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

June 2008 Wrap-Up

If you just got my end-of-session mailing and are visiting this site for the first time, welcome! If you're looking for my campaign website, click here.

I'm switching to a monthly summary for June since the legislative session was completed in May and I'm out campaigning on a daily basis. I'm a stay-at-home dad this summer until 3:00 p.m. or so when I head out doorknocking.

Schedule: On Monday, June 2nd, I had a fairly large meeting among some health care experts on the issue of my bill HF3810. This bill might take a different form in 2009 if I return to the House. On Thursday, June 5th, I attended a fundraiser for the DFL House Caucus. On Saturday, June 7th, I attended my first state DFL convention, which was in Rochester. I had the chance to sit next to Congresswoman McCollum and have a lengthy chat about issues and politics. I was only able to stay from about noon to four p.m. On Monday, June 9th, I spoke on legislative issues briefly to the Lino Lakes City Council. I prepared a one-page memo summarizing legislative actions that affect the city, which must have been pretty informative because the council didn't say a word and didn't any questions. This is pretty different from other city councils in 53A, which have quite a conversation with me!

On Thursday, June 12th, I was part of a panel discussion at the annual workshop of the Association of Recycling Managers (ARM). ARM is a group of metro area recycling coordinators from cities and counties. I talked about what the legislature accomplished and didn't accomplish during the session for recycling, composting, and product stewardship. Later in the day I stopped by Bethel University, where Girls State was meeting. This is an annual meeting for high school girls where they kind of act like a student legislature. I met with about 15 students as an observer on their "job, energy, and economic development committee," where they were vetting two "bills." One was on funding for renewable energy projects for schools and the other was on the minimum wage. They had good ideas and we had a great conversation.

On Monday, June 16th, I drove to St. Cloud to meet with about 15 county solid waste officers to talk about the legislative session. These are the folks--mostly in Greater MN--who operate landfills and recycling programs at the county level. On Wednesday, June 18th, I joined several other legislators and staff and commissioners from Anoka County about future management of the Elk River Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) plant. On Tuesday, June 24th, two other legislators and I attended an announcement in Eagan by Coca-Cola that they are putting ten diesel hybrid trucks on the road in our area this year. The trucks are more expensive but at current fuel costs the payback period is three years. They use one-third less fuel and have one-third fewer emissions. In the evening, Senator Rummel and I met with the Circle Pines City Council. We had a lengthy and healthy discussion of issues.

During the month of June I also interviewed with several organizations about possible endorsements for the my campaign.

Constituent contacts: Shoreview resident with a drivers' license issue; Circle Pines resident about parking regulations; Lino Lakes resident insisting on more oil exploration in the outer continental shelf; Circle Pines resident distressed about increasing insurance co-pay for MS patients; Circle Pines resident upset about insurance company response to recent hail damage; Circle Pines resident about statute related to collector license plates; Shoreview resident proposing a bus system that uses 694 and 494 to serve the suburbs; Blaine resident promoting more domestic oil exploration and doubting climate change; Shoreview resident against light rail; district resident against taxes and light rail but supporting nuclear power; Shoreview resident for more domestic oil exploration; Shoreview resident asking about 35W bridge reports; Lino Lakes resident about the Lino Lakes Police Department

Week of April 27, 2008

Property Tax Refund Calculator: The House Tax Committee has unveiled a property tax bill that will allow for greater property tax refunds for many Minnesotans. It is revenue-neutral, which means that it will not require a tax increase. You can figure out your own property tax refund on-line at the House web site. Click on "Calculate property tax relief proposed in HF3149, omnibus tax bill."

Mall of America: The media has been reporting on a bill that would subsidize the cost of a parking ramp at the Mall of America II project as part of building the new mall. Part of the proposed subsidy would be funded from a pool of money called the "fiscal disparities" program which is 40% of the commercial and industrial property taxes collected in the metro area. My constituents in Anoka County have lower property taxes because of this program, so this mall bill is problematic or me and I find it unacceptable in its current form. I am also not supportive of subsidizing a private business in this way.

Bills pass: The conference committee report on HF3477 passed on the House floor on Monday afternoon. A discussion of this bill dealing with predatory lending protections for manufactured housing owners is in the previous blog entry. It passed 126-3.

One of my other bills, SF2996/HF2903, also passed on the floor on Monday. It would count wastewater effluent as a source of renewable energy in order to promote the use of research of algae for biofuels. Wastewater treatment effluent has a lot of phosphorus in it and that can be used to increase growth in algae that can be used to make biodiesel. Renewable energy status allows producers of this energy to qualify for grants and the like. This bill passed 130-0. Senator Rummel has the Senate version and they are now identical.

