A Bluestem Prairie

Sustainable farming groups meet with Walz (and two ag events for the city mice)

 Public Service News reports in Minnesota Farmers Find Welcome Mat Out in Washington:

Washington, D.C. – A dozen Midwest farmers say they got a warm reception from federal agriculture officials they met with during a two-day trip to Washington this week. Farmer Tom Nuessmeier of Le Sueur, Minnesota, says important policies are being shaped by the new administration, and producers need a seat at the table.

"What we're trying to do is push for pro-active farm policies that help conservation on working lands and with beginning farmer programs, and for certain things that help independent livestock producers get fair prices for their livestock."

Nuessmeier says he was encouraged by discussions he had with members of his state's Congressional delegation about efforts to preserve and protect land through initiatives such as the Conservation Stewardship Program.

"It'll take public dollars and direct the money towards those operations that are limiting soil loss, using more rotations on their farm – things that lead to water quality."

He says that's a much better use of taxpayer dollars than direct payments.

He says they also traded ideas on helping family farmers and supporting rural communities. Nuessmeier says he left with the impression that farmers have a sympathetic ear in Congress and at the White House.

Groups involved in the trip were the Land Stewardship Project, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and the Missouri Rural Crisis Center. Those taking part in the talks included Minnesota Congress members Collin Peterson and Tim Walz, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and various USDA officials.

The Land Stewardship Project has consolidated its Twin Cities offices into one, though the offices in Lewiston and Monticello remain unchanged.

The group will host an open house on Friday, March 6, 4-7:3- p.m. at 821 E 35th Street, Suite 200.  From the email invitation:

We hope you will join us in celebrating our move to a new office in South Minneapolis. After several years of maintaining two offices in the metro area, LSP has combined our offices into a central location. The move has helped improve our efficiency and communication while providing better workspace for staff, improved meeting space and more room for volunteers and interns. This move does not affect LSP’s rural offices in Montevideo and Lewiston.

Please stop by our office on Friday, March 6, between 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and enjoy appetizers, beverages, a brief program and good conversation with LSP staff and members. For a map and directions to our office click here. There will also be a small silent auction to help cover moving costs. Please note that our office is on the second floor of the old Powderhorn Park firehouse, and requires climbing a long flight of stairs. We are currently moving forward with retrofitting the office with an elevator.

Please let us know if you can attend by calling us at 612-722-6377 or replying to this e-mail.

Thanks for your support and we hope to see you there.

Later this month, another pro-sustainable farming group, the IATP, will hold a discussion about food. From the invite:

Minnesota Global - Reducing Minnesota's Foodprint: Cutting Global Warming Contributions from Food and Energy

Monday, March 23, 2009

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy invites you to join us for an important conversation about the intersection of food, energy and climate change. From the field to our grocery stores and homes, our food system is a significant source of global warming emissions. Learn how we can redesign our food system to meet food, climate and energy goals.

Speakers:

* Tom Braun, Co-Founder, Linden Hills Power and Light
* Susan Hubbard, CEO and Co-President, Eureka! Recycling
* Jim Kleinschmit, Director of Rural Communities, IATP
* Danny Schwartzman, Owner, Common Roots Cafe

5:30-7:00 p.m.

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, 2104 Stevens Avenue South, Minneapolis

RSVP by March 20 to: [email protected] or 612-870-3408. Refreshments will be served.

Image: "Ploughed Fields" by New Ulm native Wanda Gag.

Walz to American Legion: balancing budget on backs of veterans unacceptable

As noted yesterday, Congressman Walz will be introducing legislation to" increase Dependency and Indemnity Compensation for surviving spouses of seriously disabled veterans and military personnel who died while on active duty" with his Republican colleague from Indiana,Representative Steve Buyer.

Yesterday, Walz spoke to the American Legion's Annual Washington Conference. Congress Daily, via Government Executive, reports:

The American Legion, in Washington for its annual lobbying push, received pledges of support on Tuesday from members of Congress and the Veterans Affairs secretary, with an emphasis on improving VA's processing of claims for benefits and providing care for veterans suffering from psychological stress and traumatic brain injuries.

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki told attendees he has "taken on the issue of the backlog" in handling benefit claims but conceded he does not understand the problem, which has been the top complaint of veterans organizations for decades.

Shinseki added he is developing "a credible 2010 budget" but offered no details on its shape. Last week's budget outline released by OMB would provide $52.5 billion for fiscal 2010.

Shinseki warned that the budget pressure from the economic downturn "will likely collide with the new demands" on VA, such as treating post traumatic stress disorder.

But Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said that "the idea that we would balance the budget on the back of veterans is unacceptable." Walz said VA is "almost criminally behind in processing claims" and promised to ensure it does better. He also protested the fact that Congress has been late approving VA funding 22 of the last 23 years and vowed passage this year would be prompt.

