Some days, Bluestem catches glimpses of the post-modern in Minnesota Republican politics. Take this report in the Morrison County Record, Education, economy and immigrants addressed by legislators at Little Falls forum:
Education, nursing homes and rural business growth were among priorities for local legislators in the most recent session, according to Sen. Paul Gazelka, R-Nisswa, and Rep. Ron Kresha, R-Little Falls,
About 30 people showed up to hear Gazelka and Kresha summarize the most recent legislative special session, address important current events and field questions from local residents.
Among the accomplishments at the Capitol was a 2 percent funding increase for the next two years, Kresha said, and a total of more than $1 billion more in the budget for education.
Bluestem is surprised to read about Kresha touting a bigger budget, since the Republican House Caucus campaigned against funding increases in 2014--but then the reporter quotes Senator Gazelka saying something even more relative to the facts of the session:
He [Gazelka] added that the updates from the Capitol also include what was not accomplished.
“It’s also important to say what we did not do,” Gazelka said.
Among these were included the gas tax increase and universal pre-kindergarten and agricultural buffer regulations, which the legislators opposed due to lack of popular support.
“Those, I think, are some wins,” Gazelka said.
We find the final item in Gazelka's list to be peculiar because of newspaper articles like the July 8, 2015 report in the Alexandria Echo Press, New ‘buffer zone’ plan for farmers begins:
Following a series of reports highlighting a concerning decline in water quality across Minnesota, Dayton and lawmakers worked throughout the legislative session with farmers, landowners, environmental advocates, and public health experts to develop a solution aimed at reducing runoff and improving water quality.
The law will designate roughly 110,000 acres of land for buffer strips alongside Minnesota’s waterways. These new perennial vegetation buffers along rivers, streams and ditches, will help filter out phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment before it enters the water supply.
The law will provide flexibility and financial assistance for landowners to install and maintain buffers, and boost compliance with buffer laws.
HOW IT WORKS
Here is how the new law will work. . .
It is peculiar indeed for Gazelka to claim that new buffer regulations, like an increase in the gas tax and universal pre-kindergarten education, didn't happen. The bill that Representative Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska) and Senator John Marty (DFL-Roseville) changed over the course of the session, but it's not unusual for compromise to occur when two sides stand at odds. Witness last year's medical cannabis legislation.
Bluestem will be monitoring to see if this sort of parallel universe on the part of rural Republicans becomes a trend. On Thursday, we considered one such story in What is Sheriff Bill smoking? Ingebrigtsen claims last minute bills' content thoroughly discussed.
Photo: Senator Paul Gazelka.
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