Questions about the End of Session

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

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

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

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

Week of February 22, 2009

Budget listening session in White Bear Lake: About ten of us from the legislature attended a public meeting at White Bear Lake High School on Wednesday night. The purpose was to hear ideas from the public about balancing the budget. We heard from 72 different people. The most numerous comments came from advocates for the disabled, the judiciary, health care, and quite a few people who were against taxation generally. The press coverage of a similar meeting in Woodbury pretty much sums up what we heard in White Bear Lake.

Legislation: This week four of my bills received committee hearings:

• HF239: This bill would allow homeowners to permit the recovery of damages incurred due to faulty construction. There are several of us from the suburbs who are carrying legislation to assist homeowners related to breaches of warranties by builders and remodelers. This bill would allow homeowners to recover the cost of lodging, meals, and incidental expenses if they have to leave their house due to repairs. You can see video of Friday's hearing. The bill passed with an amendment and the resulting 1st "engrossment" will be the second draft of the bill and it will be heard in the Commerce and Labor Committee soon.
  
• HF403: This bill will help create jobs and add value to the economy in both the compost industries and the bioplastics industry. The compost industry has had problems with plastic bags in yard waste, leading to lower interest from buyers like landscapers because of the contamination. The bill would expand Dakota County's existing requirement that yard waste in plastic bags must use compostable bags to the entire seven-county metro area. At the same time, Minnesota is home to many bioplastics manufacturers like Cortec Corp. in White Bear Lake, Natur Tec in Circle Pines, and NatureWorks LLC in Minnetonka who make the compostable bags. The bill passed with amendments and now goes to the Commerce and Labor Committee. You can watch video of the hearing on-line.
  
• HF663: This bill would require that truth in taxation notices for your property taxes get mailed before the November general election. You can see the video of the hearing. The bill was "laid over" by the Property Tax Division of the Taxes Committee so it might get included into an omnibus bill by that division. There were several lobbyists for the school board association and the Association of Minnesota Counties as well as the Department of Revenue who testified against the bill.
  
• HF170: This bill would require publishers of telephone directories to allow consumers to opt out of delivery. I asked for an informational hearing only since I want to spend most of my legislative time helping to create jobs or address the deficit. The Yellow Pages Association and R.H. Donnelly testified about the bill and demonstrated Dex's opt out web site. You can hear audio of the hearing on-line. This hearing concluded my work on this issue for the year. KARE-11 did a web article on the bill on the KARE website.

Blaine Airport meeting: On Tuesday the Concerned Citizens of the North Metro had a meeting about the possible extension of the runway at the Anoka County-Blaine Airport. It was fiery in a few spots. You can view the meeting on the North Metro 15 web site-the video on-line is a .wmv file.

Stimulus tracking site: The official web site about the recently passed federal stimulus package is at http://www.recovery.gov. (This the site that Vice President Joe Biden forgot.)

Schedule: Monday included a meeting with Senator Jungbauer and some stakeholders about HF500 on recycled water standards, a meeting with compost stakeholders on HF403, a caucus meeting, and a floor session that went pretty long. (The floor session covered a bill regarding the fund for the 35W bridge survivors and a bill that would provide the structure necessary for the incoming federal stimulus money.) On Tuesday, I attended a bi-partisan meeting of legislators seeking to promote comprehensive immigration reform, a committee caucus meeting, a Health Care & Human Services (HCHS) Policy Committee meeting, an Environment & Natural Resources Policy Committee meeting (a joint meeting with the Transportation Committee on reducing carbon emissions in the transportation sector), and a meeting of the Concerned Citizens of the North Metro regarding the Blaine airport. Wednesday included presenting my bill HF663 in front of the Property Tax Division of the Taxes Committee, a meeting with the Speaker and Majority Leader, a meeting of House and Senate members from the fourth Congressional District regarding recommendations of a candidate for the U of M Board of Regents, a committee caucus meeting, an HCHS committee meeting on single-payer health care, a caucus meeting, and the town hall meeting at White Bear Lake South High School to hear from the public on the budget. On Thursday, I attended a pre-session caucus meeting, a short floor session, did short interviews for cable for North Metro 15 and CTV15, an HCHS committee meeting on a range of mental health legislation, and an Environment & Natural Resources Committee on the Green Acres program. On Friday, I presented my phone book bill (HF170) to the Telecommunications Division of the Commerce and Labor Committee and my homeowner warranty bill (HF239) and compost bill (HF403) to the Labor & Consumer Affairs Division of the Commerce and Labor Committee. In the afternoon I met with special education staff at Mounds View High School.

Visitors: Shoreview resident seeking reform of charitable gaming tax rates; Shoreview resident regarding funding for the developmentally disabled; lobbyists for waste haulers regarding HF403; several arts advocates from NE Metro; four constituent nurses for the MN Nurses Association day on the hill; high school student about recycling and composting issue; Lino Lakes college student about the private college grant program; three constituent dentist for the MN Dental Association day on the hill; Shoreview constituent about property tax cap legislation; St. Paul retailer about pharmaceutical product stewardship legislation; three constituent students for Support the U of M day

Constituent contacts: Shoreview resident and North Oaks resident supporting voter ID; Lino Lakes resident against taxes and spending; Shoreview resident inquiring about federal stimulus package; Shoreview resident inquiring about how to become a vendor of a product to the state; two Shoreview residents and Lino Lakes resident supporting HF1037, a bill to reduce mandates for home schools; Lino Lakes resident supporting platform of MN Dental Association; three Shoreview residents supporting single-payer health care; Shoreview resident supporting HF359 that would require health plans to cover autism treatment; Shoreview resident against cuts to providers of services to the developmentally disabled; Shoreview resident and grouse hunter supporting aquisition of conservation easements in northern MN; Lino Lakes resident with a car payment problem; Shoreview resident supporting legalization of marijuana; three Lino Lakes residents and Shoreview resident seeking integrity in the use of new dedicated sales tax revenue for the outdoors; Lino Lakes resident against Governor's proposed cuts to rehabilitation services; two Lino Lakes residents supporting medical marijuana; Shoreview resident pining for Ronald Reagan; Shoreview resident against Governor's proposed cuts to the courts; Shoreview resident supporting cutting spending; Blaine resident with idea to keep businesses from going offshore; North Oaks resident against voter ID and against mileage-based gas tax; Shoreview resident supporting racino gambling

Week of February 15, 2009

Lots of things happening this week.