Blog article: Several daily newspapers in Greater MN published by Forum Communications carried an article about political blogs and blogs of elected officials this week, and I had a bit quote in it. You can read it on-line.

Burn barrel bill: My bill (HF2802) that would curb open burning of household garbage--the largest source of dioxin pollution in the United States--made some waves in Greater Minnesota this week. The weekly Agri News carried two articles on the bill and about ten farmers have called to share their views. (See "Proposed Ban on Barrel-Burning is Controversial," "Shoreview DFLer Wants Comments on Proposed Burning Ban".)

Health care attitudes: One of the things I really wanted to do in this job is get a better idea from constituents about what kind of change in our health care system that they want, with the end result being health coverage for all, lower costs per capita, and improved quality. It has been frustrating because health care policy is so complicated. MPR did a story on how consumers want change but people are conflicted about what that change should be.

Schedule: On Monday we had a lengthy floor session from about 1:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. The major bill was the E-12 education policy bill. We spent a few hours on an amendment on sex education. I've been on record supporting comprehensive sex education as long as there is an opt-out provision should parents and students want an alternative curriculum, and I supported the amendment. Before session I attended a rally by Minnesota film industry workers who were supporting the reinstatement of a rebate for their industry to help attract feature films to MN. A constituent from Blaine asked me to attend and I spoke to a few people at the rally.

On Tuesday, after taking my son to the doctor, I attended a caucus meeting at the Capitol. On Wednesday, we had a floor session from 10:30 a.m. to about 5:45 p.m. covering a lot of smaller bills, including some miscellaneous energy bills. On Thursday, we had a floor session and a caucus meeting. Major bills include the minimum wage bill (I voted in support) and a resolution to Congress supporting the Employee Free Choice Act (I voted in support). We also discussed a bill that would ban the use of decabromodiphenylether (DBPE), a flame retardant that is a persistent bio-accumulative toxin.

Visitors: three people from MN Catholic Conference asking for support of an increase in the minimum wage; grassroots organizers from AFL-CIO presenting letters of support from constituents in support of an increase in the minimum wage; Lino Lakes constituent, labor organizer, and lobbyist together to promote subsidy for Mall of America parking ramp

Constituent contacts: nine constituents sending form letters supporting the Taxpayers' League Tax Cut Petition; Shoreview constituent against "left-wing" agenda of advocates for combatting climate change; Lino Lakes resident against a bill in Congress on immigration; district resident reporting on graduated drivers license issue for Mounds View High School student newspaper; Lino Lakes resident supporting state subsidy for parking ramp at Mall of America II project; Shoreview resident with question about deductibility of federal stimulus checks from state taxes (they are exempt from taxation); Lino Lakes resident against No Child Left Behind; Lino Lakes resident supporting Judge Roy Moore of Alabama; Circle Pines resident against biofuel subsidies and subsidy for Mall of America II project; Shoreview resident supporting private school vouchers; Lino Lakes resident supporting HF4178 for comprehensive school funding; Shoreview resident and Lino Lakes resident against reduced payments to safety net hospitals; Shoreview resident supporting funding for Minnesota Principals' Academy; two Shoreview residents, Blaine resident, and North Oaks resident against subsidy for Mall of America II project; Lino Lakes resident supporting algae-to-biofuels research; Shoreview resident supporting funding for a Minneapolis veterans' home and a Lake Vermillion State Park; Shoreview resident against Central Corridor; Shoreview resident against property tax bill; Shoreview resident against Mall of America II project and supporting enforcing agreements that the state has with Northwest Airlines; Shoreview resident supporting of Staffing for Patient Safety bill for nurses; Shoreview resident supporting Employee Free Choice resolution; Shoreview resident supporting MN Taxpayers League platform; Shoreview resident supporting Rule of 90 pension proposal for teachers; North Oaks resident asking about property tax bill and its affect on seasonal recreation property; Shoreview resident supporting a photo ID to vote; three Lino Lakes residents, Circle Pines resident supporting a citizens council for proposed outdoor funding sales tax revenue allocation; Shoreview resident against current route of the Central Corridor; Shoreview business owner supporting Early Stage Capital Access bill (HF3538); Shoreview resident supporting minimum wage; Circle Pines resident supporting approval of medical marijuana; North Oaks resident, two Circle Pines residents, Lino Lakes resident, two Shoreview residents supporting comprehensive sex education; two Lino Lakes residents and Circle Pines resident against comprehensive sex education; five Lino Lakes residents and Shoreview resident on a teacher pension issue

Week of January 27, 2007

I had some "aha!" moments this week on a few topics.

