Bluestem Prairie: news about Tim Walz (MN-1)

Caledonia Argus: Congressman Walz puts forth bold funding request for 2009

The Caledonia Argus reports in Congressman Walz puts forth bold funding request for 2009:

Congressman Tim Walz has put forth a bold funding request for his district for fiscal year 2009. Many of his proposals will have an impact on our immediate area.

Closest to home, the congressman has requested money for the Houston County flood damage reduction project.

“Funding would go for an Army Corps of Engineers feasibility study to determine potential flood reduction projects in Houston county,” said Walz.

In conjunction with that request, the congressman has also requested money for flood map modernization for Southeastern Minnesota.

“The funding would provide high-quality data for eight counties in southeastern Minnesota, to help local officials plan effective flood mitigation strategies,” he said.

Houston county would be included among the eight counties.

Owatonna turns to Walz for flood control funding

In addition to transportation, another important component of Congressment Walz's infrastructure budget requests is for flood relief.  While last August flooding in Southeastern Minnesota was the most deadly and dramatic, other parts of the district also suffered from the effects of flooding.

KEYC-TV reports Owatonna Hopes Federal Aid Will Boost Flood Control Efforts. There's video available at the link.  Some details from the story:

Despite being far away from any river, folks in one area of Owatonna suffered from two separate floods in August and October of 2007.

Owatonna Mayor Thomas Kuntz says, "That caused some problems with about 270 homes on our southeast side of town. Some of them getting just a little amount of water in their basement to some of them having their egress windows busted out and their whole basement flooded."

The Southeast corner had flooding problems for the past five years, and this fall, the city took action. But when they looked to the state for help...," Kuntz says, "There's about 43 million dollars in request they have about 10 million dollars to be able to service that. The answer to Owatonna was zero. Zero dollars."

The city pressed on, highlighting 8 projects that would alleviate the constant flooding.

But even with issuing 3.7 million dollars in bonds, Owatonna could only afford the top four projects.So the city is looking to their Congressman, Democrat Tim Walz, to do what he can to get federal funding. . . .

When Congressman Walz talks about his budget requests coming from local leaders and going through vetting by his staff, these sorts of details underly that general statement.  Wants or needs? Sounds like a necessary project rather than wasteful pork.

MFP: Transparency of earmarks provides no political ammunition

Newspapers across the district are reporting on Walz's release yesterday of his budget requests--and the preliminary dollar amounts attached to them. About fifty percent of the dollar amounts are for three large multi-state public works project that enjoy broad bipartisan support from the congressional delegations in the states where the projects are located. The three alrge projects are the Lewis and Clark Rural Water Project (MN, IA, SD); the Upper Mississippi River Navigation project that would update the lock and dam system for barge traffic (upper Mississippi and Illinois Waterway); and the Upper Mississippi River Restoration (MN, IA, IL, WI, MO).

Moving east to west across the district, the Winona Daily News reports Walz releases earmark requests. The brief article focuses on the process by which the earmarks will be scrutinized:

Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., on Tuesday released his list of funding requests — also known as earmarks — before the House appropriations process begins for fiscal year 2009.

Walz requested 55 earmarks for projects throughout the 1st Congressional District — though he emphasized most won’t receive funding.

The requests are winnowed in committees before they’re scrutinized by the full U.S. House, then the Senate, then the president.

Depending on the outcome of that process, the Winona area could benefit from a host of requests to fund flood-prevention efforts. . . .

Are efforts to provide better flood prevention in Southeastern Minnesota wasteful spending, or a sound investment?  What are citizens and taxpayers shelling out after last August's floods?

The Rochester Post Bulletin hasn't posted a regular article about the requests on its web site yet, but Ed Felker has provided a short update at the Political Party blog in Walz seeks $211.5 million for 47 projects. [Update] The PB has posted two stories: Walz seeks millions in federal funding for area and Walz strives to get funds for Hormel Institute [end update]

The Mankato Free Press (see pictures below) published two articles in this morning's dead tree edition. One, Walz releases list of earmarks, begins:

Congressman Tim Walz released Tuesday a list of 47 southern Minnesota projects he will be asking Congress and President Bush to authorize as part of the upcoming federal budget, including $20 million for Highway 14 improvements and nearly $17 million for a National Guard facility in Mankato.

