Week of March 9, 2008

Fertilizer bill: Some regional papers published by ECM carried this article this week about a bill I am carrying in the House. A Republican Senator asked me if I would carry this bill on the House side. Several years ago the legislature passed a law that banned the use of phosphorus in lawn fertilizer to improve water quality in our lakes, rivers, and streams. There were several reasonable exceptions to the law, so retailers can still sell the stuff. Senator Robling and I have a bill that would require wholesalers and retailers to post a sign (which the Department of Agriculture is making into a pdf file that stores can download and print) that simply lists the law along with the exceptions, so that conscientious consumers can be sure to purchase the non-phosphorus alternative if applicable. However, some legislators from both parties on the Agriculture Committee felt that the sign should just be posted in the metro area and not the rest of the state. This stance highlights the divisions that often occur on regional lines at the Capitol. Some legislators suspect that the bill could become a vehicle for amendments on the floor that would ban phosphorus on agricultural fertilizer. Another wanted to change the original law that made the ban statewide and just limit it to the metro area.

So just when you think that something is really simple--putting up a sign--it gets really complicated! The committee ended up amending the bill so that the sign applies only to the metro area. (Apparently people in Greater MN don't need to know what the law is?)

Drinking water bill: My drinking water bill, HF3238, has now passed three committees as of Thursday and is going to the floor. This bill would require public water suppliers to use a conservation rate structure for water prices if you are on city water. Residents of Blaine, Shoreview, and Lino Lakes currently have such a rate structure where the rate goes up if you are using an excessive amount of water at home. Cities would have the flexibility to use either an increasing rate structure OR a price structure that discourages "peak use" during certain times of day or times of the year. Senator Rummel is an author in the Senate she is awaiting a hearing before committee deadlines on the 19th.

Immigration: There is a very good article in Minnpost called "Minnesota's Foreign Born Population: Then and Now" that puts the immigration debate into a different context. As one of the two House members on the Ethnic Heritage & New Americans working group mentioned in the article, I found this presentation by the state demographer to be very compelling.

Schedule: On Monday morning, I presented HF3755 to the Labor & Consumer Affairs Subcommittee of the Commerce Committee that would require bags claiming to be compostable, degradable, or biodegradable to meet a certain ASTM standard. (Some bags are sold saying they are biodegradable but they are not.) It passed unanimously on a voice vote. Later that morning I attended a caucus meeting and a short floor session. Well, it was supposed to be short but we had a few Republican amendments to some simple bills that took a long time. In the afternoon, my solid waste bill HF3540 was heard in the Energy Policy & Finance Committee because it would allow some new recycling activities to be financed by the conservation improvement program (CIP) by utilities. However, I chose to delete that section of the bill because the committee chair would like to review all of the CIP laws after session this year to see what is actually working to conserve energy and what is not. There was some opposition by one member on the construction waste recycling portion of the bill and the Yellow Pages Association testified against one section of the bill that would allow consumers to opt out of receiving a phone book if they choose. The bill now goes to Environmental Finance next week.

On Tuesday, the Environmental Finance committee heard how the DNR is proposing to balance their budget. They propose to cut maintenance for state walking and biking trails but increase funding for trails for ATVs. After that I attended a committee caucus meeting and the Environment & Natural Resources Committee later in the afternoon. We spent a lot of time--probably 90 minutes--hearing a bill where septic system designers were squaring off against professional engineers as to who was allowed to design septic systems up to 10,000 gallons in capacity. We end up having to figure out a lot of "market share" issues in the legislature and it gets kind of frustrating when opposing sides cannot settle these issues and then they ask us to sort it out. We had a short session at 5:30 p.m. and then returned to the Environment Committee for more bills.

On Wednesday, my bill HF3789 on fertilizer signage was before the Agriculture, Rural Economies, and Veterans Affairs Committee. See the blurb at the top of this entry for details. I attended a committee caucus meeting, a meeting of the Energy Policy & Finance Committee, and then a meeting of the House DFL Caucus.