* At Northwest Youth and Family Services in Shoreview: "A joint study conducted by the University of Minnesota and Wilder Research revealed that the state can expect a $4.89 return for every dollar spent on intervention services like the NYFS diversion program." Wow!

* A representative of the Tiller Corp. here in Ramsey County reports that his company would come out ahead with a gas tax increase because his company's trucks are losing two hours a day through congestion. If that daily delay was cut to one hour, they would save $14,000 per year per truck, or $420,000 a year.

* One constituent proposal for insuring the uninsured through Minnesota Care is that we should give program recipients a debit card to use for health care instead of having to pay a middleman HMO to insure that person. This theoretically would save money. As an example, HMOs get a 9% margin on Medicare patients and usually less for private pay patients. Twenty-five percent of Medicare patients use 75% of the dollars in the program, so such an idea could result in real savings.

Schedule: On Sunday evening I attended a house party for a presidential candidate in Shoreview. On Monday afternoon, I worked with a house media staffer on some video coverage of district issues. On Tuesday, Senator Rummel and I met with the MPCA Commissioner about the Highway 96 landfill situation and several other environmental issues. Senator Rummel and I also met with staff from the Met Council about two legislative initiatives related to drinking water and wastewater. On the phone I responded to inquiries to three different reporters about cable franchising, mining issues, and the 2008 legislative session. In the evening, I stopped by an Arden Hills-Shoreview Rotary reception in Arden Hills. On Wednesday, I met with a North Oaks resident about local issues. I also met with a representative of the Minnesota Attorney General's office about the Mounds View School Board situation. In the evening, Senator Rummel and I held a town hall meeting at the Shoreview Community Center. We had about a dozen constituents in attendance. We had a very good conversation about transportation, health care, property taxes, education, and other issues. On Thursday, Senator Rummel and I met with representatives of the East Metro Medical Society about health care issues. In the evening, I attended a meeting of the Ramsey County League of Local Government with several of my colleagues in North Oaks. Members of the Shoreview and North Oaks City Councils and the Mounds View School Board were also there. We get invited to a lot of events with other elected officials, and the discussion usually deals with stuff that most voters would find to be "inside-baseball" information. It is a little frustrating, because voters are the people who wield the most influence over legislators, and these events (I've been to half a dozen just in 30 days) are of marginal value. On Friday morning, several local legislators and I visited Northwest Youth and Family Services in Shoreview. NY&FS provides many necessary services to the community, including youth diversion for kids. These diversion programs, often for kids (and their families) who get into trouble, reduce taxpayer costs by keeping these kids out of the criminal justice system.

Visitors: lobbyist from the MN Chamber of Commerce on solid waste issues; lobbyist for several electronics manufacturers as follow-up on e-waste legislation

Constituent contacts: Shoreview nurse about public health issues, including seat belt and graduated drivers licenses; Circle Pines, Lino Lakes, and Shoreview residents supporting tougher laws on immigration; Shoreview resident about human rights issues; four district residents supporting the U of M's bonding proposals; Lino Lakes resident supporting bonding request for the Bell Museum of Natural History; Shoreview resident against breed-specific bans for dogs; Shoreview resident supporting dedicating sales tax for hunting and fishing habitat; Shoreview resident supporting property tax relief; Circle Pines resident against recent MN Supreme Court decision that would apply property taxes to some nonprofit organizations; Shoreview resident against capping of property taxes based on experience in California; Circle Pines resident about a labor regulation issue; 29 district residents sending form letters against taxpayer funding for abortion; Lino Lakes and Shoreview residents supporting "Rule of 90" for retiring teachers

Week of January 13, 2008

Governor's Bonding Proposal: On Monday morning, the Governor outlined his recommendations for capital investment. You can see copies of the presentation and a list of the detailed projects at the Department of Finance website. There is a lot of good stuff in there, and the legislature will now take a look at this proposal and incorporate its own ideas as well. The bonding bill will total about $1 billion. In particular, I noticed that the state is proposing $1 million for additional groundwater monitoring wells in the Twin Cities metro area. There is also a proposal for trunk highway bonding for the Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA) that would likely provide support for park-and-rides in the north metro area, including Lino Lakes. The Governor is also proposing $225 in borrowing for local bridge replacement. The legislature may move this into the transportation bill but I'm not sure yet. I will point out that transportation still has a dedicated source of funding (the gas tax and license tab fees) while this transportation bonding has no plan for paying back the bonds. Our interest payments on trunk highway bonds have increased by 1000% in the last five years!

