600 14TH STREET, NW SUITE 800 WASHINGTON, DC 20005
06/15/2016
5000.00
5000.00
LKQ CORPORATION EMPLOYEE GOOD GOVERNMENT
500 WEST MADISON STREET SUITE 2800 CHICAGO, Illinois 60661
06/16/2016
2000.00
2000.00
Once again, Hamm received $4500, but no other disbursements were made in the quarter.
Should Miller's supporters fret about whether any money from this federal committee with all of it corporate givers trickle down to humble Prinsburg? In the October 2014 filing, $22058.39 in Disbursement for Allocated Federal/Nonfederal Activity was spent on administrative costs, so not definitely not directly.
Regardless, if Republicans in West Central Minnesota are concerned about federal campaign committees, they don't have to look beyond their own house caucus to find a little moneypot.
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By not paying close attention to Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Dave Frederickson's testimony, Ricardo Lopez conflates February's Pollinator Summit and separate special registration review of neonicotinoid insecticides in his Hot Dish Politics post, House GOP criticize Dayton's executive order on pollinator rules.
Lopez writes:
Agriculture Commissioner Dave Frederickson and some DFL legislators pushed back at Republican criticism that farmers and other agriculture operators were not included in the process. They said the administration invited GOP legislators to a February summit and that more than 400 public comments were received, including some from industry representatives.
Um, that's not quite what the ag commissioner said.
The first step was not August of 26 of this year, or the August 26 announcement of the Governor's Executive Order. The first step was actually taken back in 2013 when the legislature directed the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to develop best management practices to protect pollinators and to issue a report on the status of pollinators in Minnesota.
2013.
That was followed by the legislature again requesting that the Minnesota Department of Agriculture conduct the special registration review of neonicotinoid pesticides. The results of the special registry review and subsequent recommendations were then included in the directives outlined in the Governor's Executive Order.
These directives were based on discussions with stakeholders at the pollinator summit held in February and the special registration review process, including public comments included as part of the scoping document.
These public comments include a total of 444 responses, including five responses from ag industry representatives.
The executive order acknowledges the value of and the importance of agriculture in the state of Minnesota.
Watch the comments here:
Frederickson outlines two processes, one of which began long before the MDA Pollinator Summit. The summit was much more broad in its focus than just looking at neonics use.
As Lopez points out, the Republican legislators on the Ag Policy Committee were invited to the summit--and so were other stakeholders such as the Minnesota Corn Growers, the Soybean Growers, Farmers Union, co-ops such as CHS, and ag industry representatives, all of whom sent staff to the Summit. DFL legislators were also on the guest list.
But the comments Frederickson mentions don't come out of the Summit, as Lopez's copy implies. Indeed, the public comment period for the registry review scoping document closed in May 2014, many months before the February 2016 Pollinator Summit.
We had contacted Sam Fettig, Dayton's Press Secretary about the special registration review in an email 's statement unrelated to the Lopez article. Fettig's statement distinguished between the registry review and the pollinator summit:
“At the direction of the Minnesota Legislature, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture undertook an extensive, public process of research and review on the impact of neonicotinoids on pollinators, including a full and open public comment period. Further, the Department hosted a Pollinator Summit attended by Minnesota farmers, agriculture groups, and members of the public, to gather public input on pollinator policy. The Governor’s Executive Order followed that legislatively-mandated public process, and the Pollinator Summit, to ensure that the State of Minnesota leads by example on protecting Minnesota pollinators and the agriculture they support.”
At the direction of the Minnesota legislature and the Commissioner of Agriculture (PDF: 213.8 KB / 1 page), the MDA, together with partners at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the University of Minnesota, and the Board of Water and Soil Resources, determined the scope-of-work (the underlying criteria) necessary to conduct a special registration review of neonicotinoid insecticides for the State of Minnesota. The draft scoping document was prepared to guide the special registration review of neonicotinoid insecticides and to describe the process and criteria that will be used when conducting the review.
The MDA accepted public comments on the draft scoping document until May 2, 2014. At the close of the comment period, the MDA received 444 public comments. The MDA has created two documents to facilitate stakeholder review: Comments that were unique due to their content and comments that employed a common text. The two PDFs are:
The unique comments include material from Bayer CropScience (page 4); Minnesota Crop Production Retailers (page 35); Minnesota Agri-Growth Council (page 36); the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation (page 38) and Syngenta (page 69). Three commercial beekeepers--two from Greater Minnesota (Barrett and Eagle Bend) and an Iowa-based operation in bordering Howard County) also comment; they should be considered as part of agriculture.
Several DFL legislators sent a letter, but there's no comment from their Republican counterparts. Were Anderson and his colleagues simply asleep at the wheel--or too busy helping then-candidate Jeff Backer formulate talking points and name-calling about "metro" rural DFLers to actually weigh in on policy considerations?
But since the Strib can't be bothered to report accurately, we gather that it's more important for the paper to be able to tell readers, as J. Patrick Coolican does in today's Morning Hot Dish, that the hearing provides ". . .GOP with a nice wedge issue among ag and related outstate voters."
Only if we don't know about the basic timeline and facts of the legislatively-mandated review, and the media seems happy not to report them.
An area lawmaker is ripping Governor Mark Dayton over his ban of a pesticide that kills honey bees. Yesterday Representative Tim Miller of Prinsburg and members of the Minnesota House Agriculture Policy committee took part in an informational hearing to learn more about why Dayton issued an executive order to restrict the use of neonicotinoid pesticides on August 26th. He issued the order in hopes of reversing the decline of bee and other pollinator populations, but Miller says he did so without consulting or collaborating with farmers or agriculture stakeholders. ...
There's no "ban" on neonics (farmers and licensed applicators have to follow the instructions on the chemicals' label, including the bee box, Frederickson testified).
If the Ag Mafia was "blindsided" during a process that includes several opportunities for public comment and participation, we can only conclude that the DMV isn't doing a good job when testing vision at the time drivers' licenses are renewed.
Photo: Milker gives pet cat some milk direct from cow, Brandtjen Dairy Farm, Dakota County, Minnesota, 1939. Apparently, the ag industry lobbyists and operatives believe they have a special place in the barn, even these days, before the milk of policy is served at the table Dayton set for this discussion. Photo by Arthur Rothstein, FSA, via Library of Congress.
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An invitation will be on its way to Gov. Mark Dayton to tour the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton.
Rep. Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, is asking the governor to tour the shuttered prison after hearing recent news reports that the governor is opposed to purchasing the facility.
Miller said he is particularly concerned about a statement attributed to the governor in news reports in March. Dayton expressed concerns at the time that the privately owned prison needed rehabilitation.
Bluestem thinks it's encouraging that Representative Miller has noticed that Dayton isn't interested in purchasing the prison and hasn't been since his chief of staff met with CCA lobbyist(s) at their request sometime before the March 23 press conference.
Miller had nearly the whole session to bring up his objections to the governor's office, but waits until now to run to the West Central Tribune with his concerns. You'd think he'd get this work done during the session, but we suppose that's too old school for Miller and the rest of his caucus.
But Miller still told the public that some deal was in the works throughout the summer. After all, back at the beginning of July, the first-term Prinsburg Republican lawmaker was telling Appleton residents that a $99 million offer to sell was on the table.
Miller said the opposition continued to ignore the fact that the corporation had offered the state an option to purchase or lease to own, and that the state would have operated the prison with union employees.
Corrections Corporation of America had offered to lease the facility for $6 million to $8 million a year, and to sell it for $99 million. The lease payments could be used toward the purchase price, according to Miller.
Appleton attorney Brian Wojtalewicz questioned the $99 million purchase price when Corrections Corporation of America is paying property taxes based on a $15 million value. Miller said that's the offer the corporation put on the table. Negotiations between the state and the company are not in the Legislature's hands.
Miller said he is hoping Gov. Dayton will take advantage of either of two upcoming visits to the area to tour the facility. The governor be in the Watson and Montevideo area for the Governor's Pheasant Opener on Oct. 15. The governor is also visiting all 87 counties in coming months.
What other needs that the legislature didn't get around to resolving during the session does the King of Minnesota want to introduce into the governor's calendar?
Dayton's press secretary, Sam Fettig, said Friday that the governor's focus, along with Department of Corrections Commissioner Tom Roy, has been "to resolve our prison overcrowding with existing facilities, but it is a strategy which can be reviewed by the next Legislature."
Dawdling over approving untested blaze pink for deer hunters, fretting about where transgender people pee and other such time-suckers during session has its consequences.
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Driving down I-35 near United Hospital and Children's Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota state representative Eric Lucero, R-Dayton, engaged in a distracted driving moment in order to snap a cellphone photo of a banner draped over an overpass.
On my way to a client site this morning, I saw this sign hanging on the first overpass south of Kellogg Blvd while traveling 35E southbound.
Questions: • To whom is the "You" directed? • To whom is the "Us" referring? • Who put the sign up? • What will be accomplished by the sign?
His Facebook friends answered, providing an anarchic subjective moment for the viewer. Here are their replies, most which viewed the banner in terms of African-Americans or racial identity:
Paul Hadley MillerThe race pimps and their media accomplices have created a narrative, and to those who've swallowed it, facts don't matter. Once King Race Pimp Barack Hussein Obama gave his blessing to the narrative, it was set in stone.
Lisa Johnson BraegelmanMy interpretation You? Caucasians. Most likely cops. Us? African Americans Who? someone who is very angry Accomplished? it gave an angry person a voice. While I may not agree with the message or personally identify with the messenger's anger and fear, I do understand the drive and need for change.
Paul Hadley MillerI once met a fella from South Africa who immigrated to the United States and became a citizen. He was as Caucasian as can be, and he was quite literally an "African-American". But when he pointed it out, he was disparaged.
The term as it is used is meaningless. Either you're an American, or you're not.
Eric LuceroJanuary this year we visited Israel for the second time. Our tour guide was an ethnic Jew / racial Caucasian born and raised in South Africa who later moved to Israel. He was a white, Jewish, African, Israeli. Fascinating guy!
My Hispanic ethnicity and my wife’s East Indian ethnicity, my connection with young people, and my experience with the business community will all help outreach initiatives to grow the Republican Party through articulating the values of Individual Liberty, Free Market Capitalism, and Limited Government.
Screengrab: Eric Lucero asks what the banner means.
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Answering a question about MNSure, Minnesota's health insurance exchange for those who don't receive affordable health care insurance from their employers or don't qualify for Medical Assistance/MinnesotaCare, Andrew Lang, the endorsed Republican candidate for state senate district 17 told listeners he couldn't afford MNSure.
Lang said:
. . .I've talked to a lot of people door-to-door, and what they're always saying, that's one of their big main concerns is health care has become so expensive, I can't afford it.