Walz cautioned that many of the earmarks will not make the final cut — or will be scaled back in size — as lawmakers from across the country compete to place earmarks in budget bills.

But the freshman Democrat from Mankato, working with Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Norm Coleman, had success last year in getting funding for a number of projects in the 1st District, including a half-dozen in the Mankato area.

“Minnesota sends more money to Washington that it gets back, and it’s appropriate for us to advocate for the good use of tax dollars (in the district),” Walz said.

The New Ulm Journal reports in Walz announces list of funding requests:

Rep. Tim Walz released the list of projects that he will be forwarding to the House Appropriations Committee for consideration. The 47 projects on his list carry a price tag of $211.5 million. However, Walz cautioned that few of the projects on his list may make it through the appropriations process and receive funding, at least for this year.

Walz’s list didn’t originally include price tags for his projects, however, until reporters on a teleconference call asked him how his claim to bring “transparency” to the process squared with his reluctance to announce the dollar amounts he was putting on his requests. Walz pointed out that Minnesota’s other congress people don’t even announce their lists, as he does, but he agreed it would be proper to release the amounts of the projects on his list.

And so he did.   

The jpgs below provide the full articles from the Mankato Free Press. We hope you will read the articles; they note that the two candidates remaining in the Republican primary battle have said that they will not make budget requests, or earmarks, for the district.

The Big Give gives some to SE Minnesota flood victims

The Winona Daily News reports Flood victims to benefit from ‘Big Give’:

Last August’s flood victims in Minnesota and Wisconsin will soon get a boost from daytime TV’s queen of giving Oprah Winfrey.

La Crescent, Minn.-based news station WXOW-19 recently received $10,000 from ABC and Oprah’s “Big Give” show, a reality series where challengers spend millions on local charities to be crowned “The Biggest Giver,” after WXOW submitted a proposal on how the show could help the region.

In the spirit of giving, U.S. Bank and Dahl Automotive of La Crosse, Wis., matched funds to make $20,000 available to flood victims within the WXOW viewing area, which includes Fillmore, Winona and Houston counties in Minnesota. . . .

. . .As of last Friday, WXOW had 52 submissions. Great Rivers United Way of La Crosse and the United Way of Olmsted County will select the beneficiaries — hopefully five to 10 families, maybe more, McClurg said.

“We’re not going to be give to every family because there’s not that much funds,” McClurg said. “But we want to help out multiple families.”

Flood survivors can visit www.wxow.com/contests/index.php to apply. Local businesses and residents may help out with this project by contacting their local United Way.

Oprah’s “Big Give” eight-week program kicked off March 2. Will Oprah or “Big Give” contestants make an appearance here?

“Well, you never know,” McClurg said.

Oprah may not be able to make her way to Winona, but the paper reports in a separate story that Amy Klobuchar visits area: Flood victims share concerns with senator.

The article helps illustrate why the $20,000 generated by the Big Give won't go very far:

Roger Colbenson doesn’t want politicians to forget what he and hundreds of others have gone through since last August’s flood.

“I am now $220,000 in debt,” said the 66-year-old Rushford resident, landlord and business owner to U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. “So many people can’t borrow anymore money, and they’re close to being foreclosed on … None of this is going to help if you don’t get people back into homes.”

On a sweeping mission to visit all 87 counties in Minnesota, Klobuchar made stops in Goodview, Houston and Rushford on Monday afternoon to discuss flood recovery and rebuilding efforts with local officials, flood relief workers and case managers. Flood victims such as Colbenson made sure to get a word in with the senator.

The feedback and challenges Klobuchar heard varied with each city, but she found one common theme.

“There is a sense of optimism,” Klobuchar said. “The proof is in the numbers — people have chosen to stay.”

Houston and Goodview representatives reported few if any population changes after the flood. Rushford Mayor Les Ladewig said 55 of 58 affected businesses have reopened and 10 percent of Rushford flood victims are temporarily living out of town.

The stacks of paperwork, looming funding deadlines, conflicting aid rules between federal and state agencies and weather-related issues with Federal Emergency Management Agency mobile homes were problems officials in each city shared.