A Little Bit on Health Care: The documents we're given on possible health care reform in 2008 are pretty overwhelming, so I'm digesting them a little bit at a time. The legislature's Health Care Access Commission Working Group on Cost Containment has an interesting report that talks about "health care homes" or what some call "patient centered care." My colleague Rep. Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul) is a co-author and she is one of four nurses in the House. The report talks about successful pilot projects where one person or clinic helps patients wade through a complex system to figure out the best care. Very outcome-based!

35-W Bridge Survivors' Web Site: Several survivors of the bridge collapse have put together a web site to encourage action by the legislature. You'll note that seven survivors come from our senate district, plus two people people who died in the collapse.

Per diem issue: I was surprised to see that the Anoka County Watchdog called me the "North Metro Taxpayer Hero" on Friday because of my low per diem rate. Usually I find the watchdog criticisms of public officials to be too subjective (and a little personal), but he does provide a valuable service in shedding some light on public records about government programs and spending.

Schedule: On Monday, I attended a workshop with the Shoreview City Council with other legislators representing Shoreview, including Senators Rummel and Chaudhary and Representatives Scalze and Knuth. The city's legislative platform included: property tax relief through an enhanced circuit breaker mechanism; commitment to the reinstatement of the homestead market value tax credit that homeowners used to get for homes valued at $400,000 or less, which the city has been funding on its own after state budget cuts in 2003; a preference that the state not impose levy limits; comprehensive transportation funding; allowing administrative fines for ordinance enforcement; opposition to any regionalized water supply system; and opposition to the statewide cable franchising bill (as currently written) discussed in a previous post.

On Tuesday, I attended a meeting of the Legislative Electric Energy Task Force. Presenters included an advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger who presented "How U.S. States Will Answer the Energy & Climate Challenges of the 21st Century," with an emphasis on cap-and-trade systems to combat global warming; a U of M professor on "Cap-and-Trade 101"; and one additional speaker from the Regulatory Assistance Project about cap-and-trade architecture. In the late afternoon, I attended a meeting of elected officials to get an introduction to Alexandra House, the only battered women's shelter in Anoka County. It was a very sobering visit. Alexandra House has 35 beds. In 2003, they lost $600,000 in funding during the budget cutting session at the Capitol and have been slowly recovering.

On Wednesday, I attended an all-day legislative policy conference for legislators at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. In the afternoon we participated in an exercise to help us learn how to negotiate with each successfully. We'll see if it actually works this session!

On Thursday morning, Senator Rummel and I met with a group of doctors at Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul as part of the East Metro Medical Society Council on Professionalism and Ethics. Rep. Jim Abeler and Rep. Erin Murphy were presenting on the Governor's Health Care Transformation Task Force. The main complaint of doctors at the meeting about health care reform proposals was that doctors are being pushed to control costs when there are other things that government and society as a whole should do to make people healthier. For example, doctors do not make people obese or poor but they must deal with the health consequences. They don't like the idea of being pushed into larger organizations like HMOs where cost becomes the driving factor. Later in the morning, I attended a meeting of the Healthy Legacy Coalition, which wants the legislature to ban certain flame retardants and plasticizers. The speaker was Mark Schapiro, who wrote a new book on the topic. In the afternoon, I met a few legislative leaders and two commissioners about water policy and ethanol. Later, I attended a joint meeting of the House Energy Committee and the House Committee on Local Government and Metropolitan Affairs. Two speakers came from Portland, Oregon came to talk about their efforts to deal with "peak oil" and declining supplies of petroleum. An MPCA staffer spoke about the agency efforts on sustainability. Finally, in the early evening I spoke to about a dozen phone canvassers at Clean Water Action about my drinking water subcommittee. (Also see under constituent contacts.)

On Friday, I visited the Forest Lake School District's early childhood program. They have a very active parent advisory council and its leaders took me around with the director of the family center. They spoke to me first-hand about how their children became ready for kindergarten, including one example of how one child avoided becoming a special education student (at possibly higher cost to the taxpayer) because of pre-school screening. I represent just a small fraction of this district in Lino Lakes but I really wanted to hear from their program and it was a good visit. As one teacher said, "It's better to build children than to repair adults!" In the afternoon, I met with a staff member of the Freshwater Society about drinking water policy.