I know for myself personally, I can't afford the MNSure program. It would . . . (laughs) It's as much as my mortgage payment. The deductibles are outrageous. I can't afford it. There's no way I can go with it.
Here's the clip:
The cry to the heavens about expensive health care insurance came during a Kandiyohi County Fair forum earlier this month. One can listen to the whole debate here (along with those for the Minnesota House candidates for 17A and 17B).
We grew worried that Andrew Lang and his family might become homeless from having to pay for both "MNSure" and that mortgage, but further investigation revealed that Lang, who works as Supervisor of Parks for Renville County, receives health insurance benefits from his employer (Lang's wife also works for the county). A friend who works in a non-union supervisory position in the county said that the employer-provided insurance for "management" is very good.
One has to wonder if Renville County supervisors' insurance is close to AFSCME union members working for the county receive under their contracts, negotiated by Council 65. We dipped into a few of those for Renville County workers and found this language for health insurance benefits across the county:
Bluestem is all for members of all branches of the military--including the National Guard--receiving quality health care insurance. Our friends who serve are ready to make to ultimate sacrifice--and short of that, spend months away from their families and friends. Health care is the least we owe them.
While county employees aren't asked to make the same sacrifice as those serving in the armed forces, those we know work hard and take pride in helping their communities, so we don't begrudge them the benefits they receive. Indeed, we don't like the race to the bottom that's happened to private sector workers' benefits that in part triggered the need for health care reform.
What we don't have sympathy for is a wannabe lawmaker copping fake empathy about the cost of insurance. Lang should be honest about his own circumstances.
The West Central Tribune reported that the forum "drew a sparse crowd at the fair but was broadcast on KWLM." Let's hope those listening or downloading the audio online apply critical thinking tools to Lang's "feels" about the cost of policies obtainable from private insurance companies in the MNSure exchange.
Photos: Andrew Lang, via the Republican Party of Minnesota (top); screengrab from one of the AFSCME Council 65 contracts with Renville County (bottom)
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Are negotiations underway between the owner, Corrections Corporation of America and the State of Minnesota? How much is the closed Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton worth?
The answer to the first question appears to be no, while finding the answer to the second is more complex--and CCA's current price tag may butt against a little-known state law passed in 2014.
UPDATE August 19: About 20 minutes after this post was published, the West Central Tribune published Forum Communications political reporter Don Davis' article, Dayton not interested in Appleton prison purchase. [end update]
Rumors of negotiations
Earlier this summer, Representative Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, told a town hall meeting in Appleton that CCA lobbyists met with the governor's office and made an offer to lease the Prairie Correctional Facility "for $6 million to $8 million a year, and to sell it for $99 million. The lease payments could be used toward the purchase price, according to Miller," Tom Cherveny reported in the West Central Tribune.
Miller said the opposition continued to ignore the fact that the corporation had offered the state an option to purchase or lease to own, and that the state would have operated the prison with union employees.
Corrections Corporation of America had offered to lease the facility for $6 million to $8 million a year, and to sell it for $99 million. The lease payments could be used toward the purchase price, according to Miller.
Appleton attorney Brian Wojtalewicz questioned the $99 million purchase price when Corrections Corporation of America is paying property taxes based on a $15 million value. Miller said that's the offer the corporation put on the table. Negotiations between the state and the company are not in the Legislature's hands.
While there was opposition to the prison legislation, Miller said there was also some progress. There was sentiment in the Senate in favor of purchasing the facility. And, the governor's office had met with lobbyists for Corrections Corporation of America to discuss the offer, he said.
The article--verified as accurate by two acquaintances who attended the town hall--raised a series of basic questions about the offer. With yesterday's announcement by the federal government that it will be phasing out private prisons, the notion of purchasing the prison was back in the West Central Tribune. Veteran reporter Carolyn Lange writes in Lawmakers speculate price of Appleton prison could drop with federal phase-out of private facilities:
News Thursday that the federal government intends to phase out use of privately owned prisons has renewed questions about the future of the privately owned prison in Appleton.
During the last year Corrections Corporation of America and officials from Appleton and Swift County launched a campaign to persuade the state to lease—or buy—the prison to ease overcrowded state prisons.
That proposal was opposed by Gov. Mark Dayton and a variety of political, religious and community groups who oppose for-profit prisons.
But there's speculation now that the Appleton prison may be available at a bargain price after CCA's stock prices plunged about 35 percent a few hours after the announcement by the Department of Justice.
The action by the federal government will likely put "downward pressure" on the price of the Appleton prison, said Sen. Lyle Koenen, DFL-Clara City.
"That puts us in a good negotiating position," said Rep. Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg.
Oh? In the earlier article, Miller asserted that the legislature had no role in negotiations, so it looks like Miller is indulging his proclivity for wanting to have things any number of ways depending on the audience and situation (more on that with regard to the prison in a bit).
Some basic questions (and answers) about "the offer"
Earlier, Bluestem had attempted to contact the governor's office, two state agencies, the Chief Fiscal Analyst of the Minnesota House Fiscal Analysis Department, a CCA staff lobbyist and contract lobbyists while consulting other sources in an attempt to learn more about the offer mentioned in the first article (and reported again in Thursday's article).
Our questions were basic in reporting terms, looking for the when of the meeting with the governor's office, the who of those attending the meeting, the how this offer was calculated and how it was conveyed (written or oral) and the like.
While the CCA lobbyists did not answer emails or voice messages, the Department of Corrections and the Department of Administration (which manages government property) both were unaware that an offer was on the table.
The office of senator Ron Latz, who convened the prison population task force, was not aware of the offer.
According to administration Press Secretary and Senior Communications Advisor Matt Swenson, Dayton's chief of staff Jamie Tincher met with a CCA lobbyist (or lobbyists) at their request. While Swenson offered few details about the meeting, it concurs with Minnesota Public Radio's Brian Bakst reporting in Dayton sounds off on prison, PolyMet, MNsure and more:
Reopening a western Minnesota prison. In no uncertain terms, the governor said he would veto a bill with traction in the House to reopen a private prison in western Minnesota under some level of state control.
“I’m told they want $100 million to buy it. Then we have to rehab it and operate it. Hugely expensive. And I certainly don’t support this private corporation being authorized or leasing the facility to them or paying to have them to come back and do it with all the problems they brought before,” Dayton said.
According to Swenson, Dayton's knowledge of the $100 million price tag comes from this single meeting with Tincher.
While advocates for reopening the prison took this press conference statement as a hopeful sign, a review of the press conference footage (unavailable online, as it was removed with other press conference footage that was found to be non-compliant with the state's Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA] policy) reveals that Bakst's account is accurate--and Dayton doesn't seem particularly happy with the added expenses that would follow a hypothetical purchase.
We also contacted nonpartisan House staffer Bill Marx,the Chief Fiscal Analyst of the Minnesota House Fiscal Analysis Department , who responded in two emails. Bluestem received the first on July 15:
The bill that had a hearing in the House and was moved to the Ways and Means Committee (HF 3223) directed the state to rent the Appleton facility. So the fiscal note on that bill did not address the value of the facility. The fiscal note is attached - there may be items of interest.
Here's the fiscal note for HF 3223, which only addressed the cost of leasing and operating the Prairie Correctional Facility:
Then the House Public Safety portion of the Supplemental Appropriations bill that went to the Supplemental Budget bill conference committee. contained language (copied below) that directed the commissioner of corrections to negotiate a contract to purchase or lease to own the facility. That language did not become law. I am not aware of any estimate that we had for the cost of purchasing the facility. Our fiscal analyst who works with Public Safety issues is not in the office today. . . .
The second email from was received on July 21:
I have talked with several more legislative staff about the value of the Appleton prison.
The taxable market value is $14 million, as you stated.
Our fiscal analyst who works with Public Safety issues says he heard a $90 million number at one time but has seen no documentation of that and only heard the number once. He says he is aware of no discussion of what the state might pay if the state purchased the facility.
If the prison were operating the taxable value might be considerable higher than $14 million. Do you have any way of getting county tax information from a time when the prison was operating?
When reviewed in tandem with the Department of Corrections and the Administrative Services being unaware of any offer, it appears that no active negotiations are underway, however pro-prison folks might spin it.
How much is that prison in the window?
A review of available sources about the value of the prison while it was operating suggests that $99 million or $100 million may be a steep price for the facility. According to bipartisan legislation passed in 2014 and signed by the governor, no state agency (with the exceptions of the DNR, MNDOT and BWSR), the University of Minnesota and MnSCU may pay not over ten percent of the appraised value of real property. Assessed, appraised and "carrying value" are not equivalent terms.
The highest assessed value that we were able to find in news reports is based on Swift County tax information that was challenged by CCA. In 2009, the Morris Sun Tribune reported in Appeal likely on valuation of Appleton prison:
A $20 million difference of opinion in the market value of a privately owned prison in Appleton could end up in court.
The Swift County assessor set the 2009 value of the property at $42.9 million.
A representative of the Corrections Corporation of America told the Swift County Board of Appeal and Equalization on Tuesday the property should be valued at $23.7 million.
The board, which is comprised of the members of the regular Board of Commissioners, denied a request to lower the property values. . . .
Unlike residential property values that are set each year, Swift County and the prison have agreed to go through the complicated process every three years to establish a three-year schedule for the valuations.
During the last round in 2006, the prison filed an appeal in court and then the two sides negotiated an agreement, said Giese. The county spent about $5,000 in legal fees.
The commissioners are hoping a similar smooth scenario takes place this time.
In 2003, a different approach was used. At that time, each entity hired appraisers and attorneys and negotiated an agreement without court intervention.
Ironically, that method cost the county about $125,000 in legal fees.
Giese said it's actually easier to negotiate an agreement once an appeal has been filed in court, than doing it outside the boundaries of the court. Also, he said, when an agreement is negotiated during a court appeal, the settlement is binding.
In 2006 the property value of the prison was set at $24 million. In 2007 it was $28 million and in 2008 it was set at $32 million.
Although prison populations are decreasing and the prison is currently at 55 percent capacity, during the last three years it's been at about 98 percent capacity, said Giese. That historical data was used to determine the 2009 rate.
In short, when the prison was operating at near-capacity, it was assessed at $42.9 million, though CCA thought it was worth quite a bit less. An anti-privatization website created by the Private Corrections Working Group, includes subsequent news coverage in its Minnesota Hall of Shame page (we have broken the copy into block paragraphs to make it more readable, but have not changed the content)
June 21, 2012 West Central Tribune
The market value of the privately owned Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton — its prison beds empty for nearly 2½ years — has been reduced by $7.5 million to a new value of $14 million.The reduction was approved Tuesday night by the Swift County Board of Equalization.