It's great to see the Big Gift's money, and perhaps it will inspire more to give. In the meantime, it's good  that elected officials haven't forgotten that people are still picking up the pieces in Southeastern Minnesota.

Evening news digest: counting small-boned bodies edition

The Pioneer Press reports that Robert Bly is state's first poet laureate. We take our title tonight from one of his most famous poems, from the Vietnam War era.

It's the Festival of Owls this weekend in Houston, according to the Winona Daily News.

The Albert Lea Tribune's acting publisher writes that Knocking down snowmen is no funny matter. We agree.

The New Ulm Journal praises The Transportation 6, while the Owatonna People's Press gives Senator Day Kudos to his decision to skip the endorsement and go straight to the primary. The editorial board scolds the GOP:

. . . But what southern Minnesota's Republicans are doing and what they ought to do are two very different things. They ought to recruit and support candidates who have the best chance of representing their views in office. Instead, they are throwing a political tantrum because one candidate had the audacity to suggest that voters, not just a few party insiders, should have a say in an election. . . .

The Rochester Post Bulletin reported on a meeting where Flood victims try to get answers. Walz staff members were there.

In a letter to the Cottonwood County Citizen, Richard Peterson writes that Hamilton's transportation vote took courage. A DFLer, Peterson opposed Hamilton in the race for House 22B in 2004 and 2006.

Transportation of another mode is an issue on the Mississippi River, according to the Winona Daily News in Delta Queen future still in balance; Walz puts support behind exemption.

The Worthington Daily Globe reports ICE pays Worthington another visit.  This time it's a search for specific individuals, rather than a sweep through the Swift hog plant..

Finally, a YouTube of  Tim Walz and George Miller discussing textbook prices on the House floor earlier this month. The amendnment under debate was part of the College Opportunity & Affordability Act.

Six months ago: the status of towns flooded in August

Judging from the news, it's a day for reflection and remembrance. The Wetterling family will mark Jacob Wetterling's 30th birthday with prayer and a request that families talk about safety with their children. That's always timely. Jacob, who remains missing, was kidnapped at gunpoint on October 22, 1989. He was 11 years old then.

In southeastern Minnesota, there's a blizzard warning out as the edge of a winter storm touches that corner of the state. The bad weather underscores the Winona Daily News's inventory of post-flood rebuilding efforts. The top story? In Rushford, there is hope for normalcy. 

Others to check out:

• Stockton: There has been progress since flood
• 'It doesn’t look like Minnesota City anymore’
• St. Charles: A time like this brings out the best
• Whitewater State Park’s recovery crucial to Elba
• Goodview changed forever by flood
• Houston: It could have been much worse

A final story, Counting flood damage in dollars and cents looks at the flood's lingering economic impact. Some tidbits:

In October, Winona County officials pegged total recovery costs at $77.85 million. That includes damage to both private property and infrastructure, property buyouts in flood-prone areas, demolition and environmental costs.

Then there are the “hidden” economic costs, like lost productivity for businesses, Grover said. She added that a “trickle-down” effect could harm businesses that weren’t directly affected.

In Rushford, for example, officials say businesses have been quick to re-open, only to struggle in a community that’s still impoverished by the disaster.

The area has received a lot of private and public aid, but one source of funding that helps the cleanup and out-of-work individuals is about to end:

Conversely, the flood also brought an infusion of outside dollars from state, federal and private relief agencies.

The state already has allocated $77 million for flood recovery in seven counties, according to the Department of Employment and Economic Development.

The relief funds are helping revitalize the area’s battered economy, Grover said. But she said the economic losses from the flood are far more evident than the gains.

“I’m not seeing the economic boost on the positive side � mostly, it’s a downturn,” Grover said.

Local residents whose jobs were displaced by flooding also are in danger of losing access to a government program to employ them.

The Winona Workforce Center has enrolled more than 100 participants � including some who were unemployed before the flood � to clean up flood debris, using a National Emergency Grant from the Department of Labor.

But federal guidelines only allow victims to work for an equivalent of six months in full-time hours, or up to a wage cap of $12,000.