Town Hall Meetings: Legislators (mostly the committee chairs and other leadership) are holding public meetings around the state to hear public testimony about the budget. Each of the meetings start with a presentation by non-partisan legislative staff showing how the deficit is addressed in the Governor's budget and where existing tax dollars go by program. The data here is pretty good and I would encourage you to see the presentation slides on the House web site. There has been much talk that the meetings would be a "beat up the Governor" exercise but from what I can tell from press reports my colleagues are not editorializing but are listening to the public, and the public is giving a variety of views.

Don't forget that on Wednesday the 25th there will be a town hall meeting at 6:30 p.m. at White Bear Lake South High School and Senator Rummel and I plan to be there. At the other meetings it has been standing room only and there is a 2-3 minute time limit for speakers. However, there will be cards where you can give your input in writing if you choose. You can sign up to speak at the House web site. Sen. Rummel and I plan to have "office hours" or other types of meetings with the public in the weeks to come.

Shared services: One of the ways that public agencies can cope with budget cuts this session is to consider sharing services. Many cities, counties, and school districts have done this already. For example, Shoreview and Arden Hills combine efforts for their semi-annual cleanup events. Lexington, Circle Pines, and Centerville use the Centennial Lakes Police Department instead of having their own police departments. But there are likely some other ways that we will need to think of before this budget session is over. Lately I've been meeting with the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce about their survey of east metro governments who have successfully shared services. The Governor has also proposed consolidating many back-room functions for county human services agencies into 15 offices instead of 87 by rewarding those counties that comply with less of a cut in county program aid. When the revenue commissioner described this to the Taxes Committee, I kind of rankled some of my DFL colleagues by saying that this was a good idea! If you have any ideas for how local governments can be more efficient, send them along!

MPR Budget Idea Generator: Minnesota Public Radio has set up an "idea generator" about the state's budget. You can make suggestions and also send an e-mail to your legislator showing how you balanced the budget. Check it out!

E-waste law working, creating jobs: One of the bright spots for employment in Minnesota has been the recycling of electronic waste. Because of the law we passed in 2007, consumers have been able to get rid of their old TVs, computers, etc.--usually without a fee--and have them recycled properly. Under the law, electronics manufacturers pay recyclers to have the material recycled, and in the first year, 33 million pounds (that's million) have been recycled. That exceeds the projected volume by 10 million pounds. We may be tweaking the law in the coming weeks to improve some technical details.

Tax Cuts: Part of the Governor's budget proposal that we've heard in Taxes Committee includes a reduction in the corporate income tax over the next six years by 50%. This is not a bad idea because the corporate tax is a regressive tax on employers who could hire more people. However, the proposal comes as we have a $5 billion deficit and the idea would cost tens to hundreds of millions in tax revenue in the next few years. In committee, Republican members asked the revenue commissioner if his department had done any projections to see how the tax cut would result in increased employment. Surprisingly he said it had not, and he then planned to talk to another agency that uses a software program (the "REMI model") to project the impacts of this policy. This is one reason that the legislature takes a long time to work on a budget--we have had six different hearings with this commissioner to get the details on the Governor's budget proposal and only by asking direct questions can we figure out how "real" an idea is based on data.

Stimulus Watch: Like all Americans I'd like to know that the federal economic stimulus money is going to be spent wisely. There is an independent web site called Stimulus Watch that lets you see what projects will be funded, and you can search by state. Among the projects listed are $40 million for the public infrastructure to upgrade the TCAAP arsenal property. (It would pretty much wipe the army's buildings off of the site and install the utilities to be ready for re-development, creating 7500 jobs according to the web site.) Utility projects are also listed in Hugo.

My bills: I have a bill (HF418) that would allow cities to pass an ordinance to control buckthorn on public and private property. A North Oaks resident brought the idea to me and it passed the Agriculture & Veterans Affairs Committee this week. (The Agriculture Committee hears anything related to "weed control" and pesticides.) It now goes to the Local Government Subcommittee of the Government Operations Committee.

White Bear Lake School District Annual Report: I received this report recently.

Q-Comp: The non-partisan Office of the Legislative Auditor recently issued this report about the Q-Comp teacher compensation system. Major findings report that a lot of people like Q-Comp but that most teachers get the Q-Comp pay and that there is no evidence yet that the system results in higher student achievement.

Transit costs moving off of property taxes: Anoka County copied me on a letter last week reporting that the 1/4% sales tax increase dedicated to transit has lowered the total county levy by $3,249,856.

U of M staff and alumni in 53A: The U of M has asked supporters to send us mail about funding for the university system. In the mail it reports that there are 566 faculty and staff from the U of M in my district, and 6,250 alumni who have 8,166 degrees. (That's a lot!)

Some helpful health reports: I've had a look at several helpful factoids and reports on the Health Care & Human Services Policy Committee including:

• Transform 2010-Preparing for the Age Wave related to the rapid aging of MN's population
• Financing long-term care for MN's baby boomers
• Every one dollar spent on family planning saves a minimum of $4.02 in Medicaid birth costs (from MN SAFPLAN-Statewide Association for Family Planning)
• The cost of sexual violence is $8 billion JUST IN MINNESOTA and in 2005 there were 61,000 people reported to have been assaulted in 77,000 cases
• 325,000 Minnesotans are enrolled in health savings accounts, or 9.2% of people under 65 with private coverage; these HSAs have higher deductibles, higher out of pocket expenses, and higher chances for inadequate coverage

Schedule: Monday included an impromptu meeting of the state Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, a caucus meeting, a short floor session, a meeting of the Taxes Committee, and a bill hearing on my buckthorn ordinance bill (HF418). On Tuesday, I spoke to a meeting of the Arden Hills/Shoreview Rotary Club about the budget and attended committee meetings for Taxes (on the Governor's tax proposals), Health Care & Human Services Policy/HCHS (bills on medical transportation), and Environment & Natural Resources Policy (presentations on household hazardous waste and product stewardship), plus two committee caucus meetings. On Wednesday, I met with some community leaders about the proposed Anoka County-Blaine Airport runway expansion and attended a joint Taxes-Health and Human Services committee on maintenance of effort (MOE) issues and the HCHS Committee (medical marijuana-I voted in favor of allowing it--and rural health cooperatives). Afterwards the DFL House Caucus met into the evening. On Thursday, we had a lengthy floor session to pass a tax conformity bill so that our tax law matches recent federal tax changes. (The minority offered amendments for tax cuts totalling $1.7 billion that would have increased the size of the budget deficit by 35%--this is why it is a bad idea to make policy on the floor and not in committee.) Friday has become clean-off-my-desk day.

