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

Early November 2008

Blaine Airport Expansion: I just received word that Anoka County is considering an expansion of the Blaine Airport from 5,000 feet to 6,000 feet. About four years ago I was aware that an original expansion to 5,000 feet would allow planes to do "instrument landings," meaning that they could land without having the engine cranked up and therefore could reduce noise over my district in Lexington, Circle Pines, Lino Lakes, and possibly Shoreview. The expansion to 6,000 feet would allow more safety but would bump up the Blaine Airport up to "intermediate airport" status, which could allow more flights and larger planes flying over 53A. Minnesota Statutes 360.365 has a list of the aircraft that can fly into an intermediate airport: single engine or light to medium multiengine aircraft. Right now the airport can accommodate single engine or light multiengine planes.

[11/17 update: I have received a ton of e-mail from constituents in Circle Pines, Lino Lakes, Lexington, and Shoreview complaining about increased noise from flights just in the last year.]

Anoka County is considering a resolution that would support the expansion, but there hasn't been a whole lot of public information about it. However, on Tuesday, November 18th, Anoka County's airport committee and intergovernmental committees will be meeting to act on the resolution starting at 11:00 a.m. in the Anoka County Government Center. The legislature would have to act on this expansion as well but this would be a good opportunity for citizens to give their input. I will be attending the meeting, and would appreciate any input from district residents to pass along.

Park and ride update: The Met Council informs me that a park-and-ride at Highway 14 and 35W (in Lino Lakes just a few blocks east of Centerville) is likely to be designed in 2009 and then built in 2010 or 2011.

Shoreview to Minneapolis express bus to stay: Metro Transit reports that it will keep running the 261 express bus from Shoreview City Hall to Minneapolis three times a day in each direction. Metro Transit set up a demonstration route of the route last year by extending to route from Roseville City Hall to Shoreview. If there were more than 16 riders between Shoreview and Roseville, the route would stay. The ridership has been strong and steady, and the route is now permanent!

E-waste: There was a story on 60 Minutes on November 9th about how some electronic waste from the United States ends up poisoning communities in China. I'm working on some legislation that would help address this issue in Minnesota, but much of the responsibility and enforcement lies with the federal government. In another development, a non-profit group called the Electronics TakeBack Coalition just issued a report card on the major TV manufacturers on their recycling programs.

Conservation Rate Structure legislation follow-up: Legislation I authored last year required public water suppliers to create a conservation rate structure to promote conservation of our drinking water supply. The DNR has prepared a two-page primer for water authorities to better understand how the rates work.

Higher Education Veterans Programs: While at Century College in November, I found a helpful brochure and web site informing veterans, military personnel, and their families of their opportunites for higher education.

Schedule: Things have picked up since the election! On Thursday, November 6th, I spoke at the Recycling Association of Minnesota's annual conference about legislation related to solid waste and recycling. In the evening, the House DFL Caucus met in St. Paul and we elected Margaret Kelliher as Speaker and Tony Sertich as Majority Leader. On Monday, November 10th, I attended a Metropolitan Council District Dialogue in Maplewood, where Peter Bell gave an update on actions by the Met Council. Many city, county, and state elected officials attended. Later, I attended a meeting of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission in St. Paul. Rep. Dean Urdahl (R-Grove City) is the organizer and I'm the DFLer on the committee. On Thursday, November 13th, I spoke to a group of canvassers at Clean Water Action in Minneapolis about recent drinking water issues at the Legislature. In the afternoon, I attended a Veterans' Day ceremony at Century College to help open a new veterans' center. My colleague Bob Dettmer (R-Forest Lake), who has been a member of the MN National Guard for several decades, gave the keynote address. Later in the afternoon, I attended a meeting in Circle Pines regarding the future opening of a county library in Lino Lakes, and then I stopped by a reception in North Oaks to welcome the new members of the city council. On Friday, November 14th, I participated in a meeting by the MPCA on product stewardship of beverage containers. The states of Wisconsin and Minnesota are engaging the beverage industry about how to increase recycling of cans and bottles. (Recycling cans in particular helps reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.)

During this period I have also been working with House Research staff to figure out what legislation I will be working on in 2009. Constituents and colleagues have been suggesting a ton of ideas of things to address where I might be able to help. I also managed to clean up my office so I can find stuff and be ready for the session.

