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

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

Week of April 6, 2008

Governor makes line-item veto of Rice Creek Trail: The Governor signed the bonding bill on Monday afternoon while making line item vetoes for quite a few projects. One of the vetoes was for the Rice Creek Regional Trail through Circle Pines and Lino Lakes. This is disappointing, since there were federal matching funds of about $1 million left on the table on this project. Another veto was for the Rush Line Corridor funding that would have built park-and-ride lots along the Highway 61/35E corridor up to Hinckley, which would take traffic off of 35E through our district.

I did notice something interesting in the veto process. The Springbrook Nature Center in Fridley got cut by the Governor. The Tamarack Nature Center in White Bear Lake was approved. The only difference is that a Democrat represents Fridley and a Republican represents White Bear Lake.

Governor signs conflict of interest bill: Some time since Thursday, the Governor signed SF2653, which clarifies state statutes related to conflict of interest for school boards. Senator Betzold and I worked on this bill to make sure that someone can serve on a school board when their spouse also works for the school district. This should resolve an issue related to the Mounds View School District where a new member married to a custodian was told that she might not be able to serve.

Students Speak Out: The Citizens' League is asking students to submit videos that answer the question, "What kind of state do you want to live in when you're an adult?" Check out the rules and guidelines. The deadline is April 21st.

Remembering Larry Morrisette: Long-time Shoreview City Council member passed away last week. I knew Larry from working on the Shoreview Environmental Quality Committee. He always had a quick wit and an easygoing manner. The city's web site has a nice tribute.

I-694 Now on Calendar! One of my pet peeves has been the continued delay in the widening of I-694 between I-35E and I-35W. Bottlenecks have become intolerable, especially since the 35W bridge collapse as people find alternate routes. As of just a few months ago, MnDOT did not even have the project on its calendar, which means it had no funds to put it on their schedule until about 2023 or after. Now, after the passage of the transportation bill, I see on the MnDOT web site that the project is anticipated to begin in 2012. That is good news. (Note: On Monday, April 14th, the MnDOT project manager responded back to me that this is not a "lock" on 2012 and that the agency has firm plans only through 2010.)

Tax revenues slightly up: The MN Department of Finance (click on April 2008 Economic Update) reports that state revenues are above projections for February and March 2008 by about 4.5%. This is good news that helps to shrink the deficit slightly.

Schedule: On Sunday, I attended an ISAIAH community meeting at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in New Brighton on the issue of health care. On Monday I attended an afternoon floor session. We came back at 7:00 p.m. to the floor to finish up several bills on elections. Elections bill always bring up lots of amendments from the minority. Got home around 10:00 p.m. On Tuesday morning I spoke to a class of high school seniors at Centennial High School about the state legislature. They asked lots of good questions, such as, "How do you make decisions?" "How much money do you make?" "How influential are lobbyists?" "What's the best way for someone like us to make a difference?" In the afternoon, I visited a Microsoft/HP "truck" outside the capitol to see the latest technology, filmed an interview for cable TV, and then attended Larry Morrissette's visitation (see above). On Wednesday, I met with several teachers from the Centennial School District about their legislative agenda. After that a St. John's/St. Benedict's student from the district met with me about the state grant program for college students at private colleges. In the afternoon, I attended a House DFL Caucus meeting. On Thursday, I attended a lengthy floor session (10:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.) where we voted on a study for mesothelioma (a type of lung cancer that miners often get) and HF3391, the health care reform bill. On Friday, I spoke to a meeting at the Pollution Control Agency to solid and hazardous waste managers about product stewardship. This is a process by which manufacturers of certain products (like electronics) share in the responsibility for managing the waste at the end of its life.

