I'm a journalist with 12+ years covering Minnesota communities, local, state and federal government, politics and elections. Currently living in St. Cloud and writing freelance for different publications. I graduated from Carleton College in 1993 with a degree in Political Science.
There’s an excellent reason why Minnesota lawmakers aren’t coming up with good ideas for balancing the state’s budget deficit, except for crossing their fingers and hoping the federal government bails them out (again).
It’s because there aren’t any. OK. There are two good reasons. The other one is that this is an election year and all 201 legislators are up for election, except for those who are retiring or running for higher office. And nobody running for office wants to campaign on finding the least horrible solution to a no-win scenario that will bring pain to every doorstep. Continue Reading
Ramsey County DFLers meet on Saturday to decide whether to endorse U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., for a sixth term in Congress, as Republicans meet to see who should challenge her this fall.McCollum and former Maplewood Mayor Diana Longrie will seek the DFL Party endorsement beginning at 9:30 Saturday at Roseville Area High School.Longrie, an attorney, was elected mayor in 2005 and lost her bid for re-election in 2008 under a cloud of controversy about her leadership style.CD4 Republicans will gather at 8:30 a.m. at Jimmy’s Food and Drink at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites in Vadnais Heights. There, they’ll choose from candidates Teresa Collett, Brad Lee and Gene Rechtzigel for the endorsement.Teresa Collett is a law professor from the University of St. Thomas who lives in St. Paul and has been active in the anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage movements.Brad Lee is a Mahtomedi resident and Navy veteran who worked for 3M and owns a financial services business. He lists endorsements from state Sen. Ray Vandeveer, R-Forest Lake and the White Bear Area Chamber of Commerce on his campaign web site.Gene Rechtzigel is a farmer from Newport who has not listed any campaign information.West St. Continue Reading
Earlier this month, the Minnesota Department of Transportation announced a summer road construction season containing 283 projects worth $1.3 billion in state funding. So, how much of that public money is going to put people to work who are women or from communities of color? According to MnDOT, the state transportation agency was not able last year to meet even its own modest goal of making sure 8.75 percent of its contracts went to people who weren’t white males. Instead, it ended up sharing that public funding with contractors whose workforce contained only 6.59 percent nonwhite employees. Enter SF 2585 from Sen. Linda Higgins, DFL-Minneapolis, and HF 3099 from Rep. Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis.
In their original form, these bills would have required the Transportation Commissioner to include in every bid contract a goal for hiring contractors and workers who meet federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise definitions, and require contract bidders to note on their bids what percentage of their workforce comes from that pool of talent. Continue Reading
At Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, demolition of condemned property will soon begin to make way for a new building containing eight technology-enhanced classrooms and several new offices, thanks to $5.9 million from the state bonding bill Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed into law this month. At St. Cloud State University, however, a new integrated science and engineering building won’t start construction this year, after Pawlenty removed a $42.3 million line item in this year’s bonding bill for its construction. And while Metro State President Sue Hammersmith said she believes that a DFL budget bill Pawlenty just signed into law that cuts Minnesota State Colleges and Universities funding by $10 million won’t have any immediate effect on her campus, St. Continue Reading
While Minnesota lawmakers twiddle thumbs for a while to see if the federal government will bail us out of our budget troubles or if the Minnesota Supreme Court will upset the whole apple cart, one statistic is worth remembering: the state government budget deficit equals $651 for every Minnesotan.That puts us in the top 10 for per capita budget deficits, along with such anemic company as New York, California, Massachusetts, Illinois and our neighbors to the east, Wisconsin.That little fact comes from a report titled “The State We’re In” from the Nonprofit Quarterly. Information on Minnesota for the report comes from the Minnesota Budget Project, which has done an admirable job of keeping track of Minnesota’s budget predicament.While we’re not quite in California’s league — their per capita state budget deficit is $922 — and Connecticut weighs in at an astonishing $1,717 in deficit per person — our Dakotan neighbors to the west have $0 in state deficit (North Dakota) and $40 per capita in state deficit (South Dakota). Wisconsin has just slightly less of a deficit per capita to fix at $569 per person.However, Wisconsin makes a list from the Pew Center for the States of 10 states in the most fiscal peril around the country. Beyond California says Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois in the Midwest, Florida, New Jersey and Rhode Island on the East Coast, and Arizona, Nevada, California and Oregon in the West are in the worst trouble.Those states all scored 22 or more out of 30 on a list of troubling indicators including deficits, dropping revenue, rising unemployment, foreclosure rates and more. Minnesota falls in the middle of the pack, with a score of 15. Continue Reading
In Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, Republicans this weekend chose a Pentecostal minister who has claimed in his sermons that the Biblical End of Times is coming soon, to run against U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn. The statement is made in audio of one of Joel Demos’s sermons at the Christian Liife Center, entitled “The Best Defense is a Good Offense.” It and three more of his sermons are available here. In a sermon delivered in late 2008, Demos praises former President George W. Bush and says his “overwhelming legacy” will be “that we have not had an attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001.” Continue Reading
Suburban Twin Cities DFLers will gather Saturday and plot a way to win two of the three Minnesota congressional seats currently held by Republicans.In the 2nd Congressional District, DFLers will gather at 9:30 a.m. at Chanhassen High School to endorse either former state Rep. Shelly Madore, DFL-Apple Valley, or Dan Powers to take on U.S. Rep. John Kline, R-Minn.In the 3rd Congressional District, delegates will begin their convention at 10 a.m. at Wayzata Middle School to choose between Maureen Hackett and Jim Meffert in a bid to defeat U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Minn.Kline, a three-term Republican from Lakeville, is a 25-year Marine Corps veteran who used to be known as the most conservative member of Congress from Minnesota until he was joined in 2006 by U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.Paulsen, a first-term Republican from Eden Prairie who served as Majority Leader in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2002-2006 under then-House Speaker Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon. Prior to his time as majority leader, Gov. Tim Pawlenty served in the role.Madore, of Apple Valley, is a one-term state legislator who works in education and has a marketing and business background.Powers, of Burnsville, is a small business owner and contractor who briefly ran for the DFL 2nd CD endorsement in 2008 before supporting Steve Sarvi.Hackett, of Minnetonka, is a first-time candidate who works as a physician and forensic psychiatrist and is an Air Force veteran.Meffert, of Edina, is a first-time candidate, former president of the Minnesota PTA, and lobbyist for the Minnesota Optometric Association.All the candidates have agreed to abide by the party endorsement process at the conventions. Continue Reading
More than 50 years after they disappeared from the Twin Cities, a movement to bring back streetcars has reached the State Capitol.A bill from Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis, would allow local governments to create special taxing districts that would help pay for transit improvements, including bringing streetcars back to Minnesota.HF 3218 would let cities capture some property tax revenue from land located within one-half mile of a transit line and invest it in improvements along the line, including bus or rail stations, streetscaping and attracting business development.The bill received a hearing in the House Taxes Committee and was laid over for possible inclusion in an omnibus tax bill that could be introduced in the second half of the session.The new type of tax increment financing district would apply to commuter rail, light rail, bus rapid transit and streetcars, but Hornstein’s bill only lets cities use the captured revenue to subsidize the operation of streetcar lines.Private transit companies operated in the Twin Cities until 1970, but the last regular streetcar line was phased out in 1954 due to high operating costs, lack of reinvestment in their infrastructure and growing suburban sprawl.The city of Minneapolis studied the feasibility of returning streetcars to service in 2007, and last month released a report outlining the potential $78 million capital cost of starting up five streetcar lines in the city and potential sources of funding.The report concluded that the federal government is looking to partner with cities on new streetcar lines, if the cities have lined up a source of local funding.Hornstein, who heads the House Transportation and Transit Policy and Oversight Division, partnered on the bill with Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, whose SF 1919 Senate companion bill awaits action in the Senate Finance Committee. Continue Reading
Retailers would have to charge shoppers a nickel for each disposable carryout bag they now give away, whether paper or plastic, if a bill from Sen. Linda Berglin, DFL-Minneapolis, makes its way into law. On the flip side, shoppers who bring their own bags to the stores could get a nickel credit for each one they bring, under SF 2338, which received a hearing in the Senate Taxes Committee Wednesday. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the Senate’s omnibus tax bill, which Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, will introduce in the second half of the session. For each nickel stores would be required to charge for a bag, they would keep one penny for themselves. If they provide a BYOB credit, they would get to keep a second penny to help pay for it. Continue Reading
Missed out on your chance to see former half-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin Wednesday in Minneapolis? Wondering what to do with your day? The Minnesota AFL-CIO has got you covered. The federation of trade unions is organizing a “Rally for Jobs and Tax Fairness” at noon in the State Capitol rotunda, two hours before U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., will be using the Minneapolis Convention Center to host a rally and fundraiser with Palin. The rally and a follow-up session of lobbying state lawmakers is part of the MN AFL-CIO’s Working Families Day at the Capitol and will feature National AFL-CIO Secretary/Treasurer Liz Shuler.U.S. Reps. Continue Reading