Visitors: Senator about recycled waters bill; lobbyist and staff from Organic Technologies Inc. about HF403; lobbyist for Comcast about cable regulation; candidate for U of M regent; several constituent pharmacists with platform of MN Association of Pharmacists; constituent member of SEIU about health care legislation; lobbyist for Association of MN Counties about solid waste tax legislation; Century College Student Senate members about higher education; teachers from Mounds View School District with Education MN legislative platform; two constituent electricians with legislative platform for the IBEW; teachers from Forest Lake School District with Education MN legislative platform; another representative about single-payer health care; another representative about the Blaine airport and transit for the disabled; Centennial Legislative Action Committee with K-12 legislative platform; lobbyist for MN Electrical Association about HF239; staff from Natural Conservancy about conservation easements for Upper Mississippi Forest Project; delegation from St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce about shared services ideas; staff for All Parks Alliance for Change about HF356; two citizen activists supporting transit for the disabled; Senator Rummel on items of mutual interest; lobbyist for Key Aviation

Constituent contacts: North Oaks resident about abuse in home health care programs; Shoreview? resident against spending; Shoreview resident in favor of voter ID; Shoreview resident asking about legislative pay cut idea; Shoreview resident against Governor's proposed cuts to rehabilitative services; Shoreview resident against MN Faith in Action bill (HF0760); Lino Lakes resident about mileage-based gas tax idea; Blaine resident against legislation that would close "gun show loophole" for background checks; Shoreview resident against current single-payer health coverage bill; HR manager from City of Shoreview on HF612-paid sick leave bill; Shoreview resident and Lino Lakes resident supporting HF359 that would require that health plans cover autism therapy; Circle Pines resident who might lose health coverage under Governor's proposal; Circle Pines resident against mandatory vaccination, dental mercury and restrictions on free speech about nutrition; two Shoreview residents supporting puppy mill legislation; Shoreview resident about licensing issue; Lino Lakes resident against Governor's budget proposal for K-12 education; North Oaks resident supporting charter schools and the Perpich Center for the Arts; three Shoreview residents supporting the arts; North Oaks resident against illegal immigration, for tax cuts, and against "global warming madness"; North Oaks resident supporting comprehensive sex education

Week of February 8, 2009

Shoreview library saving energy and money: The on-line news site Minnpost recently did an article about how local governments can save money through energy legislation in the federal stimulus package. They showed an example of how the Shoreview Library upgraded its lighting and will see a payback of the investment in 3 1/2 years. The word I have is that the money coming to Minnesota from the stimulus package will create 66,000 jobs in the state.

Lincoln Bicentennial: I've been serving on a committee with another legislator to help celebrate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln. The Minnesota Historical Society has a GREAT site about Lincoln's connection to Minnesota.

Budget listening session: Don't forget that the legislature will be coming to White Bear Lake on Wednesday, February 25th at 6:30 p.m. to hear your thoughts about the state budget. You can find details at www.house.mn and sign up as a speaker. My hope is that we can give Minnesotans an idea of just how big the deficit is, and that neither just cuts nor just tax increases will completely solve the problem.

Getting rid of that old TV after upgrading to DTV? If you are getting rid of your old TV and upgrading to accept digital signals, don't forget to recycle your old unit. Information is available at www.rethinkrecycling.com.

New Rules: We spent quite a few hours debating new Permanent House Rules on the floor. That may not sound like much, but during the last two years, the legislature has wasted an incredible about of time on the floor--maybe hundreds of hours--in debate that had no limits. The minority Republicans were introducing dozens of amendments to bills in order to slow down the legislative process. In one case I think we voted on about 150 amendments to one bill taking 18 hours to debate it. That keeps us from doing our work in committees and actually have debate on the merits of the bill. So with the new rules we may choose to limit debate (how about six hours instead of 18?) on bills so that we can manage our time well in a part-time legislature. It would also allow us to do our work in plain view of the public instead of way past midnight!

Schedule: Monday included a caucus meeting and a short floor session, then a meeting of the Taxes Committee and a meeting with the Shoreview City Council. Tuesday brought a meeting of the Taxes Committee, a caucus meeting, a Health Care & Human Services Policy Committee meeting on the economic impact of the Governor's budget on MN's hospitals (16 hospitals testified), and an Environment & Natural Resources Policy Committee meeting where I had a hearing on my compost bill (HF403). The bill passed and now goes to the Commerce & Labor Committee. Wednesday included the House Taxes Committee, the HCHS Committee (bills on sexual violence prevention and comprehensive sex education), a caucus meeting, and a training session for committee vice-chairs. Thursday included a caucus meeting, floor sessions on new House rules from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. to 10:45 p.m., the HCHS Committee (death certificate modification bill, long-term care financing bill, and home health care tax credit bill), the Environment & Natural Resources Policy Committee (water and wetlands legislation related to drainage and cost-sharing by local governments), and a joint committee meeting with HCHS to get an overview of how the legislature manages and screens sex offenders. (The Lino Lakes prison houses 200 of them.) Thursday was a long day! Friday included a meeting of the Suburban DFL House Caucus. On Saturday, I met with some local AFSCME representatives about their legislative platform.

