Bluestem Prairie

W. Central Tribune: big city & small city mayors seek more compromise, less finger-pointing

While both conservative and progressive bloggers in the Twin Cities tend to paint LGA cuts as an anti-big city measure, many of the state's mayor's pull together as one voice in discussing the issue.

Staff writer Linda Vanderwerf reports in Compromise is sought by Minnesota mayors on LGA:

More compromise and less finger-pointing is what big city and small city mayors are looking for in discussions about local government aid for the state’s cities.

The mayors of Granite Falls, Cloquet, Minneapolis and St. Paul referred often to legislative efforts to cut LGA during a conference call with reporters Wednesday afternoon.

The call was organized by the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities.

And what did the mayors from Greater Minnesota say?"

Granite Falls Mayor Dave Smiglewski said the state needs to preserve LGA to maintain police and fire protection and other essential city services around the state. “We use it for livability in our cities, just like Minneapolis and St. Paul use it for livability in their cities,” he said.

Many Minnesotans go to the Twin Cities often, and they depend on the public services that are there, he said. “Taking LGA away from those cities won’t help anybody.”

Smiglewski and Cloquet Mayor Bruce Ahlgren said their communities have made substantial cuts in recent years because of decreased aid. One of the only ways for cities to increase revenue is to raise property taxes.

If aid is reduced much more, layoffs will be on the way in his city, Ahlgren said.

Elsewhere, the Fargo Forum editorialized against the drive in Push is on to scuttle Minnesota LGA:

In a passionate speech on the House floor in St. Paul this week, Rep. Paul Marquart, DFL-Dilworth, warned that a bill passed Monday is the beginning of the end for Local Government Aid for cities. It was not hyperbole.

Marquart, who is a former mayor of Dilworth, knows of what he speaks. The veteran legislator was making sure his colleagues from rural Minnesota, especially Republicans, understood what they were voting for when passing a bill that will begin to slash aid to cities. He wondered why no out-state Republican spoke against legislation that he believes will hurt their constituents. . . .

Minnesota’s budget crisis has not gone away. In fairness, legislators are trying to balance a budget that is deeply in the red. But fairness was the initial motivation for LGA. It was designed to address basic services concerns in cities where tax bases were not as lucrative as they are in wealthy suburbs. The program has worked very well for Moorhead, Detroit Lakes and dozens of other out-state cities. It has helped keep those cities financially sound and attractive to residents.

Legislators surely are struggling with the state’s budget. But that process need not gut a program that has delivered all it promised when it was established decades ago. LGA works as intended. Adjustments might be necessary to deal with the budget shortfall, but what appears to be a not-so-subtle campaign to eliminate the cities’ program is misguided and ultimately destructive to the quality of life in the state’s smaller cities.

Both papers are part of the Forum chain, widely considered to be right-center in its editorial slant.

 Photo: Granite Falls.

DHS formally revokes Susan Giefer's child care license; crime and punishment in Lake Crystal

Ever since the story of Vernon Center's alleged child rapist Jeremy Giefer's 2008 pardon broke, The City Pages' Nick Pinto has been following the case like a relentless auburn wolverine.

Today, Pinto reports in Susan Giefer's child care license revoked:

Particularly concerning was the fact that it took a solid two weeks between the time the Department of Human Services, which licenses child care facilities, was notified of Giefer's latest alleged sexual abuse and the time the department finally issued a temporary suspension of the Susan Giefer's license.

This week, that temporary suspension became permanent. On Tuesday, the Department of Human Services formally revoked Susan Giefer's family child care license.

Go check out City Pages to read the damning conclusions that moved DHS to pull the license.

Meanwhile, accused criminals from nearby Lake Crystal--where  budget ax-wielding Minnesota House Public Safety chair Rep. Tony Cornish serves as Chief of Police--are making the local news. The Mankato Free Press reports in Jury will decide if Lake Crystal man was in position of authority in criminal sex case:

A Blue Earth County Judge said one of the key issues in the criminal sexual conduct case of a Lake Crystal basketball coach - whether he was in a position of authority over his alleged victim - should be decided by a jury; the request to dismiss all charges against Steve Campbell has been denied.

Campbell, 28, had been charged with five felonies stemming from a sexual relationship between Campbell and a 17-year-old girl he'd coached. The charges centered on the fact that Campbell, as her coach, was in a position of authority over the girl, a factor in the specific statute under which Campbell was charged. . .

Campbell first met the girl when she was in junior high school and playing on a basketball team coached by Campbell¹s wife. The girl was having emotional problems, and Campbell sought to help her with Bible counseling.

Through that counseling, they eventually became physical, and he admitted having sex with the girl in September and several times after that. "It's nothing I wanted to happen, nothing I intended to happen. I just wanted to help. I helped too much I guess," he told police. . . .

There goes Gruenhagen's notion that the destructive force of the male sex drive cann be attributed to the influence of Alfred Kinsey and curbed by the Bible.  In Nibbe indicted on murder charges, the MFP reports:

A grand jury on Wednesday indicted Jennifer Lee Nibbe on first-degree murder charges in the death of her husband, James Nibbe.

Nibbe had been charged with second-degree murder in the case, but prosecutors believed they had enough evidence to pursue first-degree murder charges. In Minnesota, first-degree murder charges require a grand jury indictment.

Police were called to Nibbe’s rural Lake Crystal residence in August when she reported her home had been broken into and her husband shot. She became a suspect and was arrested Sept. 10 after investigators found no evidence of an intruder.

Let's hope that Lake Crystal has seen the last of this sort of thing for awhile. MPR reports in House bill would cut $100 million from public safety, courts:

The Minnesota House passed a bill Thursday that would spend nearly $2 billion on public safety and the courts over the next two years. The Republican-backed bill would cut nearly $100 million in state funding compared to the current biennium.

The bill passed on a party-line vote of 71-59.

It would provide stiffer prison penalties for dangerous sex offenders. But it also could cut more than $16 million from the prison system, and cut funding for the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and battered women's programs.

Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Good Thunder, chairman of the public safety committee, said the cuts were judicious.. . .

If the citizens of Lake Crystal and vicinity simmer down, maybe the cuts to the court system and prison system will be okay.

Photos: Jeremy and Susan Giefer (above); Lake Crystal Chief of Police and House Public Safety Committee Chair Rep. Tony Cornish (below).

Related posts: UPDATED! Jeremy Giefer hires private criminal law attorney; judge orders DNA test

Pardoned by Pawlenty board in 2008, sex offender hit with criminal sex, incest charges

Star Tribune picks up Giefer pardon story, drops ball by forgetting Sjodin tragedy

The Pawlenty pardon update: blog roundup; Giefer back in court

Pawlenty pardon update: incidents in the life of Jeremy Giefer in 2008

City Pages update: Giefer in court, more pre-pardon details emerge

Send food and clothing to Rep. Sean Duffy, struggling on $174K paycheck; send Walz (gives part of salary back) campaign contribution

The world is a twitter with news and the YouTube featuring poor freshman Representative Sean Duffy talking about how hard it is to make it on his $174,000 congressional paycheck. TPM summed it up:

At a town hall meeting in Polk County, Wisconsin earlier this year, Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) was asked whether he'd vote to cut his $174,000 annual salary. Duffy sort of hedged, and went on to talk about how $174,000 really isn't that much for his family of seven to live on. Then he went on to say he supports cutting compensation for all public employees, along the lines of what Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has proposed for the Badger State.