But even that large reduction may not be enough to prevent the prison’s owner, Corrections Corporation of America, from seeking even greater tax relief by means of an appeal to the state. “They left, we hope, content enough not to appeal to the state board of equalization,” said Swift County Auditor Byron Giese. Assistant County Assessor Wayne Knutson had said the prison property should be valued at $22.5 million.
The Corrections Corporation of America said it should be valued at $10 million.[bold added] The Swift County Board of Equalization members agreed that the value of the empty prison should be reduced and members compromised with a market value of $14 million. It’s not known if Corrections Corporation of America will accept that $14 million valuation or if it will stage another appeal.
The $14 million valuation is a far cry from the $42.9 million the county assessor valued the property at in 2010. That rate was also later reduced during a court appeal and binding negotiation — a process in which the county and Corrections Corporation of America has engaged ever since the 1,600-bed prison opened in 2001. “They have appealed every single time,” said Giese.
March 17, 2010 West Central Tribune
A tentative three-year tax agreement reached with the Corrections Corporation of America will mean lost revenues for Swift County, especially in 2011. Property taxes will likely increase to make up for a decrease in revenue that the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton had generated in the past, said Swift County Auditor Byron Giese.
The prison, which closed in February, had appealed its $42.9 million valuation last fall, triggering a series of negotiation sessions. Following a closed meeting Tuesday, the Swift County Board of Commissioners approved a three-year deal that assumes the prison will remain empty in 2011 and hopeful that it will reopen in 2012, said Giese.
The first part of the agreement includes a reduction in the 2009 valuation from $42.9 million to $32 million for the 2010 payable taxes. That translates into a loss of $50,000 in tax revenue to the county this year, which Giese said will have to come out of the county budget. “It’s something we have to deal with. It’s not insurmountable,” he said.
Harder hit is the city of Appleton that will see $250,000 less in revenue. The Lac qui Parle Valley School District will have a decrease of $40,000 because of the lowered valuation of the prison, and the state will get $60,000 less Giese, said. The 2010 valuation, for taxes payable in 2011, will be lowered to $17.5 million.
The financial impact on tax revenues for the local entities hadn’t been calculated with that low valuation. “Everyone will have to live with it and move forward,” Giese said. He said property taxes may have to increase 3 to 4 percent on each parcel to make up for the lost prison revenue: “Local taxpayers will pay more.”
In the final phase of the three-year plan, the 2011 valuation for taxes payable in 2012 would increase to $21.5 million. “We’re anticipating that, hopefully, it’ll be open again,” said Giese, explaining why the valuation is scheduled to increase at that time. Corrections Corporation of America, which has other empty prisons in the system, has assured the county that reopening the Appleton prison is their number one priority.
“It’s not good for any of us to have this thing closed,” Giese said. The board did express concern, however, that if the prison opens its doors again in a few months with the lower valuation that the county “could look like we have egg on our face,” said Giese. “But it would be a good thing to have it back open.”
The tax plan was approved on a 4-1 vote, with Chairman Richard Hanson casting the lone no vote. Commissioners Gary Hendrickx, Joe Fox, Doug Anderson and Pete Peterson voted for the plan, which still must get final approval from Corrections Corporation of America and the courts.
Another concern with the closed prison is the effect it will have on the 2010 Census. Ten years ago the facility had 1,400 prisoners that counted toward the county’s population. The population of a community is a factor in obtaining such things as federal aid. Giese said if the prison opens and the population increases in the future, the county could appeal the census count.
The one bright spot financially for the county is that a $200,000 annual tax abatement that was part of the prison’s economic development incentive has expired after 10 years, said Giese.
The carrying cost of the prison in CCA's most recent annual report (2015) is $17,961,000 (F-20). Carrying value reflects the purchase price of property.
Why buy or lease?
Those who oppose re-opening the prison by and large look to sentencing and probation reform, as well as expansion of alternative programs like the Challenge Incarceration Program (CIP) to reduce Minnesota's prison population.
Those who seek to re-open the prison see incarceration as an economic development tool (jobs, jobs, jobs) as well as serving a need. Sometimes the narrative of Swift County as the bottom of the pack for unemployment got a bit counterfactual, as in Tom Cherveny's article, Economic tipping point triggers campaign for Appleton state prison:
With assistance from the Upper Minnesota Valley Regional Development Commission, the city of Appleton assembled these numbers a few years ago looking at the economic impact of the prison and its closing:
365 the number of jobs the prison once provided the regional economy
86 the number of lost jobs experienced directly in Appleton.
$13,760,000 The dollar value multiplier of what the loss of jobs meant annually in economic activity for the community.
$500,000 The amount of property taxes the facility pays to the city of Appleton. The taxes would be lost were the state to purchase the facility.
$800,000 The approximate total property taxes paid by the facility including the city, county and school district.
$50,000 The monthly utility bill the facility paid the city of Appleton when it was operating at full capacity.
$300,000 The amount of local government aid the city of Appleton lost annually when the prison closed. Inmates had been counted as part of the city's population in calculating LGA.
90 The number of students the local schools lost when the prison closed.
$586,620 The estimated loss in pupil aid that resulted with the loss of students.
"The Governor's Office is not leading on this issue, especially considering a commissioner has said that we have an overcrowded prison crisis. Months ago he proposed spending $140 million for new prison beds and that proposal was taken off the table after the Appleton prison was found to be a viable option. It's time for Governor Dayton to finally address this crisis by supporting the re-opening of the Prairie Correctional Facility and providing hundreds of good-paying union jobs to unemployed Swift County residents."
However, faced with other audiences, Miller changed his tune, championing criminal justice reform over jobs in his district, while seeming quite sincere about it. At a forum about sentencing reforms and the Appleton prison that was held by Miller's colleague Rep. Raymond Dehn, DFL-Minneapolis, the Prinsburg Republican said:
I totally hear what you’re saying about prison population reform, basically people who don’t belong in prison, and I agree. If someone doesn’t belong in prison, and not by my definition, but if people don’t belong in prison, I don’t want that to happen. If that means reducing the number and that means Appleton doesn’t open, then I’m 100% for it.
Here's the video clip of the moment, courtesy of The Uptake:
Funny how we don't hear that sort of talk out here in the district from Miller, but perhaps truth is a Foursquare app for the freshman legislator.
He does seem to stretched it a bit about those negotiations when talking to his constituents, so maybe his work with the Barn theater came in handy in North Minneapolis.
Photo: Tim Miller (left) tells participants in a North Minneapolis town hall that if the prison population can be reduced, he's 100 percent against reopening the private prison in Appleton, while Jeff Backer, R-Browns Valley, looks on. Screenshot via The Uptake (above); the private prison in Appleton (below).
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The Republican State Leadership Committee gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to the MN Jobs Coalition in 2014 to flip control of the Minnesota House from Democratic to Republican hands--and vowed in July 2015 to do the same thing for the state senate in 2016.
It's time to take a look at the Q2 report, due July 15, to look for clues on how that's going. Here are the itemized contributions from Minnesota:
This giving from Minnesota contributors supplements that we reported in June:
What's in it for Minnesota? On page 9, the "Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus" gave $100 in January, while page 11 lists a $100 contribution by the same in February. (Since the CFB server is down, we can't check to see if this is from the Senate Victory Fund ). [Update: this expenditure not listed in the SVF's Q1 and Q2 reports].
Where in Minnesota was the RSLC spending in the second quarter (April though June)? Here's a pdf of the items--bills for conference calls and direct marketing paid to Republican fundraising and marketing firm, FLS Connect.
If the Republican State Leadership Committee intends to give to the Minnesota Jobs Coalition, its political fund or other political committees and IE funds to flip the Minnesota Senate and retain the House, apparently that spending will come in the third and fourth quarters. The Q3 filing (for getting and spending in July, August and September) is due on October 15.
Other bonbons in the report
The biggest contributor to the RSLC is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce And Related Entities/Institute for Legal Reform, which had given $2,450,235 as of June 30, 2016.
Our dear friends at the Corrections Corporation of America gave a mere $30,000 for the year, which might cost them as the federal government withdraws from the private prison bed rental market. That shuttered prison in Appleton, Minnesota, probably will lose value as the market is suddenly flooded with empty hoosegows. It's a good thing that Dayton and the senate Democrats rejected Tim Miller's notion of buying the joint for $99 million. Already we see in CNBC in that Prison stocks plunge after report Justice Department will end use of private prisons.
Other big contributors come from the noisy set of drug companies, railroads, energy interests and payday lenders the martyrs call the world. Here's the entire 103-page Form 8872 filing, where our readers can perform Adam's curse, doing the work of reading for themselves.
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Minnesota State Representative Peggy Bennett, R-Albert Lea, campaigns online under the slogan of "People Before Politics" and a public persona who will:
Listen carefully to your concerns and represent you reliably in the legislature
Engage in healthy debate and endeavor to find common goals and common ground
Be fair-minded in addressing constituent concerns, firm in standing for conservative principles
The piece equates the freedom to marry the person one loves with the ability to marry a German Shepherd, the notion that immigration reform would take Social Security away from those who paid into it, and other non sequiturs that would be comic, save for the fact that they're presented as "accurate."
Among Republican friends, Bennett shares what she thinks of her Democratic constituents (transcript of audio below as Bennett reads the list, while providing her own side commentary; Bluestem has placed the latter in bold). Her remarks begin with the reading of the list, so we're not sure how she introduced this loving (but definitely not-Letterman) portrait of the loyal opposition:
I vote Democrat because I love the fact that I can now marry whatever I want. I can even marry my German Shepherd.
Number 9 I vote Democrat because I believe oil companies profits are 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene, but the government taxing the same gallon 15% is not.
Number 8, I vote Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending money I earned than I would. Let me tell you, I heard that over and over again when I was sitting on the floor last year. You're not spending enough, we have a surplus, they would spend it all over time
Number 7, I vote Democrat because freedom of speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.
Number 6, I vote Democrat because I'm way to irresponsible to own a gun and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves, I'm also thankful that I have a 9-1-1 service that gets the police to your home in order to identify your body after a home invasion.
Number 5, I vote Democrat because I'm not concerned about billions of babies being aborted, so long as we can keep Death Row inmates alive and comfy.
Number 4, I vote Democrat because I think illegal aliens have a right to free healthcare, education, and social security benefits and we should take away social security benefits from those who paid into it.
Number 3, I vote Democrat because businesses should not be allowed make profits for themselves, they need to break even and give the rest to away to the government for redistribution as the Democratic Party sees fit.