Thursday brought a bill hearing on HF3238, my drinking water bill, in Government Operations. We had a snag because the committee did not have the latest draft (or engrossment) of the bill. So I ran up to the Revisor's Office (the people who draft and process all the bills) to get the right engrossment and make copies. When I presented the bill the page had not passed out the amendment and we couldn't find him so there was a lot of confusion! Finally everyone got the right version and it passed in about two minutes. Now it's off to the floor. Just after that I made it to the Environmental Finance Committee for several bill hearings. We had a short floor session in the morning. In the afternoon, the Environment Committee met to hear about 15 bills in time for policy committee deadlines. We went right up to 10:00 p.m. Bleah. We spent a lot of time debating the merits of the proposed Lake Vermillion State Park.

On Friday, I attended a committee caucus meeting and the Energy Policy & Finance Committee. Spent a lot of time making sure that my bills have been processed correctly and checked on their status in the Senate.

On Saturday, my son's cub scout den visited the Capitol. The MN Historical Society has a great tour. When asked of an example of a law by the guide, the first graders said, "No running a stop sign or red light" and "no shooting bald eagles." My son said, "No smoking in local bars." Can you tell he listens to me when I tell him what I do at the capitol?

Visitors: Senator Rummel on bill coordination; lobbyist for Yellow Pages Association on HF3540; lobbyist for MN Grocers Association on Rep. Lesch's plastic bag recycling bill; SEIU members from the district on their legislative agenda; New Prague high school student about rules for extracurricular activities for charter school students; IBEW members from the district on their legislative agenda; two constituent students from Hamline University about private college grant program; several constituents with developmental disabilities for disability day at the capitol; Olmsted County Commissioner and staff for Rochester Day at the Hill; three constituent members of the MN Beer Wholesalers; Shoreview resident for U of M Extension day at the capitol; Shoreview resident about the legislative process; Lino Lakes resident about stadium issue

Constituent contacts: About a dozen district dentists contacted me this week against a proposal to permit advanced hygienist practitioners to perform certain types of dental work; one dentist was in favor of the proposal; Blaine resident supporting state incentives to draw film companies to MN; Lino Lakes resident against removing state law prohibiting car sales on Sunday; Shoreview resident about "photo-cop" and cell phones while driving; Circle Pines resident and two North Oaks residents supporting legislation combatting puppy mills; Shoreview resident against state cuts to pharmacy reimbursement rates; Shoreview resident supporting bonding bill funds for Camp Ojiketa in Chisago County; Shoreview resident against proposal to collect DNA samples for newborns; Shoreview resident and two Circle Pines residents against consumer protection bill for wireless customers; Shoreview resident against HF3828 that would create a board of residential construction; Lino Lakes doctor and North Oaks doctor against Governor's proposal to use Health Care Access Fund dollars to balance the budget; North Oaks resident against Governor's proposal to cut the budget of the judiciary; Lino Lakes resident against HF3833 that would change regulations on household goods movers (aka moving companies); Shoreview resident against possible funding of an Asian-Pacific Heritage Center in St. Paul and for "kick[ing] you morons out of Legislature"; Circle Pines resident supporting free market approaches to health care; Shoreview resident against liberal private foundations supporting climate change research; Shoreview resident supporting compromise legislation on physical therapy access bill; Shoreview resident supporting creation of citizen oversight board on dedicated funding for the outdoors (SF3488); Shoreview resident supporting presidential primary; Lino Lakes resident and nurse supporting HF3042 requiring minimum staffing for nurses; Lino Lakes resident supporting emergency school funding in HF2978/SF2815

Week of March 2, 2008

Follow-up on Transportation Bill: The Pioneer Press ran a front-page article about how the transportation bill will channel more money to the suburbs. This will help keep the lid of property taxes because cities and counties will have to levy less for local roads and bridges.

Capital Investment/Bonding bill: This week we passed the House's bonding bill. Every two years the legislature puts together a bill for capital investment, or bonding. What goes in the bonding bill? Usually top priorities include infrastructure for the University of MN and the MnSCU campus system--leaky roofs, elevator replacement, bringing buildings up to code, etc. or what we call "asset preservation." There is usually funding for other university items like reconfiguring buildings to accommodate changes in technology or in the case of this year, a biomedical campus to attract the best talent for biomedical researchers to help build a stronger industry in the state. There is transportation stuff there too, like replacing the Rice Street bridge over Hwy 36 in Roseville in order to accommodate growth by St. Jude Medical on the other side of the highway, and money for the Central Corridor in St. Paul. This year there is funding for three items in our district. One is the Rice Creek Trail that would complete the final link in a larger north regional trail network. The second is money for Metro Parks that would upgrade some facilities in the Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Reserve in Lino Lakes. The third is money for a park and ride in Lino Lakes at Lake Drive and 35W. (I had mistakenly said that this money was in the transportation bill before but it is in the bonding bill.) Now a conference committee will meet to reconcile the House and Senate version.