Visitors: lobbyist for one of the four credit bureaus about HF1665

Constituent contacts: Shoreview couple supporting regulation of puppy mills; two Shoreview residents and two Lino Lakes residents supporting responsible sex education; two Shoreview residents and Lino Lakes resident against House health care reform bill; seven district residents sending form letters from Taxpayers League of MN website about a tax cut petition; Shoreview resident supporting notification to parents about mercury-free vaccines; Lino Lakes resident supporting immigration enforcement; Shoreview couple supporting Central Corridor rail line; Shoreview couple against the Governor's line items vetoes on the bonding bill on rail to Duluth and the Central Corridor; Shoreview resident, Lexington resident, Circle Pines resident, and Lino Lakes resident supporting HF3935 to create a citizen council to oversee funds generated by proposed dedicated sales tax for the outdoors; Circle Pines resident supporting Mall of America expansion; Shoreview? resident against "Hanna Montana" bill to regulate ticket-buying software; Circle Pines resident against radical steps to combat climate change and ethanol subsidies; Lino Lakes resident asking about pension eligibility; Blaine resident, two Shoreview residents, two Lino Lakes residents and additional district resident upset about Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy; three Lino Lakes residents and Shoreview resident against merger of teacher pension funds; Lino Lakes resident supporting additional K-12 funding; Lino Lakes resident against cutting outpatient reimbursements; Lino Lakes resident supporting HF2779 (college savings deduction plan); Shoreview resident supporting private school vouchers; Lino Lakes resident supporting dangerous dog bill; Lino Lakes resident supporting health care reform bill (HF3391); two Shoreview residents supporting Governor's request for bonding on a veterans' home and Lake Vermillion State Park; two Shoreview residents against line item veto of Central Corridor; two Shoreview residents, Blaine resident against "Department of Revenue data match proposal" in the budget balancing bill; Shoreview resident and dentist against advanced hygienist practitioner bill; Shoreview resident, Lexington resident, two Lino Lakes residents supporting my vote on an amendment to HF1812 that may create a large loophole in the smoking ban; Shoreview? resident supporting tax cuts; three Shoreview residents and Lino Lakes resident against bonding bill (one enjoyable comment: "Pull your head out of your backsides..."); Shoreview resident against progressive taxation; Shoreview resident asking about corporate tax loopholes; Lino Lakes resident supporting free trade agreement with Columbia; Shoreview resident against cuts to nursing homes; Shoreview vet against animal chiropractic proposal; Lino Lakes resident concerned about lawsuits and cost of health care; Shoreview resident requesting member directory; Lino Lakes resident against HF3937; four Shoreview residents, Lino Lakes resident, three Circle Pines residents pleased with bonding support for U of M; two Shoreview residents against new DNR rules about aquatic plant management and for HF893

Week of March 2, 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Week of February 3, 2008

Toxic plastics and children: Senator Rummel is the chief author of a bill to ban the use of several toxic ingredients in children's plastic toys and containers. These plasticizers, bisphenol A and phthalates, would be banned for children under three years old. Recent test show that many baby bottles, when heated, will leach bisphenol A into the bottle's contents. For more information, check out the Healthy Legacy web site.

Scrap metal thefts down and arrests up: Cities around the state have been using the new law that I worked on in 2007 to combat the theft of copper and other metals. The Minneapolis police just contacted me with some statistics that show that since the law went into effect, the number of reported thefts has declined significantly. Several people are being prosecuted under the new law as well.

Schedule: On Monday afternoon, I attended a joint House-Senate energy hearing on peak oil. Peak oil is the concept that our global petroleum output has peaked at roughly 80 million barrels a day and is going to decline. The speaker was Matthew R. Simmons of Simmons & Company International in Houston. There is a blog on peak oil at The Oil Drum. At best, we would see tight supply worldwide leading to oil prices that creep higher. At worst, we could see a rapid production drop-off that would lead to significant economic, social, and political chaos. This presentation certainly could get you worked up into a frenzy so I tried to ask questions that would focus on what the real risk is.

Late Tuesday afternoon, I stopped briefly at an event for the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce. The event was at Tria in North Oaks. Nice place. I noticed artwork by Jerome Hill, grandson of James J. Hill, and by another Hill descendant, Mari Hill Harpur. Jerome Hill was the brother of Louis W. Hill, Jr., who ran the North Oaks Company for many years. Louis W. Hill, Jr. was a St. Paul legislator for our area from 1937 to 1952.