Number 2, I vote Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to re-write the constitution every few days to see the fringe groups who would never get their agenda's past the voters. And last but not least,
Number 1, I vote Democrat because I think it's better to take pay billions of dollars in oil to people who hate us, but not drill our own oil because it might upset some endangered beetle, gopher, or fish here in America. We don't care about beetles, gophers, or fish in the oil countries, just as long as they're in America. So there ya go, the top ten reasons to Vote Democrat.
Here's the audio:
Perhaps Kurt Daudt can let Bennett know that Minnesota doesn't have a Death Row--or perhaps one shouldn't sweat the details when choosing to let hyper-partisanship all hang out.
Is it wise to mock Democrats in Minnesota House District 27A?
Revealing her sarcastically nasty partisan side might not be the wisest move for the retired elementary teacher and freshman state lawmaker, since the swing district includes a lot of Democratic voters. In 2014, US Senator Al Franken received 54.06 percent of the vote; Congressman Tim Walz earned 59.47 percent; Governor Dayton and Lt. Gov. Smith received a plurality of 49.84 percent, and so on.
On the other hand voters selected three Republican-endorsed candidates, including state Supreme Court Justice candidate Michelle MacDonald, Secretary of State wannabe Dan Severson and Bennett. Her first term incumbent opponent, Shannon Savick, stumbled badly in the race.
The district swung more heavily Democratic in the 2012 presidential year, election results reveal. President Barack Obama captured 55.37 percent of the vote, while United States Senator Amy Klobuchar and Walz crushed with 68.32 percent and 63.80 percent respectively. State senator Dan Sparks--on the ballot again this year--nabbed 67.00 percent of the vote, while Savick received 47.70 percent of the vote in the three-way race to defeat one-term incumbent Rich Murray.
The district has historically been a swing district, and in 2014 more than $377,000 in independent expenditures were reported for [and against] Bennett and DFLer Shannon Savick of Wells in the 10 months leading up to the election.
Photo: Peggy Bennett and her Shiloh Shepherd Coulter, who can read so don't write mean things online (Via Bennett campaign website, top); 2016 DFL opponent and community college dean Gary Schindler (via Austin Herald, bottom).
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The videos never explicitly say "Vote for" Barb, Dave or Jim (or Roz, Randy and Chad), so these online ads aren't considered independent expenditures spent to get Dave, Jim, Roz and Chad re-elected or sweep Barb and Randy into office.
Right-o!
"Issue advocacy": "Join Dave Baker" so doesn't imply you should vote for him!
BATC’s Housing First Network recently launched the next phase of its issue advocacy campaign, Think Local. Following up on our issue advocacy campaign to thank housing champion leaders, Think Local promotes local prioritization of homes, which we know create and tie communities together. Much of the news and public conversation looks at national and international issues. While these are very important, the HF Network is asking the public to think about the benefits a strong housing market provides for our local communities.
The local leaders featured in the Think Local campaign are local elected officials and candidates for elected office that have demonstrated support for strong communities and a strong housing market. Election years are times for public discussion and consideration of priorities. As an issue advocacy campaign, Think Local encourages everyone to consider the local impacts of housing, and to support keeping homes affordable for Minnesota families.
How local is the copy in these digital ads? So far, we've found two boilerplates, one that's 30 seconds, and the second that's 15 seconds or so:
Representative [Name] is a leader who thinks local. In the [Town Name] area, our community is made up of families, schools, and businesses all tied together by our homes and neighborhoods. Like the many growing families in our neighborhoods, [Name] raised [his/her] family in our community. [He/She] knows that the best way to build the american [sic] dream is by creating better communities to live in. Join [Name] in thinking local, learn more at HousingFirstNetwork.org.
Join [Name]. Live. Build. Learn. Work. Play. Think Local. Learn more at HousingFirstNetwork.org
You just can't think any more local than that. They're not place-baiting, we can say that for them.
Nonpartisan spending like you've never seen it before!
Update August 19: the Builders Association of the Twin Cities has announced its endorsements in a blog post, BATC’s Housing First PAC Endorses Legislative Candidates on August 19, three days after this post was first published on August 16. Three of the endorsees are suburban DFLers: 7th term Brooklyn Park Mike Nelson, first-term Edina senator Melisa Franzen, and Lakeville DFL senate candidate Matt Little, running in the open seat created by the retirement of state senator Dave Thompson. We'll look to see if any Local Think shows up online for the DFLers. A search of Youtube didn't yield any BATC/Housing First videos for these candidates. [end update]
In 2014, the Roseville-based political fund spent $547,611.87 in independent expenditures, all for Republican House candidates Jeff Backer, 12A (win); Heidi Gunderson, 42B (loss); Randy Jessup, 42A (loss); Jim Knoblach, 14B (win); Roz Peterson, 56B (win); Jason Rarick, 11B (win); Ryan Rutzick, 44B (loss); Kirk Stensrud, 48A (loss); Stacey Stout, 43A (loss); Tama Theis, 14A; Andrea Todd-Harlin, 51B; and Jennifer Wilson, 51B.
The only negative independent expenditures paid for attacks on Governor Mark Dayton's re-election bid. That worked out well.
While the political fund touts itself as "nonpartisan," we detect a pattern here.
The BATC provided $364,524.99 of the $453,367.29 of cash and in-kind services that the fund took in for the year. It started 2014 with $275,947.97 in the bank.
Though not a partisan entity, Housing First prioritized flipping the House to a pro-housing majority as its top objective for the 2014 election cycle, a goal proudly achieved. Housing First vetted candidates and spent countless hours over the past six months managing a campaign that would propel pro-housing and pro-business candidates into office. We now plan to work carefully with these candidates and friends who were elected to build a pro-housing caucus at the Capitol.
Here’s a breakdown of the winning 11 seats:
House District 2A: Dave Hancock (52.36 percent) defeated DFL Rep. Roger Erickson (47.49 percent)
House District 10A: Joshua Heintzeman (53.37 percent) defeated DFL Rep. John Ward (46.54 percent)
House District 10B: Dale Lueck (51.97 percent) defeated DFL Rep. Joe Radinovich (47.89 percent)
House District 11B: Jason Rarick* (53.68 percent) defeated DFL Rep. Tim Faust (46.15 percent)
House District 12A: Jeff Backer* (51.87 percent) defeated DFL Rep. Jay McNamar (47.94 percent)
House District 14B: Jim Knoblach* (50.15 percent) defeated DFL Rep. Zachary Dorholt (49.54 percent)
House District 17A: Tim Miller (55.37 percent) defeated DFL Rep. Andrew Falk (44.46 percent)
House District 17B: DFL Rep. Mary Sawatzky (49.27 percent) v. Dave Baker (50.66 percent)
House District 24B: Brian Daniels (50.87 percent) defeated DFL Rep. Patti Fritz (49 percent)
House District 27A: Peggy Bennett (53.04 percent) defeated DFL Rep. Shannon Savick (39.93 percent)
House District 56B: DFL Rep. Will Morgan (45.83 percent) v. Roz Peterson* (53.99 percent)
What's fascinating here is the contrast between the five flipped districts where Housing First spent money in 2014 and the seven districts where Housing First Republican candidates failed in a GOP year.
In the 2014 CFB report, there's also the thrilling local spend on video and ad place at Larry John Wright Advertising in Mesa, AZ, though it warmed our cold prairie hearts to see Weber Johnson getting its fair share of the fund's bucks. It's good to keep some of these dollars in the state.
If you've seen one Housing First Video, you've seen them all
Here are two Think Local videos for your enjoyment. The b-roll images change, along with the names of the Republicans and the towns, but one has to admire the metro builders' ability to stay on message:
We can only hope that the pleasant looking couple figures out which Minnesota House District they can vote in November's general election. They can "join" Dave or Barb, but not both.
Photos: screengrabs from Barb and Dave's videos.
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Miller's actual history on education funding is a much less rosy story (more on this later in the post), and two of the photos on the postcard might be telling us more about Miller's priorities than the Coalition of Minnesota Businesses knows.
What were Tim Miller's photos really about?
Looking at the photos on the right of the card (image embedded below), Bluestem thought we'd seen them before and were puzzled why any graphic designer would place them on mail piece touting a lawmaker's education record.
Thanks to Kim Gorans (Gorans Farms) and George Rehm (Discovery Farms) for discussing with Torrey Westrom and me the challenges of animal ag here in WC MN. They did amazing research on water runoff.
The Discovery Farms Minnesota program is funded by grants provided by the Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council, Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, and Minnesota Turkey Research and Promotion Council to the Minnesota Agricultural Water Resources Center (MAWRC). The Minnesota Department of Agriculture "provides Clean Water Funding for monitoring equipment and technical staff," according to the program's website, while the also has received a grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Whatever the nature of the water runoff related to animal ag that the gentlemen discussed in this campaign photo, the photo doesn't illustrate Miller's alleged devotion to pre-K-12 and post-secondary education or providing more money for public education.
Here's the screengrab:
The second photo is likewise devoted to an ag topic, rather than education. On May 5, 2015, a photo of Representative Chris Swedzinski, R-Ghent, Miller, Governor Mark Dayton, and Representative Dave Baker was posted on the Miller campaign Facebook page with the following caption:
This photo was snapped at another non-education funding event, the GOP Rural Caucus's free turkey burger cookout at the height of Minnesota's 2015 avian flu pandemic. The free food was intended to make consumers confident that the nasty, turkey-destroying disease wasn't a threat to people who ate turkey.
The screengrab:
These photos aren't about education. They're about ag.
. . .this year we can win the Minnesota senate back and the house and senate can make the next two years the most miserable years in Governor Dayton’s life.
Lovely and generous vision of governing there, indeed.
Here's a photo of the front of the same postcard, with the name and photos changed, sent to voters in House District 11B, represented by freshman Jason Rarick, R-Pine City, who defeated incumbent DFLer Tim Faust in 2014:
In the 2015 legislative session, Tim Miller and his House Republican colleagues did not fight for $500 million in increased education funding. The Republican majority’s education finance bill that Tim Miller voted for did not even keep pace with inflation. Had Tim Miller had his way, it would have led to teacher layoffs and would have short-changed our schools and particularly our pre-schools.
At the end of the legislative session, Governor Dayton vetoed the education finance bill. He sent it back to the legislature stating that his approval required a real investment in our schools. Due to Tim Miller’s actions, we were forced to pay for a costly special legislative session; which brought us about a week away from a government shutdown. Governor Dayton fought for and won this increased funding in the special session education finance bill despite Tim Miller; not because of Tim Miller . . .
Just before the vote on the soon-to-be-vetoed bill, the Mankato Times reported:
Rep. Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, added an amendment (HF 1546) Student Physical Privacy Act, which passed by voice vote, to require students to use the bathrooms, locker rooms and changing rooms appropriate to their birth gender, following a recent Minnesota State High School League policy change.
