547.pdf">veto letter</a>. The Governor signed HF1309 that is now <a href="https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/laws/?id=36&doctype=Chapter&year=2009&type=0">Chapter 36</a> of <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Minnesota</st1:place></st1:state> 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.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-72626209609822736822009-07-19T08:45:00.001-07:002009-07-19T08:56:33.359-07:002009 Bills That Will Be Back in 2010<p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">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 <a href="https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/revisor/pages/search_status/status_results.php?body=House&session=0862009&author1%5B%5D=&legid1=15277">House web site</a>.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF170</b>: This bill would require publishers of <b>telephone directories to allow consumers to opt out of delivery</b>. 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 <a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/audio/archivescomm.asp?comm=86135&ls_year=86">audio of the hearing</a> on-line. This hearing concluded my work on this issue for the year. KARE-11 did a web article on the bill on the <a href="http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=540813&catid=14">KARE website</a><u>.</u> 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.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF298</b>: This bill would <b>remove some regulatory barriers for day training & habilitation (DT&H) organizations</b> 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.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF336</b>: This bill would allow homeowners associations to <b>inform their residents about pesticide applications</b> 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.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF418</b>: This bill would allow local governments to enact their own <b>tougher ordinances to combat the spread of buckthorn</b>. 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.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF457</b>: This bill would allow Minnesotans to <b>donate their remains after death to an organization accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks</b> 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.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF500</b>: This bill would <b>create standards for recycled water</b> 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.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF1118</b>: This bill would <b>change the allocation formula for revenue from the Solid Waste Management Tax </b>(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.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF1217</b>: This is a bill to set up a product stewardship <b>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</b>. 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 <st1:place st="on">Mississippi River</st1:place>. 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.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF1286</b>: This bill would give <b>free fish and game license eligibility for disabled veterans</b>. 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.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF1372/SF1323</b>: This bill would require that retailers of more than 90 syringes in a carton <b>must provide a "sharps" collection container for the consumer to store used syringes</b>. 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 <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Minnesota</st1:place></st1:state> vendor of collection containers. <o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF2182</b>: This bill would require the Department of Finance to <b>request more information from state and local government agencies when they submit bonding requests for capital investment projects</b>. 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.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF2402</b>: This bill would <b>increase the fee charged by auto shops for unreturned used auto batteries from $5 to $10</b>. 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.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF2407</b>: This bill is a sweeping <b>product stewardship initiative to keep hazardous or valuable waste materials out of the garbage</b>. 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.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-4690906391071701702009-07-19T07:00:00.000-07:002009-07-19T09:09:39.510-07:00My 2009 Bills That Did Not Proceed<p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">Here are bills of mine that did not proceed in 2009.<br /><b><br />HF625</b>: 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 <b>Application Program Interface (API)</b> 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? <i>Politics in Minnesota</i> has followed this legislation and <a href="http://www.politicsinminnesota.com/2009/mar31/2752/web2-0-works-going-ape-over-state-data-apis-mmb-budget-queries-tapped-out">reported on the need for this legislation</a> for greater government transparency. They have also aggressively followed up on it in articles on <a href="http://www.politicsinminnesota.com/2009/may06/3140/office-enterprise-technology-alarmed-over-security-risks-spending-data-apis">May 6th</a> and <a href="http://www.politicsinminnesota.com/2009/may07/3148/mmb-data-apis-look-what-happened-virginia">May 7th</a>. (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.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF663</b>: This bill would require that <b>truth in taxation notices for your property taxes get mailed before the November general election</b>. You can see <a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/audio/archivescomm.asp?comm=86104&ls_year=86">the video</a> 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.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF808</b>: This bill would <b>increase the reimbursement rate for an intermediate care facility for the developmentally disabled (ICF/MR) in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Shoreview</st1:place></st1:city></b>. Reimbursement rates are set by the state, and a group house in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Shoreview</st1:place></st1:city> 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.