The Minnesota House passed a Republican-led budget plan last week that eliminates MinnesotaCare, a public health care program that provides coverage for the working poor. Unfortunately, such a plan would harm these individuals the most. The strongest justification that conservatives use for their budget is that the nearly 100,000 Minnesotans currently on MinnesotaCare could switch to MNsure, the insurance exchange set up through the Affordable Care Act. Even with tax credits, poor Minnesotans could pay more under MNsure than MinnesotaCare. Individuals on MinnesotaCare pay between $15 and $50 in monthly premiums for their plans. Continue Reading
As we reported in Mention St. Cloud & visions of prison & North Minneapolis pop into Jim Newberger’s head, the Becker Republican gained unwelcome attention from linking North Minneapolis and the state prison in St. Cloud via the North Star Rail. A review of sources reveals that that Newberger’s concerns about trains carrying visitors to the prison from the metro go back to at least 2008. It appears what popped into his head in his floor remarks was the specific urban neighborhood, rather than the more general “metro.” While Minnesota state representative describes himself as an evangelical Christian, he doesn’t seem very keen on some of Jesus’s schtick in Matthew about how visiting people in prison is like visiting Christ Himself. Continue Reading
Rep. Jim Newberger (R-Becker) is against more funding for Minnesota’s North Star rail, a line that was originally supposed to go between Minneapolis and St. Cloud but has yet to be extended that far. During debate on a transportation bill Newberger said he’s against expanding the route because the tracks would go near St. Cloud’s prison.“Boy, wouldn’t that be convenient, to have that rail line going from the prison to North Minneapolis,” said Newberger. After hearing some grumbling he quickly added, “or to any section of our state.” Boos were heard in the House chamber.North Minneapolis is a neighborhood with a racially diverse population.Newberger quickly apologized for naming North Minneapolis, “but that’s what came into my mind. Continue Reading
The Minneapolis City Council has agreed to pay an additional $24.5 million to renovate the Target Center so Glen Taylor can charge more for admission. Taylor is the publisher of the Star Tribune and owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves—the worst team in the NBA. They are so bad a running joke on “Saturday Night Live” is the threat to trade someone to the Timberwolves. Taylor won’t put any money into the team to buy good players, but he wants the City of Minneapolis to fix up the arena so he can charge more for tickets. Glen Taylor has a brilliant business plan for the Timberwolves: Turn our elected officials upside down and see how much of the taxpayer’s money falls out.The Ways and Means Committee of the City Council voted four to two to approve the new beauty treatment for Taylor. John Quincy, Elizabeth Glidden, Linea Palmisano and Blong Yang voted for the project and Lisa Bender and Andrew Johnson voted against it. The full Council voted 11 to 2 in favor of the giveaway. Only Lisa and Andrew voted against it.We asked Council Member Johnson if he wanted to comment on the vote. He said, “I believe the referendum requirement should be followed, but most of my colleagues don’t believe it’s applicable because the Target Center is owned by the city.”Twice the citizens of Minneapolis have amended their charter to require a referendum on city funds being used for a sports stadium. The first, Chapter 15, Section 9, says: “any such obligations or indebtedness to be issued or incurred for any improvement, including but not limited to acquisition, development, construction or betterment, of any public building, stadium, or other capital improvement project, shall in all phases from inception to completion exceed Fifteen Million Dollars ($15,000,000.00), the Board of Estimate and Taxation shall not issue or sell any bonds or other obligations nor incur any indebtedness for such purpose without the approval of a majority of the electors voting on the question of issuing such obligations or incurring such indebtedness at a general or special election.”In other words, if the city wants to spend more than $15 million on a public building or stadium, they have to let the voters decide the question. Chapter 15, Section 13, says:“Putting Professional Sports Facility Financing Before the Voters. The City of Minneapolis, Minneapolis Community Development Agency, or any city department, agency, commission, or board, shall use no city resources over $10 million dollars for the financing of professional sports facilities without the approval of a simple majority of the votes cast on the question, in a ballot question put to the public at the next regularly scheduled election.”The charter provision makes no reference to a public or private facility. It is