On the Issues

Capital Investments

State Economist Tom Stinson advised the Legislature that passing a capitol investment bill early in the legislative session would be one of the most effective tools for creating jobs in this down economy. Heeding that suggestion, the Legislature adopted a bonding package to put thousands of Minnesotans back to work building facilities, wiring and designing buildings, delivering materials, etc., while at the same time making vital improvements to our transportation system, clean water infrastructure, higher education system, and other facilities. The Legislature made strategic, targeted investments in high-priority; shovel-ready infrastructure improvements to maximize job creation impact and strengthen Minnesota's economy. It is estimated that the bonding bill will put over 10,000 people back to work.

I was proud to be the chief author of one of the provisions in the bonding bill that passed the Legislature and was signed by the Governor-that provision provides $16 million to the Ordway in downtown St. Paul to build a new theater.

Economic Development

The Legislature passed an economic development bill that included tax incentives that will create thousands of new jobs in bioscience, manufacturing, construction, the emerging clean energy economy, and other job sectors. For example, the Legislature adopted a tax credit for early stage venture capital investments to help provide seed money for innovative small businesses.

I was the chief author of a package of tax credits that offers incentive to the Ford Motor Company to remain at its Highland Park plant. It includes a specialized tax credit to make the site viable to Ford or another vehicle manufacturer ($2,500 per employee for the first 750 employees at the site, and a $3,500 credit per employee for each employee over 750). This initiative was supported by Ramsey County, the City of St. Paul, UAW, DEED and was signed by the Governor.

Education

Under the current administration, education at all levels has been hit hard and this year was no different. Governor Pawlenty and the Legislature extended "education shifts" of roughly $2 billion to help balance the budget. While there is an expectation that the shifts will be paid back next year, I remain skeptical given the projected deficit. Hopefully, with an improved economy and a new governor and reconstituted legislature we can make the hard budget choices, which will mean some increased revenues.

I am a co-author of the New Minnesota Miracle that I believe we need to begin phasing in. Reestablishing the link of the State paying for our schools is the right thing to do and reduces local property taxes. At one time we were featured on the front of Time Magazine as the "state that works". We can be that state again with bold leadership and commitment to education at all levels.

Unfortunately, the K-12 education bill did not move forward this year. There was also considerable controversy over Alternative Teacher Licensure. While I did not support the House bill, I did support measures that would require longer periods of student teaching and teacher instruction for an alternative licensure. As a former teacher, the mentoring time I received student teaching was invaluable, and I just don't believe you can put someone in the classroom, despite their intelligence and passion, without teaching skills. Teach for America will still operate in Minnesota, despite the fact that the alternative licensure bill didn't move forward. It is also my hope that the Bush Foundation's push to upgrade our university teaching schools will pay huge dividends in our schools, especially those with large achievement gaps with children of color.

While I remain concerned about the continued budget cuts at University of Minnesota and MnSCU, I was pleased that in our Capital Investment bill we bonded nearly $200 million for new building and infrastructure improvements for our colleges and universities.

Finally, I was pleased that Early Childhood Education Programs were not cut during this biennium.

General Assistance Medical Care

We maintained GAMC, so the very poor will have health insurance-not a perfect plan, but it was the best we could do with this Governor. We provided $188 million in state matching funds to secure $1.4 billion in federal funding to adopt "Early MA." "Early MA" will: (1) protect middle class families and businesses that currently have private insurance by preventing significant cost-shifting to them due to uncompensated care; (2) ensure that hospitals, doctors, and other health care providers get paid a reasonable level of compensation for the public health services they provide; (3) return to Minnesota some of our citizens' federal tax dollars that would otherwise go to other states; and (4) provide basic health care to 102,000 Minnesotans who are on GAMC and MnCare, and others at or below 75 percent of the federal poverty guideline. Participation in "Early MA" is contingent on either the current governor or the next governor electing to participate in the new program by January 15, 2011.

Public Safety

As chair of the Public Safety Finance Division, I sought to preserve public safety which I believe is a core government function, despite having to cut an additional $36 million from our budget. This was on top of the cuts we already made in the first year of the biennium. We made cuts between 1- 3% to the Courts, Department of Correction, Department of Public Safety, Department of Human Rights, crime victim programs and smaller agencies under this division. These cuts were significantly less than what other departments faced, but we are getting to the point where access to the courts will be challenged if we don't have additional revenue. We did manage to preserve drug courts, not eliminate correctional officer positions in our prisons, maintained programs for offenders re-entering the community, and preserved scientists at the BCA. We also provided a slight funding increase for police officer and firefighter training.

