The Winona Daily News reports Walz announces grants for airports:
Minnesota 1st District Congressman Tim Walz announced that two federal grants are going to airports in southern Minnesota.
The grants, totaling $260,000, will go toward upgrades.
Rushford Municipal Airport received $104,500 for runway, taxiway and guidance upgrades.
Quentin Aanenson Field in Luverne received $156,750 for runway construction and design.
“These grants will greatly expand travel options for people of Luverne and Rushford and ensure that they continue to have access to safe and economical air travel,” Walz said. “It is important to continually improve all forms of shipping and transportation in southern Minnesota to ensure we remain competitive in an increasingly global marketplace.”
The New York Times repeats the CQ Politics story about Bush as a Democratic Ally? Why Not, Say House Freshmen. Walz quotes:
Rep. Tim Walz of Minnesota said there is growing consensus among freshmen to join forces with the president on reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind education law (PL 110-107).
Walz, a former high school teacher, said all 42 freshman Democrats were elected by voters who would like to see more bipartisan cooperation. Like Bush, the freshmen back accountability requirements and want to ensure that standards are properly administered, according to Walz.
But Democratic leaders insist that a reauthorization be accompanied by increased education funding. Walz and his first-year colleagues would like to work out a compromise.
“There’s a movement and a commitment to make this better, not scrap it. This is one that all the freshmen feel very strongly about,” Walz said.
In environmental news, Five southern Minnesota rivers considered 'impaired' due to pesticides, the Post Bulletin and the Mankato Free Press report. Some on the list are among our favorite stream in Blue Earth County:
The MPCA said portions of the Blue Earth and Le Sueur rivers, a ditch that empties into the Cobb River, a river in Carver County and the middle branch of the Whitewater River in southeastern Minnesota contain acetochlor, used to control weeds in corn crops. The chemical has been measured in the rivers at various times between 1998 and 2005 at concentrations up to five times higher than the state limit for what’s considered environmentally sound.
Our friend Dan Owens from the Center for Rural Affairs gets a letter about reforming the Farm Bill that's addressed to Senator Coleman in the St. Cloud Times:
Sen. Norm Coleman's recent public insistence that no money be taken from commodity programs in the farm bill to support rural economic development overlooks a common-sense solution — closing the loopholes in farm program payment limits would make farm programs work better to strengthen family farms and save money to invest in the future of rural America.
Budgets are tight, but that simply means tough decisions have to be made regarding the best places to invest taxpayer dollars. There is one place to find real dollars — close the loopholes in farm program payment limitations and put the savings into rural economic development programs.
Coleman is correct in saying that farm programs are important, but I certainly hope he doesn't think that sending million dollar checks to mega-farms is a better use of our tax dollars than investing in rural small business creation.
Making the paper limits real in farm programs is a bipartisan, common-sense reform supported by rural citizens and true family farmers throughout Minnesota. Legislation has been introduced to do just that, and limit farm program payments to $250,000 — a first step to revitalizing farming and rural communities.
We hope Coleman will support this common-sense legislation. Rural development programs in the farm bill are crucial to the future of rural Minnesota and rural America.
Congress needs to match its stated commitment to such programs with real funds. Putting real dollars behind the rural development title of the 2007 farm bill would demonstrate a true commitment to our rural communities.
The state of the rural economy is an issue in the The Hill's article, 10 of 24 Dems fail to meet cash targets. Walz is among the ten:
According to Federal Election Commission reports that were due Sunday, 10 of the 24 Frontline freshmen did not hit the [$600,000] fundraising objective, and some missed the mark by more than $100,000.
Frontline is a program designed to help vulnerable incumbents raise money, and it is dominated by freshmen following the Democratic takeover in 2006.
One source close to a Frontline member was critical of the DCCC for setting such an ambitious goal and making it public. The source said members were frustrated with the goal.
“To publicize your goals, especially in some of these smaller districts that have a smaller donor base or, frankly, are poorer — it’s just harder to raise money,” the source said, adding that it is difficult for members in rural districts to approach small donors so soon after the 2006 election and ask them to give again.
A spokesman for DCCC, Doug Thornell, said the committee was unconcerned about the freshman class’s totals and dismissed questions about whether the fundraising goals were too high for members in rural areas.
