In yesterday morning's post, we noted the looming impact of federal legislation on property tax increases, linking to a Minnesota Monitor piece on the subject. Leigh Pomeroy reprinted an article from the Mankato Free Press that included this bit:
Rep. Gil Gutknecht’s communications director, Jon Yarian, said the Republican congressman has been working since January to connect local and federal officials to clear up confusion about the legislation’s local impact.
We were pretty busy yesterday and didn't have time to follow-up. Luckily for us, Minnesota Central stopped by and made the catch in our comments:
RE : FEDERAL BUDGET CUTS HIT LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PROPERTY TAXES
MC provided a link to a Capitol Letters blog post from January. Capitol Letters is a journalist's blog hosted by the Rochester Post-Bulletin.
January 30, 2006
Gil comes to an "understanding"U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht of Rochester says he now better understands the "severe effects" a $40 billion deficit reduction bill would have on social services, especially as they relate to the mentally ill and children in need of child protection services.
"Yesterday, I met with county officials," Gutknecht writes in his online newsletter on Friday. "After several weeks of talking past each other, I think I now understand the essence of the problem with the language in the reconciliation bill. It appears that it has particularly severe effects on the way we deliver social services in Minnesota."
It was the epiphany Olmsted County officials were hoping for. Whether it's too late is another question.
They have been warning about the consequences of the deficit reduction legislation for some months now. Designed to trim a bloated budget deficit, officials have warned that it could "cripple" services to people with mental illnesses, the elderly and disabled, and children in need of child protection services. Olmsted stands to lose anywhere from $2.6 million to $5.8 million in federal support.
Gutknecht's meeting with county officials last week did come with a condition. He would only meet with one representative from each county, and their staffs could not be present, says Amy Caucutt, a lobbyist for Olmsted County.
Caucutt says that Minnesota belongs to a small group of states - 12 in all - that directly receive their funding from the federal government. The House is scheduled to vote on the reconciliation bill on Wednesday.
And making the connection?
Four bloggers are better than one. Not "repetition," but exploration and analysis.
The impact to Minnesota was known to Congressman Gutknecht before the final vote.The Senate had passed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 but there were slight differences with the House version, so it had to go back to the House. Despite telling the voters in his eline, that he now understood how much of an impact this would be to Minnesota, he ended up not changing his vote.