Authored by Rep. Jennifer Loon (R- Eden Prairie) House File 844 would increase state funding for Early Learning and K-12 programs by $157 million – less than 1% over current levels – in order to accommodate House Republicans’ goal of lowering taxes by $2 billion. This is the lowest figure among two other proposals by the DFL led Senate and Governor Mark Dayton.
The Senate has proposed $350 million in new spending; Dayton has proposed an additional $695 million, most of which would be for his top priority of offering universal preschool for all 4-year-olds in the state. . . .
The DFL says that [the bill's] overall 1.2 percent increase to the state’s per-pupil funding formula is too small and doesn’t keep up with inflation. As a result, they say it will force schools to cut programs, increase class sizes and force the layoffs of teachers.
They also say that projections show that changes to Early Learning Scholarships contained in H.F. 844 would lead to a 41% decrease in the number of students being served by the program. The bill raises the state’s school funding formula by .6% and caps future funds aimed at students most at risk of falling behind in school.
With the date and content of an upcoming special session still unsettled, the Legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton did reveal significant agreement on the next Minnesota budget on Friday. . . .
The final bill is closer to the nearly $700 million in new money Dayton wanted than the $150 million House Republicans initially proposed.
“It’s worth it, $125 million for the extra few weeks,” said Sen. Charles Wiger, DFL-Maplewood, Senate Education Committee chair. “When you look at where the House started, I’m pleased. I admire the governor’s tenacity.”
More than half the new money, $350 million, will go toward increasing by 2 percent a year the per pupil funding formula schools use for general operations. The base per-student funding schools receive will grow from $5,831 this year to $6,067 in 2017. School officials said increasing that funding was among their top priorities this year. . . .
The final bill also includes several policy changes, including streamlining the process for licensing teachers. It does not include controversial changes to teacher seniority rules for layoffs or a requirement that transgender students use bathrooms based on their sex at birth. Republicans had pushed for those provisions.
The bathroom language was Miller's contribution, not the "historic" increase in funding. That came from Dayton and the DFL.
An omnibus education bill with $56 million in additional funding for E-12 education and no funding for higher education passed the House Monday, 84-46. Rep. Jim Knoblach (R-St. Cloud) sponsors HF2749, which he said will also serve as the overarching supplemental budget bill for the House.
With zero budget targets for E-12 and higher education, most of the bill’s funding comes from a provision allowing school districts to repay and refinance high-interest state “maximum effort” loans. The funding targets “critical needs” of school districts, including $16.8 million to address teacher shortages, said Rep. Jenifer Loon (R-Eden Prairie), who chairs the House Education Finance Committee.
Despite the bill’s funding for teacher workforce development, rural broadband and a variety of other programs, House leadership’s zero targets for education drew strong criticism by DFLers — as did several of the bill’s policy provisions.
Minnesota will spend more money on broadband access, preschool education and combating racial disparities under a supplemental budget signed Wednesday by Gov. Mark Dayton.
The budget adds $300 million in spending to Minnesota’s $42 billion two-year budget, which lawmakers passed in 2015.
Dayton and legislative Democrats had pushed hard for up to $700 million in new spending in the bill, while Republicans proposed no new spending. . . .
Are Republicans putting students first? Pushing for more funding for schools? For more pre-kindergarten programs? That would make a cat laugh.
Perhaps that's why the Coalition for Minnesota Business couldn't find a photo on Tim Miller's campaign Facebook page that illustrated that he was actually working for those priorities.
Voters will probably never know who paid CMB for this postcard
Aside from the legislator's name and three photos related to the freshman legislator, we're told it's the same junk mail the Coalition of Minnesota Businesses mailed praising Republican incumbents in competitive races around the state, according to our source. The "non-partisan" group didn't send any mailers praising DFLers who took the same votes on education funding bills signed by the governor in 2015 and 2016.
While the CMB does have a political action committee (PAC) and this piece includes the disclaimer that the piece is "Not authorized by any candidate or any candidate committee," the postcard will count as a "issue" communication since it doesn't tell us to vote for Representative Miller in the fall and it was sent by the non-profit "grassroots" organization, not the PAC.
This practice is completely legal under current state law, though Bluestem is betting few of our neighbors see this postcard as anything other than support for Miller's re-election. We just won't know where CMB gets its money for these postcards.
If 2014 is to be the model for this year's CMB PAC spending, the "grassroots" group's PAC will get a wallet erection beginning mid-month and continuing through the general election in November. The 2014 pre-primary report listed $171.97 cash on hand, with on the September 2014 pre-general report revealing $143,000.00 coming in from other business PACs and the House Republican Campaign Committee (HRCC). The HRCC contribution was $76,000.00 in in-kind polling data, which was very generous of the GOP caucus committee to give that sort of thing to a non-partisan group.
The October 2014 pre-general and the year-end filing reported showed that cash and in-kind giving to the committee jumped to $440,775.00 for the year--much to independent expenditures ($342,139.42).
As of the 2016 pre-primary report, the PAC has $280.65 cash on hand, unchanged from the May report.
Photos: Tim Miller, from his Facebook page (top); Miller and Torrey Westrom meeting with farmers in 2014 (middle); Same postcard template, customized for Jason Rarick.
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On Monday, Minnesota House Public Safety committee chair Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, via urged voters in House District 31B to vote for incumbent Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar, in light of the latter's staunch Second Amendment record and endorsement by gun rights groups:
Republican State Representative Tom Hackbarth northeastern Anoka County, needs the help of every "Pro Second Amendment" voter in his district. He is endorsed by the NRA with an A+ rating! He also has the support of the Minnesota Gun Owners Civil Rights Alliance with an A+ rating. Tom's opponent received a "B" rating from the NRA! Call your friends and have them vote this coming Tuesday for Representative Tom Hackbarth. Tom has a 100% Pro Second Amendment, Pro-Gun, voting record!
A comment on Cornish's Facebook page defending Bahr's lower scoring by the NRA--which has since been hidden or deleted from the wall--asserted that Bahr opposed the NRA position on individuals living in public housing being able to possess firearms, since those who can't pay their own way shouldn't be trusted with guns. Bluestem finds this notion about restricting a constitutional right concerning. Would Bahr also restrict rights to free speech, assembly, voting or religion based on receipt of public assistance?
It's totally not ironic that Cal Bahr, Hackbarth's opponent, is considered the more conservative candidate of the two Republicans, and has received the financial support of the Freedom Club State PAC and socially conservative GOP power couple Bob and Joan Cummins. Bahr also received a post-filing $4000 infusion of cash from the Senate District 31 RPM (July 22 24-hour-notice) from the Senate District 31 Republican Party, which closed the pre-primary reporting period with $2,993.12 cash on hand. It will be curious to see where the extra money came from that allowed the senate district district to cut that check, but we'll have to wait, because political party committees don't have to file 24-hour-reports on large contributions near a primary.
Hackbarth lost the endorsement to Cal Bahr, who had sought the endorsement in 2014 and 2012, but didn't primary the incumbent after the sitting representative secured the endorsement.
After more than two decades in St. Paul, GOP Rep. Tom Hackbarth lost his party’s endorsement back in April to East Bethel businessman Cal Bahr. Initially, Hackbarth wasn’t sure whether he wanted to run for his House district again, which includes Anoka, but he ultimately jumped into the primary contest. That miffed some local Republicans, who said Hackbarth initially promised to abide by the endorsement. Local Republicans activist are also likely primary voters, making this a race to watch. Hackbarth will tout his record in St. Paul and hope his name recognition carries him through to a victory.
We haven't seen any reports of polling in the district, so we'll be watching to see whether the local party endorsement beats support from the House Speaker, county commissioner and gun rights god Cornish.
Tuesday afternoon, state Rep. Tom Hackbarth went to the St. Paul Police Department and picked up his gun.
How his silver .38-caliber revolver came into the possession of the cops is a story that Hackbarth himself acknowledges sounds “really weird and odd.”
Last week, St. Paul police pulled the Anoka County Republican over and seized his loaded Smith & Wesson after he told them he was “jealous” about his “girlfriend,” whom he didn’t have any contact information for but suspected was with another man, according to police reports.
Police had been called to the Highland Park neighborhood by a security guard at a Planned Parenthood clinic, where Hackbarth had parked and appeared “suspicious.”
Hackbarth, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, was briefly handcuffed but was released without being charged, and he told the Pioneer Press he did nothing wrong or illegal. . . .
It's become the stuff of off-the-record legend around the capitol--and we can say no more.
Screengrab: Tony Cornish urges voters in House District 31B to vote for incumbent Tom Hackbarth over endorsed challenger Cal Bahr (top); the invite to the fundraiser at Running Aces (bottom)
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Jim Hagedorn, the endorsed Republican candidate in Minnesota's First Congressional district, is doubling down on his notion that rudeness is the ticket to win the hearts, minds and votes of Southern Minnesotans.
The Uptake reports that he agrees with Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump's attacks on Gold Star parents who are Muslim because ...Muslim extremism!
Writing about now-Sen. John Thune's race against Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson, Hagedorn turned his razor-sharp wit on America's most coddled demographic—Native Americans. "The race has been highlighted by a Democrat drive to register voters in several of several of South Dakota's expansive redistribution of wealth centers…err…casino parlors…err…Indian reservations. Remarkably, many of the voters registered for absentee ballots were found to be chiefs and squaws who had returned to the spirit world many moons ago." Alleging that fake votes from Indians would provide the margin of victory, he echoed "John Wayne's wisdom of the only good Indian being a dead Indian."
Hagedorn may have been joking. (The quip's real author, General Philip Sheridan, wasn't.) But American Indians were a favorite punching bag over at Mr. Conservative. . .
Hagedorn was among Republican hopefuls interviewed by The Uptake Tuesday at Farmfest for the article, MN GOP Congressional Candidates Back Trump Despite His Statements. While "Despite His Statements" is accurate for Sixth District Congressman Tom Emmer, and Seventh District Republican primary challenger Amanda Hinson, Hagedorn is totally on board with Trump's flame war against Khizr and Ghazala Khan:
Emmer’s support comes with some caveats. He thinks Trump needs to be a little more careful about what he’s saying.
“I understand that he feels as though he was attacked, but when you’re dealing with Gold Star parents — people who have made the ultimate sacrifice — I think you just…they get a free pass on all of that. You know what, that’s something he’ll have to learn.”
Jim Hagedorn, the Republican candidate for Minnesota’s first congressional district, has no such misgivings about what Trump is saying. When asked about Trump’s criticism of the military parents, Hagedorn immediately zeroed in on the fact that they were Muslim.
“Here’s the underlying issue, we have to secure our borders and we have to protect the American people from Muslim extremism, supremacists who want to come here. I have a refugee program time out that I’ve called for and I also don’t believe that at this point in time, given what’s going on in the world, it makes sense to bring people to America from countries that hate America. It’s time to step up and put our country first.” . . .