Constituent contacts: Lino Lakes and Circle Pines residents about proposed Blaine Airport expansion; Shoreview resident asking about legislative plans to balance the budget for the 2010-2011 biennium; Shoreview resident about Congressional action on a federal lands issue; Shoreview resident asking for legislation prohibiting dog tethering (we all got about 200 identical e-mails on this from all over the state); Lino Lakes resident and Circle Pines resident supporting get-tough strategy for illegal immigration

Late July Wrap-Up

Now that the campaign season has begun, I've been going door-to-door talking to constituents. My literature includes this blog address, so if you are here for the first time, welcome! The content isn't quite as packed with detail as when we are in session at the Capitol, but hopefully it will give you an idea of what I'm working on.

My metal theft law works: KSTP did a two-minute story on July 30th on how the law I wrote to catch thieves of copper wire, pipe, etc. helped in a major arrest. Three people have been arrested for stealing $25,000 of wire from the state fairgrounds. But because their ID had to be recorded and their pictures taken, they got caught. Wahoo!

MSBA Certificate: The MN School Boards Association recently issued a "Certificate of Appreciation for 2008" for my work with Senator Betzold to revise the state's conflict of interest statutes for school boards. Readers may remember the flap about the new Mounds View School Board member who was discouraged from serving because her husband was the lead negotiator for the custodial union.

Postage to be returned: During 2007-2008, each House member has $2,952 in postage to use. (That's $1,968 in 2007 and $984 in 2008.) I've used $849.21 and have $2,102.79. State law prohibits legislators from sending out mass mailings from the Capitol once 60 days pass after the end of the legislative session. So I will probably use maybe another $30 for various constituent response letters before the end of the year, leaving more than $2,000 of taxpayer dollars to give back to the treasury.

Schedule: On Wednesday, July 16th, I was interviewed about energy with Senate Media Services for their weekly Capitol Report show. You can view the whole July 19th show (my part was eight minutes out of the half-hour) on-line.

On Thursday, July 17th, I spoke at a luncheon for St. Paul Chamber of Commerce members from Shoreview, North Oaks, Vadnais Heights, and Arden Hills. We spent a lot of time talking about electricity, transportation, the foreclosure crisis, and water.

On Wednesday, July 23rd, I visited a work site for the Minnesota Conservation Corps (MCC). About a dozen MCC members--ages 18-25--were doing a shoreline restoration on Locke Lake in Fridley. Locke Lake is part of Rice Creek and is very close to where the creek empties in to the Mississippi. Rice Creek also flows through my district and so a lot of stormwater run-off from our area ends up in Locke Lake and the river. The MCC gets part of its funding from the state, and the agency is able to leverage that funding from other agencies to get critical conservation projects done at a relatively low cost. I was in the Youth Conservation Corps in the National Park Service in 1983 and 1984 so I have an interest in the MCC.

During the weekend of July 25-27, I participated in the parade in the Slice of Shoreview. For the eighth year in a row, I've set up the recycling program at the Slice. (In 2000, Target dropped off several pallets of donated water bottles, and they all ended up in the garbage, so I volunteered the year after that to help collect cans, bottles, cardboard, and grease.) Shoreview resident and Roseville recycling coordinator Tim Pratt helps me out also. Each year we divert about six to seven cubic yards of cans and bottles and about the same amount of cardboard, and about 50 gallons of grease that gets made into animal feed.

I have also attended a few other events and interviews for my campaign, but this isn't my campaign blog. If you're interested in my campaign website, you can click here.

Constituent contacts: Shoreview resident concerned about meatpacking regulations in Minnesota based on recent Postville, Iowa enforcement actions; Lino Lakes resident about the state of the nation generally; North Oaks resident against some health care reform positions; Blaine resident upset about Ironworld report on KSTP

Week of June 1, 2008

E-waste collections increasing: Tuesday's Star Tribune had a good editorial about how the e-waste bill I worked on in 2007 is helping consumers get rid of old electronics for free. Best Buy has now set up free e-waste collections in selected stores in three states that have electronic waste recycling legislation: Minnesota, California, and Maryland.

Legislative Reference Library: One of the resources available to legislators and the public alike is the Legislative Reference Library, located in the State Office Building. They are the repository for a lot of legislative reports and statistics compiled by state and other agencies. They have a great web site where can link to these reports.

Visit last week to Lino Lakes: Last Thursday, Senator Rummel and I tagged along with a group from State Farm insurance to look at how they are responding to storm damage. They took us to their temporary auto claims center in a parking lot in Hugo. Drivers with hail damage drove up under a tent, a claims adjuster inspected the car on the spot and entered data into a computer in a nearby trailer with a satellite dish, and the driver drove away with a check for the repairs. State Farm told me that they had handled more than 5,100 cars in four days. (This is just for one company.) Another insurance company had a similar operation set up in a lot in Centerville. We also visited a home in Lino Lakes north of Birch Street to see how the claims team assessed the damage on a private home.

