On Tuesday, the Minnesota House Environmental and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee heard testimony on HF1291 , committee chair Roseau Republican Dan Fabian's bill that would eliminate the Environmental Quality Board, as well as put much of the permitting process in the hands of those seeking permits.
Fabian made no bones about the fact that the bill was written by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, whose lobbyist Tony Kwilas was able to answer more questions about the language that the official author.
Perhaps the funniest moment about the hearing on social media came when Capitol Press Corps darling Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, made a rhetorical point about lobbying dollars.
While we doubt the journalists who love them some Cornish will bother to mention this (who among the brave souls are willing to risk access to his office lair and stuffed game animals?), the audio-only moment in the afternoon re-adjournment was captured in two tweets:
Cornish wants to know all of the lobbying budget and the number of lobbyists from enviro orgs here vs. the @MN_Chamber #mnleg
— MCEA (@MCEA1974) March 1, 2017
Rep. Cornish: here is your answer, comparing @MCEA1974 to @MN_Chamber lobby spending last 4 years. #mnleg pic.twitter.com/ZJkrn2as62
— MCEA (@MCEA1974) March 1, 2017
Set by itself:
Readers can find a more direct list of criticisms at Minneapolis Representative Jean Wagenius's blog post and a review of the morning half of the committee hearing in the Session Daily article, Environmental Quality Board faces possible elimination.
We'll be writing more--and probably compare campaign dollars from Chamber PACs versus environmental group funds.
Photo: Representative Tony Cornish.
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