Visitors: Staff from the MN Department of Health about a proposed water supply interconnection between Minneapolis and St. Paul; a Senator about Board of Medical Practice

Constituent contacts: Circle Pines resident and Lino Lakes resident supporting early legislative approval of the MAPE (MN Association of Professional Employees) contract; Circle Pines high school student with an idea about the minimum wage; Circle Pines resident against the Q-Comp teacher's compensation program; Shoreview resident about MN Board of Medical Practice; Circle Pines resident supporting a citizen stakeholder council for the proposed outdoor heritage fund in the proposed dedicated outdoor funding sales tax bill; Lino Lakes resident supporting lower property taxes for unimproved lakeshore property; Lino Lakes resident pleased with constituent communication and blog; about two dozen constituents supporting tougher enforcement on illegal immigration (these were all form letter e-mails); North Oaks resident concerned about lack of opportunity for public comment on the MPCA's proposed amendment to a decision document on the Highway 96 landfill situation; two Shoreview residents and Circle Pines resident opposed to government intervention in health care; Shoreview resident against a gas tax increase and local projects in the bonding bill

The folks at Clean Water Action gave to me on Thursday THIRTY-FIVE handwritten letters from constituents in Shoreview thanking me for supporting the global warming mitigation act in last year's energy bill. Wow.

Week of December 30, 2007-January 5, 2008

Town hall meeting: With the legislative session coming up on February 12th, Senator Rummel and I will be holding a town hall meeting to meet with constituents on Wednesday, January 23rd at 7:00 p.m. at Lino Lakes City Hall. Directions are on the home page of the Lino Lakes web site.

Health Care Transformation Task Force: Many different commissions, task forces, and committees have been meeting during the summer, fall, and winter to propose changes to the health care system. One of the key ones is the Health Care Transformation Task Force. Expect to hear more on this blog about what might be in store during the legislative session. Of particular interest is how we can reduce costs for those people who already have health coverage. Here is a chart summarizing systemwide potential health care cost savings that could reach 17.5% by 2015. Additional reports and supporting materials for the task force can also be found on the web at the Department of Health web site.

Several other commissions have been meeting on a variety of issues, and their recommendations are located on the web.

Schedule: On Wednesday, I met with the finance director and city manager in Shoreview to learn how their water and sewer rates are set. My drinking water subcommittee is looking at how sewer and water rates create incentives or disincentives for conservation, so the meeting was very helpful! Shoreview does a pretty good job where if you use more than a basic level of water (15,000 gallons per quarter in the non-summer months) you are charged a higher rate. The same goes for sewer usage. However, water use has gone down over the last ten years in Shoreview and the "base rate" for water availability will need to be re-set so that the volume charge for water doesn't subsidize the basic connection costs. Later in the day I met with two different House researchers helping me draft two bills on drinking water and solid waste.

On Thursday, I attended an all-day retreat of the DFL House Caucus to discuss the upcoming session. (Blog readers will note that I don't give details on the contents of caucus meetings, since it is a chance for all DFLers in the House to express their frank views, and it is important to maintain the confidentiality of these meetings in order to encourage those frank discussions.)

On Thursday evening, I met with the Lexington City Council to discuss major issues coming before the legislature and to hear of those issues that affect the city. And here they are!

* Cable franchising: A bill in the legislature would create a statewide cable franchising system to theoretically create more competition (and possibly lower prices) for cable services. For example, Qwest would be able to have the right to enter the cable market to compete with Comcast in our area without having to negotiate individual franchise arrangements with local cable access commissions (like CTV 15 and North Metro 15). Local cable commissions are concerned that, as written, the bill will drastically cut the "PEG fees" that support local cable programming. They are also concerned that they will lose control over the franchising process but only wealthier communities with lots of cable consumers will get the benefits.

* Transportation: The City of Lexington and its taxpayers would benefit from a comprehensive transportation package. According to the state constitution, cities and counties receive 33% of gas tax and license tab fee revenues, which helps avoid more increases in city and county property taxes. This chart shows how it works. This is why I don't support the Governor's and House Republican proposals to bond more for trunk highways because trunk highway bonds can only pay for trunk highways, not city and county roads like the gas tax and license tab fees. We now owe about ten times more interest on trunk highway bonds than we did before 2003, when the legislature bonded for a large chunk of transportation funding. This is also why I supported increasing the gas tax in 2007--we can pay now or pay a lot more later.

