Resolution would affirm Khmer soldiers

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The Khmer Freedom Fighters of Cambodia supported and defended U.S. military troops during the Vietnam War, yet the U.S. government has never officially recognized them as U.S. veterans, although many became naturalized citizens.Rep. Bruce Anderson (R-Buffalo Township) sponsors HF2629, a resolution that would allow the state to officially recognize the Khmer Freedom Fighters and the Cambodian people for their support and defense of United States military forces. The resolution also urges the president, Congress and all other state legislatures to do the same.The House Veterans Services Division approved the resolution and referred to the House floor. It has no Senate companion. Thirty-seven Khmer Freedom Fighter representatives were on hand to witness the division’s approval.The soldiers fought alongside American soldiers to defend the rights of Cambodians and became American refugees after the war. Today, about 8,000 of these freedom fighters and their descendants live in Minnesota. Continue Reading

Adult group home reforms proposed

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The Association of Residential Resources in Minnesota, an association of 150 providers supporting people with disabilities, is suggesting several legislative changes to the adult foster care program and services for persons with disabilities.ARRM’s recommendations are part of its “Blueprint for Reform” and can be found in HF1979, sponsored by Rep. Joe Schomacker (R-Luverne). The House Health and Human Services Reform Committee approved the bill as amended and referred it to the House Government Operations and Elections Committee.Provisions include:developing an optional certification for adult foster care homes that serve persons with mental illness;establishing a task force to review and make recommendations on pilot projects for home and community-based services for people with disabilities; andallowing foster care homes to care for clients temporarily in “respite care” when regular clients are away from the home for a period of time.Rep. Kim Norton (DFL-Rochester) said she plans to amend the bill in the next committee to allow the Department of Human Services to issue an autism care certification, similar to the proposed certification for adult foster care for persons with mental illness.Julie Ring, policy analyst for the Association of Minnesota Counties, said the AMC supports the concept of a task force but would like to see more county representation, such as one metropolitan and one rural representative.Alice Hulbert, the parent of an adult with disabilities who lives in a group home she owns and leases to a provider, opposed several of the proposed provisions. She said some of the reforms would loosen licensing regulations and may result in a lower quality of care.Sen. Scott Nienow (R-Cambridge) sponsors SF1699, a companion bill that awaits action by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. Continue Reading

Burial for Hmong, Lao veterans sought

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About 400 allied veterans from the “American Secret War” in Laos during the 1950s, who currently live in Minnesota, would be eligible for burial in the Minnesota Veterans Cemetery in Little Falls, under a bill approved by a House division.HF2261 would expand burial rights to include deceased Hmong-Americans and Lao-American veterans, many of whom were recruited in their homeland and trained by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency during the Vietnam War. After the war, many of the soldiers were relocated to the United States.However, federal law does not currently grant former Hmong and Lao CIA operatives’ burial rights in state and national cemeteries, so the bill is contingent upon HF2260, a state resolution requesting that federal laws be changed.The House Veterans Services Division approved both bills, sponsored by Rep. Bob Dettmer (R-Forest Lake). The division referred the resolution to the House floor and referred HF2261 to the House State Government Finance Committee. Neither bill has a Senate companion.Speaking through an interpreter, retired Col. Chuechou Tchang said they were trained to fight alongside American soldiers and were told to retrieve U.S. casualties at all costs. Continue Reading

Omnibus agriculture bill amendments expected

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A few amendments are expected to be added to an omnibus bill before the House Agriculture and Rural Development Policy and Finance Committee takes action later this week.The Department of Agriculture is seeking to add provisions to expand mental health aid for farmers in disaster zones and to add a section regarding food safety policy.HF2398, sponsored by Rep. Paul Anderson (R-Starbuck), would reform grain licensing regulations and extend the department’s inspection and enforcement powers to include its Wholesale Produce Dealer, Grain Buyer/Grain Storage and Warehouse oversight responsibilities.The bill also would establish a new Dairy Research, Teaching and Consumer Education Authority as a public corporation. The authority would be governed by a board of nine directors who would serve four-year terms. Four members would be appointed by the governor; others would include a representative from the University of Minnesota College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences, a milk producer representative, a Minnesota Division of the Midwest Dairy Council representative, an agricultural education teacher, as well as the commissioner of agriculture.Ed Davis, an environmental advocate and urban planner, requested that one more board member be added from outside the dairy industry who would represent ecological sustainability.Some of the other bill provisions would:require firewood packaging to list the county where the wood was harvested;allow a consortium of counties to contract for disposal of waste pesticides and indemnify them while hauling to the disposal site;enable seed packet manufacturers to list the quantity of seeds in lieu of the package’s net weight; andrequire “nonhardy” labels of nursery stock sold that is not suited for state growing zones.Committee Chairman Rep. Rod Hamilton (R-Mountain Lake) said action is expected to be taken on the bill March 1. Sen. Doug Magnus (R-Slayton) sponsors the Senate companion, SF2061, which awaits action by the Senate Agriculture and Rural Economics Committee. Continue Reading