Visitors: MN Commission of the Procurement and Use of Anatomical Donations and the University of MN Medical School Anatomy Bequest Program about HF457; lobbyists for MN Chamber of Commerce and American Chemistry Council; Lutheran Social Services staff about intermediate care facility funding in Shoreview; candidate for U of M regent; staff for Seniors & Workers for Quality Care (coalition of organizations supporting workers in nursing homes); two constituent carpenters with legislative platform for union carpenters; teachers from White Bear Lake School district; two constituent engineers with the legislative platform for consulting engineers; lobbyist and staff for non-profit organization that works with organ and tissue donation about HF457; another member about metro parks and trails issues; students from Centennial alternative high school; lobbyist for MN Auto Dealers Association about clean cars legislation; lobbyist for several smaller health care organizations; Centennial School District teachers; several constituent dental hygienists supporting the creation of an oral health practitioner (OHP) program; staff from Friends of the Mississippi River with their legislative platform; another member about clean cars legislation; staff from Association of MN Counties about health care; lobbyist for MN Manufactured Housing Association about HF356

Constituent contacts: Lino Lakes constituent supporting puppy mill legislation; about 20 constituents with petitions for puppy mill legislation; Shoreview resident and North Oaks resident supporting comprehensive sex education; Lino Lakes resident about green initiatives; Lexington resident about veterans and property taxes; Shoreview resident inquiring about state long term care partnership program; two Shoreview residents and two Lino Lakes residents against pay freeze for public employees; Shoreview resident concerned about Governor's allocation of new dedicated sales tax for the outdoors; Shoreview resident with inquiry about gay marriage and the budget; Shoreview resident supporting HF297 with funds for dog parks from new dedicated sales tax; Shoreview resident against funding of dog parks; Shoreview resident about sustainable forestry; Shoreview resident supporting medical marijuana; Blaine resident in support of second amendment; Shoreview? resident supporting cutting education to balance the budget; Shoreview resident against Governor's proposal to cut health coverage and dental coverage to uninsured Minnesotans; Shoreview resident about a business matter with the state; Shoreview resident supporting higher taxes for wealthiest Americans and the federal stimulus package; Lino Lakes resident against proposal for school districts to share services (this was a very well-thought out e-mail); Shoreview resident asking me to drop the phone book issue and to balance the budget and fix 694; Shoreview resident against SF115-the Reproductive Privacy Act; Shoreview resident asking for repeal of new Green Acres law changes; Shoreview resident against the state keeping health data; Lino Lakes resident asking for support of the most vulnerable Minnesotans in the budget process; North Oaks resident promoting organic food to combat obesity; North Oaks resident against cuts to the arts; Shoreview resident supporting legislation requiring health care coverage for autistic children

Week of February 1, 2009

Budget breakdown: I've had a chance to review the Governor's budget. The media is picking up on some of my colleagues who are saying, "So what is your plan?" or "This budget is terrible!" but most of us are looking through the details so that we can put something together that blunts the worst of the cuts and/or allows us to avoid future deficits. However, when you look at the big numbers, it is pretty overwhelming.

Here's how the Governor's budget breaks down. The deficit is $4.847 billion.

Proposed cuts: $2.521 billion
Federal stimulus funds: $920 million
Shifts/Deferring K-12 payments from June 2011 to July 2012 (to the new fiscal year): $1.294 billion
Borrowing against future tobacco settlement funds: $983 million
New spending: $323 million (adds to deficit)
Tax cuts: $287 million (adds to deficit)
New tax or fee revenue: $0
Budget reserve: $250 million

That adds up to $4.858 billion with $11 million left over. Roughly half of the deficit reduction comes from cuts and the rest is one-time money. If the state were to raise taxes in some way, it would likely not exceed $1 billion, which still leaves us with big cuts, more borrowing, and putting off about a billion dollars to the next budget, creating an automatic deficit for the next legislature.

Listening session in White Bear Lake: The leadership of the House and Senate are planning budget listening sessions around the state. Members of the GOP are also being invited. The one in our area will be on Wednesday, February 25th at 6:30 p.m. at White Bear Lake High School - South Campus, 3551 McKnight Rd N. I hope that you can join us to talk about what issues are important to you as we balance an unprecedented budget deficit.

Broadband links: At a recent committee meeting, Connect Minnesota presented a MN broadband service inventory map and some useful web links. At their web site, you can look at a map of the state to see who can get high speed internet service and also enter your address to see what service providers you can find in your area. You can also test your internet speed at a separate site to see how well you connect.

Funding for the disabled: On the health policy committee, we heard from parents who have been on a waiting list for services for developmentally disabled children. Many people assume that human services funding from the state goes to people in the inner cities or to people who don't want to work. In our suburban district, I have met many people who receive funding to keep their kids at home instead of having them institutionalized, where services are more expensive. Having a group house on my block, I have seen how residential living is really helpful for these disabled Minnesotans. Once those kids get to be adults and can't live on their own, the parents can no longer lift them if the kids can't walk. The funding program for things like chair lifts, personal care assistants, etc. is called the "DD waiver." There are 5,000 people on the waiting list statewide for this program. The average household cost for this is $66,138 and the cost for having that person at a nursing home is around $92,000.

Local government efficiency: Rep. Paul Marquart (DFL-Dilworth), chair of the Property Tax Division of the House Taxes Committee, has created three working groups to promote reform, accountability, value, and efficiency in local government. The three working groups include state property tax system benchmarks and critical indicators; local government performance measurement and improvement; and local government decision-making flexibility and mandate reduction. I'm hoping to work with the latter group to assist in some consolidation initiatives I am pursuing.

Schedule: On Monday, we held a short floor session and a caucus meeting. In the afternoon, I attended the Taxes Committee where we continued our briefing on sales and corporate taxes. Later, I spoke to a class of environmental policy students at the U of M about policy and the legislature. Tuesday brought three caucus meetings and a cable TV interview, along with meetings of the Taxes Committee (federal tax conformity bill), Health Care & Human Services (HCHS) Committee (Rep. Knuth's toxic children's products bill), and the Environment & Natural Resources Policy Committee (also Rep. Knuth's bill). In the evening, I attended my DFL Senate District meeting in Lino Lakes. On Wednesday, the Taxes Committee heard a presentation from the Revenue Commissioner on the Governor's proposed budget. I attended two caucus meetings as well as the HCHS committee (Rep. Norton's bill to require coverage of autism disorders by health plans). Thursday brought a floor session where we set policy committee deadlines at March 27th. (You have to get your policy bill through committee by that date for the legislation to proceed). In the afternoon, the HCHS Committee heard Rep. Emmer's bill to allow the courts to amend a death certificate in case of incorrect or mistaken cause of death, and the Environment & Natural Resources Committee we heard bills from Rep. Hansen on drainage regulation and dog parks. In the evening, several legislators and I spoke to about 30 students and local residents at Century College about climate change. On Friday, I attended the Telecommunications Division where we learned about the state's broadband mapping project and attended meetings with other legislators about better paratransit coordination and homeowner protection legislation. During the week I also worked with two interns from the district who are helping me on various projects.

