Never mind that WESA passed with bipartisan support, or that Republican state legislative candidate Tim Miller of Prinsburg hadn't read the legislation.
When incumbent MN17A state representative Andrew Falk (DFL-Murdock) mentions education and job training provisions in the new law, Miller accuses Falk of introducing stealth "Republican war on women" rhetoric into last Thursday's "Meet The Candidates" forum on Pioneer Public Television.
Here's a transcript of the special moment which came during a question about giving minimum wage employees a raise:
Falk: . . .It's important to remember that two-thirds of the people receiving minimum wage are women, and it's one of parts of the Women's Economic Security Act (WESA) that we looked at moving forward. The idea too that somebody can support themselves on what used to be the minimum wage it's just laughable, comical.
And when we talk about training programs, or putting money forward, it's easy to say that you support those things, but unless you're willing to raise the revenue to bring in the money to acutally pay for those programs, it's hard to actually getting them through.
Now, one of the things I've done, I've been willing to raise the necessary revenue to be able to fund the programs and I've been supportive of those training programs. It's one of the things we've talked about, figuring out ways to provide scholarships or learning opportunities for people so they can retrain into a new career that pays better or something else that's growing in demand, growing in need so they're able to have long term security for their families and their future.
Miller: I like that little touch that you did on "I'm a Republican, so there's a [Miller raises hands] 'War on Women.' There's not. I look at my wife and she was a high school graduate with no other education and she was working at Jennie-O, probably making that minimum wage, pulling bones out of turkeys in a cold environment. But she went and got more schooling to the point where she's a nurse now, to the point where she's educating people at Ridgewater College. She's making more money than I am.
So that's even better that we're setting out for than for your, ah, your [spins finger] Economic Progress Bill or whatever it is.
I apologize that I have not read all of your bills. I have a job. I need to go out there and work. It's easy when you're in the legislature to stay on top of all the intricacies of this. I did not realize that this was going to be test on the Andrew Falk bill writing academy.
So, yes, absolutely, there are opportunities for improving women and men in their lot to be able to make a living wage, not just the minimum wage.
Here's the clip:
It's breathtaking that Miller not only hasn't read the bill (conference committee report here) but feels inclined to ridicule it while deriding the notion that he should "read the bill" as a test at the "Andrew Falk bill writing academy."
That's a strange name for the Minnesota House and an odd notion that Miller would insist that not knowing about legislation is a qualification for the job he's trying for.
Not to mention a fall from the Tea Party virtue (and national GOP pledge) to "read the bill."
Factchecking-and what's in WESA about job training
It's admirable that Miller's wife worked hard to get an education, although it's hard to fact check his claims about her rate of pay at Jennie-O being minimum wage--nor do we know how long or when she was employed by the subsidiary of Jennie-O Turkey Store.
As a public employee, her hire date and salary are public information (since she's writing letters to the editor on her husband's behalf and attacking her union's mail pieces to members, she's not above the fray in this contest, though we look here only to fact check her husband's claims). According to a 2013 database of state employees available at the Pioneer Press, she was hired by Ridgewater College in 2003. Presumably, her education had lifted her out of the deboning line well before she became an instructor herself.
We're guessing the salary (look it up) is more than twice what a person deboning turkeys makes at Jennie-O, so she's come a long way. On the company's website, we don't find any opening for that position, although the company is looking for people to work as forklift drivers in its Montevideo warehouse starting at $11.30 with good benefits ($12.85 after a year) including an educational assistance program. The warehouse is located in Minnesota House District 17A.
Minnesota's minimum wages is now $8/hour--but lacking any details (like the year), we can't compare her long-ago wage to the minimum wage in a mystery year. (Again, it's the storyteller's gaps at issue here, not the genuine accomplishment of a person rising from the line at Jennie-O to a teaching position at a community college).
To move on, since Miller hasn't read WESA, he's not aware of the job training and economic opportunity language in the new law. Bring me the news sums up the new provisions related to job training and business ownership:
– Expands support for employers, workforce organizations and others to recruit and train women in nontraditional occupations. It also provides grant money to Women Venture and Women’s Business Center of Northeast Minnesota to help women develop high economic impact businesses in nontraditional industries.
WESA.org provides a factsheet about all aspects of the Omnibus Bill here.
One wonders why Miller feels compelled to make fun of something he admittedly knows nothing about--by citing his wife's experience over ten years ago. During their 2012 Meet the Candidates meeting, both Falk and Miller talked about being recently married, so presumably his understanding of of his wife's achievement is second-hand).
But there's a bigger issue: Miller states, "So that's even better that we're setting out for than for your, ah, your [spins finger] Economic Progress Bill or whatever it is."
What policy is Miller actually recommending here? It's impossible to assess, as we simply don't know the how, where, when, what, and how much of his wife's education that facilitated her improving her circumstances. Voters can't compare it with post-secondary education and training programs and private-public partnerships that Representative Falk has pushed or even other Republicans have supported.
WESA passed on bi-partisan vote
That brings us to a final point about Miller's mind-numbing mockery of the successful legislation. Legiscan has posted a tidy summary of legislative action on the Omnibus bill here.
In the Minnesota House, the lower chamber's version passed 106-24 on a roll call vote on April 9, 2009. Looking at the roll call, readers can see that Republican state representatives -- Paul Anderson, Sarah Anderson, Bob Barrett, Tony Cornish, Greg Davids, Matt Dean, Bob Dettmer, Dan Fabian, Steve Green, Bob Gunther, Rod Hamilton, Mary Liz Holberg, Joe Hoppe, Jeff Howe, Brian Johnson, Tim Kelly, Deb Kiel, Ron Kresha, Kathy Lohmer, Tara Mack, Denny McNamara, Bud Nornes, Tim O'Driscoll, John Petersburg, Cindy Pugh, Duane Quam, Joe Schomacker, Chris Swedzinski, Tama Theis, Mark Uglem, Dean Urdahl, Anna Wills, Kurt Zellers, and Nick Zerwas all voted for the House version of the bill.
This is a majority of the Republican caucus in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
When it came to the vote for the conference committee report in May, Hoppe, Howe and Pugh joined Kelby Woodard (who did not vote on the House bill) in voting "no." Mary Franson and Linda Runbeck moved from voting "no" on the earlier version to voting "yes" on the conference report.
This is a majority of the Republican caucus in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
Tim Miller couldn't bring himself to read the bill, know who voted for it or offer anything more than making fun of its name and the legislative process on live television
As we noted in an earlier post, he was clueless about legislation to fund research that will help farmers deal with superweeds and invasive species, but eager to wave his hand and bloviate about imaginary new regulations.
Meanwhile, palmer amaranth is heading our way, and the threat is real to corn and soybean farmers.
Screenshot: More throwing up his arms and waving from Tim Miller about imaginary threats and accusations. Meanwhile, during another part of the debate, Tim Miller calls minimum wage argument "political propaganda" that Republicans lost.
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