A blurb about bottled water....

It is the first day of session today and an AP reporter asked me about a bill I have (HF2512) about bottled water. We talked a little bit and I thought it would be mentioned as a short blurb on the back page of something, since we have a jobs bill, a bonding bill, General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC), etc. By 4:00 p.m. I started getting interesting e-mail about the bill because the AP put it on the wire and the Star Tribune website had a link on the front page. So to anyone interested for the rationale for the bill, here's some more info...

The text of the bill isn't exactly as clear as it could be, but here's the gist of it:

When state agencies buy bottled water in five-gallon jugs (something seen in many offices) it costs taxpayers about 80 cents to $1.00 per gallon. In contrast, tap water in Shoreview is about 80 cents per ten thousand gallons. An intern of mine last year calculated that even with a high-end tap filter to get out any sediment, hardness, etc. in the water, the bottled water still costs about five to ten times more. And one of the two vendors of bottled water to the state uses tap water anyway.

The bill says that state employees should be discouraged from drinking bottled water, but the intent is that our state agencies should move from bottled water to tap water or filtered tap water because it's cheaper. (If you want to bring or buy your own, go right ahead.)

This isn't something that ought to be in state statute, but I was trying to get people's attention that is this something that could save some money. Not a lot, but when we are going to be laying off state workers and all sorts of other public employees, it is something we should look at.

There are also some compelling environmental reasons for sticking to tap water, since it takes a lot of energy to transport bottled water everywhere, but that was not the impetus for the bill.

November-December 2009 Update

Greetings! With the holidays I haven't updated this in a while. Here's a summary of my November and December activities.

I'll start by including this campaign flyer for my grandfather that I just unearthed from a box. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Massachusetts House of Representatives in (I think) 1916 as a Democrat. He and his father were supporters of William Jennings Bryan during the progressive era. His father had been a legislator for one term in 1884 on the "Greenbacker" ticket.

Hearings and committee meetings: The Health Care & Human Services Policy Committee (HCHS) met several times. One was on the redesign of State Operated Services (SOS). SOS includes health care facilities run by the Department of Human Services (DHS) primarily for people with mental illness and chemical dependency issues. DHS is undertaking a re-design to maximize the use of its existing beds in the state and to help save money.

We also had a hearing on different proposals for salvaging the General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) program that serves about 33,000 Minnesotans who don't have insurance coverage and who have assets of less than $8,000. About 30% of this population is homeless and around 70% have either a mental health issue or chemical dependency issue, or both. In short, most people in GAMC are not able to function on their own. The Governor made a line-item veto of this program for fiscal year 2011 and then unalloted the program for March to June 2010. Advocates for GAMC have made serving this population a top priority. My colleague Rep. Erin Murphy and Sen. Linda Berglin have proposed an alternative that would increase a surcharge on hospitals that would then leverage matching federal funds. This would salvage GAMC to a degree and return some money to the general fund to help balance the budget. My Republican colleague Rep. Matt Dean has another proposal to have who I would call more high-functioning people on GAMC put on Minnesota Care and then use dollars from the Health Care Access Fund (HCAF) to fund the people who really need additional guidance. Money for the HCAF comes from a 2% health care provider tax--doctors often call it the "sick tax" because you only pay it when you go to the doctor. HCAF dollars pay for Minnesota Care, which serves Minnesotans who have jobs but don't have health coverage. Neither proposal is perfect--rural hospitals are not liking the idea of a higher surcharge to fund what is mostly a metro area issue, and putting GAMC patients on Minnesota Care will deplete the HCAF a lot quicker than expected.

A summary of Minnesota's health care programs is at the DHS web site.

On December 22nd, I participated in a reading of names of those on GAMC with local volunteers from Take Action Minnesota at the Shoreview Community Center.

Environmental Committees: The Environmental Finance Committee met to hear from the MN Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and the DNR about various issues. I sat in on the oversight hearing dealing with "total maximum daily load" (or TDML) compliance. The MPCA must test all waters in the state every ten years for a variety of pollutants. Pollutants that exceed the TDML for a particular watershed will put that watershed into "non-compliance" and trigger a variety of government action. Of chief concern is that the Lake Pepin watershed continues to be non-compliant. The good news is that metro area residents have already paid for significant improvements to the Metro Wastewater Treatment Plant at Pigs Eye to reduce the amount of major pollutants going back into the Mississippi. The bad news is that the Minnesota River continues to be a major problem. One issue I brought up at the hearing was that Minnesota's TDML data is not particularly user-friendly for the public. I suggested that the MPCA look at Maryland's example called BayStat.