“We have aggressive goals to ensure that our Frontline members are in a position of strength,” Thornell said when asked about the methodology behind the fundraising goals. “Our Frontliners are off to a fast and impressive start and begin this
cycle from a position of strength.”Rep. Brad Ellsworth, who raised $560,000 over the last six months in his rural Indiana district, was confident that his fundraising levels, though below the DCCC goals, were on track to defend his seat.
“I’m spending my time focusing on representing the 8th district,” Ellsworth said. “But I’m right where I need to be to communicate with voters when the campaign begins.”
Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) raised about the same amount.
“Anytime somebody sets out a goal for you, you want to do everything you can to attain it,” Walz campaign spokesman Richard Carlbom said. “We got to $565,000; we’re incredibly proud of that number.”
One additional consequence of arural economic is that media buys in Southern Minnesota are less expensive than in some districts. Carlbom's pride is justified. Those who wish to contribute to Walz may do so here.
Finally, a Walz news release from late yesterday afternoon summarizing all the district projects for which the House Appropriations Committee approved funding. As Walz had promised while campaigning, he sought to have a representative's name publicly attached to money he or she sought for the home district.
Read the release below the fold.
. . . Rep. Tim Walz announced that four more of his appropriations requests cleared the House Appropriations Committee this week. These requests are in addition to the Lewis and Clark Rural Water
Project funding, which Walz announced yesterday.The FY08 Energy and Water Appropriations bill included funding for the Minnesota State University - Mankato Center for Renewable Energy, the Army Corps of Engineers Project at the Rapidan Dam site in Mankato, and the Lewis and Clark project. The FY08 Commerce, Justice, and Science bill included
funding for the National Child Protection Training Center at Winona State University and the Rochester Sheriff's Youth Program."These five projects cleared a major hurdle this week," Walz said. "Though they still have a long way to go, these projects address urgent needs in southern Minnesota, and I am very optimistic that they will survive the remaining legislative challenges."
These projects will now proceed to the House floor for passage as part of their respective appropriations bills. The Senate is expected to complete its versions of these bills in the coming months, and then the House and Senate will appoint conference committees to negotiate a final conference report. Once both houses of Congress have given final approval to the conference report, including the earmarks, the President will decide whether to sign the bill into law or veto it.
Walz has requested projects in five other appropriations bills which the Appropriations Committee is still preparing.
The Appropriations Committee approved the following projects as part of the FY08 Energy and Water Appropriations bill:
$22,300,000 for Lewis and Clark Rural Water Project
* The lack of water availability has a serious impact on economic development in rural Minnesota: businesses are reluctant expand their operations without reliable water supplies and some communities in southern Minnesota cannot permit new homes to be built because there is not enough water to support them.The Lewis and Clark Rural Water System is a unique water project that, when completed, will carry water from the Missouri River to over 300,000 residents of a 5,000 square mile area in Minnesota, South
Dakota and Iowa.$500,000 for the Center for Renewable Energy at Minnesota State University, Mankato
* This funding will support research into cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel and other renewable forms of energy at MSU-Mankato's Center for Renewable Energy.The research at the Center will create public-private partnerships with regional businesses which will promote economic growth in southern Minnesota while helping move the Midwest toward sustainable energy use.
$100,000 for the Army Corps of Engineers to evaluate options for the Rapidan Dam in Mankato
* The Rapidan Dam is an aging, deteriorating concrete dam with a potentially unstable foundation. In order to provide policymakers with the best information about how to address the dam, it is necessary for the Army Corps of Engineers to study whether rehabilitation or removal of the dam is necessary. This funding will be used to conduct that study.The Appropriations Committee approved the following projects as part of the FY08 Commerce, Justice and Science bills:
$550,000 for the National Child Protection Training Center at Winona State University
* The Center is a nationally-recognized leader in addressing the problem of child abuse. The center provides training, technical assistance and publications to 15,000 child protection professionals around the
country, such as social workers, teachers, and health care professionals.
$100,000 for Sheriffs Youth Program in Rochester
* Sheriffs Youth Program operates a number of programs in southern Minnesota focusing on at-risk youth. This funding will improve their operations by allowing SYP to provide a modern security and surveillance system at all of their facilities, improving their treatment of the youth they serve.
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