You can view the clip here.

The kid souls at the Wisconsin Democratic Party have launched a food and clothing drive so that the former Real World star won't have to sell his second home to put food on the table, clothe his kids, and pump gas into his used mini-van.

Suggested donations can be dropped off with Polk County Republicans tomorrow, April 1, 2011.

News reports have also come to the prairies this week that First District Congressman Tim Walz has been returning all of his raises, year after year, to the Treasury. Thus, he's pulling in less than poor Sean Duffy, though--like most women in Minnesota--his spouse Gwen works outside of the home.

The editorial board at the Brainard Dispatch observed:

Are donations by politicians to reduce the federal debt an empty political gesture or an important symbol?

We’ll side with those who commend members of Congress for returning part of their public salaries in order to reduce the federal government’s gargantuan debt. It’s not like it would take a lot of time or space to thank the two — that’s right, two — members of Congress who during last fall’s fiscal quarter took advantage of House rules allowing them to give back a portion of their paycheck. . . .

Walz has not accepted a salary increase since he was elected to Congress in 2006. . . .

For all the bloated rhetoric about government spending and exorbitant public workers’ salaries and benefits only two congressmen consistently return portions of their income to the government. They put their money where their mouth is. 

“That old adage is ‘It’s better to try live a sermon than to give one,” is how Walz explained his donations to the Post. . . .

Want to reward Walz for having the integrity not only to refrain from whining like poor Sean Duffy, but actually returning some of his paycheck? Tonight marks the end of the first quarter of fundraising for the 2011-2012 cycle. If you are willing and able, make a contribution to Walz's campaign committee here.

Not interested in giving a campaign contribution but want to help a family that's really in need?  The very young children of the late Michael Struck, a MNDOT worker who died working to protect southern Minnesotans from flood waters, can use your help with their education fund. As things stand now, his family will receive less than $200 each month from Struck's pension.

Related posts: Watch on the First: Who will challenge Tim Walz in 2012

Michael Struck's widow to receive $191 month pension; donate to children's education fund

An item in Politics in Minnesota's Morning Report stopped me short. In Widow of MnDOT employee who died on the job gets paltry pension benefit, readers find out just how paltry that sum is:

A monthly pension benefit that’s less than $200 for Michael Struck’s widow is generating concerns at the Capitol.

Struck, who was a Minnesota Department of Transportation employee, died in a March 22 accident while operating a backhoe. He was swept into a stream while doing flood-mitigation work at Seven Mile Creek County Park between St. Peter and Mankato.

The actuarial calculation in state law means that Struck’s widow will get $191 a month, according to Minnesota State Retirement System Executive Director Dave Bergstrom.

Struck, 39, of Cleveland, had worked for the state for about eight-and-a-half years. In addition to years of service, the actuarial process is based on the deceased age from age 65.

Policy issues in response to the tragedy could include considering a minimum death benefit for workers similar to Struck. By contrast, the widow of a state patrol officer who is killed in the line of duty receives 50 percent of final salary.

Right now it seems tasteless to this hick blogger--given my uncouth country manners--to delve into the political ironies of this situation.

Instead of just lamenting the pittance, Bluestem's readers who can afford it should send a donation to a fund set up by Struck's co-workers to help educate his small children, Kaylee, 6 and Gavin, 4:

Mike Struck Memorial Fund
c/o Nicollet County Bank
220 South Third Street
St. Peter, MN 56082

Consider also contacting your state legislators and ask them to put the survivors of other state workers killed responding to emergencies on an equal footing with those of Highway Patrol officers.

As has been widely reported, Struck was one of those guys who gave a lot back to the community--as a volunteer firefighter--as well as being the sort of co-worker who always pitched in. Help his kids out.

Post Bulletin editorial board chastises Duane Quam and Greg Davids on sales tax bill

The Post Bulletin reported on how the Rochester sales tax fueled a raucous representatives' floor debate. Now the editorial board weighs in on two Southeastern Republicans' performance.

In Sales tax isn't an 'us-vs.-them' issue. The editors first observe that tax committee chair Greg Davids has been boldly anti-Rochester since returned to the legislature in 2008:

We're not surprised by his willingness to "go to the mattresses" on this or any other Rochester-related issue. Davids has been on an anti-Rochester rant since he rejoined the House, and he clearly is enjoying this opportunity to flex his political muscle. We'd go so far as to say that threatening to kill the sales tax in its entirety was both spiteful and vindictive.

But their real spleen is reserved for the representative closer to home who was the chief sponsor of the bill extending the sales tax (a move that Rochester residents will also have to approve at the polls):

But we're even more disappointed with Rep. Duane Quam. As a Republican from Byron who represents a lot of Rochester residents, he showed no backbone on Monday when he voted against a proposal that would have restored the very bill he authored. In explaining this vote, he claimed that some items had been added to the city's proposal in a less-than-forthright matter.

That begs the question: Did Quam read the sales tax bill before he introduced it? His backing away from it now leaves us to choose from three unflattering conclusions: He didn't know what the sales tax proposal contained; he introduced the bill as a courtesy to the city but had no real intention of supporting it; or, he simply caved in to pressure from Davids and the rest of the GOP leadership.

Read the rest in the PB.

The Post Bulletin doesn't bring up another fascinating element of Davids' behavior, but one of Bluestem's readers did in a comment he left here. For all his opposition to the sales tax in Rochester, he didn't hesitate to approve a deal for Target Field that allowed sales tax revenues to help pay for the stadium--without allowing citizens of Hennepin County to vote on the tax:

I'm from Minneapolis, so I won't really have to pay any of this tax unless I decide to head down to Rochester. As far as I'm concerned, the local residents should get to decide this issue at the polls.

But, I have to say, I saw part of this discussion on TV in the late afternoon, and I heard Rep. Davids talking about how he doesn't want to have to make his constituents pay this tax without getting a vote on it. Trouble is, Rep. Davids voted in 2006 to allow Hennepin County to impose a Stadium sales tax with NO referendum at all. This proposal for Rochester has a referendum. So if he thinks a county should be able to impose a tax with no referendum, why is it such a problem for Davids to have a City council assemble their own proposal for consideration by voters without his meddling? But maybe he just makes it up as he goes along. After all, in the debate, he even admitted that he had "evolved," because he claime that jn his first election in a special election in 1991, he promised to get rid of the Rochester sales tax. So he's saying that city fathers should be lucky that "Uncle Greg"--and yes he did refer to himself as Uncle Greg--decided to support any tax at all. Sigh. Well, elections have consequences. Remember that in November 2012 , ok?

Yes, indeedie.

Photos: Greg Davids (above); Duane Quam (below).

 

Chronicles of Drazistan: enough with the green roofs, send more flood water

The sharp-eared Phoenix Woman called my attention to a report on Minnesota Public Radio in which Mayor Rybak responds to a Steve Drazkowski rant on the House floor about the Minneapolis city budget.

First, I'm not surprised that it took Steve Drazkowski so long to discover that running a large city often involves large dollar amounts. After all, the Draz has devoted more time to trying to get public assistance recipients pay for drug tests, to make English the official state language, and to eliminate pay equity for  women working for local government.

Also, rooting out those walnut trees, which, if left on their own in state parks, might fall down and rot after several hundred years.