Visitors: Senator about environmental legislation; Shoreview resident for physical therapist day on the hill; lobbyist for MN Multi Housing Association about phone books; North Oaks and Shoreview residents promoting healthy communities; YMCA staff and volunteers with their legislative agenda; lobbyists supporting medical marijuana bill; citizen lobbyists supporting continued funding for natural health practitioners; Senator about compost legislation; staff from MN Department of Health giving overview of department; House researcher on capital investment legislation; Shoreview resident with Education MN legislative agenda; staff from St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce about shared services proposal; Department of Administration staff on Capitol recycling issues; House member about shared services proposal; League of Women Voters about off-road vehicles issues; lobbyist for MN Builders' Association about HF239; Isaak Walton League staff about low carbon fuel standard; North Oaks residents with MN Medical Association legislative platform; MPCA staff on closed landfill cleanup program

Constituent contacts: district constituent asking for cuts to balance the budget; Shoreview resident against government intrusion into health care; Shoreview resident about a licensing bill for interior designers; Circle Pines resident about high cost of MS drugs; Lino Lakes resident supporting early childhood programs; North Oaks resident asking that education be the #1 state priority; Shoreview resident supporting HF359 to require health plans to cover autism treatment; Shoreview resident against state employee salary freeze; Shoreview resident inquiring about an insurance matter; Lino Lakes resident against phone book bill; North Oaks resident supporting the arts; district resident against state employee salary freeze; Lino Lakes resident supporting school counselors; North Oaks resident against dissolution of the Health Care Access Fund and supporting public health care programs; Lino Lakes resident against taxpayer-funded abortions; Shoreview resident against the state accepting federal stimulus funding and for large budget cuts; Shoreview resident supporting charter schools; Shoreview resident supporting allowing school districts to start classes before Labor Day; Shoreview resident supporting legislation that protects victims and children from domestic violence

Week of January 25, 2009

Governor's Budget Recommendations: The Governor's office has released his proposed budget and you can see it on-line. I have to sift through the details before commenting further.

Recovery legislation: On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "American Recovery and Investment Act." This is the so-called "stimulus plan." You can read the details of the plan on-line.

Anoka County-Blaine Airport update: On Thursday night I attended a meeting of Concerned Citizens of the North Metro, recently formed to oppose any potential expansion of the Anoka County-Blaine Airport. I thought several of the organizers did a very good job of determining what the potential increased noise impacts would be if the airport runway was expanded to 6,000 feet.

Phone books: Several people have asked me why there is so much publicity about my proposal to allow consumers to opt out of getting phone books. This was to be a pretty minor piece of legislation that should take a back seat to solving the huge $4.8 billion state budget deficit, but for whatever reason, local reporters have been calling me up to ask about it. I wonder if the reporters are of an age where they grew up with the Internet and see the phone book as an outdated product. Anyway, readers should know that I am working on a bunch of other stuff that helps make specific state-funded programs more efficient but the legislation isn't ready yet. As one of my colleagues says, "Good legislation takes a while to draft properly."

Legislation: Here are two pieces of legislation that help reduce costs to taxpayers. HF298 is a bill that would make it easier for nonprofits that serve the disabled to use their vans and buses to pick up clients at other locations. These day training & habilitation (DT&H) providers have their own fleets but if they pick up other clients when their vans are idle, they are considered "for hire" and are subject to much higher insurance rates. My bill would seek to remedy the problem and would allow these fleets to be used more efficiently.

HF403 is a bill that would help boost the bio-based plastics industry in Minnesota by cleaning up our yard waste compost sites in the Twin Cities metro. Right now, taxpayers and ratepayers are paying much higher tip fees through their waste hauler to get rid of leaves and grass at the curb when they use plastic bags. If metro residents used a compostable plastic bag instead of the non-degradable plastic bag, the value of the finished compost would rise, waste haulers and counties would reduce tip fees, and Minnesota's compostable bag industry would see added business. The private sector would also be enticed to establish compost sites instead of government because high quality compost sells very well. Dakota County already has an ordinance that does this, but the legislation would require that one would have to use a compostable bag in the seven-country metro. It sounds a little weird at first, but when you get the facts you can see how the economics work.

Managing expectations: Our biggest task at the moment is to manage expectations for the budget. It is clear that not a lot of people realize how huge our deficit is and how limited our options are. Many groups are asking for new money or asking not to be cut. The groups that get our attention are ones that say, "I hope you don't cut us, but if you do, we have some ideas for how we can save money in the long term." These savings usually come in the form of streamlined or reduced state mandates or consolidation of certain functions. I have received a bunch of good ideas from the Anoka County attorney, the Association of Minnesota Counties, and MN School Business Officials so far.

Schedule: On Monday I stopped by a forum held by the Association of Metropolitan School Districts on the future of education funding, attended a short floor session, a caucus meeting, and a joint meeting of the K-12 Education Finance Committee and Taxes Committee (on the use of Other Post-Employment Benefits--or OPEB--bonds). OPEB bonds are used by school districts to borrow money to pay for retiree health care benefits. There is no referendum requirement for these bonds and some districts are using the short-term cash to pay for operations, which sounds like a disaster waiting to happen!

On Tuesday, I attended the Taxes Committee, two committee caucus meetings, a Health Care & Human Services Policy (HCHS) meeting, an Environment Committee meeting, and a meeting of the Mounds View School Board. I chaired the Environment Committee since the topic was on drinking water issues and I was going to end up asking most of the questions anyway!

On Wednesday, I attended two committee caucus meetings, the Taxes Committee, the HCHS committee, the Early Childhood Education Summit on the House floor, and a reception held by the Rochester delegation in the St. Paul Armory.

On Thursday, I attended a meeting held by Congresswoman McCollum about the federal stimulus package, a short floor session where we approved an extension of unemployment benefits, an HCHS committee meeting (about developmentally disabled waivers) an Environment Committee meeting (on fish and animal diseases), and a meeting of opponents to an expansion of the Anoka County-Blaine Airport.

On Friday, I attended a caucus meeting and a meeting of stakeholders working on a plan to change how we pay to recycle and safely dispose of used paint. Rep. Sailer and Sen. Doll had a bill last year that the Governor vetoed that would shift the $5 million that taxpayers pay statewide to handle the paint to those who actually buy paint using a small fee. They will bring this bill forward again in 2009.