“What we should do with refugees, is we should try to have ‘safe zones’ and make sure that they can be repatriated to their home country. But I would try to create safe zones near their home country rather than bring them into our culture and change our culture.”
We are at war with Islamic supremacists devoted to the ideology of radical Islam. Given the state of the world, what good comes from transferring more people to America from nations that hate America?
It's time to take a refugee program timeout and discontinue migration from hostile nations. That's only commonsense.
As for refugees, we should work to create safe zones in or near war torn nations, with the goal of repatriating them to their home countries.
My politically correct opponent, Tim Walz, thinks my ideas are Islamophobic and unMinnesotan. Fortunately, the vast majority of Southern Minnesotans agree with me and do not favor additional Islamic migration from hostile nations.
In fact, First District voters do not understand why Walz supported Obama's program to flood America with almost 1 million Muslims from nations that hate Christians and abhor Western values.
The result: Minnesota has a terrorist recruiting problem from existing East African refugees.
It's time to elect a new Republican President and new First District Congressman who will defend the United States and protect the American people from Islamic supremacists.
Short skinny: Hagedorn can just pretend Trump hasn't insulted the Khan family because terrorism! The same day Hagedorn posted the Breitbart.com article, Congressman Tim Walz, the high-ranking enlisted man to have served in the House, issued this statement about the flap:
Washington, DC [8/1/16] – Today, Rep. Walz released the following statement:
The Khan Family has earned our respect and gratitude. As someone who wore this nation’s uniform for 24 years, I served alongside soldiers of every race, religion and background. That’s what makes us strong. We must always unite in support of Gold Star families who made the ultimate sacrifice and continue our work to ensure that sacrifice is honored and remembered.
Photo: Jackson Proskow tweeted the photo with this cutline: "At Arlington National Cemetery, there's a growing memorial at the grave of Capt. Humayun Khan" (top); Hagedorn's Facebook post (bottom).
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In audio posted on Youtube, Heintzeman tells his supporters that he wasn't certain why his heart was against the bill, traditionally carried by a Crow Wing County representative. When he later learned about an Explore Minnesota tourism ad aimed at attracting same-sex couples to Minnesota he knew God had protected him and given . Heintzeman prefaced his remarks about tourism and same sex marriage with
. . . there was a tweet that went out earlier this afternoon encouraging folks maybe to come to our event from the other side of the aisle, and there might be some conversation around that cause we'd the event to stay private even though it's an open area, so we're not recording anything tonight. So I can just talk in a heart-to-heart with people that have supported me.
Heintzeman: . . . And there have been times throughout the course of the last two years where issues come up, and constituents have contacted us, talked to Keri and I, and really blessed us by helping us kind of see perspective on an issue, and a good example is the Explore Minnesota tourism bill [2015]. I was asked to carry an $11 Million increase to their budget. And I couldn't explain to my leadership, I didn't have any good reason why not. The representative from the lakes area, Crow Wing County, always carries that bill.
And the more we [Heintzeman and his wife Keri] talked about it, the more we sought the Lord on it, I just had a no-go. My heart was not allowing me to move forward and support that bill. And much to the chagrin of my leadership, I had to continue to stand and not work on that, so they gave it to another representative, Rep. [Dan] Fabian [R-Roseau] took it.
Apparently, being a co-sponsor doesn't count. The freshman legislator continues:
About three, four weeks after session ended -- I want to preface this comment by pointing out that obviously a lot of you guys know that marriage was an important issue in Crow Wing County and was a big part of the discussion two years ago--well three, four weeks after session ended, Explore Minnesota Tourism released an ad-buy, in the details of the ad, promoting Minnesota as a destination for couples that were of the same sex wanting to get married.
Woman: Wow.
Heintzeman:That ad didn't run in Minnesota. It ran in states all around Minnesota with different law in regard to same-sex marriage.
Heintzeman's description of the ad isn't particularly accurate, since it doesn't promote Minnesota "as a destination for couples that were of the same sex wanting to get married," but rather features husbands Ben Meents and Chet Ritchie as they enjoy the splendors of the North Star state, as The Column's Andy Birkey wrote in Minnesota’s tourism council ad features gay couple.
Travel editor Kerri Westerberg reported in the Star Tribune that the ad ran in "Minneapolis-St. Paul; Milwaukee; Madison; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Omaha; Kansas City; Des Moines; Chicago; Denver and Winnipeg."
Given that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality in late June 2015, we're pleased that the ad buyers had it in their hearts to buy time in markets where same-sex marriage was legal, in addition to places where it was not (as Heintzeman believes), since that would have been a waste of money. God--and media markets--work in mysterious ways.
Heintzeman continues:
Heintzeman: So, I just want to leave you with that, I guess pointing out that when I first talked to everybody here two years ago, I referenced 1 Kings 3:9. There's two accounts, Solomon on his bed asking one account, he asked for wisdom. And I like the accounting kings, because he talks specifically for asking for an understanding heart that would know the difference between good and evil, that he would judge God's people rightly. And so many times on the surface over the last few years, there's things that seemed right to Man, that seemed right to me, but thankfully the Lord protected us from those things, and we're very blessed to be able to keep out of those kind of situations like that Explore Minnesota tourism bill.
Perhaps Heintzeman can explain to his anti-marriage equality base why co-authoring a bill means that he wasn't involved in it. He also voted for HF843, which included funding for Explore Minnesota, but which was authored by Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington. (Garofalo voted for marriage equality, so there's no pious hypocrisy in this on his part).
Other than all these details about the bill and the ad campaign, Heintzeman totally has an understanding heart and no way misleds his supporters.
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According to the 2016 pre-primary campaign finance report filed by the Committee to Elect Josh Heintzeman, Brian and Mary Ann Nystrom of Andover, a suburb in Anoka County, Minnesota, each gave the first term Republican legislator from Nisswa $1000.00 in early June.
. . .a meeting between Daudt, Rep. Josh Heintzeman, R-Nisswa, and the Nystrom family, executives at Nystrom & Associates, Ltd. The company is a for-profit mental health care provider with locations across the state. Brian Nystrom, president and CEO, and his son Peter, executive vice president, talked with Daudt and Heintzeman about how mental health care works in Minnesota and some of the challenges their company faces as a for-profit provider. For example, there's a 23.7 to 35 percent disparity between the rates the state Department of Human Services pays for-profit providers compared to public nonprofits, the elder Nystrom said.
Nystrom said the inequality in how much for-profits are paid relative to nonprofits was the result of a DHS rule change in 2007 intended to increase access to care. The government increased the rate paid to nonprofits while leaving the rate paid to for-profits the same.
However, the change actually limits access because for-profits now don't have as much of a financial incentive to treat poorer patients on public assistance, and instead will pick patients of higher incomes because they can make more money, he said.
Nystrom & Associates, Ltd. (NAL) is a group of professional Christian clinicians from the fields of psychology, clinical social work, marriage & family therapy, nursing, and psychiatry, who are committed to helping persons experiencing personal, emotional, marriage, family, or psychological problems.
NAL meets the highly rigorous requirements of quality set by the state of Minnesota as a licensed Rule 29 mental health clinic. The clinical staff at NAL are licensed professionals and/or have advanced graduate training in a mental health field. Each clinician is experienced, has a strong Christian value system, and is committed to high standards of professional practice. . . .
Contribution marks new Nystrom skin in the game
Gaining a market share of poor Minnesotans requiring mental health care appears to be an action item for the Nystroms, as this is their first state-level contribution large enough to be itemized, a search of Minnesota campaign finance records indicates.
A search of the contributor database online ( which includes information from 2004 through 2015)at the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board reveals that neither Nystrom has given a contribution to a political candidate in the past that was large enough to be itemized.
In 2004, Governor Tim Pawlenty re-appointed Mr. Nystrom to a four-year term on the Board of Marriage and Family Therapy, which is responsible for licensing and disciplining marriage and family therapists. Nystrom was first appointed to the board in 1992.
While the Brainerd Dispatch article is clear on what the Nystrom family wants, we're a bit fuzzy about why the couple is giving the money to Heintzeman. While one of their centers is in Baxter, the rookie politician doesn't sit on any House committee that might help their cause: he's vice-chair of the Legacy Funding Finance committee and sits on the Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance and Higher Education Policy and Finance committees.
None of these have much influence on mental health policy and finance in the state of Minnesota and a cursory glance at other legislators' filings, including that by Speaker Daudt and chairs of health policy and finance related committees, didn't reveal itemized contributions from the couple. Nor did they give to the Republican House caucus committee or the Republican Party of Minnesota. Perhaps it's Heintzeman's bedrock conservative ideology.
In 2015, Nystrom & Associates hired four contract lobbyists who work at the firm of Winthrop & Weinstine PA; three are lawyers who specialize in Health Law. The hire is an indication that the firm is seeking some form of legislative relief or certainty.
Photo: Top: Via Representative Josh Heintzeman's Facebook Page, "Left to right: Peter Nystrom, MBA, Executive Vice President of Nystrom & Associates, Ltd.; Minnesota Speaker of the House Kurt Daudt; Mary Ann Nystrom, LSW, Vice President and CFO of Nystrom & Associates, Ltd.; MN Representative Josh Heintzeman (District 10A); and Brian Nystrom, MSW, LICSW, LMFT, President and CEO of Nystrom & Associates, Ltd" (photo from Nystrom & Associates Facebook page). Brian and Mary Ann Nystrom, who live in Andover, an Anoka County suburb, gave a total of $2000 to Heintzemann this year.
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According to his 2016 pre-primary fundraising report, Rep. Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, received a campaign contribution of $4500 from the Renville County RPM on July 17, 2016:
That July contribution brought the county BPOU's (basic party operating unit) contribution to $5000 for 2016 (he received $1000 from county BPOU in 2015). The contribution is entirely legitimate, given that Miller's committee remains under the aggregate limit of $10,000 from party and terminating candidate committees.
But when we turn to the Renville County RPM committee report, we notice something a bit odd:
No, it's not that Miller received twice as much as Minnesota Senate District 17 candidate Andrew Lang, whom many Republicans give a good chance of giving incumbent moderate Clara City Democrat Lyle Koenen.
It's the fact that the check that Miller received on Sunday, July 17, 2016 doesn't seem to have been cut until the next day, July 18, 2016.
We're also curious where a rural county receives its money. In 2014, the BPOU also gave generously to Miller; in that year, the committee's only itemized receipt was $6,952.00 from Representative Drazkowski's committee (candidates with active committees may give to party units, but not directly to other candidates). Draz's contributions constituted over half of the total contributions of $12,430.00 that the committee received in 2014.