Study finds Minnesota tax burden average: The Minnesota Budget Project analyzed our tax burden and found it average compared to other states. We have higher income and business taxes but lower property taxes, while other states have higher property taxes and often higher sales tax.

Minnesota Minute: A group called E-Democracy is out to "promote the online video contest hosted by the Bell Museum of Natural History as part of the Minnesota Sesquicentennial celebration. The museum is looking for videos that celebrate the natural places in Minnesota and the efforts to take care of them. Basically, the contest entails producing a 1-5 minute video of a person's experience in Minnesota's natural world and their efforts to preserve it. To submit the video, you simply upload the video to YouTube with the tag of MyMinnesotaMinute. The website http://minnesotaminute.org/ has more details."

"North Oaks tells Google Maps: Keep out, we mean it": The Star Tribune had an article in the last few days about how it asked Google to remove North Oaks from its "Street View" feature. North Oaks' roads are actually private property, so Google was technically trespassing when it took pictures of addresses from the street. The article tells you how to "take your home off Street View." First, go to http://maps.google.com, enter the address and when the image comes up, click on "Street View." Click on "street view help" in the image window, then click on "report inappropriate image."

Week of March 16, 2008

Getting postcards in the mail? The DFL Party sent out a postcard this week to district mailboxes supporting me but I was not aware that it was coming out. This is what is called an "independent expenditure." Candidates are not permitted to coordinate with the party or other organizations on these kinds of expenditures, even though it has my name all over it.

The Republican Party also sent out a postcard this week that attacks me for supporting the transportation bill. It apparently tells people to contact me to express dissatisfaction with the taxes in the bill. What is interesting is that more people are contacting me to express support for my position!

Schedule: On Monday I attended two caucus meetings and a short floor session. In the afternoon, we heard a compelling presentation by someone from the Canadian Geological Survey on the issue of peak oil. After about an hour it was pretty clear that we might see a swift global drop-off in crude oil supply in the mid 20th century. Later I presented my solid waste bill HF3540 to the Environmental Finance Committee. The bill will be "laid over for possible inclusion" into the committee's omnibus finance bill. I had quite a spat with the Yellow Pages Association's lobbyist about language in the bill that would allow consumers to opt-out of getting a phone book if they don't want one. (They didn't like it.) The committee chair gave the lobbyist a hard time in the hearing because the recycling rate for phone books is so poor. In the evening in the Energy Policy & Finance Committee we voted on Rep. Knuth's bill on a cap-and-trade mechanism for addressing global warming.

My six year old son was pretty sick this week so I was at home with him on Tuesday until someone came over to watch him in the mid-afternoon. At four, the Environmental Finance Committee heard my drinking water bill, HF3238, and it was also laid over for possible inclusion in the committee's omnibus bill.

What does "laid over for possible inclusion" mean?" That's when a bill is held in a committee, and the committee chair and members can include that bill into a larger one. It tends to be applied for bills that have a fiscal impact and therefore can be wrapped into a larger finance bill. That helps make it easier to process the bills instead of having a ton of individual bills on the floor and trying to figure out how they fit into the entire state budget.

On Wednesday, I attended a caucus meeting and a short floor session dealing with several small bills. In the afternoon, my bill (HF3477) on reducing predatory lending for manufacturing housing received a hearing in the Commerce Committee and moved to the floor. Finally, the Energy Policy & Finance Committee met to hear four bills.

On Thursday, Friday, and next Monday we are off for the Easter Break.

Visitors: Centennial Legislative Action Committee about levy equalization in the K-12 funding formula; several lobbyists on solid waste issues