I was disappointed that my bill to plug the gun show loophole didn't pass out of a committee. The bill would have simply required that anyone purchasing a firearm at a gun show obtain a background check, just like if you were buying a weapon at a sporting goods store. A background check disqualifies felons, domestic abusers, and people with serious mental health problems from purchasing firearms.

Gangs

I was the chief author of a bill to reform the way law enforcement confronts gang activity in our communities. My reform bill was the result of the Metro Gang Strike Force scandal. I worked closely with law enforcement, the County Attorney's Association, NAACP, League of Minnesota Cities and the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to craft a bill that will ensure that the twenty-three gang strike forces in Minnesota have the tools to be effective, but also accountable. Future strike forces will now be certified by the DPS, must abide by guidelines on forfeiture of evidence, include an oversight role for prosecutors, increase audits, develop narrowly objective criteria for determining gang affiliation to reduce racial profiling, allow the Commissioner of DPS to decertify strike forces that aren't complying with state guidelines and eliminates the Metro-Gang Strike Force Advisory Board. The bill also creates a working group to examine data bases used by law enforcement.

Environment, Energy and Natural Resources

I was pleased with the huge commitment we made to environmental protection and our habitat with the revenue from the dedicated sale tax. We appropriated $26 million, with the majority going to land, habitat, and recreation. Significant investments were made for water resources, protection against invasive species, renewable energy and environmental education.

On other energy and environment matters, I voted against a bill to weaken the moratorium on building nuclear power plants in Minnesota. I'm convinced that we should not lift the moratorium unless there is proven and safe way to store nuclear waste. I did support numerous bills that promoted and funded renewable energy, including a bill that we hope will usher in the largest solar project in the upper Midwest.

On another environmental matter, I was disappointed that a bill I co-authored never got a hearing. The bill would have provided additional safeguards for any potential copper-nickel mining operations near the BWCA. PolyMet is proposing to build a processing facility near Babbitt that potentially could be harmful to wetlands near the BWCA and the watershed that flows into Lake Superior. This kind of nonferrous mining activity has caused disastrous environmental damage in this country and globally.

Domestic Violence and Human Rights

I was the chief author of several bills that were included in the Domestic Violence Omnibus Bill. One bill added to our statutes tampering with a witness in the third degree. We have found that many abusers continue to harass victims from jail before court hearings attempting to get them to drop charges. Another bill increased the cap on bail for higher risk offenders and clarified the no-contact order provisions in the criminal code. And finally, I authored a bill that included pets as a relief when a victim obtains an Order for Protection. Many victims are reluctant to leave an abusive relationship because they fear that a batterer will harm or kill their pets.

I was very disappointed that the Governor chose to veto the Final Wishes Bill. This bill would have allowed a domestic partner to make a determination as to the disposition of the remains of a deceased person. People in committed relationships despite their sexual orientation should have the same rights--this veto was cruel and unnecessary.

Last year, in the first year of the biennium, I was the chief author of a landmark trafficking bill that increased penalties for human trafficking. This year we were successful in getting federal training money for prosecutors, law enforcement, and human service providers to better detect cases where women and children are being trafficked.

Balancing the Budget

Of course, the greatest challenge we faced was finding a way to address the deficit. Early in the session, House committees worked painstakingly to review all state spending to find new efficiencies and budgetary areas where strategic cuts could be imposed, while minimizing harm to vital state services and vulnerable citizens. Much of that work was enacted into law as part of an initial budget balancing measure, which made over $300 million in cuts. HF 1 (which I opposed) made the remainder of the reduction in Special Session. These reductions included huge cuts to the health and human services budget.

Next year will be a huge challenge. While the economy is slowly improving, unemployment remains high and the deficit will be staggering-projections are $6 billion! The only way to resolve this crisis is with targeted budget reductions, government reform, and additional revenue through progressive tax increases. This is a balanced approach that most Minnesotans support. Our tax system needs to be reformed so we avoid the boom and bust cycles we've seen in recent years.

While our state is facing some difficult times ahead, I'm convinced we can do better when we all work together.