This year is different. So far this year, the Renville County RPM has received $7496 in contributions. Of that money, the lion's share is a $5000 contribution from the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative PAC, received by the Renville County on Monday, July 18, 2016, according to its report:
The Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative is a farmer-owned sugar producer and refining co-op. In the past, the PAC has given to candidates from both parties and to caucus campaign committees, but never to a county committee, according to Minnesota Campaign Finance Committee records going back to 2005 (use pull down menu here).
So far this year, the committee has given only to political party committees--the four major party legislative caucuses receiving $2500 each, with Renvillee County RPM getting that fat $5000 check. While it's the cooperative's home county, it's not the PAC's past pattern of giving.
This contribution is also the largest single contribution to any one entity by the SMBSC State PAC in the fundraising records online for 2005-2016.
Note that the check to Renville County RPM was cut on a Friday, so it makes sense that, if mailed, the county unit received the envelope on Monday, July 18, 2016. We suppose it's entirely coincidental that the co-op cut a $5000 check to the county unit, which then wrote a $4500 check to Representative Miller on the same day (though Miller's committee reports getting the BPOU check the day before).
Readers might ask why the PAC didn't just send the money directly to Miller, but there's a good reason for that. Political Action Committees are limited in how much they may give to candidates during a two-year cycle:
Miller received $500 from the PAC in 2015, which means he may receive only $500 more from it for the 2015-2016 cycle.
Of course, this flow of money may be entirely innocent and unrelated. Nonetheless, Bluestem is curious what the purpose that the co-operative might have in suddenly making its largest contribution in eleven years to a local county political unit, after a decade of distinctively different giving.
Pollution fine woes
After all, the regulatory woes confronting the co-operative in recent years haven't been centered on Renville County government. Rather, the sugar refiners have faced relatively massive fines for air and water quality violations from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), including a fish kill in a creek that feeds into the Minnesota River.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the United States Environmental Protection Agency have reached a settlement with the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative over water and air quality pollution violations. The cooperative has agreed to correct the violations and will pay more than $1.5 million in penalties.
The violations, which occurred over a period of years at the co-op’s processing plant near Renville, included excessive hydrogen sulfide emissions, which cause odors and can be harmful to human health, and wastewater discharges, which resulted in a fish kill in Beaver Creek.
The agreement reached by the MPCA and EPA is a consent decree (agreement) filed in district court. It addresses wastewater violations of the federal Clean Water Act, and of the co-op’s wastewater permit.
Monitoring of discharged water from the plant’s wastewater treatment system showed numerous, ongoing water quality violations from 2009 to 2015. Violations involved releasing untreated or undertreated wastewater, exceeding pollution limits, and failures in operation and maintenance.
The agreement requires the co-op to prepare a contingency plan, conduct regular monitoring and sampling, prepare models to predict possible violations, submit timely reports, and pay a $1 million penalty. In addition, the co-op must pay more than $49,000 to the Dept. of Natural Resources in restitution for the August 2013 fish kill in Beaver Creek.
A separate agreement with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency addresses air pollution violations. The company will take additional steps to curb hydrogen sulfide air emissions, and pay a $485,000 civil penalty. Beyond the so-called ‘rotten egg’ odor, excessive hydrogen sulfide in the air is harmful to human health.
According to monitoring data from 2012 through 2014, there were a total of 780 violations of hydrogen sulfide air quality limits. The emissions occur primarily from large wastewater storage ponds in the processing plant’s wastewater treatment system. . . .
We attended the meeting and recall an official from the beet co-operative reading from seemed to be prepared remarks about how the Minnesota River and its tributaries had never been clean (other sources point to another story in the upper valley) so high standards might be too high a bar for industry and farmers. Miller seemed receptive.
We video taped the meeting and will review the footage to see if it's worth sharing in a future post.
Photo: Part of the 2013 Beaver Creek fishkill.
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Thus, the campaign held on to the check for nearly a month and a half, only to be refunded the day we posted our story. A coincidence or whatever. [end update]
The anti-immigrant movement has attempted to distance itself from criticism since its ties to white nationalism were exposed. However, those distancing efforts have proven to be ineffectual given the anti-immigrant movement’s main political action committee has hired a prominent white nationalist as its manager going into the 2014 election season.
Last year, the US Immigration Reform PAC (USIR) quietly revealed that Tim Dionisopoulos would succeed James R. Edwards – a Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) fellow and lobbyist for the anti-immigrant movement – and become the committee’s next manager. Originally operating under the name “FAIR PAC” in reference to John Tanton’s flagship anti-immigrant organization Federation for American Immigration (FAIR), USIR has served as the movement’s campaign contribution arm since the early 1990s. Tanton’s wife, Mary Lou, still serves as the committee’s president.
Dionisopoulos is a graduate of Providence College in Rhode Island. During his time on campus, he founded and led a local chapter of the white nationalist student group Youth for Western Civilization (YWC). In Providence, Dionisopoulos and YWC were best known for the anti-immigration protests they organized both on and off campus. Dionisopoulos was also a member of Rhode Islanders for Illegal Immigration Enforcement (RIILE) – a FAIR state contact group. After being introduced by RIILE President Terry Gorman during a 2010 Minutemen rally in Rhode Island, Dionisopoulos spoke to the crowd citing the theories of deceased white nationalist Sam Francis. . . .
Read more about the PAC manager's ties to white nationalists in the article. Here's a video about the Dionispoulos' speech and its intellectual underpinnings:
Those sorts of comments are an opposition researcher’s dream and dominated news coverage of Lewis’ congressional campaign early this year. They drew a rebuke from the Minnesota Republican Party’s deputy chairman and prompted the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to create a “Never Lewis” website. Yet over the weekend, Lewis won the Republican Party’s endorsement for the Minnesota 2nd congressional district seat being vacated by retiring Rep. John Kline (R-MN).
More fodder for anti-Lewis electability arguments?
Miller’s campaign, too, is based heavily on her claims to superior electability. In a recent email to supporters, Miller’s campaign ratcheted up the rhetoric by calling Lewis “fundamentally unelectable” because of controversial comments he made about slavery in his book, “Power Divided is Power Checked: The Argument for States’ Rights.”
As part of a discussion of same-sex marriage in the book’s audio version, Lewis said: “People always say, ‘Well, if you don’t want to marry somebody of the same sex, you don’t have to, but why tell somebody else they can’t?’ You know if you don’t want to own a slave, don’t. But don’t tell other people they can’t.”
Damian said that “these comments will cost Republicans both this seat and hurt us down and across the ballot in Minnesota.”
Lewis says that his words are being taken out of context, and that he was actually arguing the pro-same-sex marriage argument was “so ridiculous that if you believe that, you have to believe this position” about slavery.
The winner of the Republican primary will face DFLer Angie Craig.
Photo: Timothy Dionisopoulos, via Imagine 2050.
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After filing for re-election in May, state representative Denny McNamara, R-Hastings, suddenly withdrew from the race on June 1. The last-minute filing on May 31 of Cottage Grove insurance agent Tony Jurgens guaranteed that a Republican would be on the ballot without all that messy endorsement and primary stuff.
While McNamara said last month that he was "done working," we're wondering if he'll abruptly change his mind yet again, since the Minnesota Nursery and Landscaping Association is looking for a new Government Affairs Director, according to a posting on the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits' job board.
McNamara will continue to serve through December this year on the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council and Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources. Afterwards, he plans simply to spend more time with his wife, Lynne, their children and grandchildren.
“I’m done working,” he said.
The whole family has been supportive throughout his legislative career, especially his wife.
“What my wife Lynne’s given up over the past 14 years is tremendous,” McNamara said.
Although he said he’ll miss the people he’s gotten to know at the legislature and getting to help constituents, McNamara said he’s looking forward to being a bigger part of his grandchildren’s lives. It was his 4-year-old grandson who inspired him to hang up his hat this year. Over Memorial Day weekend, he said, he went fishing with his grandson and realized he was ready for more of those moments.
That's certainly a wonderful vision. Bluestem encourages friends and families to go fishing.
MN Nursery and Landscape Association is looking for help
Should McNamara change his mind about not working, just as he did about running for relection, the perfect job for the soon-to-be-ex Dakota County legislator was posted on the MN Council of Non-profits' job board: the Government Affairs Director for the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association:
Basic Functions: Responsible for coordinating, assisting in the development of, and implementing overall association legislative and regulatory activity and involvement; communicating with members of the Minnesota Legislature (in cooperation with our lobbyist), state agencies and other governmental organizations that impact the nursery/landscape industry in Minnesota; other duties as assigned by the Executive Director. (Please note: Lobbying is not the primary responsibility associated with this position. MNLA retains an outside lobbying firm.) [Editor's note: Douglas M Carnival at McGrann Shea Carnival Straughn & Lamb Chtd] Essential Duties, Responsibilities and Authority: Policy Setting/Strategy/Analysis • Develop and maintain a working knowledge of all industry related issues in legislative and regulatory affairs. • Analyze proposed legislative actions; determine the potential impact on the organization; and develop recommended policy for consideration by the Government Affairs Committee and the Board of Directors. • Monitor legislative and regulatory activities and develop the association’s positions in cooperation with the Regulatory Affairs Manager, Government Affairs Committee and Executive Director or Board of Directors as applicable. • Develop and execute advocacy strategies with the Executive Director, lobbyist and Government Affairs Committee. • Coordinate with legislative and regulatory policy makers and staff (including state and national nursery and landscape associations) to discuss issues, draft and present testimony, reports and regulatory comments. • Work with the MNLA lobbyist and MNLA Regulatory Affairs Manager to communicate to members of the Minnesota legislature, regulatory agency leadership and their staffs on industry-related issues. • Develop and maintain positive working relationships with key regulatory officials in cooperation with the Regulatory Affairs Manager. Monitor the activities of various state agencies, and ensure the “voice” of MNLA is heard and acknowledged. • Assist MNLA members with local governmental or regulatory issues. • Research current and proposed legislation or regulations as needed and furnish reports and analysis as requested. • Meet with other organizations regarding legislation/issues to assemble/evaluate strategy, coordinate support or participate in the process of compromises. • Attend legislative/regulatory meetings and report on initiatives and results affecting the industry. Committee & Liaison Responsibilities • Serve as staff liaison to the Government Affairs Committee and any additional legislative/regulatory association task force. • Act as key staff contact to the Minnesota Green Industry Political Action Committee. • Attend industry meetings as directed by the Executive Director, which may include: Board of Directors, national and local legislative meetings, other association meetings. • Maintain strong relations and communication with the MNLA lobbying firm. Communications & Constituent Relations • Work with the association’s Communications Director to develop or edit legislative/regulatory articles for publications, social media, and other means to disseminate timely legislative and regulatory information to members. Develop and write key messages and supporting arguments, articles, speeches, background documents, brochures, presentations and reports. • Develop messaging and tactics to promote legislative and regulatory awareness to members during our largest industry gathering, Northern Green. • Execute legislative/regulatory correspondence/alerts to candidates, legislators, regulatory agencies and members. • Prepare materials for Board of Directors meetings in coordination with the Regulatory Affairs Manager and the Executive Director. Other • Other activities as assigned by the Executive Director.