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF1548</b>: This bill would <b>cap property taxes as a percentage of income for seniors</b>. This bill was initiated by the Minnesota Senior Federation and a constituent. It did not receive a hearing.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF1642</b>: This bill would create a <b>Health Opportunity Account (HOA) pilot project for medicaid patients</b> in <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Minnesota</st1:place></st1:state>. 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.<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><b>HF1643</b>: This would <b>change the levy referendum component of the K-12 education funding formula</b>. 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 <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Centennial</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">School District</st1:placetype></st1:place>.</p>Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-27736536781971087482009-05-19T14:12:00.001-07:002009-05-19T14:13:26.289-07:00End of Session Wrap-UpThe 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. <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">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.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">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. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">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.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">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. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">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. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">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. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The final option was more cuts. The Governor <i style=""><u>signed</u></i> 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. <span style=""> </span>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—<i style="">the least of these</i>—for whom a government safety net is required. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">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. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">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.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">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%.<span style=""> </span>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.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">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.</p>Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-48873531945673615352009-05-14T09:02:00.001-07:002009-05-18T13:18:46.575-07:00Questions about the End of SessionMinnesota Budget Bites posted a good set of <a href="http://minnesotabudgetbites.org/2009/05/13/commonly-asked-questions-about-the-last-days-of-session/">frequently asked questions</a> about what happens at the end of the legislation session, such as discussing deadlines, vetoes, overrides, and so on.<br /><br />The House of Representatives Session Weekly includes <a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/sessionweekly/artprn.asp?ls_year=85&issueid_=19&storyid=543&year_=2008">a good article about unallotment</a>, which is the tool that the Governor says that he is going to use to balance the budget.<br /><br />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.<br /><br /><a href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/05/14/pawlenty_budget/">Here's what</a> the Governor is saying about what he will do.Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-53275822609974432292009-05-13T16:30:00.000-07:002009-05-21T10:33:39.340-07:00Week of May 10 & 17, 2009This 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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tax or Borrow</span>: 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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DNR Game & Fish Bill (HF1132)</span>: 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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Manufacturing Housing Legislation Passes Again</span>: 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 <a href="https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/laws/?id=78&doctype=Chapter&year=2009&type=0">Chapter 78 of 2009 Session Laws</a>, Article 8, Sections 1 to 3. (The Governor made some line-item vetoes in the bill but not my legislation.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">State Government Finance Bill</span>: 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 <a href="https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/laws/?id=101&doctype=Chapter&year=2009&type=0">Chapter 101</a> 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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Technical Tax Bill</span>: 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 <a href="https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/laws/?id=88&doctype=Chapter&year=2009&type=0">Chapter 88</a> of 2009 Session Laws in Article 6, Section 20.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Transportation for the Disabled</span>: 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 <a href="https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/laws/?id=151&doctype=Chapter&year=2009&type=0">Chapter 151</a> of 2009 Session Laws, Section 28, awaiting action by the Governor.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Homeowner warranty bills pass</span>: 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 <a href="https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/laws/?id=103&doctype=Chapter&year=2009&type=0">Chapter 103</a>, 2009 Session Laws.<br /><br />Public Safety Finance Bill: coming soon<br /><br />Health & Human Services Finance Bill: coming soon<br /><br />Capital Investment Bill: coming soon<br /><br />E-12 Education Finance Bill: coming soon<br /><br />Higher Education Finance Bill: coming soon<br /><br />Agriculture & Veterans Affairs Finance Bill: coming soonPaul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-47328074276730257502009-05-13T15:58:00.000-07:002009-05-13T16:08:15.226-07:00Facts about Recent GOP Mailing about Home Heating FuelMany 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).