Draz seemed especially offended by the notion of a green roof in the rant. Fortunately the mayor got a chance to respond in Rybak fires back at GOP lawmaker over 'wasteful spending' charge:

Let's look at those green roofs. We're in a period of flooding in this state. One million gallons of water is captured on that green roof at Target Center that's not going to create flooding in this state. The city of Minneapolis was under a state mandate to lessen dramatically the amount of water we put in the Mississippi, and we've delivered, and by doing that we've lessened flooding in this state.

So when people take things out of context and don't understand what they're for, they don't make a whole lot of sense. I could go line by line through any of the state budgets and come up with some outrageous things.

But the fact of the matter is the largest city in this state has focused primarily its spending on public safety. We've lowered crime to dramatic lows. We've created jobs, and we're moving this economy forward, and we have restored fiscal stability to the city where our bond rating had been lost a decade ago. Now I'm proud of that work.

Perhaps Draz feels his district--downstream from Minneapolis on the Mississippi River--isn't getting its fair share of storm sewer water from the Mill City. It must be frustrating to know that the efficacy of green roofs for stormwater management is a given.

Those walnut trees growing in the deep ravines of Whitewater State Park and on the bluffland in Frontenac State Park are probably helping to withhold water from the floods as well. Frivolous, wasteful things.

Related post: Confluence: why the mayor of Minneapolis was a voice in Montevideo

Pick one: Steve Sviggum can take $80,000 half-time job or Regent's post, ethics panel says

The Star Tribune reports that the three-person ethics panel reviewing former Minnesota House Speaker and Pawlenty commissioner Steve Sviggum potential conflict-of-interest from being a U Regent and employee has told the Kenyon Republican to pick one.

In U Regents committee: Sviggum shouldn't keep 2 jobs, Jenna Ross reports:

A three-person committee said Wednesday that they believe Steve Sviggum's two posts at the University of Minnesota are a conflict of interest and recommended that he resign from one of them.

Sviggum said he respects and accepts that decision, but needs time to decide which position to keep: his unpaid seat on the U's Board of Regents or his paid job as a legislative fellow in the U's Humphrey School of Public Affairs. . . .

Sviggum and former representative Laura Brod were chosen in a controversial vote by the state legislature earlier this year that left no labor representation on the U's Board of Regents.

The clubbiness was recognized at the time of the vote. State Representative Bud Nornes told the Star Tribune:

Some candidates "you know better than others," he said, noting Sviggum's past as speaker of the Minnesota House. "It's pretty hard to expect your friends not to vote for you."

This isn't the first time that Sviggum has faced scrutiny from conflict of interest charges. At the Forum groups' Capitol Chatter blog, Andrew Tellijohn reports:

The university question was not Sviggum’s first conflict-of-interest accusation.

While speaker, Democrats said they thought he had a conflict voting in favor of ethanol-related bills because a farm he owns with his brothers benefited.

The farm also was in question when some accused him of seeking to make money when a wind farm was proposed to include Sviggum property after he supported legislation promoting wind power. At the time, Sviggum said that he would not be part of the decision.

After leaving the Legislature, he served as state labor and industry commissioner, running an agency that received substantial federal funding. When he considered running for governor, federal authorities said that would violate the Hatch Act, which forbids federal workers from running for office. He opted against running.

However, Minnesotans shouldn't cry for Steve Sviggum and the choice he faces. Sviggum has done quite well for himself when looking for pocket change in the public purse.

In 2007, the editors of the Pioneer Press that serviing as a commissioner would punch up Sviggum's pension:

Last week, Pawlenty, a Republican governor and ex-legislator himself, appointed former House Speaker Steve Sviggum commissioner of the state Department of Labor and Industry. That is a full-time job paying $108,393 per year. As a part-time legislator, Sviggum was making $31,140 plus daily expenses.

Sviggum, 55, has been in the House since 1979. His pension, when he decides to draw it, is based on his age at retirement, his total years of service and his highest gross salary, averaged over a five-year period. This is known as his "high five.'' All Sviggum's years of service, even those as a lower-paid legislator, will be multiplied against his "high five'' when calculating his pension benefit.

Veteran legislators (those elected before 1997, when the pension system changed) have made regular contributions to their pension plan amounting to 9 percent of salary, according to the Minnesota State Retirement System. Pension benefits for these veterans are determined by multiplying their years of service, their high five average salary and a factor of 2.5 percent.

A legislator with 30 years of experience and a high five average of $35,000 ends up with an annual pension of $26,250. But a legislator with the same 30 years of service, and the last five years as a state commissioner at $100,000 per year, ends up with an annual pension of $75,000.

Even a few years at six-figure commissioner's pay greatly increases a veteran legislator's pension. To use the example above, a legislator with 28 years in the House and two years earning $100,000 as a commissioner increases his pension from the mid-20s to the mid-40s. ("On high fives, 10 million, rats and more ..." St. Paul Pioneer Press, July 5, 2007, Nexis All-News database, accessed 3/30/2011)

Sviggum served as Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry commissioner from mid-July until December 1, 2010, when he moved to lead the Minnesota Department of Management and Budget for the final month of the Pawlenty administration. That's about 3 1/2 years. 

A commenter on the Star Tribune story mentions that Sviggum had received thousands in federal farm subsidies, according to the EWG farm subsidy database; however, the address in the database is for Nerstrand, not Kenyon, and the DexKnows phone directory online lists two Steve Sviggums in Goodhue County, one in rural Kenyon and another with an address in Nerstand. Bluestem cannot determine which Sviggum received the subsidies or whether the addresses are for separate individuals. Those who wish to claim that Sviggum has received federal  farm subsidies had best make that determination. (The concerns about ethanol subsidies were related to a state subsidy, rather than federal program).

Real Republican men of genius: Sen. John Carlson proposes healthcare cost savings (by not going to a doctor)

Bluestem readers may remember Senator John Carlson's last cameo appearance in this space, as author of the senate companion bill of the House legislation that would eliminate the Pay Equity Act, among other things. (Not surprisingly, sponsored by Steve Drazkowski).

Carlson pulled the senate version of the bill from consideration by committee, so it's effectively dead in the senate.

Now Carlson returns, following his brilliant statements on the floor of the senate today in defense of Mike Parry's bill that would replace current health care plans for state employees with a long-treasured Republican solution for health care cost: Health Savings Accounts, coupled with high-deductible health insurance.

The plans are great for single, young people without kids, health issues or  any accident-prone tendencies, but for families and anyone with a chronic health condition--like asthma, diabetes, or what have you--not so much.

Carlson, an insurance agent, thinks they're great, though, especially since he doesn't go to a doctor himself. In fact, he suggests that public employees could end up ahead off the game if they adopt that strategy, and keep rolling HSA contributions in their accounts, year after year.

When the big one hits--and since the state workers haven't been to the doctor to check for high blood pressure or other conditions that signal the onset of more serious health dangers--they'll have a few thousand stored up to pay their deductible for the heart attack or stroke.

It's surprising that the Brain Trust at the Senate Majority Caucus comm shop think Carlson's a go-go guy for rebuting DFL arguments. (Wonkette has more, having been tipped off by the mysterius Vic T.).