Constituent contacts: Shoreview resident against taxpayer funding of abortions; Circle Pines resident against "good faith" bill; Blaine resident supporting private college grant program; Shoreview resident supporting staggered terms for members of the Met Council; Circle Pines resident and Shoreview resident asking for support of efforts to protest Chinese repression in Tibet; Circle Pines resident against so-called sanctuary cities; Shoreview resident against cuts to pharmacy reimbursement rates in Governor's budget proposal; Shoreview resident reacting to recent Star Tribune article about the TIZA school; Lino Lakes resident with questions about bridge collapse claims and health care; Shoreview resident against "gestational carrier arrangements" bill; Lino Lakes resident with questions about transportation bill; about 15 district residents supporting a citizens' council that would decide on funding distribution if the dedicated sales tax passes for the outdoors; Lino Lakes resident against a consumer protection bill for wireless customers; Lino Lakes dentist against advanced hygienist practitioner proposal; Blaine resident supporting film industry incentives; Lino Lakes resident against comprehensive sex education; three Shoreview residents, two Circle Pines residents, and Lino Lakes resident supporting bonding proposal for U of M; six Shoreview residents, Lino Lakes resident, four North Oaks residents disagreeing with Republican Party postcard criticizing the transportation bill and expressing support for my vote; five Lino Lakes residents, three Circle Pines residents, Lexington resident, three Shoreview residents against my vote on the transportation bill; five Shoreview residents and Lino Lakes resident against health care reform bill; five North Oaks physicians, Shoreview physician against the Governor's proposal to raid the Health Care Access Fund to balance the budget

Week of January 20, 2007

Schedule: On Sunday, I attended a meet-and-greet for a candidate for U.S. Senate. On Tuesday, Senator Rummel and I met with the Circle Pines City Council. Issues we discussed included the proposed Lino Lakes library, a statewide cable franchising bill, the Rice Creek North regional trail, transportation, and education funding. We then proceeded to a meeting of the Mounds View School Board with several other legislators. As you may know, there is a bit of a flap going on because a new board member might have a conflict of interest because her husband is the lead negotiator for the Mounds View custodians. Apparently the district's attorney believes that the new member could be ousted instead of just recusing herself from voting on the custodians' contract or from contract negotiations. Personally I think this legal interpretation of a state statute is overkill but there will be a hearing soon on the matter, and I hope the board can get back to business soon.

On Wednesday, I attended a meeting of legislators and some metro county commissioners who are part of the MN Inter-County Association (MICA). It is not clear what this organization accomplishes that the Association of Minnesota Counties or the individual counties do not, so I wonder why it exists other than to have additional lobbyists down at the Capitol for county issues. In the evening, I held a town hall meeting at Lino Lakes city hall. There were five people in attendance. (It was pretty darn cold out, so I suspect that kept the attendance down despite pretty good publicity in the local papers.) Issues included climate change, transportation funding, taxes, and a few other local items. There were a few people there who were on totally opposite sides of issues, but we had a very respectful discussion.

On Friday, I attended a meeting at the MN Pollution Control Agency on how the new electronic waste law is working out for MN's counties. There was a discussion about how we can work to make sure that electronic waste is handled in an environmentally friendly fashion. There are several states working with the U.S. EPA on recycling standards, which Minnesota may adopt later this year. In the afternoon, I attended a five-hour hearing of several House and Senate committees on the opportunities and challenges of mining in Minnesota. Apparently some environmental committee chairs wanted to have a hearing on mining pollution, based on a recent research report commissioned by two environmental groups. Then legislators from the Iron Range objected and asked for a joint hearing to talk about the economic development opportunities of mining copper and nickel near Babbitt. Not all the legislators stuck around for the whole hearing, but I was there for the whole time and asked a lot of questions. The economics of mining is related to the economics of recycling, so I had questions about the connection of global market pricing to the viability of the project, financial assurance for environmental liability, and the whole love-hate relationship that the Iron Range has with development--e.g., it welcomes the jobs but chafes under out-of-state ownership and resents Twin Cities environmental groups meddling in local issues. Rep. Rukavina and Senator Tomassoni gave very good responses to me about the latter issue. Apparently it struck and nerve--the main Iron Range newspaper carried a story about it.

It is interesting to note that royalties from mining on some state lands goes to the Permanent University Fund (PUF). Every student at the U of M receives a benefit from this fund through lower tuition. Our local school districts in 53A receive about $200,000 to $300,000 a year from mining royalties as well through the Permanent School Fund. These dollars replace general fund dollars, so if it was not for this mining royalty funding, we would be raising taxes to put the same amount money into education.