Then it was off to the precinct caucuses. Holy cow! Our precinct caucuses were at Chippewa Middle School and Centennial High School. Altogether there were 1,900 people who came. There are several legislative proposals moving forward that would address the issue of whether we have caucuses or a presidential primary or both. It was a long night!

On Wednesday morning, I attended a meeting of local government officials and legislators about the Rush Line transit corridor that would run up Highway 61 and 35W from St. Paul to roughly Hinckley. There is a request for operating dollars for a bus line to run down this corridor in the next year or two, as well as some bonding money for facilities. In reviewing this line during the last few months, I don't know that a huge number of constituents will take the line--we are more likely to use park-and-rides in Lino Lakes and Blaine--but it would take people off of 35E and 35W so that we have fewer cars on the road, which therefore benefits our district. In the afternoon, I attended a meeting of legislators working on climate change issues. (I have some recycling and composting legislation moving forward that will help to reduce carbon emissions.)

On Thursday, I attended a meeting of the Solid Waste Association of North America, and heard a presentation on the metropolitan wastewater treatment plant. We then took a tour of the plant. All cities in district 53A send their wastewater (other than those homes on septic systems) to this plant. You can take an on-line tour here. The average person creates 48 gallons per day of wastewater in their home. (At my house we were down to 54 gallons for four people last quarter.) In the evening, I attended a Blaine City Council meeting with Senator Betzold to update the council on the upcoming legislative session.

On Friday, I attended the Senate committee responsible for hearing environmental bonding projects for the capital investment bill. One of the bills is the $2.3 million bonding bill for completing the Rice Creek North regional trail in Lino Lakes. I had to leave early but they did hear the bill after 3 and a half hours of other bills! In the afternoon, I attended a meeting of Rep. Bunn's working group on Health Department initiatives related to east metro pollution by 3M chemicals like PFCs. (There is some relevance of this group's work to the contaminated well situation in North Oaks.)

In between all of these meetings, I and other legislators were scrambling to get our bills ready for the first day of session. Committee chairs have requested that we introduce our bills as early as possible and complete a request for a hearing in their committees so that they can schedule bills. There will only be about five weeks available to hear bills before our committee deadlines hit on March 14. I've got about 15 bills in the works.

Visitors: House researcher about my drinking water bill; lobbyist from Minnesota Association of Auto Dealers against proposed "clean car" legislation that would require new cars in MN comply with California's emission standards; staff and lobbyists for SKB Environmental, a company that owns construction debris and industrial waste landfills about my solid waste bill; lobbyists for the League of Greater Minnesota Cities about annexation issues; lobbyist for Waste Management and the MN Chamber of Commerce on my solid waste bill (I am also getting e-mail comments from government and nonprofit organizations about the bill too); committee administrator for the drinking water subcommittee; lobbyist for Qwest about statewide cable franchising bill; lobbyists for MN Beverage Association and Midwest Coca-Cola Corp. about my solid waste bill

(One of my bills deals with solid waste, recycling, and composting. In an experiment to avoid time-consuming hang-ups in committee later, I sent out a draft of my bill to stakeholders in the field to get their comments about technical aspects and interpretations of the intent of the bill so I can make corrections ahead of time. So that's why a bunch of them are visiting with me.)

Constituent contacts: Circle Pines resident supporting dedicated funding for the outdoors; Shoreview resident supporting a gas tax increase and better striping on the highways; Shoreview resident supporting ban on using cell phones while driving; two Shoreview residents, four Lino Lakes residents supporting Rule of 90; Shoreview resident supporting Rep. Winkler's bill for a compensation fund for survivors of the 35W bridge collapse; Shoreview resident about a local land issue in Pine County; Shoreview resident about large hog feedlots and a virus that is being spread from these operations to humans; Lino Lakes resident against banning the hunting of mourning doves; Circle Pines resident supporting greater enforcement of immigration laws; North Oaks resident about health care issues; Shoreview resident about bike trail funding; Lino Lakes resident supporting a bill about athletic trainer qualifications; also a lot of opposition at precinct caucuses by Circle Pines residents about the possible closure of the Circle Pines library