Here's the video, courtesy of the Senate DFL Caucus, from YouTube:

The Walnuttery 22: Remember these folks' names next time you enjoy a state park

On my Facebook page, a friend posted the list of House members who voted to allow to keep language introduced  by Steve Drazkowski that would have allowed logging in two state parks:

Here are the 22 Reps who voted to allow logging in the two state parks (3/29/11, House Journal p. 1608, HF1010A33 amendment, http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/cco/journals/2011-12/J0329033pt2.htm):

Benson, M.
Bills
Buesgens
Daudt
Davids
Downey
Drazkowsk
Erickson
Fabian
Garofalo
Gruenhagen
Hackbarth
Hancock
Kelly
Leidiger
O'Driscoll
Peppin
Quam
Scott
Shimanski
Swedzinski
Wardlow

Related posts: Another Greater MN newspaper stumped by wackiness of Drazkowski's walnuttery

 Only God can make a tree, but stupid ideas are left for The Draz to introduce

Mankato and Faribault papers lament GOP "chainsaw approach and reckless lumberjacking"

Elsewhere: for a more serious discussion of Drazkowski's walnuttery, see the PB's Political Party post Lawmakers reject proposal allowing logging in Whitewater, Frontenac.

 

Another Greater MN newspaper stumped by wackiness of Drazkowski's walnuttery

Tuesday, the Austin Herald joined the Mankato Free Press in hoping Steve Drazkowski might prune his ambitions from turning black walnut tree in two state parks into gun stocks and table tops.

In Save the trees, the editors write:

One of the wackier ideas bouncing around the Capitol this year calls for boosting state revenues by logging high-value trees out of state parks —specifically black walnut trees in southeastern Minnesota’s Whitewater and Frontenac parks. The drop those trees would put back into the state’s empty budget bucket hardly seems worth the damage it would cause.

The bill, actually an amendment to the larger environment finance bill, is supposed to get a House vote this week. If it passes there, and makes it through the conference committee process, it would require the DNR to sell off commercially valuable timber. Although the bill’s author has been quoted as saying that the measure would affect 1 percent of state park trees, we doubt it would stop there. If majestic, signature trees like the Whitewater and Frontenac black walnuts can be harvested, wouldn’t the next step be to cut the last old growth red pine in Itasca State Park? And couldn’t almost all parks’ trees be harvested for pulp paper making operations? Indeed, if commercial value is the only standard to be applied, the parks themselves could be sold — they occupy some beautiful land which developers would no doubt love to get their hands on.

Starting down the path of commercially logging state parks — which are meant to be held in perpetuity for all the state’s people — would lead nowhere good, not least because it is a decision that can never be reversed. Once a tree is cut, it’s gone forever. Destruction is easy, but seldom wise. In this case, it is definitely the wrong course.

Apparently, even Republicans in the House saw the post-moronic nature of the notion and trimmed it from the bill. The Star Tribune reports:

Under pressure from all sides, the House did strip out a controversial proposal to allow commercial loggers to cut black walnut trees in two southeastern state parks.

Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, who proposed the measure, said logging could recoup enough money from the trees to subsidize park operations. But critics argued it would destroy cherished state wilderness. The proposal could be resurrected in coming weeks, however.

Lovely.

Update: for a more serious discussion of Drazkowski's walnuttery, see the PB's Political Party post Lawmakers reject proposal allowing logging in Whitewater, Frontenac.

Related posts: Only God can make a tree, but stupid ideas are left for The Draz to introduce

Mankato and Faribault papers lament GOP "chainsaw approach and reckless lumberjacking"

Photo: You're safe for now, Mr. Squirrel.

Is there a Waseca connection for the MNGOP's made-up, Enron-style accounting?

Over at the We Party's blog, E.M. Ployd (or a ghostwriter) posted a interesting tidbit in Minnesota GOP Using “Enron-Style Accounting” to Draft Budget Based on Secret Data Source:

In a second post, MNPublius notes the source of the budget numbers. Rather, the lack of source:

In a letter to Speaker Kurt Zellers, Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley) decried the practice:

During your March 25th press briefing you made a surprising revelation about the fiscal projections House and Senate leaders are using to create the ominbus budget bills. Specifically, you acknowledged that fiscal chairs are “depending on figures from private business and from other states” to create the budget rather than using the non-partisan fiscal notes from Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB)

Okay, Mr. Ployd swiped that from the homies at MNPublius, but the We Party post and headline got me wondering where those made-up, Enron-style numbers came from.

Not just House but Senate leaders are given credit for being real Republican men of genius on that. But where did those numbers come from?

Suddenly, I remembered something. The Republican Majority caucus comm director makes no secret about the esteem with which he holds Waseca's Senator Mike Parry. And that might be the Enron connection.

In December 2006, the Mankato Free Press reported in Waseca set to welcome infamous inmate; Convicted Enron exec causing buzz in community:

A new resident scheduled to arrive in Waseca Tuesday has brought national attention to the town, prompting more than a few citizens to mess with the city’s slogan.

The phrase “For an hour . . . for a lifetime” has been tweaked to add, in one variation or another, “. . . maybe 24 years of confinement.” The new twists are making light of the federal prison sentence Jeff Skilling, former Enron chief executive officer, has been ordered to serve at the Federal Correctional Institution, Waseca.

Skilling was one of the masterminds behind a complicated scam that manipulated the energy company’s financial statements, which eventually led to Enron’s collapse in 2002. . . 

Could Skilling's mad financial skillz have entered the collective consciousness of Waseca? Such a theory might also explain why Parry told public employees at a recent town hall meeting that his bill to cut the state's contribution to their pensions would result in . . .wait for it...bigger pensions!

Related post: Mike Parry tells public employees they'll get bigger pensions, suggests new tax on services

Photo: Former ENRON CEO  and one-time Waseca resident, Jeff Skilling. Image from the (I kid you not) Business Insider Law Review.

 

Post Bulletin: Rochester sales tax fuels raucous representatives' floor debate

Peeking behind the firewall at the Post Bulletin article, Fiery floor debate erupts over Roch sales tax proposal, one can learn more about the details on the vote sketched out in the free, publicly-accessible online headnote boxed at the top of the article:

How they voted

How area lawmakers voted on an amendment to restore $58.5 million in cuts made to Rochester's city sales tax proposal.

Voting yes: Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester; Rep. Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester.

Voting no: Rep. Mike Benson, R-Rochester; Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston; Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa; Rep. Duane Quam, R-Byron.

The vote came on an amendment offered by Liebling:

An effort to restore $58.5 million in cuts to a Rochester city sales tax proposal failed in the Minnesota House, highlighting a divide between local Democrats and Republicans.

Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, supported an amendment to restore those reductions, which included eliminating funding for a senior center, a Boys and Girls Club youth center, library expansion and some economic development proposals. The city needs the legislature’s authorization before it can put the tax before the voters.

The paper reports that her amendment provked House Tax Chair Greg Davids, R-Preston, who backed the tax proposal cuts, to offer an amendment, later withdrawn, to strip the Rochester sales tax entirely from the bill, as well as one--also withdrawn--that would require Rochester citizens to vote on each project, not simply the tax itself.

Davids objected to the size of the tax package Rochester would raise from local sales, and the impact of the tax on non-Rochester residents, according to the PB:

. . .He said residents living outside Rochester would be stuck paying a major portion of the tax.

“When I can get somebody else to pay my bills, what the heck? Why not? You are going to have all the surrounding communities, Winona, Austin, Owatonna and others playing for your Boys and Girls Club,” Davids said.