Presentation to Jobs Task Force: The House Jobs Task Force is a group of several dozen legislators seeking ways to trigger improved job growth during the recession. On November 30th, I gave a three-minute presentation on how the state could use recycling as a way to boost job growth, since recycling leads to more economic value and growth than throwing recyclable waste away. For example, in Wisconsin, the state has required that all public building projects recycle 50% of their construction waste. For every $1,000 in construction costs, this requirement saves a dollar. It also provides cheaper raw material to manufacturers of concrete, asphalt, steel, aluminum, etc. Quite a few metro area recycling businesses are ready to hire more people if something like this was more widespread.

Check your water data: The New York Times did a recent major article about pollution in drinking water in the U.S. They created a database that you can search for your community's water quality report. All cities in 53A are listed. We have fewer contaminants probably because we don't get water from the Mississippi. On a related issue, the MN Department of Health received some additional funding from the new dedicated sales tax to detect new contaminants in our drinking water. The MPCA has also produced an endocrine disruptor study that shows what kind of contaminants are in our lakes that could mess with the endocrine systems of fish and possibly humans. Lake Owasso in Shoreview was among the lakes tested. At the federal level, the U.S. EPA is considering possible federal regulatory action on pharmaceuticals in drinking water. I'm working on a bill-HF1217-that would reduce the amount of pharmaceuticals being flushed into our wastewater treatment systems. During the fall, I've met with various public, private, and nonprofit stakeholders on the bill so we can make it the best we can make it.

Health care: I found this interesting New York Times article called If Health Reform Fails, America's Innovation Gap Will Grow. It asserts that entrepreneurs will not take risks if they are concerned about not having health coverage.

Energy conservation: My house was one of 50,000 Xcel Energy customers to have an energy usage report with my bill. My energy use was compared to that of my neighbors and the Xcel web site has lots of useful tools for reducing wasted energy. Reporting to customers like this in other states has resulted in a two percent reduction in energy use.

Vikings stadium: The debate on a possible new Vikings stadium is heating up. Many constituents know that I am not a big supporter of public funding for stadiums. Our House Research department has done a great background study of previous stadium funding efforts.

Spending amendment: Governor Pawlenty has proposed the use of a constitutional amendment to cap state spending at the level of the previous budget except in cases of emergency. Here's a link to an analysis that shows that this is not a great idea.

Visitors: Department of Human Services on mental health & State Operated Services; MN Pharmacists Association on HF1217; WasteCap Wisconsin about construction site recycling; constituent about athletic trainer certification bill; constituent about market-based health care bill; Senator Sheran about HF1372; Legal Aid about a water utilities bill; DHS and House Research about HF1217; Ramsey County lobbyist and solid waste staff; Partnership for Affordable Energy about promoting coal as a power source; MN Hospital Association about mental health; League of MN Cities about water utilities bill; constituent and advocates for natural burials; Circle Pines constituent visting the Capitol; Health Partners staff and lobbyists about GAMC; Aging Services of MN & Care Providers of MN about HF1217; Healthy Legacy about HF1217 and HF2407

Visits (where I was the vistor): Ace Solid Waste in Ramsey, Delkor Systems in Blaine; North Oaks for St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce event; NorthStar line opening at Fridley station; E3 Conference presentation on compostable bags; Metro North Chamber of Commerce Working Green Business Expo in Blaine; Allied Waste recycling center in Minneapolis; Courageous Conversations about Health Care event in Mahtomedi; National Caucus of Environmental Legislators conference in Chicago (no taxpayer dollars spent for my travel); House DFL Caucus fundraiser; MPCA meeting on waste issues; Ramsey Conservation District; House DFL Caucus retreat; Anoka County Juvenile Detention Center in Lino Lakes (The Pines School) to talk to students about government

October 2009 Update

October turned out to be as busy as September, plus I had flu-like symptoms twice that knocked me out for a couple of days. Wash those hands!

Conservation Minnesota Award: On October 26th, I received a conservation leader award from Conservation Minnesota for my work on water conservation and solid waste. I am very honored to be in the company of Will Steger as well as my constituent Dr. Michael Kilgore for his work on the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council.

