“Knucklehead bill” would forgive veterans

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A violation for underage drinking can be waived to allow someone to enter the military, but it can prevent that same person from getting a public sector job even after being honorably discharged from their volunteer duty.Known as the “knucklehead bill,” HF1124 would forgive veterans who made “a dumb and stupid move” in their youth and give them a presumptive certificate of rehabilitation, similar to what is available to some criminal offenders, according to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Bruce Anderson (R-Buffalo Township).Trista Matascastillo, chair of Minnesota Women Veterans Initiative Working Group, said her own husband applied, after returning from military duty, to be a personal care assistant for the couple’s special needs child, only he was denied due to a youthful indiscretion.John Baker, a retired Marine and attorney, said there is a 15 percent unemployment rate of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. He seeks to add an honorable military service discharge to the list of ways those seeking employment can receive a presumptive certificate of rehabilitation.The bill was approved by the House Veterans Services Division and forwarded to the House Judiciary Policy and Finance Committee. Sen. Linda Higgins (DFL-Mpls) sponsors its companion, SF878, which awaits action by the Senate State Government Innovation and Veterans Committee. Continue Reading

House passes omnibus environment bill

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The House passed the Omnibus Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Finance bill 72-57 after approving several amendments, such as removing a provision to allow the harvesting of hardwood trees in two state parks. Offered by the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Denny McNamara (R-Hastings), the amendment easily passed 106-22 despite an attempt by Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa) to garner support for his state park timber harvesting provision. “It defies common sense … that we are not considering, just prior to these trees dying, that we don’t harvest this resource. It can be done in a very environmental way,” Drazkowski said. Continue Reading

Agriculture bill headed to conference committee

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The omnibus agriculture and rural development finance bill is on its way to a conference committee. HF1039/ SF1016* was passed 104-20 as amended by the House, two days after it was passed 39-25 by the Senate. The Senate has requested a conference committee to work out the differences. The House is expected to accede to the request.. In total, the bill would appropriate nearly $79 million over the next biennium, with $76.6 million coming from the General Fund. Continue Reading

Critics take aim at environment omnibus bill

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Provisions in the environment committee’s omnibus bill were unveiled over two days of hearings, with more to come before the bill is readied for the House floor. Sponsored by Committee Chairman Denny McNamara (R-Hastings), HF1010 contains controversial Environmental Trust Fund projects. No action was taken on the bill, which has no Senate companion. McNamara successfully deleted several projects that had been recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources; he added projects that he said were higher legislative priorities, such as a $1 million two-year study of how wild rice may be affected by sulfate levels in air, water and soil. The Pollution Control Agency will establish new rules governing maximum sulfate levels in wild rice waters, but until the new rules are adopted, HF1010 would change the current 10 milligrams per liter maximum to 250 milligrams, which is the same standard as drinking water. Continue Reading

Environmental trust fund projects changing course

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Funding for several environmental research and education projects would be stripped from a bill and replaced with funding for emerging issues such as invasive species, chronic wasting disease and to study wild rice, under an amendment proposed by the chair of the House Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee. Committee Chairman Denny McNamara (R-Hastings) is proposing to diminish or cut funding for about 16 percent of the projects recommended for Environmental Trust Fund money by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources. Lottery receipts comprise the bulk of the fund. The bill, HF400, sponsored by Rep. Larry Howes (R-Walker), is a compilation of $50 million worth of projects vetted over the past year by the LCCMR, a group of citizen and legislative appointees. No action was taken; there is no Senate companion. Continue Reading

Identical bills would aid homeless vets

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As homeless Navy veteran William Namen sat on a rock contemplating suicide a decade ago, a counselor from the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans came out of the woods and asked him if he could help put his life back on track. At that time, Namen was sleeping in a park and working three jobs. Now gainfully employed, Namen is a homeowner and taxpayer in Dakota County who testified on behalf of a pair of identical bills to appropriate $250,000 each of the next two years to the council. The funds would be used to continue outreach efforts to homeless veterans or those at risk of becoming homeless. Sponsored by Rep. Terry Morrow (DFL-St. Continue Reading

House passes environmental review bill

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One day before a legislative auditor’s report is due to be released on the topic, a bill that would streamline the environmental permit process within the Department of Natural Resources and the Pollution Control Agency passed the House 89-42 as amended by the Senate. It now goes to Gov. Mark Dayton for his review.Sponsored by Rep. Dan Fabian (R-Roseau), HF1 would require the DNR and PCA to issue or deny environmental and resource management permits within 150 days of a submitted application. Proponents have said some applications can now take months or years to complete and drive would-be projects to neighboring states.The Senate amended the provision so that the 150-day clock does not start until the proposer’s application is deemed complete. The DNR and PCA would have 30 days to make that determination.The Senate also amended the bill so that statements of need and reasonableness for rulemaking would include an assessment of the difference between the proposed rule and existing federal standards for air and water quality, as well as standards in bordering states. The bill also would enable the review process to bypass district court and go directly to the Court of Appeals.Concern over allowing a project proposer to draft their own environmental impact statement is still a controversial provision, even though a Senate amendment would require a proposer to submit an appendix of all sources of information used to substantiate their project. Continue Reading

Committee receives update on emerald ash borer

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The House Agriculture and Rural Development Policy and Finance Committee got a first-hand look at a small, half-inch pest that’s to blame for the removal of hundreds of ash trees in St. Paul and Houston County. Distributing vials of the emerald ash borer, Geir Friisoe, director of the Department of Agriculture Plant Protection Division, said stingless wasps were released in Houston County as a biological control in an effort to slow the spread of emerald ash borer. Extensive testing confirmed the wasps are not harmful to people, other animals or the environment, but are a natural predator of the pest. Early detector training sessions are being conducted across the state to train citizens on how to identify the invasive species. Continue Reading

Safeguards suggested for renewable development fund

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More than $165 million has been collected from Xcel Energy ratepayers and deposited into the utility’s Renewable Energy Development account since the fund was mandated by the Legislature in 1994. Its intent was to help generate renewable sources of electricity through solar, wind, hydro and biomass methods. At the time, the fund’s creation was a condition that allowed Xcel Energy (then Northern States Power) to store spent nuclear fuel at its Prairie Island facility near Red Wing. The Legislature designated how much was collected per storage cask and the Public Utilities Commission would decide what projects would be funded with the help of an advisory board. But an October 2010 report by the Office of the Legislative Auditor shows just how far astray the funds have gone. Continue Reading

At issue: Legacy amendment funding

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The Clean Water, Land and Legacy Act collected more than $229.9 million in sales tax receipts during 2010, its first fiscal year. Approved by voters in 2008, the constitutional amendment allows for a three-eighths of one percent increase in the sales tax to be appropriated annually until 2034, divided into four pots: Outdoor Heritage Fund, Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, Clean Water Fund, and the Parks and Trails Fund. So what did Minnesotans get for their Legacy tax dollars? Outdoor Heritage Fund The Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council and other fund administrators developed a 25-year framework for using the Legacy funds. “So the concept is if you find a program that is achieving the objectives that you have as a council, invest in that over and over and over again so that you achieve those objectives after 25 years,” said LSOHC Executive Director Bill Becker to the House Legacy Funding Division Jan. Continue Reading