Rep. John Fleming, R-La., criticized President Obama's proposed healthcare reform, although he backs Obama's push for electronic healthcare records, which the military uses. Fleming also opposed the recurrent effort to raise the premiums for higher-income veterans in the Tricare healthcare plan.

Senate Finance Committee ranking member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said the military and the VA must find better ways to diagnose and treat PTSD and brain injuries, citing the case of an Iowa veteran who committed suicide after his ailment was not treated. He noted he had co-authored legislation with Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, that would require "new ways to reach out to veterans before it's too late."

Photo: Walz eating with sailors in Iraq in January 2008. Photo via Minnesota Public Radio.

Walz office announces economic recovery coordinator for Southern Minnesota

From the congressional office:

WALZ ANNOUNCES ECONOMIC RECOVERY COORDINATOR FOR SOUTHERN MINNESOTA

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Congressman Tim Walz announced the appointment of Meredith Salsbery as his office’s southern Minnesota’s Economic Recovery Coordinator, tasked with providing timely answers to southern Minnesota’s questions and concerns about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Salsbery, who currently serves as Walz’s District & Communications Director, will take on the added responsibilities during this economic crisis.

“Southern Minnesota needs one place to go in my office to get information or answers to their questions about how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act can help our community recover from this economic crisis. Meredith will act as an information clearinghouse for individuals and local leaders who are searching for information about how the new recovery law can help.” said Walz.

Salsbery will work with a team of Walz staff with expertise in key economic policy issues, and an understanding of individual casework best practices. The team will help constituents, small business, local governments and schools maximize the benefits of H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Salsbery and the Walz team will coordinate with federal, state and local entities to ensure the investment dollars provided in the recovery act are being spent wisely, getting to the people who need them the most, and have the most positive impact.

Salsbery can be reached by phone at 507-388-2149, by fax at 507-388-6181 or by email at [email protected].

Tuesday digest: Sunlight and Recovery Act edition

Last weekend's Transparency Camp was all about making data accessible to citizens. Their use of that data can range from playing gotcha to discovering new economic development resources to predicting votes in Congress. A new tool may assist in doing the latter on a coming vote in the House. Update: The Center for Responsible Lending has apparently revised its figures. When we review the revision, we'll update our own post according [end update]

Congress Matters's David Waldman noted noted on Friday that the House will be voting on H.R. 1106 this week, and that many Republicans representing district with higher foreclosure rates are likely to vote against the bill. We have been told that the vote may be delayed.

Waldman wrote:

Forty-one districts have 9,000+ projected foreclosures for the year. Fourteen are represented by Democrats. Twenty-seven of them (66%) are currently represented by Republicans. Discounting districts represented by first or early second term Democrats -- i.e., areas that were previously and traditionally Republican -- the number approaches 75%.

Waldman's analysis is drawn from the Center for Responsible Lending that lists Congressional-District-Foreclosure-Projections.

Top districts for foreclosure in Minnesota, where all districts are lucky even to be under the threshhold that Waldman examined? They're suburban, with the Second leading the way with a projected 7,154 foreclosures in 2009. In the Third, it's 6,614 homes, while the Sixth is third with 5,734.  The least number of foreclosures are predicted in the Seventh (3,470) and the First (3,652).

We suspect that the differences in foreclosure rates in Minnesota districts reflect overall home buying and building patterns within the state, rather than the ideology of their representatives and residents. A mere hypothesis since we haven't looked at this that closely.

However, both the Seventh and the First also still enjoy fairly sound, locally controlled community banks. Late last summer, the president of my bank told me not one of the home buyers who had secured funding through his bank was in foreclosure. Not sure how the subsequent downturn has effected that figure.

The Mankato Free Press reports in Open Door to get $1.3M grant:

On Monday, Open Door officials found out that some of that money was coming to Mankato. Learning the news from a reporter, clinic Administrator Sarah Kruse declined to comment until she could verify that the funding decision was final.

“It was almost a too-good-to-believe kind of thing,” Kruse said.

The $1.3 million will be provided over two years and will result in hiring or contracting with a variety of health care providers including doctors, dentists, nurses, dental hygienists and others, she said. And it will mean the ability to serve countless people in need of care but without the means to pay the entire cost — a population that’s growing as the economy deteriorates.

“We’re already seeing more calls from people who have lost jobs and lost insurance or have lost jobs and can’t afford COBRA,” she said.

Open Door, with a budget of about $1.1 million last year, served about 3,000 people. Some received free care, while most are charged on a sliding-fee scale based on their ability to pay.

The clinic had been seeking the grant funds for years, last applying in December of 2007. Kruse said she learned that the most recent application qualified for funding but there wasn’t enough money appropriated to cover all of the qualifying grants. With the new money provided through the $787 billion economic stimulus bill, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services went through the applications that were well regarded but not funded, according to Meredith Salsbery, communications director for Congressman Tim Walz of Mankato.