Visitors: lobbyist for MN Oncology and Hematology (MOHPA) opposed to new moratorium on radiation facilities in the metro area; lobbyist for Xcel Energy; lobbyist and members of MN Beverage Association about solid waste and recycling issues; lobbyist for Medica introducing their organization; about ten staff of MN's credit unions, including three constituents; representative of MN Licensed Beverage Association; staff from Eureka Recycling about composting legislation; lobbyists for SEIU and TakeAction MN about universal health care legislation; lobbyist for Allina about ambulance issues; lobbyist and representatives of MN Works, a group that coordinates employment for disabled adults on recycling projects; staff and lobbyist for MN Credit Unions; staff from Environment MN about phone books; staff from Healthy Legacy about toxic products legislation; lobbyist on organ and tissue donation issues; lobbyist for MN building officials about building code and home construction legislation

Constituent contacts: Lino Lakes resident about domestic violence issues; Circle Pines resident against Q-Comp; Lino Lakes resident about data sharing between the state and insurance companies; Shoreview resident and Lino Lakes resident suggesting that phone books is not an important issue; Circle Pines small business owner asking that health coverage for MN Care not be cut; Blaine resident upset about recent actions of the Obama administration; Shoreview resident supporting tighter welfare requirements; Shoreview resident with an idea to promote green jobs; two Shoreview residents asking that education be the top priority in the state budget; Shoreview resident and Circle Pines resident supporting MN Health Security Act; Shoreview? resident leaving message disappointed about a recent education vote (we're not quite sure what vote that was since I haven't voted this year on education yet--no phone number left); Shoreview resident urging a spending freeze and that the state not accept any federal money from the stimulus package; Circle Pines resident against airport expansion; Shoreview resident asking "exactly" how I am going to balance the budget; Lino Lakes resident supporting early childhood education; Shoreview resident about a charitable gambling issue; Lino Lakes resident supporting phone book legislation; Circle Pines resident upset with my vote for the federal stimulus package (I mentioned that Congress voted on this bill not the state legislature); Shoreview resident supporting puppy mill legislation; Lino Lakes resident supporting phone book legislation; Shoreview? resident supporting marriage equality legislation; North Oaks resident against deep cuts to state health care programs; North Oaks resident supporting instant runoff voting; Shoreview? resident asking about long-term care legislation; Circle Pines MAPE member supporting agenda for public employees; Lino Lakes resident asking that cancer prevention and health care access be #1 on state agenda; two Lino Lakes residents, Shoreview resident, Circle Pines resident asking that K-12 education be the #1 state priority; Shoreview resident supporting findings of the Budget Trends Commission; Lino Lakes resident supporting repeal of changes to the Green Acres legislation from last year (she was REALLY mad!); Lino Lakes resident against airport expansion; Lino Lakes resident asking for a balanced budget; Shoreview? resident sharing views on "reverse" racism and sharing quotes from Thomas Jefferson

Week of January 11, 2009

DTV conversion: Our telecommunications committee heard from experts about the impending conversion to digital television signals. There is a ton of information available about what you may need to do on-line.

My transportation project for the session: Senator Dibble and I are working on an initiative to find efficiencies for community based transit (CBT). CBT is transit that serves seniors and the disabled. Because of all the "silos" of money from the federal government that fund different programs, many of the vans and buses for these services are idle when they could be serving additional people. CBT is expensive--dial-a-ride service is often $20-$25 per ride one-way, although riders usually only pay a few dollars so that they can afford it. This is three or four times as expensive as mass transit. State agencies have been working on this so we have an opportunity to save money and improve service. More to come!

State of the state: The Governor gave his State of the State address on Thursday. During the last speech I heard from Tim Pawlenty at the Chamber of Commerce two weeks ago, I agreed with 95% of what he said about the need to get smarter with state and local government spending. Another time in the last month or so he suggested that a fiscal crisis can bring people together and the barriers that we put up to good ideas will be lowered out of necessity. Another good speech that focused on problem solving. However, I was pretty confused with the State of the State. The Governor said that taxes are out of the question (no surprise) and talked about removing a lot of costly state mandates for local governments. But then he outlined a bunch of new mandates for school districts, additional spending for K-12 schools, and a cap on tuition for higher education. I look forward to seeing how are we going to pay for these new projects and mandates in about two weeks when his budget is released.

Per diem: WCCO did what seems like an annual story about legislative per diem. Yours truly is third from the bottom out of 201 legislators.

Suburban DFL co-chair: At a meeting of the DFL Suburban Caucus on Monday, I was elected co-chair along with Rep. Bev Scalze and Rep. Mike Obermuller. There are 39 Democrats from the suburbs out of 87 members.

Revenues down for last two months of 2008: We received an update from Minnesota Management & Budget (the old Department of Finance) that shows that tax revenues in the last two months of 2008 were below forecast, or more than $100 million, or down 4.5% percent overall, with sales tax down 4.4%, corporate tax down 42%, and income tax down 3.3%. That means that there could be additional budget cuts before the end of the current fiscal year that ends June 30th.

Budget trends commission: The Budget Trends Study Commission issued its recommendations this week. The legislature asked a group of former finance commissioners and other experts to help figure out how to even out Minnesota's tax revenue over time. Their report covered a variety of issues including: the impact of Minnesota's changing demographics on the budget; revenue volatility; trend growth rates; current spending pressures; long term revenue forecasts; and projected expenditure obligations. The recommendations included boosting our budget reserves so that the state can weather a major deficit without cutting major services or raising taxes excessively; taking note of a long-term demographic shift to an older population with fewer taxpaying workers; and reining in health care costs. The Commission noted that it will be hard to change the tax system to provide more even revenue flows and even then the volatility will not go away. The U of M has commented more on this on-line.

One Minnesota Conference: All legislators were invited to attend a conference on Wednesday to hear about global and economic trends that affect what we do at the state. One of the better speakers talked about how states and regions have done well economically when they figure out what they are good at and then create "clusters" of businesses and industries that feed into that strength. Other speakers talked about how states can boost economic development of these clusters--like "green jobs"--with tax credits, grants, and investment in higher education institutions. So I had to ask a question, "In a time of fiscal austerity, how can the state boost the green economy without tax credits, grants, and investment in higher education?" The audience burst out laughing, mostly because it correctly characterized our fiscal situation and lack of options. Dark humor I guess. The panelist responded that even without funding, government can set rules of the game for the market.

