Remember when Rod Hamilton and House Republicans got the fantods over an urban, earth-friendly woman chairing the House Environment, Natural Resource and Agricultural Finance Committee? Because she would so not understand farmers?
From December 2012 through January2013, one could scarcely pick up a paper in a swing rural district won by a DFLer in the November 2012 election and not read an example of the collective Republican butthurt.
Looks like Hamilton was just acting like that frienemy who really doesn't wish us well with our new date, despite all the concern trolling.
Both the House and Senate are moving their versions of the omnibus agriculture and environment finance bills authored respectively by Rep. Jean Wagenius and Sen. David Tomassoni. The House version also carries agricultural policy provisions the Senate version does not at this point. The House version has a strong budget for agriculture including full funding for the AGRI fund, and other MFU priorities including sustainable agriculture, dairy development, county fairs, AURI, and Board of Animal Health. Members can track House bill progress here: House Finance bill the Senate version will be released later today. The bill also addresses water usage fees and reduces fees for irrigators from .35 cents to .22 cents per million gallons pumped as originally proposed by Rep. Wagenius. The Senate is not likely to include water usage fees in their bill.
HF1608, a bill introduced by Moorhead freshman Democrat Ben Lien, has received bipartisan support from his colleagues in the house and praise from greater Minnesota.
Cities in the Twin Cities
metro and rural Minnesota have signed on to a bill that would change the
way local government aid is distributed.
Proponents say the proposal simplifies the funding formula,
making it more stable for cities and easier for people to understand. It
also makes sure more money goes to cities that have a greater need for
property tax relief. Older, inner-ring suburbs would benefit the most.
These cities are fully developed and can't easily generate new revenue
in the way that growing suburbs do.
The proposed simplification of the Local Government Aid (LGA)
distribution formula is supported by leaders in the Twin Cities
metropolitan area and in rural Minnesota. Rep. Ben Lien, DFL-Moorhead,
is the bill's chief author. Lien said cities of all sizes are backing
the proposal because it would make LGA more predictable from year to
year by factoring in inflation.
"It's not just a one-size-fits-all formula for LGA," Lien said. "It
takes into account different need factors based on different size
cities. So it's going to be much more customizable, I guess, to
different size cities."
Lien said his bill is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday in the House Property Tax Division.
Forum Communications Capitol Chatter political reporter Don Davis writes:
With the support of urban, suburban and greater Minnesota cities, the
bill by Rep. Ben Lien, DFL-Moorhead, removes arcane sections of the LGA
formula such as how many accidents occur in a city. Backers of the Lien
bill also say it would make it easier for cities to predict how much
money they can expect.
The simplified formula is separate from a Gov. Mark Dayton proposal to add $80 million to the aid the state pays to cities.
“Over
the last several years the underfunding of the LGA program has hobbled
its effectiveness in delivering property tax relief to communities
across the state,” said President Bruce Ahlgren of the Coalition of
Greater Minnesota Cities and Cloquet mayor.
Ahlgren said legislators should notice the support from cities of all types.
“Everyone
had to come in with realistic expectations,” the mayor said. “While no
one walked away with everything they wanted, everyone is pleased that we
have a framework for a stable and predictable program into the future.” . . .
Rep. Ben Lien (DFL-Moorhead) introduced the bill Monday, along with
numerous co-authors that including Rep. Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska) and
Rep. Clark Johnson (DFL-N. Mankato). . . .
The City of New Ulm is poised to receive a modest LGA increase that
will be followed by slow, small increases over the subsequent year.
City
Manager Brian Gramentz said the City still approves of the proposal,
even if it was hoping for more funding to offset years of cuts.
"The key is it makes our funding stable," said Gramentz, "Staying flat is always better than going down."
At the PiPress, Boldt notes Torkelson's reasons for signing on:
But Rep. Paul Torkelson,
R-Hanska, said local government aid is supposed to help cities that
typically would have a difficult time providing essential services to
residents at a reasonable cost. He represents 22 cities, and almost all
rely on local government aid.
"At first blush, it's much better than what the governor
originally proposed," Torkelson said. "It really does make it more fair
and equitable."
Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston, said he signed on as a co-author to the
bill because he believes it will begin a much needed debate.
"The way the bill is written right now, is that the way it stays? I
really don't know," Davids said. "But I do think we need this debate,
and having metro Democrats, rural Republicans, I think, is very
significant. Because everyone that looks at the LGA formula, as I did as
tax chair the last two years, knows that we need to try and update it,
modernize it and make it more efficient for today's use."
[O]n Monday, LGA got another important boost, as a team of lawmakers announced a bipartisan plan to simplify and restructure LGA.