Those rules could leave workers unemployed in the coming months, said program director Steve Runkle. Runkle said he’s lobbied Rep. Tim Walz, and Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Norm Coleman to adjust the federal guidelines.

And meanwhile, potential health threats have been raised with the FEMA trailers.

Wednesday morning news digest: infrastructure edition

The Winona Daily News reports that people in the  Stockton-Rollingstone-Minnesota City Watershed District seeks debris removal and stream-bank reconstruction to repair what was damaged in last August's flooding. Though the group has been around for decades, residents began flocking to its meetings last fall under the deluge. Staff from Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Tim Walz's offices attended last night’s meeting.

Last July, Luverne received a federal transportation grant to facilitate improvement of the local airport. Today, the Worthington Globe reports Luverne airport closer to expansion. Upgrading the air trnasportation infrastructure is another key to growing a robust rural economy.

Congressman Walz's press call about his travels to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and military medical facilities in Germany begins in a few minutes. Along with the rest of the media, we'll let you know what he has to say.

 

Saturday morning news digest: notable quotables

Yesterday's Fillmore County Journal highlights the notable quotes from 2007. The editors included Two statements from Congressman Walz:

"No one has been more wrong about Iraq, more consistently than the President."

1st District Congressman Tim Walz commenting on President Bush's decision to send an additional 21,500 American troops to Iraq. (January 15)

"We need creative ways to find the resources to rebuild business communities, especially in Rushford. If we rebuild the infrastructure and the homes, without the businesses, the City will be difficult to restore."

Rep. Tim Walz talking about the action needed to rebuild Rushford after the flood. (September 10).

Today's Post Bulletin looks at the response of local politicians to the Iowa Caucuses in Analysis: Iowa voters dissatisfied with Bush, direction of U.S. politics:

Area politicians and political observers, taking stock of Thursday's Iowa Caucus, say Iowans voiced a desire for a new direction in American politics. . . .

. . .Rep. Tim Walz, D-Mankato, who toppled a 12-year Republican incumbent in 2006, said Friday he was taken by the big turnout of independents and first-time participants in Iowa.

Obama campaigned for Walz and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., before some 3,000 at the Mayo Civic Auditorium crowd in Rochester just before the 2006 election. Walz saw then the senator's appeal for a less confrontational, results-oriented political system. Huckabee's victory added to Walz's conclusion that voters of both parties are turning away from the strong partisanship of recent decades.

"There's a sense of looking for something fresh and a different way of doing it," Walz said.

Kunkel sounded a similar theme, but said change is translating to a turn toward the Democrats. "Republicans are quite discouraged, and Democrats are quite encouraged, and that's a continuation of 2006," he said.

Rep. John Kline, a Republican from Lakeville who represents the 2nd Congressional District, through his spokesman declined a request to discuss the Iowa caucus results. Neither he nor Walz have endorsed a candidate from their respective parties.

In the netroots, Mercury Rising, MnCR, the Fruitfly, and Lloydletta's look at the SD25 race.  We'll post our own analysis after we finish interviewing our friends who worked on the effort.

Year in review: the big stories in Minnesota's First Congressional District

It's time for the year in review, and we've found that it's difficult to rank the important stories that BSP posted about in the past twelve months.  In alphabetical order, the top news from the Bluestem:

DM& E loan denial and sale
Though there are now some who wish to deny the importance of the conflict betweeen the DM & E railroad and the Rochester Coalition in the 2006 election, it was a key factor in the Rochester area.  Critics of the proposed $2.3 billion loan felt vindicated on February 26, when Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman today denied the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan application from the Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern (DM&E) railroad, concluding it posed an unacceptably high risk to federal taxpayers.

Rumors soon spread that the railroad was up for sale, and by June those rumors were confirmed. The Canadian Pacific announced its purchase agreement on September 5.   The sale is subject to federal review, and the Post Bulletin recently reported Feds plan DM&E sale decision by September.

Farm Bill meetings and passage
In the recent past, getting a new Farm Bill through the House and the Senate in one session was unheard of, but with the appointment of Collin Peterson to the chairmanship of the House Agriculture Committee, al that changed.