Loan program for new immigrant and minority farmers approved

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A pilot project that would provide small business loans to immigrant and minority farmers could be available beginning Aug. 1, 2012, under a bill approved by the House Agriculture and Rural Development Policy and Finance Committee.HF2159, sponsored by Rep. Chris Swedzinski (R-Ghent), would grant loans up to $10,000 to qualified borrowers. Initial funding for the revolving loan program would come from a transfer of $225,000 in unused money in the Rural Finance Authority’s Agroforestry Loan Program.The pilot project stipulates that the funds can only be used for purchasing materials for the growing of specialty crops and livestock and may not be used for the subsequent “value-added” costs of bringing those crops and livestock products to market, such as processing and storage.Eligible borrowers would need to be a legal state resident; demonstrate the ability to repay the loan, which may include business training through an intermediary; and fall into one of two classifications, a protected group or a qualified noncitizen.Because some religions do not allow for loan interest payments, an alternative fee payment could be established. Hmong, Latino and Somali farmers are some of the anticipated cultural groups who would seek the loans, according to Jim Boerboom, Department of Agriculture deputy commissioner.The committee referred the bill to the House Commerce and Regulatory Reform Committee. Sen. Julie Rosen (R-Fairmont) sponsors SF1713, a companion that was approved by the Senate Finance Committee Feb. Continue Reading

February forecast, tax credit changes on deck for next week

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With the House in the “heart of committee time,” the most significant action taken by legislators this week was closing a loophole in laws governing community notification of sex offenders discharged from the state sex offender program, House Speaker Kurt Zellers (R-Maple Grove) said at the weekly Republican media availability.Zellers was referring to the passage of HF2394*/ SF1994/CH123, sponsored by Rep. Kathy Lohmer (R-Lake Elmo) and Sen. Julianne Ortman (R-Chanhassen). Signed Feb. 23 by Gov. Mark Dayton, the law takes effect today.Legislators declared urgency measures to swiftly pass the law because of the imminent court-ordered discharge of the state’s first sex offender discharged from the Minnesota Sex Offender Program in St. Peter. Clarence Opheim is due to be released to a halfway house after nearly 20 years in the treatment program. Continue Reading

Disparities found in child protection screening

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Disparities between 86 child protection agencies might result in future legislation to streamline the collection of data and to close what legislators view as loopholes.Members of the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee reacted to a report from the Office of the Legislative Auditor that recommends more clarity in state laws regarding the screening of child maltreatment cases.On the whole, the audit states that the agencies do an “adequate” job of screening and referrals, but committee members agreed with the auditor’s recommendations for new laws and statewide rules.Rep. Joe McDonald (R-Delano) noted that some of the state’s child protection agencies allow people to anonymously file a report, even though state law requires the recording of a name and address. He also said there needs to be clearer policy regarding mental abuse, which can be just as damaging as physical abuse.“If it’s nowhere in law, I think we need to look at it,” he said.Of the 56,500 child maltreatment allegations reported in 2010, about 18,000 were referred to protective services. Richard Gehrman, executive director of Safe Passage child advocacy agency, said many pre-teen children and teenagers are not even considered because of limited resources within agencies. Also, teens may run away from an abusive situations and so case workers consider younger children more vulnerable, said Andrea Simonett, Catholic Charities homeless youth program director.“That should be a red flag of sorts,” said Rep. Kim Norton (DFL-Rochester). She said homeless teens are often the product of abusive homes and are just as vulnerable. Continue Reading

House passes prevention of state-deducted childcare dues

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The House passed a bill that would prevent union deductions from state child care assistance payments.HF1766, sponsored by Rep. Kathy Lohmer (R-Lake Elmo), was passed 74-55 after a brief debate over when potential union dues would be paid by child care providers who may want to join a union. Child care providers support the bill, saying they could opt for direct payment of dues from their business checking accounts rather than garnishing their state reimbursement checks.“No one testified against the bill,” Lohmer said. “This money belongs to providers and they should do with it what they want.”Minnesota does not currently have a child care union, but Gov. Mark Dayton signed an executive order last November calling for an election. However, the vote was stalled when a Ramsey County judge issued a temporary restraining order.DFL lawmakers said the bill is a solution to a problem that doesn’t yet exist, but Republicans said the practice has been tried in other states, such as Michigan.“This is about union power and union financing,” said Rep. Steve Gottwalt (R-St. Cloud), chair of the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee. Continue Reading

Good practices

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Somewhere in Brazil there is a piglet who has been squealing for her Minnesota swill.This little piggy is caught up in international export red tape because the federal Food and Drug Administration has temporarily stopped issuing Good Manufacturing Practices certificates for commercial feed operations. Brazil and the Dominican Republic require the certificates from U.S. feed manufacturers before they’ll accept commercial feed exports. Other countries may soon follow suit.Frustrated Minnesota suppliers with feed export deals are crying “wee, wee, wee” at home.“We had the country of Brazil back in 2010 put in place barriers for us to be able to import our products, and one of those was getting a certificate of Good Manufacturing Practices from a state or federal agency,” said Matt Frederking, director of regulatory affairs and operations for Ralco Nutrition in Marshall.“A lot of the products we move into the global marketplace are non-medicated feed additives, and so at the federal level prior to 2011, they would issue these documents.”But with passage of the federal Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011, the issuance of GMP certifications stopped until new stricter rules can be adopted. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has never had to inspect and issue a GMP certificate for non-medicated feed before, so there are no rules at the local level either.As the FDA goes through the process of writing the new federal rules, manufacturers of non-medicated feed are losing patience and money.Some states are scurrying to pass their own rules to authorize the issuance of state GMP certificates. Kansas is the only state that has started issuing GMP certificates.Doug Lueders, MDA supervisor for the commercial feed regulatory program, estimates conducting the necessary inspections could take between 20 and 40 hours per facility, depending upon the compliance level of each feed facility. Continue Reading