Blaine airport public meeting: A citizen group called Concerned Citizens of the North Metro Area is having a meeting regarding the possible expansion of the Anoka County Airport in Blaine. The meeting is Thursday, January 29th from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Mounds View Community Center. Blog readers will recall that citizens were not happy about Anoka County trying to push for expansion at the legislature without much public input.

Schedule: Monday included a meeting of the DFL Suburban Caucus, a short floor session, a meeting of the Tax Committee, and a meeting with local Education MN members; Tuesday included meetings of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, the Tax Committee, and Health Care & Human Services Policy, plus meetings with Healthy Legacy about their legislative platform and DFLers on the Environmental Policy Committee. On Wednesday, I was at the Humphrey Institute for the OneMinnesota Conference. Thursday included meetings of the Environmental Finance Committee, the DFL House Caucus, Health Care & Human Services Policy, and Environmental Policy, plus a floor session for the State of the State address and a meeting of the Ramsey County legislative delegation. Friday included a meeting of the Telecommunications Regulation and Infrastructure Division, and a training for committee chairs and vice-chairs.

Visitors: Representative of Parks & Trails Council of MN; representatives of bio-degradable plastics industry about compost issues; DNR staff about drinking water legislation follow-up; lobbyist for Coalition of Greater MN Cities about local government aid; lobbyist for MN Paratransit Association about legislation; former district resident about internship; staff from Chief Clerk's office about tracking legislation in omnibus bills; House Research staff about legislation I'm working on

Constituent contacts: Lino Lakes resident pleased that I'm third from the bottom in per diem; Shoreview resident who liked the Governor's speech; district resident about workers comp issue; North Oaks resident against allowing the school year to start before Labor Day; Shoreview resident against higher per diem; Shoreview resident against cuts to K-12 education; Shoreview resident against tighter licensing of interior designers; Lino Lakes resident against requiring private homes to have sprinklers (the Pioneer Press ran a story about some experts proposing this); Lino Lakes resident commenting about the $700 billion bailout and how it should go to regular people instead of banks; Shoreview resident suggesting that property taxes should be replaced with a 2% income tax to local governments; Shoreview resident about internship; Shoreview resident against Rep. Rukavina's idea of an income tax surcharge; Lexington resident with ten suggestions for balancing the budget; Lino Lakes resident wanting the state to get subsidies back from Northwest Airlines and against per diem; Shoreview resident about a matter with drivers and vehicle services; Shoreview and North Oaks residents sending cards with legislative platform of MN Utility Investors

Weeks of December 7th & 14th, 2008

Unallotment: As part of the effort to balance the FY2009 budget (the current fiscal year runs through June 30, 2009), the Governor exercised his ability to "unallot." That means that he will make unilateral cuts to the budget to meet the $426 million deficit. Before he can cut spending, he has to use up the state's budget reserve of $150 million, and that leaves a deficit of $271 million or so. MPR listed the cuts in detail. Higher education took a hit of $40 million, health and human services were at $73 million, and local government aid and the homestead tax credit were at $110 million. The legislature itself also was cut by $2.2 million. There were not really a lot of good choices here.

[This is an updated paragraph as of 12/23/08]

In our cities, Shoreview lost $139,069 that it was expected to get to fund the Market Value Homestead Credit (MVHC), Circle Pines lost $56,281 in MVHC, Blaine lost $420,891 in MVHC, and Lino Lakes lost $120,481. The MVHC is a tool where homeowners get a credit on their property taxes if their property is valued at less than $413,000. North Oaks will lose $13,677 in both local government aid and the MVHC, and Lexington will lose $55,013 in both LGA and MVHC.

Track agency results: The state has set up a web site where you can track how agencies perform against their stated goals. The Accountability Minnesota website is a good start but it's a little light on data in some areas and is skewed toward areas where the state is already doing good stuff.

Conservation rate structure: Lino Lakes did a utility rate study in 2007 and the city adopted a water conservation plan in October 2007 to help avoid wasteful use of groundwater. Now it is going through with a new ordinance that codifies new requirements for a conservation rate structure, which I got passed as legislation in 2008. The ordinance proposes new tiered water rates. 98.7% of residents in Lino Lakes use less than 40,000 gallons per quarter, but there is a small fraction of residents who use a lot more than that and they would pay a higher rate.

Property taxes: The December 7th Star Tribune listed changes in median property tax values and property tax rates in metro communities with more than 5,000 population.

Here is the breakdown by city for percent change in market value and percent change in tax since last year.

• Shoreview: market value -3.6%; tax +1.6% (Mounds View SD)
• Lino Lakes: market value +3.0%; tax +2.3% (Centennial SD) & +2.8% (White Bear SD)
• Circle Pines: market value -4.4%; tax -7.8% (Centennial SD)
• Blaine: market value -0.6%; tax -1.5% (Centennial SD)

North Oaks and Lexington have fewer than 5,000 people and were not included in the article. My property taxes in Shoreview are going down by 1.7% and the market value declined by roughly (don't have the statement in front of me) 4%.

Waiting for answers: A Shoreview constituent recently wrote a letter to the Shoreview Press expressing impatience that I have not said exactly how I plan to balance the state budget. Look for my rotating column in the Press next week (or maybe the week after) for a more thorough description of just what kind of sacrifices we will have to make during this difficult economic recession.

Truth-in-taxation letter: Another Shoreview resident wrote a letter to the Shoreview Press while I was out of town suggesting that I author legislation about truth-in-taxation notices and meetings. He was upset that cities, counties, and school districts have their public meetings after the election, and he felt that the legislature should require them to be before the election. I think this is a GREAT idea. I looked into it and it was in legislation in the last session before eventually getting cut out of the final omnibus tax bill. I would like to pursue this legislation in 2009.

Schedule: On Saturday, December 6th, I participated in an all-day meeting of the House DFL Caucus. Governor Pawlenty and former Governor Carlson both came to talk to us, which I thought was a good thing. From Sunday, December 7th to Tuesday, December 16th, I was in Washington, DC and environs. The purpose was to attend a three-day meeting of the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (NCEL). My airfare was covered by a scholarship from NCEL funded by the Joyce Foundation. I stayed with family members in the DC area, so no taxpayer dollars were spent on the travel. My family also came with me so we had a chance to see a few things downtown on the days when I was not at the conference. We were underwhelmed by the newly re-opened Smithsonian American History Museum other than the refurbished Star-Spangled Banner. However, the Smithsonian Natural History Museum got a big thumbs up from kids and adults alike for its new Ocean Hall. The U.S. Capitol has a new visitor center built underground on the east side. Very posh. I knew that two prominent citizens of each state are represented by a sculpture, but I didn't know that Minnesota's two are Henry Mower Rice and Maria L. Sanford. Save that for Minnesota Trivial Pursuit!