Love it or hate it, the House version of the Farm Bill was passed by the end of July, and after goading by Klobuchar and Coleman, the Senate version was passed this month. Now it's conference committee time, and the finished legislation should hit President Bush's desk early next year.

Congressman Walz was appointed to the House Ag Committee, and conducted 14 listening sessions all over the district to find out what residents wanted in the legislation. Everybody must be eating Powdermilk Biscuits, because no one was shy about asking for what he or she wanted. Overall, First District farmers and their representative organizations seem happy with the new Farm Bill.

Flooding in Southeastern Minnesota
We'd just gone down to a public town hall meeting in LaCrescent on a rainy weekday when tragedy struck the area that weekend. A deluge swept away homes, businesses, roads, bridges and railways and killed seven people.  Walz stayed home rather than going on a long-planned congressional trip to Iraq and Afghanistan. A wise decision, given the extensive damage to the region.

The resulting rescue, relief and recovery efforts give testimony to the spirit of Southeastern Minnesotans and the hands from around the country who helped them.   Rushford became a symbol for the region and is slowly coming back together again.   Our flood posts can be found here.

Unlike the state's other 2007 disaster--the collapse of the I35 bridge--the flood was the subject of a special session.  In the following months, cities and counties have had to tussle with the Pawlenty administration to get what the Legislature intended. Walz, Klobuchar and Coleman have had to goad FEMA on various occasions.

Like both U.S. Senators, Walz earned high marks for his response to the disaster, with his staff working long, hard hours too help facilitate relief and recovery efforts.

Guard Homecomings
The August flood waters may have marked the worst of times in the First. The hands-down feel good story was the return this summer of the Red Bulls from an extended deployment in Iraq. Every small town greeted its returning warriors with parades and family gatherings; later, the soldiers were recognized again in more formal thank-yous and picnics.  The Beyond the Yellow Ribbon re-entry program helped Guard members and their familes re-integrate. 

What can we say? Welcome home everybody!

Immigration
Read our coverage here. The consequences of the ICE raids in December 2006 lingered throughout the new year, while cities, churches, counties, employers and citizens struggled with and debated the issue. One GOP challenger took up with the Minutemen, a subject of much consideration for the blogosphere.

Iraq War deaths
Four service members with First District ties died in Iraq: Tony Hebert, of Lake City, Rachael Hugo, with family in Rochester, Jacob Thompson, of North Mankato and John J. Tobiason, of Hayfield. We remember them and thank them for their ultimate sacrifice in the service of our nation.

Renewable energy
No doubt about it, renewable energy is hot in Southern Minnesota. The district is the fifth largest producer of wind energy in the nation, new biofuels plants are going up, and innovative projects like the Madelia Model are in the planning stages.

Town hall meetings
Congressman Walz held dozens of public meetings thoughout the district. Topics covered included the Farm Bill, the Iraq War, seniors issues, health care, small business aid, flood recovery, education, veterans, global warming, and more.

Perhaps the most impressive were the four unscripted Iraq War Town Hall meetings where crowds turned out to express their frustration with the conflict and the Economic Summit in this summer in Austin, which pooled the talents of everyone from the CEO of the Mayo Clinic to the heads of farm organizations.

Mid afternoon update: Fiscally responsible edition

Minnesota Central looks at Tim Walz as a fiscal moderate in Fiscal Responsiblity in Minnesota's First District ... FINALLY ! He concludes:

Reading today’s Star Tribune Dick Day is quoted : "Out of all the people who have represented the district in recent decades, Walz is by far the most liberal."

Hogwash !

Walz’s vote exhibits true fiscal discipline that the First District hasn’t seen since the days when Penny/Weber represented the reconfigured district.

To attract independent voters, the district deserves a viable alternative.

A strong candidate would focuses less on the attacking the opposition and more on the strengths of his own positions, feeling confident that a majority of the district supports that honest position.

Thus far with Day’s obsession with immigration and strong partisan rancor, he has sadly disappointed.
Conversely, a strong independent leader is more focused on governance … that fits Tim Walz.

The Grand Forks Herald takes note of the Post Bulletin editorial praising Walz and the U.S. Senators for asking FEMA to cut red tape.

Mercury Woman does a Boxing Day Local Blogging Roundup.