quite clear. No money more than $10 million shall go to financing a professional sports facility without the approval of the voters.Andrew Johnson continued: “I’ll tell you why I think contributing another $24.5 million to the project was a bad idea. If the Council had voted no to this $24.5 million additional funding request, the renovation of the Target Center would still have moved forward under the nearly $100 million funding package passed by the Council before ours. But because of this vote, we’ll now need to redirect more than $1.2 million of sales tax revenue per year over the next 20 years into paying off the $24.5 million in additional funding, revenue which otherwise would have gone toward capital projects and economic development activities across our city. Instead of it going where it’s most needed, it will now go largely if not entirely towards the aesthetic appearance of the Target Center’s exterior, giving it a ‘cool new look’ for passersby. With a $15-20 million annual shortfall in basic road maintenance and some of the worst disparities in the nation, I believe this was the wrong choice.” Perhaps faithful readers might remember my original critique of funding for the Timberwolves beauty treatment. I was analyzing the budget proposal of Betsy Hodges and R T Rybak that stripped funding from the Neighborhood Revitalization Program and killed the most successful citizen participation in the nation and transferred that money to renovate Target Center:“That money was originally earmarked for neighborhood organizations, but Mayor Rybak and then-chair of the Ways and Means Committee, Betsy Hodges, decided to let the money go straight into the city treasury. That process of bankrupting the neighborhood organizations ended with the total elimination of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program. Continue Reading
On her blog, Minnesota state representative Jean Wagenius warns in The worst energy bill ever sabotages solar. And that’s not all:Rep. Pat Garofalo has introduced his draft Omnibus Energy Bill. d0b80283-da3f-4839-baf9-551613c2b6d9.pdf Since he is Chair of the House Jobs Creation and Energy Affordability Committee, his bill is the Republican bill.The Garofalo bill incorporates the energy-related ideas and bills that had been heard in his committee. Rep. Garofalo then found more bad ideas to include. This post would be much too long if it did more than scratch the surface. So it just covers the worst of the worst. Continue Reading
It is a poorly kept secret that racial disparities exist in Minnesota. In literally every measurable aspect, education, income, housing, employment, etc., people of color lag behind their white counterparts. This in spite of the efforts of many to make and keep Minnesota an all-inclusive place to live, that provides equal opportunities.One of those efforts was the creation of the state ethnic councils. Created by the legislature in 1980, “The Minnesota state councils were created by the legislature to represent and advocate for Minnesota’s communities of color, women, and disability communities. The councils include: Chicano Latino Affairs Council, Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans, Council on Black Minnesotans, Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, and Minnesota State Council on Disability and the Office on the Economic Status of Women,” according to the councils’ website.But obviously, even though the councils have existed for 35 years, racial disparities and conflicts remain.The newest race-based conflict is over competing bills in the legislature.The bill at the center of the dispute is HF 1353, whose description reads “Minnesota ethnic councils governing laws revised” and whose lead author is Minnesota State Representative Carolyn Laine, DFL.“The Office of Legislative Auditor in his report last year said that they [the councils] weren’t clear on what their duties were—their duties need to be fine-tuned and clarified,” Laine explained as her reason for drafting the proposed bill.“There was some fine tuning around the edges,” Laine said. Continue Reading
The majority leader in the Minnesota House is among 28 Republicans who have signed on to a bill that would block transgender inclusive school policies.Republican Majority Leader Joyce Peppin signed on to the bill on Monday. She is among more than a dozen Republicans who have added their names to the bill since it was introduced in early March by 17 Republicans.The bill is one being touted by anti-LGBT groups, the Minnesota Child Protection League and the Minnesota Family Council. The bill is a reaction to recent policies enacted in the Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts that increases safety and inclusion for transgender and gender nonconforming students. It is also a reaction to an appeals process put in place by the Minnesota State High School League that allows transgenders student to play on athletics teams based on their gender.Bill proponents missed an important deadline on Friday. Continue Reading