You might ask about why bonding for roads was not OK but it's just fine to have a $900+ million bonding bill. There's a difference. First, our bonding/borrowing for roads took place even though there was a dedicated funding source for roads and bridges--the gas tax and license tab fees. In addition, the legislature and Governor did ALL bonding in 2003 and 2005 with no new cash to pay off the interest. This led to a 650% increase in interest payments for our state roads in less than five years.

The bonding bill has a guideline that we should not borrow more than 3% of the state's uncommitted general fund. That means we have a plan for paying off the bonds. The difference is a little like using a VISA card and not paying more than the minimum every month while interest builds up vs. an American Express card or a fixed rate house mortgage, where you have to have a plan to pay your bill every month.

Schedule: On Monday I attended a caucus meeting and a lengthy floor session on a tax conformity bill. We had to recess so that committees could meet and we came back at 9:30 p.m. and went until 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday. Argh. On Monday afternoon I attended the Energy Policy & Finance Committee and the MN Heritage Finance Committee. In Energy, the committee passed my bill HF2903 that would allow wastewater effluent to count as renewable energy (except if you incinerate wastewater sludge). On Tuesday morning at 8:00 a.m. (after I got home at 1:30 a.m.) the Environmental Finance Committee heard a presentation about the use of water for energy production and the LCCMR funding bill which takes proceeds from the lottery and spends it on environmental purposes. I also attended a caucus meeting. In the afternoon, I chaired a meeting of the Drinking Water Source Protection Subcommittee to hear from four cities about how they interacted with the state to deal with well contamination. The Mayor of North Oaks and a constituent testified and they did a good job talking about the stress of dealing with the Highway 96 landfill situation in that city. In the afternoon, we had a short floor session and then in the Environment & Natural Resources Committee I presented two of my bills, HF2777 and HF3540. The first deals with dedicating the Solid Waste Management Tax (SWMT) to the PCA's environmental fund. Thirty percent of it now goes to the general fund and never comes out. It doesn't have a chance of passage in a deficit year but I want to point out the problem. The second bill is my big solid waste bill that would promote more recycling and composting. It was well received and passed on a voice vote at about 7:30 p.m. to the energy committee on Monday. On Wednesday, I filmed a cable TV interview and attended two caucus meetings. We had a short floor session. In the afternoon, my drinking water bill HF3238 passed the Local Government & Metropolitan Affairs Committee in about two minutes. (The Realtors and the Health Department were huddling around me later about some suggested language changes on the well disclosure issue.) Finally, in the afternoon and then later in the early evening we had the Energy Policy & Finance Committee where we voted on several small bills. On Thursday morning, we passed the LCCMR funding bill out of Environmental Finance and considered a bill related to the governance of school trust fund lands in northern MN. We had a lengthy floor session on the bonding bill. (See info about the bonding bill above.) On Saturday I attended our senate district DFL convention where I was re-nominated for the House seat.

Visitors: Lobbyists from MN Realtors about the seller's disclosure component of HF3238; lobbyist for Manufactured Housing Association (owners of mobile home parks) about HF3477; lobbyist from MetroCities about HF3238; constituent who was a high school page this week; two constituent physical therapists for their day on the hill; pro-choice constituent for pro-choice day on the hill; lobbyists in favor of medical use of marijuana; lobbyist of MN Inter-County Association concerned about a provision in HF3540; constituent owner of liquor store against Wine with Dinner bill; Lino Lakes resident for MN Chamber of Commerce day on hill with interest in insurance issues; Shoreview resident for AARP day on the ill; lobbyist for SKB Environmental on my solid waste bill HF3540; lobbyist for Yellow Pages Association on HF3540; Blaine college student constituent for MN Private Colleges day on the hill; constituent for American Cancer Society and American Heart Association; staff from Department of Administration about HF3540; Senator Olseen about HF3540; lobbyist and staff from a construction waste recycling company about a solid waste bill; lobbyist for Rock-Tenn Company on HF3238

Constituent contacts: Not enough time this week to complete this part!