Visitors: advocate from Legal Aid about that organization's legislative platform for 2008; MPCA staff and House researcher about recycling and solid waste legislation; DNR staff about how to consolidate reporting requirements to the legislature to save money and resources; advocate for MN Coalition for the Homeless about proposed hospice care legislation; staff from Eureka Recycling and the Isaac Walton League about the Governor's Climate Change Advisory Group and how recycling and composting can help lower our carbon emissions;

Constituent contacts: North Oaks resident about the Highway 96 landfill situation; Lino Lakes resident against all kinds of taxes; Lino Lakes resident preferring that town hall meetings not conflict with church meetings on Wednesday nights; Lino Lakes resident against taxpayer funding for abortions; Circle Pines resident against the Q-Comp system for teacher compensation; Circle Pines resident against closure of Circle Pines Library in favor of Lino Lakes location

Week of December 9, 2007

Schedule: On Monday, December 10th, I attended a meeting at the MN Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) where a representative of the Michigan Environmental Council presented on a proposed on-line tool for "water withdrawal" permitting. One concern here in MN and elsewhere is that some large-scale users of groundwater (e.g., bottled water plant, ethanol plant) might use too much water so that other residential and agricultural users cannot get enough water. In Michigan, they are proposing that a potential large-scale water user can go on-line and find out whether there is enough water in a particular area. We don't have our groundwater all mapped out in MN so we can't do this yet.

On Wednesday, December 12th, I attended a meeting of the Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board (SWMCB) so I could hear a presentation about a proposed paint product stewardship project. Counties spend a lot of our money to help safely recycle or dispose of our old paint. The state and the metro counties are working with paint manufacturers to see if they can create a system where paint manufacturers can help pick up part of the tab through a consumer fee or incorporating the cost of waste management in the price of the new product. Later in the day I attended a meeting of the House Suburban DFL Caucus and then a DFL House Caucus fundraiser in St. Paul. On Thursday, December 13th, I attended a half-day program by ISAIAH called "Conversation on Health." It was an effort to get supporters of change in the health care system together. On Friday, December 14th, I attended a meeting of the Association of Metropolitan School Districts with about two dozen legislators. The AMSD presented on expected deficits for metro school districts and several superintendents debriefed recent unsuccessful attempts to pass local school levies. Senator Pogemiller and Speaker Kelliher also spoke. Finally, I sat in on a meeting of the East Metro PFC Oversight Working Group, which is monitoring Department of Health efforts to address contamination from 3M chemicals in drinking water.

Visitors: Lino Lakes resident about environment and economic development issues; House researcher on solid waste legislation; committee chair about drinking water issues; House researchers about a health care issue

Constituent contacts: Lino Lakes resident about Lino prison; Golden Lake Elementary parent about education; Lino Lakes resident about heart-healthy initiatives; Lino Lakes resident supporting constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage; Lexington resident wanting tougher penalties for deer-baiting; Circle Pines resident, three Lino Lakes residents, and four Shoreview residents supporting "Free Markets Health Care Petition" that opposes new health care mandates (Minnesota Majority, the organization that organized the health care petition, has five issues that it works on: health care; illegal immigration; gay marriage; sex education; and stem cell research)

Week of November 18, 2007

Schedule: On Monday, November 19th, I met with another House member and a House researcher on a recycling issue. On Tuesday, November 20th, I met with a KSTP reporter about the bill I authored to combat metal theft.

Visitors: Shoreview residents about possible 2008 legislative agenda on health care, transportation, and education

Constituent contacts: Shoreview resident asking "when are you representatives going to protect honest citizens instead of illegal's, criminals and your corrupt buddies" (I'm wondering if news about the Secretary of State's recent admission about using official data for fundraising is the source of this contact); Lino Lakes resident promoting tax cuts for economic growth

New Law Working! KSTP-TV did a story on November 20th on how the new law that I wrote to combat metal theft is working. Hooray! A link to the story is at http://kstp.com/article/stories/S263403.shtml. Burglaries in the 4th precinct in North Minneapolis (mostly copper wire and pipe theft) have dropped by 75 percent! Authorities in Hugo now tell me that they are making some progress with a scrap metal dealer who was buying a lot of stolen metal in that community. The new law also include tougher penalties if someone tampers with electrical transmission equipment, like copper wire. Three men were arrested recently for cutting through Xcel Energy electrical cable underground, and they may be charged with felonies instead of misdemeanors. (This is not a good idea--several thieves in the Midwest have electrocuted themselves this way.)

Another New Law Working! Another bill I spent a lot of time on was on electronic waste. Under the new law, manufacturers of electronics are responsible for the cost of recycling old computers, TVS, and other devices. (The cost eventually is incorporated into the cost of a new device for consumers.) One electronics recycler held a collection event at the Mall of America last week and collected 1 million pounds of electronics that filled 86 trailers! The major barrier to collecting this material in the past has been the high cost of recycling this potentially toxic material. You can find out about e-waste recycling in our area at http://www.greenguardian.com/.