While Rochester's projects may be large, the Mayo City is Minnesota's third largest metropolis, which draws people from throughout Southeastern Minnesota to enjoy its facilities, and so Davids' objections seem a bit peevish from this distance.

However, a split between Main Street, Chamber of Commerce Republicans and Tea Party Republicans may have stoked his ire.

Davids' move ran counter to implied help proposed by Rep. Keith Downey and Majority Leader Matt Dean at a meeting on Friday sponsored by the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce, which supported the original bill submitted by Representative Quam. Local Tea Party Patriots had testified against the Quam-Senjem bills at a joint tax committee hearing on March 9, while Chamber and city spokesters testified in support of the legislation.

Tea Party Republicans objected to Downey's suggestion that the cuts could be worked out in a closed-door meeting with the city.

According to Monday's online report at the PB, city officials are hoping for the best to emerge from conference committee, as the full request remains in the Senate version of the request:

Rochester’s Assistant City Administrator Gary Neumann sent out an email to members of the Rochester delegation asking them not to seek to restore the project funding because the Senate version of the bill has the entire $160 million proposal and the differences could be worked out in conference committee. . . .

Rep. Kim Norton responded by saying the city officials sent that email not because they don’t want to see the sales tax proposal restored, but because they were afraid after hearing a rumor Davids would seek to kill the proposal.

She added, “They are scared to death that partisan politics is acting out on this floor today, and I was shocked and ashamed to see that their biggest fears are going to be realized.”

Will the Tea Party Patriot Republicans launch a full-tilt campaign to influence the conference committee report?

Related post: Boiling over in Rochester: Downey promises closed-door meeting; Tea Party Patriots steamed

Photo: State Representative Tina Liebling

Watch on the First: Who will challenge Tim Walz in 2012

Because Congressman Walz's 2010 re-election was reched with under 50 percent, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has put the three-term representative on its Frontline list. Despite this, no Republican has declared his or her intent to run.

Names are being circulated, but the paucity of declared candidates is a consequence of the coming re-districting.  Potential opponent are quite simply waiting until the lines are withdrawn.

Here are the names I've heard, along with the scuttlebutt about them.

Randy Demmer: the name gets brought up, as in this early March article in Minnpost.  I'm not hearing much enthusiasm, save from DFLers.

Steve Drazkowski: Anti-immigrant activist Ruthie Hendrycks raised the possibility in a podcast of the Ruthie Report in February. The Draz demured. Some DFLers fear he might have teflon Bachmann luck. Regardless of how absurd his legislative proposals are--from chopping down walnut tree in state parks to English-only, he remains popular in the more conservative parts of the GOP base.

Andy Johnson Sr: The Mankato Tea Party activist may not be well-known outside of Mankato, but at a recent office visit to Walz's congressional office to demand cuts to government spending, some DFLers who stpped by thought they saw kingmaker  and retired Bachmann district director Julie Quist coaching Johnson. A dark horse.

Mike Parry:  There's talk in the Waseca-Owatonna area that Parry is considering a run. The Faribault Daily News recently ran a puff piece about Parry that mentioned a possible Parry run:

Parry also brushes aside suggestions that his increasingly public profile signals greater political ambitions. Parry’s congressional district is currently held by Democrat Tim Walz. The Republican Party has made no secret of its interest in gaining the seat in Washington, D.C.

Allen Quist: His wife's retirement from her position as Bachmann's district director have caused some to owonder if she'll bring her formidable organizational talents to a second bid by her husband for the GOP endorsement. Quist came in second behind Demmer in 2010 in the quest for their party's endorsement; social conservatives hope Quist will try again.

Julie Rosen: While Rosen might seem like a strong candidate to outsiders, more conservative GOP base in the First is somewhat suspicious of her having RINO tendencies. With the construction of a second home in Mendota, she's probably comfortable in the state senate.

Steve Sviggum: Said to have ambitions for the seat, Sviggum and his home in Kenyon wuld have to redistricted into the first--or he'd have to move (a big step for the farmer and half-time prof at the U of M's Humphrey School).

Photo: Congressman Tim Walz meeting with veterans in Austin.

Mankato and Faribault papers lament GOP "chainsaw approach and reckless lumberjacking"

Last week, Bluestem note how Greater Minnesota newspapers scold Republican legislature for shifts, gimmicks and raids. This weekend, two more outstate dailies sound a warning.

In Our View: Legislature acting in haste, the Mankato Free Press editors opine:

Citizens had to move quickly this year if they wanted their representatives at the Legislature to consider their points of view.

Policy experts had to scramble to provide appropriate research to legislative committees.

In the end, this fast-track democracy has not been in the best interests of the governed. . . .

As legislative committees wrapped up their final budget bills Friday, there seemed to be more than a few instances of the chainsaw approach and reckless lumberjacking. . . .

. . .Dozens of major policy bills are passing through committees on party line votes, another indication that some voters’ policy preferences are not being considered very seriously.

Most Minnesotans know the budget must be cut and that everyone will need to share the pain. But given the serious circumstances of some of the largest cuts to services in state history, legislators should be even more careful and deliberative in making decisions that may be life-changing for many Minnesotans.

Read the details in the Mankato Free Press.  And the Faribault Daily News extends the critique in GOP shouldn’t disregard agency’s budget analysis:

GOP leaders in the state Legislature need a better argument than politics for ignoring what in the past has been standard practice.

Republicans in the House have caught flack this week from their DFL counterparts for the accounting behind their proposal to solve the state’s $5 billion budget deficit.

Built in part on cuts in spending for health and social services, Local Government Aid and government workforce, the GOP plan has taken fire for disregarding analysis of its math. The budget proposals from both the Senate and the House use one-time funds whose actual savings are not yet verified by the Minnesota Management and Budget office.

Instead of following the long-accepted practice of following the fiscal notes of the Minnesota Management and Budget office, the Republicans claim they don’t trust the numbers of an agency under the control of DFL Gov. Mark Dayton.

That’s a questionable argument for all kinds of reasons.

Read the reasons of the Op-ed page of the Faribault paper. 

It simply isn't enough to say that there are Republican and DFL numbers; it's important to assess claims on their merit. One politician's figures on Local Government Aid (LGA) withstood scrutiny. MPR News' PoliGraph found that Rybak gets tax numbers right:

Republican legislators are targeting local government aid as they attempt to erase the state's $5 billion deficit.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak defended the program on his blog, arguing against the contention that state aid is a handout.

"Minneapolis helps keep the state afloat," Rybak wrote. "This year alone, we will send $367.5 million more to the state in sales and property taxes than the state has promised us back in LGA."

Rybak's numbers are on point.

Rybak and other urban mayors are sticking upfor LGA for the entire state, not just the largest cities. Maybe it's time for more Minnesotans who look to shape a politics (and budget) that look to connections and accuracy,  rather than currying resentment among different regions while cultivating weak math anld disgarding solid analysis.

(h/t to MPP for the Rybak material).

Photo: Leatherface, the model ALEC legislator? (Since ALEC's defenders say there's no story here, will the general  public be allowed to learn which Minnesota legislators are members--and read the model legislation the group puts together? After all,members of the Chamber of Commerce and NFIB prudly display their membership, often on their business doors).

Boiling over in Rochester: Downey promises closed-door meeting; Tea Party Patriots steamed

An article in the Rochester Post Bulletin has local Tea Party Patriots boiling over. On Saturday morning, political reporter Heather Carlson reported in Frustration boils over on Rochester sales tax cuts:

Lawmakers got an earful Friday from Rochester leaders who were angry that some House lawmakers stripped $58.5 million out of the city's local option sales tax proposal.