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 2, 2007

Schedule: On Monday, December 3rd, I attended a meeting of the Solid Waste Administrators Association (SWAA) where they discussed how recent e-waste legislation is working out. (It is working out quite well, actually.) I also took the bus from the Capitol to downtown Minneapolis for that meeting using my Go To card. It was cheaper than parking! On Tuesday, December 4th, I attended a legislative listening session by the Anoka County Affordable Housing Coalition. About twenty organizations and about six or seven legislators from both parties were in attendance, as well as several people who are living in a local shelter. It became clear that some of these homeless Minnesotans have multiple issues to deal with, including mental health, criminal background (sometimes by a parent or relative), substance abuse, and a lack of skills to be able to deal with all the forms, agencies, and so on that you have to deal with to get housing and benefits. And some homeless people have also had a run of bad luck, including a recent divorce, health problems, escape from domestic violence, etc. It seems very overwhelming, and I compliment the staff of these advocacy organizations for their commitment and skills.

Here are some freaky statistics: In Anoka County, the workforce ratio (the number of retired workers compared to the number of employed workers) was 1 to 9 in 2005. In 2030, it is expected to be 1 to 3.7! This is another indication that our population is aging quickly, and this has radical consequences for housing.

On Wednesday, December 5th, I attended a meeting with some of my colleagues on health care.

On Thursday, December 6th through Saturday, December 8th, I attended a conference in Chicago of the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (NCEL) for the Great Lakes region. This trip was not taken at taxpayer expense, and I received a scholarship from NCEL in order to go. The funding for the scholarship came from the Joyce Foundation. Topics included chemicals found in umbilical cord blood, renewable energy, Great Lakes ballast water legislation to combat invasive species, e-waste, green building, climate change, clean cars, and smart growth. We also toured the Chicago Center for Green Technology and a Mercy Housing low-income housing project that incorporates green building techniques, including a battery-free and low-profile wind turbine design that I had not seen before.

Visitors: House researcher about solid waste legislation; a committee administrator about the drinking water subcommittee; lobbyist for Clean Water Action about future environmental proposals

Constituent contacts: North Oaks resident concerned about decreasing health care coverage and increasing cost; Shoreview resident supporting universal health coverage, concerned about overcapacity in K-12 education, better funding for transportation, and lower property taxes; Shoreview resident about bike trail funding; Shoreview resident about MN Board of Medical Practice

Week of November 25, 2007

Schedule: At church on Sunday, the speaker was Tom Gillaspy, the state demographer. He spoke about how our population is aging. That will have massive fiscal repercussions for us as the baby boomers retire. On Tuesday, November 27th, I toured Century College in White Bear Lake/Mahtomedi with the chair of the House Higher Education Committee, Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Virginia), and Rep. Carol McFarlane (R-White Bear Lake). Several hundred of my constituents attend Century so I wanted to tag along for the tour, since I haven't been there before. (The number of students from 53A at local MnSCU campuses is listed in a previous post.
Here are a couple of interesting items that I heard at Century:
* The state is not going to have enough dentists in the near future. Century is training hygienists and other dental technicians.
* The state has a nursing shortage, and Century's nursing program now has the state's first paramedic-to-RN accelerated program. (My neighbor is participating in this program.)
* Century has one of just seven orthotics and prosthetic labs in the U.S. The campus is cranking out graduates who then--among other things--are producing artificial limbs for returning veterans. In fact, some Iraq vets are in the program.
* The student body comes from 100+ nationalities. Their digital language lab (DLL) assists many students in their English proficiency.
* Minnesota imports engineers from other states and countries. To meet future labor needs, Century has a fabrication lab (the "Fab Lab") where students learn applied engineering. They get an associate of applied science degree and many complete a four-year degree at the University of Minnesota.

We also met with some faculty and members of the student Senate. More than 200 veterans are students. I met three of them in a meeting with the student senate.