Week of February 24, 2008

Transportation bill: The big news was that the House and Senate overrode the Governor's veto of the transportation bill. We needed 90 votes to override in the House and we got 91 votes, including six Republicans. All of us at the legislature have received a lot of calls, letters, e-mails, and personal visits on this issue this week. Legislators and others involved in transportation have been working on this for years, but obviously because gas prices have been high and because there is a lot of uncertainty in the economy the vote didn't come at a very good time. However, the $6.6 billion in new revenue will be spread out over ten years rather than just during this year, so this was one of those deals where we had to do something that looked out for the long term.

Our transportation infrastructure has been in trouble. MnDOT has said they are over $2.4 billion a year behind on road and bridge maintenance needs. The question has been how to find the necessary dollars (about $4.8 billion for each two-year budget cycle) to catch up. Without any legislative action, this problem would only get worse. That left us with three choices: cut the state budget somewhere else; borrow money; or to raise new revenue.

In 2003, when the state’s budget deficit was $4.5 billion, the state cut so much from the budget that K-12 education was cut, higher education tuition went up by double digits, social services to children, seniors, and those with disabilities were cut, and property taxes skyrocketed due to reduced aid from the state. Going down that road again was not a very attractive option.

The other option was to borrow more money for roads and bridges, which is what the legislature did in 2003 and 2005. In just the last five years, the debt on our state highway bonds has increased by 650% with no dedicated source of revenue to pay it off. (That's right, 650%.)

To use the gas tax and license tab fees that must be dedicated to roads and bridges according to the highest law in the land—the state constitution—ended up being part of the option we settled on this week.

Our plan will be funded by a phased-in 5 cent per gallon gas tax increase, the first increase in 20 years. In 2006, Minnesota's 20 cent per gallon gas tax (it's not a percentage of your purchase price) was ranked 40th in the country. We also are borrowing a large sum, but an additional 3.5 cent per gallon surcharge will pay off the bonds. Other borrowing proposals did not have a plan for paying off the bonds. A ¼ cent metro wide sales tax increase will go towards transit options like park and rides (including one in Lino Lakes), buses, and rail. I voted for an amendment to the bill that would have had a referendum on the sales tax. The plan also sends road funding to our cities to help keep a lid on property taxes. Overall, the plan infuses $6 billion over ten years to our infrastructure, including fixing all 13 of the “fracture-critical” state bridges.

The final bill was a compromise with six House Republicans and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce to ensure we finally got something done after many years of gridlock. All of us understand that this was not the most popular thing to do, but the price of doing nothing is far greater.

I did some math this week and calculated the added cost of the gas tax to me personally would be $34 a year after the gas tax is fully phased in. That's 12,000 miles a year x 30 mpg = 400 gallons/yr x $0.085 in extra gas tax = $34.00 a year. I pay no additional license tab fee unless I buy a new car.

Earlier this month I sent out an electronic survey to the 700+ constituents who have contacted me by e-mail in the last year. While the survey was not statistically valid because the respondents were not selected at random, the people who are on that list are from all points of the political spectrum. A total of 245 people responded to the survey.

When asked about the gas tax, 57% supported an increase, 17% said "maybe", and 26% did not support an increase. In another question about how to raise the revenue for roads, bridges and transit, 46% said raise the gas tax by TEN cents so that we don't have to issue any bonds for borrowing (this was a big surprise), 17% said raise it by five cents plus 2.5 cents to pay off bonds, 9% said borrow the money and pay off the bonds from somewhere else in the budget, and 28% said don't borrow, don't tax, and just get the money from elsewhere in the budget.

There is also a lot of misunderstanding about where the money goes. I thought Rick Kupchella on KARE-11 did a nice job this week in a news story about this. You can watch it on-line. My three-minute You Tube video also summarizes the issue.

The Star Tribune just did a fact-check on claims about the gas tax.