Experience:
Background, Training and Requirements: • College graduate or equivalent experience. Any combination of education, training and experience that provides the required knowledge and abilities. An example of this would be a college degree in political science, public administration, or communication and/or professional experience directing a government relations operation. • Must possess an in-depth knowledge of the Minnesota political process and ability to understand governmental and political issues, as well as an ability to relate and communicate those issues effectively to other people. • Excellent leadership, organizational, problem-solving and coalition building skills, including legislative strategy development and implementation. • Skilled in diplomacy among government agency personnel, allied as well as conflicting groups, and association volunteers. • Proven research and analytical skills. • Ability to handle/manage numerous concurrent complex projects/issues through time and project management. • Outstanding written and interpersonal oral communication skills, including significant public speaking and speech writing skills, with proven abilities/successes in public and political relations. • Must be detail oriented with strong administrative and organizational skills. • Must possess strong computer skills necessary for bill tracking. Knowledge of Word, Excel and Outlook required. • This position requires some travel. Hours of work may vary to include early mornings, late evenings and weekends. Requires Lobbyist Registration with the State of Minnesota. [emphasis added]
As a landscape professional, McNamara got involved in lobbying efforts on behalf of Nursery Landscape Association. Seeing success there, he figured after 20-some years he was ready to take on a new role. He never expected it to turn into a 14-year career.
Maybe he'll change his mind about work. Whatever the case, we hope he takes that kid fishing.
Photo: MN state Rep. Denny McNamara of Hastings, left, shares a laugh with GOP campaign services provider and former House staffer Gregg Peppin on Jan. 6, 2015, before the 2015 legislative session begins. (Forum News Service photo by Don Davis). Good help is so hard to find.
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The HRCC footed the room rental, and Trisha Hamm, a metro-based political fundraiser from North St. Paul who was paid $95,697.84 for her services in 2015 (page 60 of amended report), collected the RSVPs and took calls about the event (see invite above).
While Bennett Smith is a bit off about the sponsors of the fundraiser in his recent letter in the Morris Sun Tribune, “Metro” is Backer’s favorite boogeyman, he's dead on the money on everything else:
Jeff Backer is now attacking Jay McNamar for having a fundraiser in the “big bad” Twin Cities. The “metro” is Jeff Backer’s favorite boogeyman, and he uses it to distract people from the fact that he didn’t get anything done this year. Unlike former Rep. McNamar, Rep. Backer didn’t pass a bonding bill, a tax bill, or a transportation bill. . . .
As for that Jay McNamar fundraiser held in a living room at a private home in June, I was there. I was pleased to see many old friends from MAHS, and West Central Area, who had Jay McNamar as a teacher over his long career. We support Jay because we want someone in St. Paul who is actually going to get work done for our parents and grandparents in District 12A.
Points well taken, but we doubt we've seen the last of Backer backers' placebaiting.
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Republican presidential nominees John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012. . . .
This January, he decided to support Jeb Bush’s candidacy for the Republican nomination. His motivation was to find the best candidate to keep Hillary Clinton out of the White House.
He attended a Republican precinct caucus for the very first time on March 1.
When Jeb’s candidacy went nowhere, Wenzel then decided to support Sen. Marco Rubio, who was rising in the polls at the time. Not long after Wenzel switched his support, Rubio’s numbers sagged, and soon the Floridian was out of the race.
So then Wenzel decided to back Ohio Gov. John Kasich, whom the polls showed had a much better chance of defeating Clinton than the only other Republican still in the race, Donald Trump.
When the 8th District Republican convention came up, Wenzel saw an opportunity to stop Trump and hence Hillary — by supporting Trump. Huh?
At that point, Trump did not have enough national convention support to win on the first ballot. On the basis of Minnesota’s precinct caucus vote, Trump was allocated one delegate from Minnesota’s 8th District, Wenzel ran for it, and he won.
His strategy, however, was to stop Trump from being nominated. He figured that even if he were obligated to vote for Trump on the first ballot, if Trump failed, all bets were off. Wenzel would then support Kasich.
Five days later, Kasich dropped out, too.
So now Wenzel is headed to Cleveland as a Trump delegate.
West writes that Wenzel is a "reluctant convert," but supports Trump in part because of his pro-life Supreme Court nominees in waiting, and Trump's intellectual prowess:
In defense of Trump, Wenzel said, “He’s no buffoon. He was first in his class at the Wharton School of Economics.”
Not really. Donald Trump did graduate from Wharton (part of the University of Pennsylvania) with an undergraduate degree in economics, the Washington Post's Answer Sheet reported in Yes, Donald Trump really went to an Ivy League school, but first in his class? Unlikely:
A 2011 Salon magazine article refers to a 2001 book called “The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire,” by Gwenda Blair. It says that Trump’s grades at Fordham, a Jesuit school in New York, had been “respectable,” and that he was admitted to Penn after an interview with a “friendly” Wharton admissions officer who was an old classmate of Trump’s older brother.
The article also points out that Trump has happily allowed the media to report that he graduated first in his class from Wharton, including in New York Times stories in 1973 and 1976 about him. But the story goes on to say:
Writing in the New York Times magazine in 1984, William Geist reported that “the commencement program from 1968 does not list him as graduating with honors of any kind,” even though “just about every profile ever written about Mr. Trump states that he graduated first in his class at Wharton in 1968.” … In 1988, New York magazine reported that the idea that Trump had graduated first in his class was a “myth.” [emphasis by Salon]
The complete paragraph in the Geist article notes that Trump says that he's not the source of the "graduated first" story:
And just about every profile ever written about Mr. Trump states that he graduated first in his class at Wharton in 1968. Although the school refused comment, the commencement program from 1968 does not list him as graduating with honors of any kind. He says he never told them that either.
. . . Among other things, Trump has allowed the media to report for years that he graduated first in his class at Wharton, despite strong evidence that this is not true and indications that he was, in fact, an undistinguished student.
Trump did not go to Wharton’s prestigious MBA program. Rather, he received an undergraduate degree offered by Wharton to University of Pennsylvania students. And Trump didn’t attend Wharton for a full four years. Instead, he transferred there after spending his first two undergraduate years at Fordham, the Jesuit university in the Bronx. . . .
The writer Jerome Tuccille reported in his 1985 biography of Trump that while “it has been reported that he graduated first in the class … Donald denied that he ever made such a claim. Actually he was not among the honor students that year.” Emphasis added. . . .
You don't hear Ted Cruz talk much about his Princeton degree. Hillary Clinton doesn't often mention Yale. But Donald Trump can't stop trumpeting his Ivy League pedigree.
"I went to the Wharton School of Finance, the toughest place to get into. I was a great student," he has said. He's called Wharton "super genius stuff." Accused of making a vulgar comment, he responded: "Who would say that? I went to the Wharton School of Finance!"
But Trump's relationship with his alma mater is complicated. . . .
And if you assumed his degree was an MBA, you'd be wrong. Trump holds a bachelor of science degree in economics from Wharton, earned after transferring in as a junior from Fordham University. Several early Trump profiles, including a 1973 New York Times piece, stated that he graduated first in his class at Wharton, but that has since been disputed. A 1968 commencement program does not list his name among students who graduated with honors.
Since Wenzel's a shape shifter, the shifting story of Trump's education dovetails nicely with the lawmaker's conversion. We'll see how often this urban legend is used as a talking point in rural Minnesota. But let's hope Wenzel's political science students learn to do a little more fact checking than their sly master appears to do.
Photo: Is a talking point about Donald Trump taking shape in Central Minnesota?
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Update: The post is set to "Friends" and a reader posted this remark in our comment section:
Umm, Mr. Miller's post is not deleted. It's still there. Those commenting on it are pointing out the same thing Mr. Miller was attempting to point out ... the author of that article was either a complete pansy or just making things up. If a 11 year old girl can shoot an AR-15 with ease and precision I'm pretty sure something is smelling fishy and you maybe better do your homework better before you promote such an obviously fabricated piece of journalism.
We stand corrected about Representative Miller's intent--but not the tone deafness of the lawmaker's timing on the post. Or that of his explainer who remarks "the author of that article was either a complete pansy or just making things up."
We apologize for claiming that Miller deleted the comment and we were a bit tone deaf on Miller's tone. We'll certainly be skeptical of this friend's tips in the future [end update].
Miller supplied the headnote:
I love this. Temporary PTSD, fired like a bazooka (do they even exist anymore), sounds like a cannon, bruised his shoulder? Man, I would love to get my hands on his AR-15. The ones I've fired aren't nearly as intense as his! Jealous!
It feels like a bazooka — and sounds like a cannon.
One day after 49 people were killed in the Orlando shooting, I traveled to Philadelphia to better understand the firepower of military-style assault weapons and, hopefully, explain their appeal to gun lovers.
But mostly, I was just terrified.
Many gun shops turned down our request to fire and discuss the AR-15, a style of semi-automatic rifle popular with mass killers such as San Bernardino terrorist Syed Farook and similar to the Sig Sauer MCX rifle [link added] used by Orlando terrorist Omar Mateen. . . .
Perhaps Miller will explain himself by saying his comments were about the gun itself and not the content of the article or the context in which it was written. [see note above]
Whatever.
As a constituent of Representative Miller, we're used to him being a bit tone deaf about the sentiments of people whom he perceives as different from himself. Witness the exchange on Pioneer Public Television's Your Legislators between Minnesota marriage equality senate author Scott Dibble and Miller about the latter man's anti-transgender student bill that we wrote up in VIDEO: Scott Dibble schools Tim Miller about MSHSL transgender policy, MN anti-bullying law.
But failing to honor the nation's grief over mostly gay and Latino victim's at a popular LGBTQ nightclub is the act of someone who is at best a clod. At worst? Supply your own expletive.
Miller also campaigned against former state representative Andrew Falk's marriage equality vote--and has expressed doubts about the notion of equality in general. Nonetheless, one would expect a bit of restraining in jonesing for joking about firepower while the airwaves are still filled with the sobs of survivors and family members of victims of the early Sunday morning massacre in Orlando.
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Sorensen, editor and proprietor of Bluestem Prairie, serves clients in the business and nonprofit sectors. While progressive in outlook, she does not caucus with any political party.
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