Some other interesting factoids:
* For each additional $6 million annually from the state, the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities System (MnSCU) can reduce tuition by 1% for a year. Tuition at Century went up by only 4% this year after much larger increases in past years.
* Seven percent of full-time equivalent course loads at Century are taken on-line
* There is a dispute between the legislature and the MnSCU board of trustees as to how much the MnSCU office should be spending on technology versus tuition reduction.

In the afternoon of November 27th, I attended a meeting of the Eastern Transportation Alliance (ETA), a group of city and county governments that are promoting transit expansion in the greater St. Paul metro area and areas from Chisago County in the north to Olmsted County in the south. The group is asking the Governor and the Legislature for $140 million in bonding money in 2008 to complete the Central Corridor light rail line along University Avenue. The idea is that this line, along with a refurbished Union Depot in St. Paul, will allow suburbs in the northeast and southeast metro to tap into a larger transit network. Our district is kind in the middle of transit proposals to the east (like the Rush Line) and to the west (Northstar Corridor and a proposed passenger rail line from Duluth to Minneapolis via Cambridge). You can get a better idea of what is proposed in the Central Corridor and the Union Depot at the Ramsey County Regional Rail Authority website.

I would like to spend my time relating to transit on bus service and park-and-ride lots for the moment. Speaking of park-and-ride lots, I received a letter from Metro Transit responding to an inquiry regarding lots in Lino Lakes. Metro Transit is trying to build a parking structure at 95th Avenue and 35W (in Blaine) where there is an existing (and full) parking lot of 1,000 spaces. The construction would be from September 2008 to September 2009. A temporary park-and-ride for 200 spaces would be required during construction, and that location could be at the proposed Lino Lakes library site at Highway 23 and 35W in Lino Lakes. Metro Transit also wrote that a park-and-ride for 200 spaces could be possible at the northwest corner of 35E and Highway 14 in Lino Lakes as plans for that intersection develop in early 2008.

On Wednesday, November 28th, I attended a Local Government Officials Meeting for Anoka County in Ham Lake. Anoka County staff presented a draft legislative package. (The 2007 version is on-line and it is very similar.) The most interesting presentation was given by Commissioner Rhonda Sivarajah, who spoke on Anoka County Human Services. The presentation gave the facts about what we might otherwise call "welfare" and the myths that are out there about it. Here are some factoids I picked up:

* A breakdown of benefits issued by the county in 2006 for public assistance included 89% ($268,818,008) for health care (especially nursing homes, Medicare), five percent for food assistance ($13,805,648) , and six percent ($17,888,007) for cash assistance. These are state and federal dollars and the county only pays for staff to administer the benefits.
* The average costs for nursing home care are about $3,500 to $6,500 per month.
* 70% of people on MFIP (Minnesota Family Investment Program, a cash program for families with children) in Anoka County have only been on public assistance for less than two years. The cash benefit is $532 per month and $378 for food stamps per month.
* 69% of MFIP recipients are children.
* The average monthly caseload for the County for MFIP is 1,798.

After viewing the Star Tribune's web site on the 35W bridge collapse, I found that there were three of my constituents on that bridge, including one who was killed. I was pleased that the Governor announced some temporary relief for survivors but I was distressed that it took so long for him to take action. The temporary assistance comes from an existing tort claims fund. It looks like Senator Ron Latz (DFL-St. Louis Park) and Rep. Dennis Ozment (R-Rosemount) worked with the Governor after the 9/11 fund special master spoke on this issue a few weeks ago.

Visitors: On November 27th I met with a House researcher, MPCA staffers, and another House member on some recycling initiatives.

Constituent contacts: district resident about my bill on scrap metal theft because his company provides alarm systems for construction sites, which have been targets for thieves (the company is RSI Alarm, based in White Bear Lake, and it sells globally); Circle Pines resident about property tax assessments; Shoreview resident about special education and transportation policy; Shoreview resident about MN Board of Medical Practice issue; Circle Pines resident about MnDOT rules about audible pedestian signals for blind pedestrians; Lino Lakes resident about environmental issues; Shoreview resident about health care premium increases and the precariousness of coverage and supporting transit; Shoreview resident supporting fewer mandates and increased competition in health care