Good
news for Local Government Aid, of course, is good news for northwestern
Minnesota, where a significant share of many cities’ budgets comes from
the program. Rep. Deb Kiel, R-Crookston, is among the region’s
lawmakers who recognize this importance and have signed on to the new
reform.
“Today at the Minnesota State Capitol, legislation was
introduced which outlines an agreement between Minneapolis, St. Paul,
suburban and Greater Minnesota cities on a distribution formula for
Local Government Aid, long a contentious issue between metro and rural
interest groups at the Capitol,” the Coalition of Greater Minnesota
Cities announced Monday.. . .
But the past decade’s budget deficits meant LGA took shocking hits.
The result has been higher property taxes, weaker services — and,
probably not coincidentally, Democratic majorities in the Legislature,
as voters rebelled against Republicans’ seeming hostility to
good-government programs such as LGA.
Now, the announcement that a
bipartisan group of metro and rural lawmakers has reached agreement
suggests LGA is coming back. That’s great news. Since the 1970s, LGA has
helped rural Minnesota communities keep their attractiveness and charm.
Here’s hoping the Legislature acknowledges this role, recognizes LGA’s
usefulness and returns to Minnesota’s traditionally strong support.
With this bill, Lien joins the ranks of freshman legislators--Matt Schmit comes to mind in the Senate--who are introducing strong legislative relief for vexsome issues.
Photo: Representative Ben Lien.
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There's another budget story buried behind Senator Mike Parry's need to talk about his feelings. As demanding of the spotlight the Waseca Republican may be when to comes to acting out, the side drama is illustrative of the legislative majorities' unwillingness to share information (though emotion flows like water from a duck's back right now).
Shellito was far from the only commissioner who appeared wary about the legislative budget plans.
Agriculture Commissioner Dave Frederickson has the only budget already approved, but faces a further cut if legislative budgets pass. He did not understand why if his budget already is law he would face further cuts.
“What more shall we do at the Department of Agriculture?” Frederickson asked. “What do you want me to do?”
Lanning’s response: “You are going to have to wait and see what comes out of this process.”
So, despite having a budget the legislature approved and the Governor signed, Commissioner Frederickson is supposed to "wait and see"? While the fiscal year is one thing, the growing season, with farm markets and other needs running across the summer, is another. A little common sense might be helpful, Representative Lanning.
While most Americans know the passage from Isaiah about men of war forging their weapons into the implements of peace, fewer people know that the opposite formula is also found in the Good Book.
Joel 3:10 reverses the formula, and throughout rural Minnesota, old farm combines are being crafted into engines of destruction for upcoming county fairs. The drivers are studying war, or at least aggressive driving.
I first saw a combine demo derby in sylvan New Auburn, Minnesota, fortunate enough to be represented by both Collin Peterson and Laura Brod in the halls of Congress and the state House respectively. The lumbering behemoths were made for reaping, but that July night in 2004, the prairie air was heavy with the sound of crunchy metal. My boyfriend at the time, who collected vintage tractors, noted that none of the combatants had value in the rare farm machinery market.
Two years before while I was lit dropping in New Auburn, a man working in a garden cautioned me about going against divine plans. Indeed, he claimed that Earth had just experienced a near miss from a comet; God intended that as a warning for schools to quit teaching evolution. To judge by the devolution of farm equipment that night, New Auburn had little to worry about.
But for those who love a good crash, combine demo derbies are the ticket. So far, we know of several at local heats and county fairs, where the first place driver may received about a $1500 or so first prize:
Race and Crash Day, Milroy, June 27, 5:30 p.m. Cannon Valley Fair, Cannon Falls, July 2, 7 p.m. Big Stone County Fair, Madison, July12, 2:30 p.m. Sherburne County Fair, Elk River, July 19, following 1:30 p.m. demo derby Meeker County Fair, Litchfield August 2, 2009, 1:00 p.m. Murray County Fair, Slayton, August 12-15, date and time TBA Wright County Fair, Howard Lake, August 12, 7:00 p.m. Brown County Fair, New Ulm, August 14, 7:00 p.m. Mower County Fair, Austin, August 15, 7:00 p.m. Swift County Fair, Appleton, August 20, 2009, 7:00 p.m.
Below the fold, a video from last year's Brown County Fair derby, for those who need a taste of the action:
All of the statements, opinions, and views expressed on this site by Sally Jo Sorensen are solely her own, save when she attributes them to other sources.
The opinions, statements, and views of contributing writers are their own.
Sorensen, editor and proprietor of Bluestem Prairie, served as a New Media training and strategy consultant for the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party from October 2009 through mid-April 2010. She now serves clients in the business and nonprofit sectors.
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