Maria Negreros says she risks breaking the law each day to drive her children to preschool.Jovita Morales told lawmakers that in August 2007 it took hours to reach her two children who had been inside a bus that fell along with the Interstate 35W bridge into the Mississippi River.Anna Serrano wants to see her parents — owners of a new restaurant — to be able to get behind the wheel legally and stop relying on others for rides.All testified Wednesday during an informational hearing of the House Transportation Policy and Finance Committee packed with supporters lobbying for a vote on legislation that would make driver’s licenses available to the state’s thousands of undocumented immigrants.All testified Wednesday during an informational hearing of the House Transportation Policy and Finance Committee packed with supporters lobbying for a vote on legislation that would make driver’s licenses available to the state’s thousands of undocumented immigrants.“I want my parents to drive safely to work without worrying about being pulled over,” said Serrano, an 18-year-old college student from Willmar who emigrated with her parents from Mexico as a small child.Sponsored by Rep. Rod Hamilton (R-Mountain Lake), HF97 would eliminate the need for proof of lawful residency in the United States to obtain a driver’s license or state identification card, something the sixth-term lawmaker and a diverse coalition of supporters said would mean more insured drivers and safer Minnesota roads.No vote was taken on the bill, nor on identical legislation sponsored by Rep. Karen Clark (DFL-Mpls), HF98. A pair of Senate committees have already approved a companion sponsored by Sen. Bobby Joe Champion (DFL-Mpls). SF224 now awaits action by the Senate Rules and Administration Committee.‘Bigger than a license’Immigrant rights advocates packed a State Office Building committee room for the afternoon hearing, as well as an overflow space where they listened to live audio. While it’s an issue typically fraught with politics, Hamilton told the committee that driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants is a good idea for a simple reason.“We would have an individual who would go through trainings, would receive a license, then purchase car insurance and drive on our roads,” he said.But following more than an hour of emotional testimony from a list of backers that included immigrants and the children of immigrants, supporters representing business interests and labor groups, police departments and the church, Hamilton acknowledged the issue of letting undocumented immigrants drive legally on the state’s roads is about more than that, too.“If you listen to the testimony closely, it’ll boil down to one thing,” he said. “The Declaration of Independence, and the moral belief that it is a right; that we’re born equal to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Continue Reading
Some waiters and other tipped workers could earn a wage lower than the state minimum, under a bill the House passed 78-55 late Monday.HF1027, sponsored by Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington), would set a minimum wage of $8 an hour for workers whose combined tips and wages come to $12 an hour or more during a one-week pay period.Lowering the wage would preserve waiter jobs at restaurants offering full table service, Garofalo said. “Right now, businesses that are doing table dining, we are providing a regulatory incentive for them to move to fast-casual.”[Watch the floor debate]The proposed lower-tier wage is a dollar less than the new $9 an hour minimum that goes into effect Aug. 1, 2015, as part of a law enacted last year stipulating a series of wage increases. Employees whose tips amount to less than $4 an hour during a work week would make the higher minimum wage. The bill would repeal a part of current statute that prohibits the counting of employee tips toward the minimum wage. The bill now goes to the Senate, where Sen. Gary Dahms (R-Redwood Falls) is the sponsor. Rep. Jason Metsa (DFL-Virginia) called the bill “wage theft” and said Republican backers of Garofalo’s minimum-wage bill were adopting Walmart’s “rollback” pricing policy.“Freezing wages for waiters and waitresses will not make our economy stronger,” said Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley), calling the bill “a penalty on people who earn tips for their hard work.”Rep. Abigail Whelan (R-Anoka), citing her own experience as a barista as well as the service-industry work experience of her mother and sister, said the bill would help struggling restaurants and “keep as many people employed as possible.” After misguided minimum-wage increases, Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen (R-Glencoe) said HF1027 is “a step back in the right direction.”The House adopted Garofalo’s delete-all amendment 77-56. Continue Reading