. . .While Kruse wasn’t ready to estimate Monday how many jobs would be created, she said there’s no doubt that the funding would have a meaningful effect on the lives of southern Minnesotans. Open Door has rarely marketed its services because word of mouth has kept its paid staff and volunteers fully booked.

The new money will allow the clinic to reach out to those who need health care but are unaware of Open Door. Kruse said it will be a challenge for the clinic staff to deal with a sudden and unexpected increase in Open Door’s budget of more than 50 percent — one they’re thrilled to meet.

KAAL-TV also reported Walz Announces Funds to Open Door Health Center.

In TheHill.com - The Noble Warrior agenda, Indiana Republican Steve Buyer writes:

Finally, I am delighted that soon Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) will join me in introducing a bill to increase Dependency and Indemnity Compensation for surviving spouses of seriously disabled veterans and military personnel who died while on active duty.

The Rochester Post Bulletin Healther Carlson notes the new National Journal vote ranking in her Political Notebook:

Ranking conservatives and liberals

National Journal Magazine is out with its annual rankings of U.S. Senate and House members. The magazine ranks members of Congress on a conservative-to-liberal scale based on 2008 votes. First District Democratic Rep. Tim Walz falls toward the middle of the pack, ranked 175th when it comes to liberal lawmakers in the 435-member House. By comparison, St. Paul Democrat Rep. Betty McCollum tied for first place with 11 other House members for the most liberal spot.

Second District Republican Rep. John Kline ranks among the most conservative members of the House, according to the report. Kline is ranked the 33rd most conservative member of the House.

In the Senate, Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar was in the middle of the pack. Klobuchar was ranked 37th on the liberal scale in the 100-member Senate. The publication also included Norm Coleman, whose recount battle with Democrat Al Franken in the U.S. Senate race continues with news that seems to favor Franken as the eventual winner. Coleman was 39th on the conservative scale.

Walz's 2005 participation on Camp Wellstone gets a mention in Chhis Steller's article in the Minnesota Independent. We took part in the citizen activist training track of Camp Wellstone in 2005 and recommend it to everyone, regardless of political stripe. Knowing effective methods of persuading elected officials is a useful skill for citizens. The Farm Policy blog mentions Walz's reaction to Obama's proposed changes to the Farm Bill.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's School Beat mentions the re-introduction of the Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act. Walz is one of three original co-sponsors; the bill is supported by the National Geographic Society. Last year, Walz was given the 2008 Geography Legislator of the Year Award by the group's Education Foundation.

The Zumbrota News Record notes that Walz stopped at the Pine Island Economic Development Authority to hear updates about biobusiness.

In today's video, Alberta Hunter dispenses a little advice:

Mankato's Open Door Health Center to receive $1.3 million from Recovery Act funds

A press release from Congressman Walz's office just came our way:

WALZ ANNOUNCES $1.3 MILLION IN FEDERAL STIMULUS FUNDS FOR OPEN DOOR CLINIC IN MANKATO

Funds to be used provide health care for families struggling to make ends meeting during challenging economic times

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Tim Walz is pleased to announce that Open Door Health Center has been awarded $1.3 million in funds from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The funds are part of a $2 billion national program to boost health care programs for the rising number of families that are struggling in these difficult economic times.

“This funding will go a long way in the Mankato area,” said Walz. “Today, one in every nineteen Americans gets their health care from federally supported health centers like the Open Door Health Center. Not only will the $1.3 million help keep our community in good health even as some individuals and families lose their health insurance due to layoffs and cutbacks, but it will also create direct and indirect economic activity and local jobs.”

Nationwide, grants totaling $155 million will assist 126 health centers and help provide health care to an estimated 750,000 low-income people across the country. The grants, which are administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), are expected to create 5,500 jobs at the new health centers across the country.

HRSA’s network of 1,100 health center grantees across the nation provide health care at more than 7,000 sites, ranging from large medical facilities to clinics and mobile vans. In 2007, health centers served 16.1 million patients, regardless of their ability to pay. Charges for services are set according to income, and only nominal fees are collected from the poorest patients. Nationally, about 39 percent of health center patients have no health insurance.

Photo: the Open Door Health Center.

Quick post and on the road: education and housing

We're about to go deal with the pleasures of air travel in a snowstorm, so posting after this will be light. The Sunlight Foundation's Transparency Camp was a great experience that brought together activists from across the political spectrum to discuss a common issue. We look forward to working on and writing about these issues as the weeks roll on (we hope a flight home will leave Reagan National within that time...).