Endocrine disruptors in Lake Owasso: The MPCA just issued a study that measured chemical compounds in our rivers and lakes that disrupt the endocrine systems of fish. Lake Owasso in Shoreview/Roseville was among those tested. The good news: Lakes where houses are connected to the city sewer have fewer endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in them. The bad news is that the EDCs go to sewage treatment plants where we can't get rid of the EDCs either. Lake Owasso has high level of organic wastewater compounds in it including DEET and high level of caffeine compared to other lakes tested.

Mental Health: Representative McFarlane and I attended a meeting hosted by NAMI-MN (National Association for Mental Illness), Health Partners, the Archdiocese Office of Social Justice, and the MN Psychiatric Society. The purpose was to discuss the Governor's unallotment and line-item veto of General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC), a program that covers the health care costs of 30,000 people who have virtually no assets and are often chemically dependent and mentally ill. I voted to override the Governor's veto and Rep. McFarlane did not. My assertion in the meeting was that people with private health care coverage end up paying for people without health coverage who show up at the emergency room, and that saving GAMC is cheaper for those with insurance.

Later in the month, I met with an assistant commissioner for the Department of Human Services and his staff about their proposed re-design of State Operated Services (SOS), which are the state's treatment facilities for mental health.

On October 14th, several House committees held an informational hearing about mental health costs in the criminal justice system. We could save a lot of taxpayer dollars by better integrating information about mental health into law enforcement and corrections training.

Phone books: I had a good meeting with members of the Yellow Pages Association and Dex to hear about their efforts to allow consumers to opt-out of yellow pages delivery. State rules still require delivery of a white pages, and we might work on legislation to get rid of that rule.

Water: The MN Rural Water Association invited me to their training class on October 27th in St. Cloud about how to set water/sewer rates that create enough reserves to fund future upgrades. Not enough cities do this and they are often stuck going to the state for funding. They also talked about the conservation rate structure legislation that I authored last year.

Arsenals and race tracks: One proposal made to the City of Arden Hills for the use of the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP) is for a NASCAR track. I happen to be a NASCAR fan, but I am not a fan of this proposal. The 35W corridor between 694 and U.S. Hwy 10 is one of the most congested spots in the north metro because several corridors converge there. In addition, 694 is only two lanes wide from 35E to 35W. So this would be a congestion nightmare. Finally, the noise would likely carry for many miles.

Bioplastics/yard waste: KARE-11 did a story about my legislation on yard waste bags and the Star Tribune did an article as well. On October 19th I spoke about the topic to a national conference focused on using organic waste as an energy source. The MN Pollution Control Agency hosted a great panel discussion on-line on October 16th about biopolymers and their potential in Minnesota.

Campaign finance: A recent New York Times column outlines the many ways in which state campaign finance law there hinders democracy. The State Legislature has ceased to be an effective organization in recent months. I am pleased to say that many of the proposed reforms in the column are already law in Minnesota!

Reporting unsafe drivers: The MN Department of Public Safety has a web page where you can report unsafe drivers. The driver gets a letter notifying that somebody noticed them driving unsafely, and your contact information is not divulged.

Visited these folks or attended these meetings: Product Stewardship meeting in Eagan and Minneapolis about innovative ways to cut taxpayer costs for waste managment; gathering of north metro MN Utility Investors members in Shoreview; waste haulers in Prior Lake; White Bear Lake Area senior transportation meeting; Turtle Lake Elementary School kindergartners; water expert; Qwest area office in Shoreview; Capitol Beverage in Fridley; CTV15 cable TV station for interview on bike commuting; visit with Express Scripts in Bloomington about HF1217; boy scouts in Shoreview; Golden Lake PTA in Circle Pines; RAM/SWANA Conference on recycling, composting, etc.; Sierra Club members in Shoreview; Senator Rummel on issues of mutual interest; UPS Freight tour in Blaine

Visitors: Healthy Legacy lobbyist about state purchasing/bonding ideas that promote less toxic products; Chamber of Commerce representatives about product stewardship; group of about 20 members of the MN Council of Nonprofits learning about the legislature; lobbyists for syringe manufacturer and pharmaceutical products about my legislation; member of League of MN Cities regarding product stewardship proposals; General Accountability Office (GAO) researchers from Washington, D.C. following up on MN's e-waste recycling law; industry representatives from biopolymer sector