The NCEL meeting was excellent. There were presentations on mercury, energy efficiency, water quality, climate change, the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River, etc. Legislators who attended were from the Great Lakes states and the province of Ontario. Rep. Hornstein and I had a long conversation at lunch with the Canadians to understand how their provincial parliament works. Very different! They rely on stricter party loyalty than in the U.S.

I stuck around for two days afterwards so that I could do some family history research. During the last 15 years, I've tracked down various branches of my family and I've spent quite a bit of time on my Gardner ancestors. The first one to come over from Ireland arrived in about 1811 and settled in Millersburg, Pennsylvania. So on Monday I did some deed research in Harrisburg and discovered the location of his house, which I photographed in the afternoon--if indeed it is the same building. (Long story there.)

On Thursday, December 19th, I attended a meeting with legislators and Anoka County about the county's legislative agenda for 2009; met with representatives of the phone book publishing industry and their lobbyist; staff at Great River Energy about waste-to-energy issues; and Ramsey County Commissioner Tony Bennett on issues of mutual interest. On Friday, December 20th, I attended a meeting of the Association of Metropolitan School Districts (AMSD) for legislators.

Visitors: None

Constituent contacts: Circle Pines resident about recent publicity about Otter Tail Power Company competing with private firms; Lino Lakes resident supporting more physical education in public schools; Lexington resident supporting an end to ethanol blended fuel in MN; North Oaks resident concerned about funding cuts to Meals on Wheels; Blaine resident supporting tax cuts for businesses; Circle Pines resident concerned about local government aid cuts to that city; Shoreview resident supporting spending freeze; district resident requesting that "you Democrats need to stop spending our money like drunken sailors"; Shoreview resident supporting spending freeze, corporate tax cuts, and cutting services; Lino Lakes resident supporting spending cuts; North Oaks resident supporting spending cuts

Week of November 30, 2008

Budget forecast is grim: On Thursday, December 4th, the state released a budget forecast for the fiscal biennium beginning July 1, 2009 and ending June 30, 2011. The projected deficit is $4.8 billion. There was also a forecast for the fiscal year (the current one) ending June 30, 2009, and there is a deficit there of $425 million. So the total deficit is $5.2 billion.

You can see the whole forecast at the web site of Minnesota Management and Budget. Video archives of the news conference by the finance commissioner and state economist are also on-line.

Legislators are being interviewed by the media or are holding their own press conferences to share some ideas for balancing the budget. I would not hold your breath on some of these ideas, like selling the Minneapolis airport. We have a long way to go to the end of session in late May, so I and others here are trying to be patient, look at all our options, and talk to constituents and stakeholders about what effects our actions will have. I look forward to your ideas in the weeks and months to come.

Drinking water profiles for cities in District 53A: The Met Council has produced a draft Master Water Supply Plan for review before the legislation session. There are city profiles for each city in the seven-county metro area, and they project how much groundwater they will need through the year 2050. The data profiles are in appendix 2 in the report link above. Here are what the six cities in 53A may have to do between now and 2050.

Blaine: 13 new groundwater wells necessary through 2050!
Circle Pines: No additional groundwater wells necessary
Lexington: No additional groundwater wells necessary
Lino Lakes: One new additional groundwater well necessary every ten years through 2050
North Oaks (using data from White Bear Township): No additional groundwater wells necessary
Shoreview: One new additional groundwater well necessary about 2040

Subcommittee dissolved: On Friday, the Speaker announced our committee structure for the next session. The number of committees has been cut by 15%, and a lot of subcommittees have been eliminated. The purpose was to simplify our committee process. At my request, the Speaker eliminated the Drinking Water Source Protection Subcommittee that I chaired. We could never find a regular time to meet and it was hard to get a quorum, and I figure I can get just as much done on protecting our drinking water by working within our existing environmental policy and finance committee.

Twin Cities Best for Business: MarketWatch, a web publication of the Wall Street Journal, just recognized the Twin Cities for the second year in a row for being the best metro area for business.

Schedule: On Monday, December 1st, I attended a meeting of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission at the State Office Building. My Republican colleague Dean Urdahl leads the group and I'm the other legislator on the group. In the evening I attended a fundraiser for the DFL House Caucus. On Tuesday, December 2nd, I attended a presentation by the Met Council on their drinking water supply plan. In the evening, I attended a meeting of our local DFL Senate District. On Wednesday, December 3rd, several legislators and I participated in a conference on "Assessing, Managing and Communicating Environmental Risk" hosted by the Center for Science, Technology & Public Policy at the U of M's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. On Thursday, December 4th, I attended a meeting of the Legislative Coordinating Commission Working Group on Ethnic Heritage & New Americans, where I made a presentation giving a historical perspective on immigration in Minnesota. In the afternoon, I participated in a meeting at the MN Pollution Control Agency where staff sought input on a report I requested on product stewardship.

Visitors: State Revisor on progress toward greater transparency on omnibus bills; Met Council staff regarding community based transit (e.g., dial-a-ride) services; four high school students asking for input on an environmental legislation proposal; staff from MN Department of Veterans Affairs about a constituent issue; student reporter from Hamline University about recent political developments; staff from a human services agency in the northern suburbs about transportation issues; lobbyists from Waste Management, Chamber of Commerce, and chemical companies about environmental issues coming up before the legislature; another state representative about transit issues; staff from the MPCA and Ramsey County about safe disposal of unused pharmaceutical products and how to avoid having them get in our drinking water

Constituent contacts: Blaine resident asking that human services budget be spared when balancing the budget; Shoreview resident interested in the opt-out option for phone books; two Shoreview residents against tax increases to balance the budget; Lino Lakes resident supporting a new Vikings stadium (although not necessarily built with public funding); Shoreview resident seeking bike lane on Highway 49; three Lino Lakes residents asking for revisions to last year's Green Acres law