In today's Winona Daily News, Congressman Walz and Owatonna Mayor Tom Kuntz share a GUEST VIEW: Highway 14 roadwork should not be delayed. They write:
When people from several different communities come together to fight for a common cause, it makes a powerful statement.
In the case of U.S. Highway 14, the statement could not be clearer. The members of the Highway 14 Partnership span southern Minnesota, representing diverse towns and diverse economic interests, but they are all in agreement about the need to move forward quickly with the upgrade of Highway 14.
MnDOT recently decided that, if it becomes necessary to delay funding for greater Minnesota transportation projects to help pay for reconstruction of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, the Waseca-Owatonna phase of the Highway 14 project will be one of the first projects delayed. That is unacceptable.
The delays and the backpedaling on Highway 14 are symptoms of a larger problem. It is unfortunate that some at the state Capitol have failed to see the need to invest in Minnesota’s transportation infrastructure. Those failures have led directly to our current funding shortfall and a situation in which MnDOT threatens to rob Peter to pay Paul — or more accurately, to take money from rural Minnesota’s vital transportation needs to pay for metro Minnesota’s vital transportation needs. That is not a long-term solution. . . .
We took a personal interest in this passage:
The expansion of Highway 14 is important for safety reasons, as well. Traffic fatalities along Highway 14 may not come with the shocking suddenness of a bridge collapse, for example, but they are no less devastating to the friends and family members of those who lost their lives.
And, sadly, these accidents are very common: In the past five years, more than 25 people have lost their lives on Highway 14, an average of one death every 2 1/2 months. Nearly three-quarters of those accidents occur along stretches with single lanes going each direction.
As readers know, we nearly joined those statistics several weeks ago when an Expedition decided to pass two other cars on one of those stretches and we occupied the other lane. Pretty scary--but (thank God) a near miss. To paraphrase an old labor saying, perhaps we should all pray for the dead, but fight like heck for some transportation funding.
While a Demmer enthusiast is trying to claim frontrunner status for his pony in the bid for the race for the GOP endorsement in the First, an article in the Rochester Post Bulletin concludes with the assessments of Washington oddmakers. In Congressional hopeful Meyer cites strategy for challenging Walz, we read:
For all the Republican optimism about their chances against Walz, political handicappers in Washington are rating Walz as a probable winner next year. The nonpartisan Cook Report on Thursday rated Walz's seat among Democratic races to watch but called his re-election likely.
The Rothenberg Political Report earlier this month rated Walz as a "lean Democratic" seat, between a toss-up and favored Democratic. Both Cook and Rothenberg rated the seat of retiring Rep. Jim Ramstad, R-Minnetonka as a toss-up, and said freshman GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann of Stillwater is a likely re-election winner. Neither rated the 2nd Congressional District seat held by Rep. John Kline, R-Lakeville, as a competitive target for the Democrats. He is being challenged by Victoria City Administrator Steve Sarvi, a Democrat and Iraq war veteran.
A letter today praises Walz's work of veterans in Walz works tirelessly for veterans, while chiding the Post Bulletin for leaving out mention of the congressman's work in a recent editorial about elected officials speaking up for vets.
In the Strib, we read Gay rights bills split state's congressional delegation. The article notes the controversy surrounding the bill's exclusion of transgendered people from workplace protection:
The political sensitivity of the issues surfaced last week, when leaders in the House delayed a vote on the Employee Non-Discrimination Act.
The move came after Minnesota's Rep. Tim Walz, a leader among freshman Democrats, informed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that the new members did not want to vote on the bill if it included protections for transgender people, according to a report in the Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper.
A Walz spokesman confirmed the report, but added: "As president of the freshman class, Congressman Walz is often asked to bring the concerns of any of the 45 newly elected Democrats to the leadership, regardless of whether he personally shares those concerns."
He added that Walz was a co-sponsor of an earlier version of the bill that included the transgender protections.
The bill, without the transgender language, is expected to come to the House floor for a vote this week. An amendment may be offered to restore the transgender protections.
We're curious which House leader decided it was a wise move to remove language covering transgendered people from the bill.
KTTC-TV reported about a Walz visit to Mantorville in Farm Bill Reaction:
. . .Congressman Tim Walz says, "It's a true compromise of all 50 states so it's an important piece of legislation, and we're kind of moving into the final few innings of that game and we want to get it done right."
Congressman Tim Walz visited Mantorville to talk about the bill, which has already passed in the house.
But, there are still concerns regarding immigration issues.
"We can secure our boaders, allow our economy to grow, but also make sure we're filling those needs and treating people with dignity this country is known for," says Walz.
Dairy farmer Ron Durst says it's an important issue nationwide.
Especially in his business.
"Nationally 80 percent of the cows are milked by immigrant labor. Better than 60 percent of the cows here in Minnesota are milked by immigrant labor, so we'd lose that labor force," says Durst.
Durst also employs a number of immigrants and says some type of compromise needs to be made.
"We need to create a system that provides us with the labor we need but at the same time we need to document who is here," says Durst. . .
Update: More on the Durst farm visit in the Community News Corps article Congressman Walz visits Durst Brothers Dairy [end update].
The Hill reports Freshman Democrats key in debate over wiretapping. Walz is mentioned:
Other freshman House Democrats who voted for the PAA — Ciro Rodriguez (Texas), Chris Carney (Pa.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Brad Ellsworth (Ind.), Harry Mitchell (Ariz.), Zack Space (Ohio), Charlie Wilson (Ohio) and Tim Walz (Minn.) — have either said they were still weighing whether to vote for the Democratic bill or would not respond to requests for comment.
Liveblogging the Rochester town hall forum, we wrote:
[Walz] is talking about the new stronger House bill. He will never vote for retroactive immunity for telecoms. He wants to see the data from telecoms and to restore the FISA courts. He will not vote for a weakened FISA bill--he has received more calls about FISA than anything else, even the birth of his son.
Now, that's a paraphrase by a slow keyboarder liveblogging a rapid-fire talker, but the sense of Walz's remarks are clear. Readers in the district should contact Walz about the issue.
That's it for now. We'll have more later in the day.
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