Speaking at a Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Chub Stewart told House Majority Leader Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, and Rep. Keith Downey, R-Edina, that lawmakers should stop meddling with the city's tax proposal.

"Rochester is fully capable of making intelligent decisions as to how we want to spend our money, and don't tread in that area is my recommendation to you because it is a hot subject in town," Stewart said to applause from the audience of roughly 50 gathered at the Rochester Golf and Country Club.

After listening to multiple speakers upset about the cuts, Dean apologized to the audience.

"It sounds to me like this process probably got sideways somewhere along the way and there were probably communication problems" he said. "I just want to apologize for that with the city and the folks who brought these (concerns) forward."

This is fascinating stuff. The history of what lead to Dean's apology is long, but worth reading for what it tells us about Republican "leadership" in the Minnesota House. Let's walk it back.

March 9: Rochester Chamber and Tea Party speak to tax extension

It's not as if Majority Leader Dean assists Speaker Zellers in running a legislative chamber that lacks for public committee hearings where the Chamber and other leaders from Rochester can testify. Indeed, Carlson reported back on March 10 in Tea Party members blast sales tax proposal:

. . .the measure also has a long list of supporters, including the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce. Chamber President John Wade told lawmakers that he is “about the last person who would come here to advocate for a tax,” but that the sales tax proposal is key to the city’s future.

“What I do believe is that this measure, the local option sales tax, has been well thought out, locally developed and proven results,” he said. “We believe if we get things right in our community, over the next 10 years we will grow some 8,000 jobs.”

Other backers writing letters of support include Mayo Clinic, Rochester Area Economic Development Inc. and the Rochester Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Before the city of Rochester can put the sales tax proposal before the voters, it needs to get authorization from the Legislature. Sen. Dave Senjem, R-Rochester, and Rep. Duane Quam, R-Byron, are the chief sponsors of bills seeking that approval.

Their testimony can be viewed at archives for the March 9 Joint meeting of the Minnesota Senate Committee on Taxes and the House Committee on Property and Local Taxes Division. Of course, they weren't alone--two Rochester residents spoke against the proposal on behalf of the local Tea Party Patriots.

Their testimony, rather than that of representatives of the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce, the Mayo Clinic and other local business and non-profit groups, grabbed the headline in the Post Bulletin. TPP leader Cindy Maves said in part:

Members of the Rochester Tea Party Patriots ripped Rochester's proposed sales tax extension on Wednesday, urging lawmakers to vote against letting the city put it before the voters.

Cindy Maves and Max Sullivan, members of the Rochester Tea Party Patriots, said the sales tax would be used for fluff projects. Maves said the sales tax originally passed in 1983 was worthy of support because it funded needed flood control infrastructure projects. But she said this latest plan includes projects not worthy of taxpayer dollars.

"We are not renewing for infrastructure. We are renewing for frosting,” she said. . . .

March 16: Davids' committee follows Mave's advice

Apparently, the objections by the local Tea Party to allowing local citizens to vote to extend or not extend a sales tax--scheduled to sunset in 2012--took hold over the wishes of the Chamber of Commerce and its allies. On March 16, Carlson reported in $58.5 million cut from sales tax proposal:

What happened? A key House committee cut Rochester's sales tax proposal by $58.5 million for a total of $101.5 million. Axed from the proposal was $26 million for a senior center, $3.5 million for a youth center and $11 million for library expansion. It also included $18 million in cuts for economic development programs including $5 million from the Destination Medical Center, $5 million from the Rochester Area Economic Development Inc. and the entire $8 million for the downtown master plan.

Mind you: these are not projects to be paid by revenue from state taxes, but local sales taxes that would have to be approved by local voters. Carlson reports:

Members of the House Property and Local Tax Division made the cuts. The proposal heads to the Taxes Committee, chaired by Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston. Davids said he backs those cuts because the city of Rochester’s $160 million proposal was simply too big.

“The problem with the Rochester sales tax was the size. It was enormous,” Davids said.

Rochester Mayor Ardell Brede said he was disappointed by the lawmakers' actions. He said state law requires the city to get the Legislature’s approval to extend its half-cent sales tax, but the measure still has to go to the voters and they should be the ones to decide.

“(The Legislature’s) job is to only say yes you can take it to a referendum, and why they are now micromanaging an area they don’t need to be involved in is beyond me,” Brede said.

Later in the article, Davids used reasons for some cuts that are drawn from Cindy Maves' testimony.

Sales tax not a contested issue in 2010 Rochester Lynch-Nelson senate race

All of this is quite curious stuff. Extending the sales tax didn't seem a make or break issue in Rochester's state legislative race last fall; in fact, the Post Bulletin reported that both former state senator Ann Lynch and  senator Carla Nelson, who defeated her, supported keeping Rochester's sales tax (Heather Carlson, "Lynch, Nelson differ on how to support jobs, economy," Post-Bulletin, October 21, 2010, Nexis All-News, accessed 3/27/2011).

March 25: Country Club Republicans

But while the Republican leadership might turn a blind eye to Davids' committee cutting projects on because Cindy Maves said so, after a luncheon meeting at the Rochester Golf and Country Club, Dean has learned that leadership also means always having to say you're sorry (if it's Minnesota's third largest city and a swing city that's playing a huge  and "fishy" role in 2012 election calculus).

For Downey, it means promising something else:

Downey, a member of the House Taxes Committee, pledged to the audience that he would personally work on addressing Rochester's concerns by putting together a closed-door meeting between city officials and lawmakers to come to a solution. That promise won applause from the audience.

March 26-27: A Tea Party Urgent Action Item

Naturally, this offer--served up at a country club, no less--drew the ire of Rochester's Tea Party Patriots, who issued the following urgent action item (typography preserved from the original post; email contact info redacted to prevent spamming of lawmakers' accounts)

Urgent Action Item!
We need Emails and Phone calls to go out NOW!!!!!

Country Club, Closed Door Meetings to Discuss the Rochester Sales Tax Extension!  

This bill and other Tax bills will be voted on Monday in House of Representatives.

Tea Party Patriots Must take action to Call and Email House representatives Now and Early Monday Morning to tell them "No new Taxes! We want you to keep your Promises".

Did you see the Saturday night front page Rochester Post Bulletin  article "Frustration boils over on Rochester sales tax cuts"? Rep. Matt Downey was blasted at a Chamber of Commerce meeting at the Country Club because the House cut 58.5 million dollars out of the Rochester City Sales Tax Extension. Downey pledged to personally put together a "Closed Door Meeting with City officials and lawmakers to come to a solution".

Will our Legislators Cave to the Country Club Chamber of Commerce members and City Officials to add the 58.5 million dollars back in to the Sales Tax bill?

NO NEW TAXES!
The key Members to contact are:
House Majority Leader: Matt Dean (R)             651-296-3018 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            651-296-3018      end_of_the_skype_highlighting     
Rep. Mike Benson (R)             651-296-4378 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            651-296-4378      end_of_the_skype_highlighting      
Rep. Duane Quam (R)             651-296-9236 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            651-296-9236      end_of_the_skype_highlighting     
Rep. Gregg Davids (R)             651-296-9278 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            651-296-9278      end_of_the_skype_highlighting       
Make sure you tell them you are from the Rochester area and this effects YOU!