* Local government aid (LGA): Lexington receives several hundred thousand dollars in LGA annually. The City of Lexington would like to see a recommitment to LGA in the 2009 budget. Interestingly, because the LGA funding formula in 2006 started giving cities with less than 5,000 population $6 per capita, the City of North Oaks gets about $26,000 in LGA, which tends to irritate other metro cities who are not getting LGA.

* Library: City Council members expressed an interest in communicating concerns about the possible closure of the Circle Pines library should a proposed Lino Lakes library get built. They would like to see some basic services remain for seniors and others who do not drive. (I just noticed that Anoka County Libraries has a Books by Mail service for homebound residents.)

* Rice Creek Trail: I'm authoring a bill to support construction of the Rice Creek North Regional Trail through the Rice Creek Chain of Lakes park in Lino Lakes and then through Circle Pines. The City Council was interested in supporting this request.

* Administrative fines: Forty percent of the city's budget is for public safety. Officers for the Centennial Lakes Police Department spend a lot of time at the county courthouse at city expense when they could issue city administrative fines for traffic violations instead. Currently the city must issue tickets through the county.

And, on Saturday, I met with parents from the Golden Lake Elementary PTA in Circle Pines.

Constituent contacts: Shoreview resident about a Cub Scout visit to the Capitol; Lino Lakes resident about an upcoming education meeting; Shoreview resident asking about the campaign finance system in Minnesota; Shoreview resident passing along article about a Mexican health care initiative that has reduced hypertension in patients; two Circle Pines residents about a proposed cable franchising bill; two Lino Lakes residents, Shoreview resident, and Circle Pines resident supporting a ban on hunting morning doves; Shoreview resident asking about upcoming drinking water subcommittee meeting; North Oaks resident about health care

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)

Health Care Column: comments welcome!

Here's a column I wrote to the community newspapers on health care. I hope that you will share your comments on health care with me at rep.paul.gardner@house.mn.

HEALTH CARE MUST BE MORE AFFORDABLE AND ACCESSIBLE

The 2008 session of the state legislature will include a hefty discussion about health care access and costs.

Health insurance costs continue to rise dramatically. In the months before the next session, my colleagues in the House and Senate are discussing several reforms that could reverse some troubling trends. I hope that constituents will share their ideas and opinions with me before the session starts on February 12th.

The trends will not surprise you. Minnesota currently has the highest percentage of people uninsured since 1998, including over 100,000 children. And these are not just people making minimum wage. The share of Minnesotans with employment-based health insurance was just 65.7% in 2006, a new all-time low. Since 2000, private health insurance premiums have risen by an average of 10% per year, outpacing yearly income increases by over three times. This inflation reduces the ability of employers to hire more people, and when employers do not provide health coverage, workers are left trying to find coverage on their own.

Cost containment needs to be a priority. The state legislature made positive strides this year and is continuing to look for practical solutions that will help limit health care costs, while maintaining the high quality of care.

Along with insuring over 30,000 Minnesota kids who were previously not covered, we enacted legislation creating a more cost-effective health care system. In December, a new health care payment reform plan will be initiated that rewards cost-effective primary and preventive care and discourages overuse of expensive and many times unnecessary procedures. Minnesota also became only the 2^nd state in the country to adopt uniform billing practices. Combined with electronic medical records (which need to have necessary data protections), this will lower administrative costs.

In June, a bipartisan coalition of legislators began studying Minnesota's health care system, focusing on cost-containment and affordability. This Health Care Access Commission, comprised of both Republican and Democratic State Representatives and Senators, will release their policy recommendations this January. The commission plans to offer proposals that correct redundancy and inefficiencies in health care payments, creating a lower-cost reimbursement structure. Their recommendations will also focus on the need to reduce expensive health care services through preventative measures and early treatment for chronic conditions like obesity and diabetes.

Challenges will still remain. Many uninsured Minnesotans can pay for health coverage but insurance companies may choose not cover them. Reimbursement rates for Minnesota Care, like Medicare, are usually lower than normal market rates so doctors and clinics may limit the number of patients accepted under these programs if we expand them on a much larger scale.

I very much would like to hear your opinions, questions, and concerns about how health care costs and access issues are affecting you, and what ideas you have. Please e-mail me at Rep.Paul.Gardner@house.mn, write me at the Capitol, or call my office at 651-296-2907. Also check out my blog at http://www.paulgardner53a.blogspot.com for more information on my other legislative activities.