Workday Minnesota reports in Despite economy, nation still committed to education, Walz tells teachers:

Despite the nation’s severe economic crisis, lawmakers are poised to make a renewed commitment to education, Congressman Tim Walz told members of Education Minnesota. And he invited educators to take the lead. “The future will be written by you with the next generation,” the 1st District Minnesota Democrat told more than 100 presidents of Education Minnesota locals gathered Feb. 21 for the union’s annual Presidents’ Conference. Walz addressed the members at the conference luncheon, where they were joined by their spouses and children. . . .

Read the rest at Workday Minnesota. The Mankato Free Press writes in First to benefit: public housing:

Money to public housing agencies, including about $400,000 for Mankato, is the first stimulus funding to be allocated to this region.

The stimulus bill, called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, gives $4 billion to housing agencies across the country, Mankato housing programs coordinator Patti Ziegler said. Three-fourths of that is allocated using normal methods, and the rest is competitive.

Ziegler said Mankato’s share of the housing stimulus will be spent on improvements to 80 of the city’s public housing units. That means new roofs as well as repairs and renovation to the units.

The 101-unit Orness Plaza may not get its long-planned repairs from the new cash because the $10 million project is using another source of money.

“We’re thrilled at the opportunity to provide safe, decent and affordable housing for working families in Mankato,” she said. . . .

. . .But it will be at least April 10 before the money is spent, Ziegler said, because local governments have to send their budgets to the federal government for approval.

Much of the stimulus money will go toward remodeling existing housing units.

Read the rest at the Free Press. The article notes that most work in the housing market by local contractors now involves remodeling. Only two new housing starts were reported in Mankato and North Mankato in January.

Sunday digest: airports and farms edition

The Rock County Star Herald reports that Luverne's airport may benefit from Recovery Act funds that could pay for runway expansion. 

In Farmers suddenly find ax poised over their subsidies, the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

It's not just Wall Street moguls who will feel the wrath of President Obama's budget.

Farmers in Minnesota and across the Midwest are headed for a showdown with the Obama administration over subsidy caps intended to limit government payments to the nation's wealthiest farmers.

Obama's first budget, released Thursday, rekindles the debate about millionaire farmers by ending direct payments to farmers with sales revenue greater than $500,000 a year, and limiting all commodity payments to a total of $250,000 per farmer.

Minnesota farmers received $305 million in direct farm payments in 2007, ranking the state sixth in the nation, according to the Environmental Working Group, which has long advocated for tighter limits on large farms that receive the bulk of the subsidies.

But some farm groups -- even those that advocate payment limits -- say that Obama's proposals go substantially beyond the farm reforms Congress enacted last year, and could cut into the earnings of more modest family farms.

"If you're a 1,000-acre corn farmer in western Minnesota, you will certainly hit that $500,000 gross sales limit," said Madison, Minn., farmer Doug Peterson, president of the Minnesota Farmers Union.

In 2007, 6,426 Minnesota farms had sales exceeding that level, according to U.S. Census data.

At current commodity price levels, Peterson said, the new limits could cost farmers as much as $1 a bushel.

"It's a little bit of a shock," said Blue Earth County corn and soybean farmer Kevin Paap, president of the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation. "These payments are a critical part of the farm safety net.". . .

Minnesotans on the House and Senate Ag Committees react:

"We just passed a fiscally responsible farm bill that made cuts to farm programs, so now is not the time to reopen it," said Minnesota Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson, who shepherded the legislation through Congress as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

Peterson, who will be in the spotlight of the debate, is already feeling pressure from some of the nation's largest farm groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation.

"The recently reformed farm bill substantially reduced commodity spending and tightened eligibility criteria for farmers," said Bob Stallman, the Farm Bureau's president. "We should not be singled out by any proposal."

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat who serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee, said she is open to additional limits on farm payments, but not if it means reopening other parts of the farm bill, the bulk of which provides food and nutrition programs for low-income families.

Obama's farm proposals, taking aim at a swath of rural America that typically votes Republican, provide substantial change from the law that went into effect this year. Farmers currently face a $750,000 cap on adjusted gross farm income to be eligible for farm subsidies. Obama's proposed $500,000 sales revenue cap would represent a much lower threshold.

"That's a big difference, and one that we think could pose a problem," said Rep. Tim Walz, a Democrat who believes the proposed limit could snag many of the dairy farms in his southern Minnesota district.

Former Senator Coleman served on the Senate Ag committee with Klobuchar and supported the bill. Al Franken supported the 2007 Farm Bill and was endorsed by the National Farmers Union's PAC. We doubt either one would whole-heartedly support Obama's proposal when seated in the Senate after the recount court battle is concluded. Franken does support Klobuchar's plan to prevent non-farmers from getting Farm Bill payments and the Dorgan-Grassley proposal to limit payments to any one farmer to $250,000.  

The flashpoint for many farm country reformers is Obama's proposal to base restrictions on sales of products rather than net income.

We're off to the second day of Transparency Camp.

Photo: The Luverne Airport.