Rochester Tea Party Patriots have already made a difference by getting 58.5 Million dollars cut from this sales tax! We Need YOU to keep the pressure on!

To sum up

Personally, I'm all for letting the citizens of Rochester vote the sales tax up or down as originally proposed. What's fascinating is watching Dean, Downey, Davids and the rest of the Republican majority in the House pretzel themselves as they try to serve two masters--the business community and the Tea Party Republican base that swept them back into power.

Photos: Rochester Tea Party Patriot leader Cindy Maves raves at the joint committee hearing on March 9 (above, via PB); House Majority Leader Matt Dean (below, via PIM).

Recount: MNGOP promises to pay Olmsted County $3,050 and Mower County $2,424 soon

  The Rochester Post Bulletin reports in Recount costs to be paid soon, Republicans say:

Unpaid bills owed to Olmsted and Mower counties from last year's governor's race recount are set to be paid soon, state Republican Party chairman Tony Sutton said.

"The checks ... are going out before the end of next week," Sutton said. "By the end of the month, they'll have their payment."

The party owes Olmsted County $3,050 and Mower County $2,424 for their costs of retrieving, preparing and sending voter data requested by Republicans for the election recount. . . .

. . .County Election Administrator Pam Fuller turned over the matter to Tom Canan in the Olmsted County attorney's office this week. Canan spoke with a party official on Wednesday.

"We got a promise they're going to take care of (the bill) in the near future," he said. "We're hoping they will."

Earlier in March, the Post Bulletin had reported that the Republican Party's failed burrito baron and Chair Tony Sutton had blown a gasket when asked about the money owed to Mower County.

Prior reports in the Post Bulletin didn't include news of money the Republican Party of Minnesota owed to Olmsted County.

Only God can make a tree, but stupid ideas are left for The Draz to introduce

It's not just the Minnesota Progressive Project pointing out the burning stupidity of Steve Drazkowski's latest stroke of genius.

The Mankato Free Press gives Draz an enormous "thumbs down" in Don't make God pay for budget deficit:

To a plan approved by the Republican-controlled Minnesota House environment and natural resources committee to harvest black walnut trees in Frontenac and Whitewater State Parks as a way to shore up Minnesota’s budget deficit.

Now, apparently, even God must share the sacrifice of balancing Minnesota’s budget.

Cutting black walnut trees in state parks has got to be one of the all-time most ridiculous proposals ever for raising revenue to balance a budget. Minnesotans should be outraged. . . .

. . .Thumbs down to Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, from suggesting this legislation and thumbs down to those Republicans on the environmental committee who voted in favor of this bad idea that takes an ax to Minnesota’s natural beauty.

And how  much would this bring to the state's coffers? The Pioneer Press reports that Draz has no idea:

The DNR couldn't say Thursday how many black walnut trees are in the two southeastern Minnesota state parks. Earning money from them simply hasn't been a consideration.

"Our position is that we manage state parks for our natural resources,'' said state parks director Courtland Nelson. He added, "While there may be a short financial gain, there clearly would be a loss of the natural resource values.''

Drazkowski couldn't estimate how much income black-walnut logging could generate.

Lovely. Some laws are made by fools, I see, but only God can make a tree.

Photo: Run, Mr. Fox Squirrel, run.

 

Gunther calls own action "illegal" while Cornish deplores "reverse unfunded mandates"

There's little in the headline of Mark Fischenich's article, Gunther, Cornish doing tough work on budgets, to prepare readers for the text to follow:

For Rep. Bob Gunther, the job also brought him the role of whipping boy on Thursday.

 As head of the Jobs and Economic Development Committee, the Fairmont Republican put together the budget bill that slashed several jobs and housing programs by 30 percent and took $60 million from an Iron Range fund, moving it to state coffers.

“Very upset,” Gunther said of the reaction by Iron Range lawmakers. “And they should be, and it’s probably going to be deemed illegal. What we did to them, I think it’s an illegal thing. It’s their property taxes.”

Illegal?  I'm surprised Cornish, who serves as Lake Crystal chief of police, doesn't take his teenty-tiny handcuffs off his lapel and arrest the Fairmont legislator. Gunther fingers House Republican leadership for the idea to swipe money that's supposed to be going to the Range:

Grabbing that money was the idea of House leaders, and Gunther said he didn’t agree with the decision or with the budget-cutting they targeted for his part of the budget.

“I didn’t like my target at all,” he said. “This is the message we got over and over: We want jobs, jobs, jobs. And they cut me and put some things in there that I didn’t really want to see.”

But perhaps the Lake Crystal lawman-lawmaker is shackled by his own sense of guilt. Fischenisch reports:

. . .Strong criticism also came from the decision to move $8.5 million from a special fund, financed through surcharges on insurance policies, that’s dedicated toward firefighter training. Cornish doesn’t deny that moving the money to the state’s general fund isn’t appropriate in normal times.

“We outright admit that,” he said. “... It’s one of those deals where we had no choice. If we didn’t take that, we’re looking at cutting (even more from) women’s shelters, victims’ services ... .”

Cornish’s bill, expected to reach the House floor in about 10 days, was also unpopular with county officials for a provision that would shift state prison inmates into county jails if the convict’s sentence was 60 days or fewer. That will increase costs for counties and potentially drive up property taxes.

Cornish argues the current system — whereby county attorneys can seek prison sentences for probation violations and other crimes with the financial impact falling on the state — is “kind of like a reverse unfunded mandate.”

“It really doesn’t make any sense to send a prisoner to Stillwater for less than 60 days,” said Cornish, the Lake Crystal police chief and a former game warden. “... Counties have to have some skin in the game.”

"A a reverse unfunded mandate?" "Skin in the game?"  That's a classic. So will breaking laws or violating probation become simply a matter of local laws?

If Dayton signs that mess, I'll be curious how that plays out, especially in those communities affected if the legislature cuts local government aid.

Photos: Cuff 'em (above); Tony cornish where the cuffs (below).

More rough stuff: the Scholar as Citizen, ALEC, Laura Brod, and Minnesota conservatives

Now viral via social media, University of Wisconsin historian Bill Cronon's Scholar as Citizen guide to doing research on the American Legislative Echange Council (ALEC), Who’s Really Behind Recent Republican Legislation in Wisconsin and Elsewhere? (Hint: It Didn’t Start Here) has triggered quite the response from the Wisconsin Republican Party.

It's a cold spring here in the upper Midwest, but witchhunting with intent to burn is going medieval to the extreme.

Cronon lays out the situation in great detail in A Tactic I Hope Republicans Will Rethink: Using the Open Records Law to Intimidate Critics:

Here’s the headline: the Wisconsin Republican Party has issued an Open Records Law request for access to my emails since January 1 in response to a blog entry I posted on March 15 concerning the role of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in influencing recent legislation in this state and across the country. I find this a disturbing development, and hope readers will bear with me as I explain the strange circumstances in which I find myself as a result. . . .

. . .My little ALEC study guide succeeded beyond my wildest dreams.  Within two days, the blog had received over half a million hits, had been read by tens of thousands of people, had been linked by newspapers all over the United States, and had been visited by people from more than two dozen foreign countries. Many readers expressed considerable interest in the activities of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and said they were grateful for the guidance I had tried to provide for people wishing to learn more about it. (A smaller number of readers were much more hostile, and you can read their comments on the blog.)