In other news, the Senate did not confirm Carol Molnau as MnDOT Commissioner. I think that this was justified so that MnDOT can have a fresh start.

35W Bridge Survivors Bill: We also passed the 35W bridge survivors bill this week in the House. Four people from our district were on the bridge on August 1st, including one who was killed. Her husband was in the gallery when we took the vote. This bill will hopefully allow for some reconciliation between the state and the people who were on the bridge. There is a fiscal impact to this bill, but it does two things: avoid the potential for more expensive lawsuits later and asks the state to take some responsibility if not necessarily the legal liability. One of the most frustrating things for the survivors and victims' families has been that the executive branch has been passing the buck on this issue.

Budget Forecast: We did receive the February budget forecast on Thursday in which our state budget will have a deficit of $935 million. The Governor will send to us a budget supplement where he will recommend how to balance the budget, and then the legislature will work from that to set "budget targets" for different committees. There will be cuts but I suspect we will set some priorities where we don't want to go back on some of the gains that we made in 2007.

North Oaks meeting: The MN Pollution Control Agency held a public meeting on the Highway 96 landfill cleanup situation on Tuesday night, and Senator Rummel, Rep. McFarlane and I attended. This was when the public was to comment on the proposed amendment to the "Minnesota Decision Document" for the project. The public comments were mostly negative because the new MDD for how to deal with wells contaminated with vinyl chloride still is not that clear about what action the agency will take if new wells are contaminated. Residents were looking for more clarity and decisiveness.

Schedule: On Monday I attended a caucus meeting and a lengthy floor session on the override of the transportation bill as well as a meeting of the Energy Policy & Finance Committee on some relatively minor bills. On Tuesday, I attended the Environmental Finance Committee where we had an informational hearing on Rep. Bunn's bill to bond state dollars for cleaning up the Washington County landfill; attended a committee caucus meeting; attended the Environment & Natural Resources Committee to deliberate Rep. Knuth's cap & trade bill; and attended a public meeting in North Oaks hosted by the MPCA about the Highway 96 landfill situation. On Wednesday, I attended a caucus meeting and the Energy Policy & Finance Committee where we heard several bills, including quite a bit of time in hearing a bill that would promote green building standards in state buildings. On Thursday, we had a floor session where we voted on the 35W bridge survivors bill (I voted in support) and it passed by something like 120 to 10. In the afternoon, Rep. Sailer, Rep. Ozment, and I spoke at the MPCA Air, Water & Waste Conference in Bloomington about pending legislation. We made it back for the Environment & Natural Resources Committee, where my bill HF3238 on drinking water passed as amended and went to the next committee (local government & metropolitan affairs). On Friday I cleaned up my desk and met with staff about upcoming bill hearings and committee meetings.

Visitors: Reporter for the St. Paul Legal Ledger; staff and volunteer from the Oliver Kelley Farm in Elk River as part of MN Historical Society Day on the Hill; lobbyists for Missouri Valley Energy about the cap & trade bill; lobbyist for Great River Energy about the cap & trade bill; another member and staff and lobbyist for Anoka County regarding the Rice Creek Trail in Lino Lakes; three constituent nurses for MN Nurses Day on the Hill; lobbyist for MN Builders Association about HF3540 and HF3091; staff from Hospice MN about my HF3185 bill; constituent banker for Bankers' Day a the Capitol; lobbyist for Xcel Energy on cap & trade bill; constituent dentist for MN Dentists' Day with legislative platform (against greater reliance on hygienists); three representatives of the Mounds View Education Association with Education MN platform; three landscaper constituents with platform of MN Nursery & Landscape Association; Hugo resident with platform of MN Bikers (motorcyclists); two Bethel College students for MN Private Colleges Day on the Hill; DNR staff about HF3238; lobbyist for MN League of Cities for HF3238; Circle Pines constituent about carpet recycling; staff from Alexandra House in Anoka County (the only women's shelter in Anoka County); MN Department of Health staff about HF3238; lobbyist for MN Multi Housing Association (apartment building owners) about HF3238; U of M dentistry students against promoting independent hygienist program; lobbyist for Western Lake Superior Sanitary District

Constituent contacts: Will update soon! Lots of contacts this week.