<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-81550295752753025292009-05-13T12:02:00.000-07:002009-05-13T12:12:11.142-07:00Improving communications with your legislative colleagues<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_RMhU7kDCzen3z1uGYWJmhes1hYFNYh5X38RJnTBd436liQxBgC8tjNmbAvGV2hfHzTQ4WrZmKIv0iRyfK2X_gVJsaYUvD-XkKj7hh1VSrK8KzPn9f6wBuEBXjB6DO-klPDjWf4SRcUz/s1600-h/lettertocolleagues05112009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 154px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_RMhU7kDCzen3z1uGYWJmhes1hYFNYh5X38RJnTBd436liQxBgC8tjNmbAvGV2hfHzTQ4WrZmKIv0iRyfK2X_gVJsaYUvD-XkKj7hh1VSrK8KzPn9f6wBuEBXjB6DO-klPDjWf4SRcUz/s200/lettertocolleagues05112009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335388218622783378" border="0" /></a><br />Greetings. I am posting the text of an e-mail I sent out to my colleagues today along with an attached letter.<br /><br />Dear colleagues,<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-17422588455901156042009-05-08T14:19:00.000-07:002009-05-08T19:16:53.720-07:00Education & 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.<br /><br />Here's the breakdown. There would be three accounts set up: E-12; Nursing Homes & Long-Term Care; and Hospitals.<br /><br />* <span style="font-weight: bold;">K-12 Education</span>: 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.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Centennial School District</span>: Loss of $3.8 million, or $566 per student<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">White Bear Lake</span>: Loss of $4.7 million, or $580 per student<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mounds View</span>: Loss of $5.5 million, or $584 per student<br /><br />Statewide, 12,000 teachers would lose their jobs.<br /><br />* <span style="font-weight: bold;">Nursing Homes & Long Term Care</span>: 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.<br /><br />* <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hospitals</span>: 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:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Unity (Fridley) cut of 7.3%<br /></div>HCMC (Minneapolis) cut of 15.1%<br />Abbott Northwestern (Minneapolis) cut of 4.1% <br />Regions (St. Paul) cut of 9.9%<br />Bethesda (St. Paul) cut of 7.2%<br />St. Joseph's (St. Paul) cut of 5.9%<br />St. John's (Maplewood) cut of 5.0%<br /><br />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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Where the revenue comes from</span>:<br />* 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.<br />* An increase in the alcohol tax, raising $240.9 million.<br />* Surtax on credit card companies on interest penalties charged on rates above 15%, raising $216.3 million.<br /><br />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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Legacy funding bill: </span>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.Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4702865017034364631.post-80766940613709231302009-05-07T08:59:00.001-07:002009-05-08T14:18:39.994-07:00Weeks of April 26th & May 3, 2009The 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!<br /><br />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.<br /><br />HF1309, the <span style="font-weight: bold;">transportation bill</span>, 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 <a href="https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/laws/?id=36&doctype=Chapter&year=2009&type=0">Chapter 36</a> of Minnesota statutes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SF2081, the economic development bill</span>, 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 <a href="http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/treas-homes-trust">manufactured housing (mobile homes) relocation trust fund</a> 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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">HF2123, the environment and energy finance bill</span>, 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 <a href="https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/laws/?id=37&doctype=Chapter&year=2009&type=0">Chapter 37</a> in Minnesota statutes.<br /><br />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 <span style="font-weight: bold;">state government finance bill </span>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? <span style="font-style: italic;">Politics in Minnesota</span> has followed this legislation and <a href="http://www.politicsinminnesota.com/2009/mar31/2752/web2-0-works-going-ape-over-state-data-apis-mmb-budget-queries-tapped-out">reported on the need for this legislation</a> for greater government transparency. They have also aggressively followed up on it in articles on <a href="http://www.politicsinminnesota.com/2009/may06/3140/office-enterprise-technology-alarmed-over-security-risks-spending-data-apis">May 6th</a> and <a href="http://www.politicsinminnesota.com/2009/may07/3148/mmb-data-apis-look-what-happened-virginia">May 7th</a>. (The state Department of Finance doesn't like it yet.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Federal funding for local roads and bridges</span>: 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 <a href="http://www.recovery.org">www.recovery.gov</a>. I believe that a park and ride lot will get installed there after it's all done.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The way it was</span>: The Minnesota Legislative Library has a <a href="http://ncsl.typepad.com/the_thicket/2009/05/the-first-branch-of-government-ncsl-film-rediscovered.html">30 minute documentary</a> 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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mounds View Schools survey and article</span>: 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 <a href="http://www.mn2020.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7B0366A909-1391-45C1-9261-3CC6594184CC%7D">cuts.</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tax bill from April 25th</span>: 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.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Constituent contacts</span>: 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)Paul Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13450788065883714325noreply@blogger.com0