 All this was welcome, and I’m greatly heartened by the thought that an organization that has exercised such extraordinary but almost invisible influence over American political life for the past forty years may finally start to receive more of the scrutiny that its far-reaching activities deserve. . . .

Go read the whole thing. It's worth your time.

I've known about ALEC since it turned up on my radar in 2003, when I was researching privatization for a job I had at the time; the connection to its corporate sponsors involved in the private prison industry and bills it was pitching to both build more private prison and to pass state legislation toughening penalties for crimes once thought minor sickened me. It seemed like a corruption not only of governing, but of capitalism itself.

Thus I'd watched for ALEC's influence; last fall, Bluestemposted O Emmer Where Art Thou: Private prisons, SB1070, ALEC and Tom Emmer. Yes, the Delano Republican runs with the ALEC crowd.

What other Minnesota legislators, past and present, are members? How has this group--which supplies model legislation, often written by corporate lobbyists--tried to change the way we govern and do business in Minnesota?

Cronon points out that it's not easy to find out, since only members can log in and see the membership lists. However, poking around the web, some glimmers of fact begin to light the way.

For instance, the anonymous bloggers at Because I Can noted that the U of MN Board of Regents - Goes Far Right and asked about former Minnesota representative Laura Brod's installment as regent, "Why is this important to Minnesota and the U of M?"

Answer?

Laura Brod is a past state chairman for ALEC; current state senator Gen Olson was her co-chair in 2010. (Current chair? Mary Kiffmeyer).

The so what? The blogger writes:

Why is her past State Chairmen position of ALEC and possible active membership important to Minnesota and the U of M?

ALEC –has a annual meeting that is attended by “more than 2,000 state legislators, private sector members, government representatives, and public policy experts come together for this event to confront the problems facing the 50 states”  (Wiki)

ALEC – brings together private sector companies – such as Koch Industries, Coors Brewing, and Walmart, for the purpose of  “issues are debated by task forces of members, and policies adopted.”  AND  “ALEC “model bills” (aka Model Legislation) are introduced in task force meetings and voted on by ALEC members at each of three national meetings. Public sector (state legislators) and private sector (companies, foundations and nonprofits) members vote on each model bill separately”  (Wiki)

What this means is that private sector companies – such as (but not limited to) right wing companies such as  Koch Industries and Walmart -  are writing “model legislation” that state and federal legislature members then introduce as State and Federal bills.  Some of the “model legislation” is displayed on a public web site.  I’m sure in the “members only” area of the web site more controversial “model legislation” is kept, for members “eyes only”.  Model legislation for legislative members to “copy, print and present” as bills in their State or at the Federal level. . . .

. . .Really don't have a good feeling about what just happened here - "The choice of Brod, who replaced sitting Regent Steven Hunter, the board's only labor representative..."

BTW:  ALEC likes Scott Walker legislation - see the commendation.

Cronon's guide to ALEC noted the close relationship between ALEC and the State Policy Network:

An important partner of ALEC’s, by the way, is the State Policy Network (SPN), which helps coordinate the activities of a wide variety of conservative think tanks operating at the state level throughout the country. See its home page at
http://www.spn.org/

Many of the publications of these think tanks are accessible and downloadable from links on the SPN website, which are well worth taking the time to peruse and read. A good starting place is: http://www.spn.org/members/

Inside the site, there's a directory of member groups; pull down the menu choice for Minnesota, and you'll find these member groups (a list which is slightly dated):

Minnesota

SPN Members

Center of the American Experiment
Phone:             (612) 338-3605 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            (612) 338-3605      end_of_the_skype_highlighting      
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.americanexperiment.org

Freedom Foundation of Minnesota
Phone:             (612) 354-2192 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            (612) 354-2192      end_of_the_skype_highlighting      
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.freedomfoundationofminnesota.com

 

SPN Associate Members

Intellectual Takeout

Minnesota Free Market Institute

Other Organizations

Citizens' Council on Health Care

Edwatch

There have been some changes: Twila Brase's group, CCHC, is now the Citizen's Council for Health Freedom and Edwatch has shut down, with Education Liberty Watch assuming its duties.

That's the surface. What might a little scratching discover about Republican legislation now working itself through committee and floor votes to the Governor's desk?

Related posts: O Emmer Where Art Thou: Private prisons, SB1070, ALEC and Tom Emmer

Rough stuff: Sviggum and Brod nominated to U of M Regents board, vote today

Photo: U Regent and former ALEC state chair, Laura Brod.

Greater Minnesota newspapers scold Republican legislature for shifts, gimmicks and raids

Governor Dayton wasn't alone yesterday in calling out legislative Republicans for "shifts, gimmicks and raids" as they seek to balance the budget without admitting a need to increase revenue.

Earlier, the editorial board of the New Ulm Journal, which leans to the right, called them out in Taking money that’s not their own? over a plan to swipe local sales tax money:

Republicans in the Minnesota Legislature are bound and determined that they are not going to raise taxes to balance the state's $5 billion budget deficit.

But apparently they are not averse to taking someone else's tax revenue.

A major transportation funding bill that is makings its way through the GOP-controlled Legislature seems to transfer $69 million in sales tax revenue raised by five metro counties for rail and bus rapid transit to replace some $51 million the state would cut from general fund spending on bus operations.

Now hold on here. This is a sales tax revenue levied in Hennepin, Ramsey, Dakota, Washington and Dakota counties. The money, approved by the county boards in those counties, has been going to the Metropolitan Council for future light rail projects like the Southwest Corridor project.

Since when does the state have the power to grab revenue from other sources of government?

New Ulm levies a half-percent sales tax to pay off the bonds that built the New Ulm Civic Center and several other park and rec facilities expansions. If the state can divert money from the metro counties' sales tax, what's to stop them from diverting our sales tax revenue, too?

Apparently the philosophy of "living within our means" that state Republicans espouse really does mean "our" means, as in your's as well as mine.

I gather those planning this pilfering met with a wall of similar criticism; the Strib reported Republicans on House panel back off transit money fight. However, the article notes it's not over until it's over:

The decision clears the way for the spending bill to reach the House floor next week -- where the issue could surface again.

DFLers had lambasted the diversion of sales tax money that five Twin Cities counties have collected to expand metro mass transit.

Rep. Mindy Greiling, DFL-Roseville, said the provision was "amazingly insulting to our local taxpayers." Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis, added, "This is raiding money that the five counties have raised," and said it set a precedent for the state to tap other local tax money to shore up its budget.

The Albert Lea Herald editorialized about a cut in health care spending in Budget plans beat hopes:

. . .The charitable interpretation of the House Republican budget is that it’s a case of hope trumping reality, as opposed to intentional smoke and mirrors. But either way, counting on a waiver from a federal government whose boss, the president, seems committed to health care benefits for the poor and elderly, strikes us as unlikely to bear fruit.

We’ve noted several times this winter that those in control at the Capitol seem unable to put forth a useful plan for erasing the state’s budget deficit. It is, however, still not too late — and Minnesotans must hope that lawmakers have some ideas that are less fanciful and more likely to produce results.

The Republican Party of Minnesota likes to claim it's the party of rural values, but it's not looking like Greater Minnesota feels it's getting value for that premise.

Photo: What are the values of the party led by failed burrito baron Tony Sutton?