Let the negotiations commence

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If you have strong feelings about what should or should not be in this year’s bonding bill (Ordway expansion, Orchestra Hall renovation, sex offender treatment facilities, etc.), now is the time to contact the people who will be responsible for writing the final bill.The group of Senators and Representatives who will meet over the coming weeks to hammer out a final version of HF 2700 (the final spreadsheet showing differences between the House and Senate bills and Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s request is here) are:* Sen Keith Langseth, DFL-Glyndon and Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul, who are the committee chairs and will be the ones who negotiate the deals.* Sens. Ann Lynch, DFL-Rochester, Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, David Tomassoni, DFL-Chisholm, and Paul Koering, R-Fort Ripley, will represent the Senate side in the conference committee.* Reps. Bev Scalze, DFL-Little Canada, Loren Solberg, DFL-Grand Rapids, Jean Wagenius, DFL-Minneapolis and Larry Howes, R-Walker, will represent the House of Representatives.Of course, the man with the veto pen is Pawlenty, so letting his office know how you feel about the bonding bill is also an important stop.When the conference committee settles on a compromise bill, it will return to the House and the Senate for final passage before it goes to Pawlenty. Continue Reading

Government union members rally as Pawlenty touts layoffs

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February 17 – Members of AFSCME Council 5 plan to rally at the Capitol today in support of a state government budget solution that won’t mean the kind of painful layoffs Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s supplemental budget plan proposes for state and local government workers. 
The union, which represents city, school, county, state and some private sector workers, says its top priority is a budget solution that includes raising revenue by taxing the wealthy and corporations. That approach was explicitly ruled out in Pawlenty’s budget proposal, which actually seeks to cut corporate tax rates, while reducing state aid to cities and counties by $250 million,  cutting $181 million from state agencies, and cutting $47 million from higher educaiton to help balance a $1.2 billion deficit in the budget cycle that ends next June. Both those cuts would likely lead to layoffs of government employees across the state, a probability Pawlenty’s budget commissioner Tom Hanson acknowledged during legislative testimony on Tuesday. The union hopes to pack 1,100 members into the Capitol Rotunda at 12:30 p.m. today. The rally is one part of the group’s Day On The Hill, which concludes with a reception at the Crowne Plaza Riverfront in St. Continue Reading

Sex offender funding + House bonding bill = Veto-proof majority

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Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s biggest wish list item got added to a $1 billiion state construction borrowing bill the House of Representatives passed Monday evening with a veto-proof majority. Pawlenty had asked for $89 million to add 400 beds to a Moose Lake sex offender treatment facility in his bonding request, but it wasn’t in the House bill as introduced last week. The Minnesota Senate included a $1 million placeholder for the item in the bill they passed last week by a veto-proof majority. Pawlenty last week proposed doubling sentences for some sex offenders and said the $89 million Moose Lake bonding proposal was needed because the existing 552-bed facility will be full by 2012 at the rate courts are sending people there. Inclusion by the House bill’s author, Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Continue Reading

CAPITOL REPORT | Busy Presidents’ Day for Minnesota legislature

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Presidents’ Day is a state holiday, but Minnesota lawmakers and Gov. Tim Pawlenty won’t be taking it easy on Monday.The House of Representatives is scheduled to debate and vote on their bonding bill, HF 2700, from Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul. The Senate passed their version last week, so this vote should move things into the negotiation stage, with Pawlenty threatening to veto the final bill if it’s too big and doesn’t have the things he likes in it, and House Republicans pledging to uphold that veto.Expect a long debate going into the evening, as state representatives have a reputation for leaving nothing unsaid when it comes to these things. Look for Republicans to take shots at particular items in the bonding bill they want to label “pork” and for DFLers to paint this bill as a “jobs bill” that will put people (construction union members mostly) back to work.Here’s the most recent spreadsheet showing what’s in each bill, and what Pawlenty wants.Pawlenty, meanwhile, will be releasing his supplemental 2010 state budget proposal, which will include his ideas for solving a $1.4 billion state budget deficit remaining in the current budget cycle, which ends in June 2011.Soon after, Pawlenty’s Commissioner of the Office of Minnesota Management and Budget, Tom Hanson, will release a February state revenue forecast that will show whether that $1.4 billion gap is expected to grow, shrink or stay about the same.State Economist Tom Stinson, who puts together those forecasts, suggested on Minnesota Public Radio recently it will stay about the same, but we’ll get another read from Pawlenty’s budget proposal.  Continue Reading

Pawlenty’s last State of the State – and a little perspective

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Gov. Tim Pawlenty delivered his eighth and final State of the State speech on Thursday, with a focus on “jobs, jobs, jobs” as his spokesman Brian McClung said in a preview on Wednesday. (Video from The Uptake below)Pawlenty called for tax cuts and tax credits in the speech, including cutting the corporate tax rate, tax exemptions for small businesses, an “angel investor” tax credit, capital gains tax cuts and other proposals.You can watch the address below. But here are a couple things to keep in mind while watching the speech:Pawlenty is releasing his supplemental budget proposal on Monday, and in it, he will have to provide a means of escaping a $1.2 billion budget deficit remaining in the state government’s budget cycle that ends in mid-2011.That’s because, according to Minnesota State Economist Tom Stinson in the state’s November economic forecast, it will be 2013 before Minnesota returns to the levels of employment it enjoyed in late 2007, just before the recession began.Here’s the big picture when it comes to Minnesota’s employment record over the past few decades. Pawlenty has been governor since 2002, so as he prepares to exit the Minnesota stage in hopes of entering the national stage, keep his performance in mind.And Pawlenty’s not alone in calling for tax cuts and credits. Sen. James Metzen, DFL-South St. Continue Reading

OPINION | MN Catholic bishops respond to governor’s unallotment plans

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Prior to the announcement of Governor Pawlenty’s unallotment plan, the Minnesota Catholic bishops wrote a letter to the Governor urging him not to “impose even greater hardships on those among us who are struggling to live.” In the June 12 letter, the nine Catholic bishops stated, “we are compelled to speak with and for those among us whose voices are not always heard, and whose lives are oftentimes devalued. We are gravely concerned that our state’s unbalanced budget for FY 2010-11 will be resolved by further eliminating critical services for Minnesotans with urgent needs. We fear that additional spending reductions to beneficial health care and human services programs will have detrimental consequences for those who are poor and vulnerable, and ultimately to our state.” In asking the Governor to uphold the dignity of every human person, the Minnesota Catholic bishops also said: “We understand that the challenges facing our state are monumental and unprecedented. Continue Reading

Pawlenty calls DHS rightwing extremists report “absurd”

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Just in case you missed this report back in April, take another look — both Michele Bachmann and T-Paw think right-wing extremism is not a threat. We published this article from media partner Minnesota Independent back in April, when they also reported Bachmann’s reaction to the report: Bachmann: DHS head should resign if she believes ‘rightwing extremists’ report . April 17, 2009 • On Neil Cavuto’s show on Fox News Thursday, Gov. Tim Pawlenty called it “unfair” and “more candidly and bluntly… absurd” that a leaked Department of Homeland Security report on right-wing extremists should include “groups opposed to abortion,” as Cavuto put it. But both Pawlenty and Cavuto misrepresent the report: It includes mention of abortion a mere two times, including once in a footnote. A section titled “Revisiting the 1990s,” references “white supremacists’ longstanding exploitation of social issues such as abortion,” not mainstream abortion opponents. Continue Reading

All T-Paw, all the time / Vampire pleads guilty / Schubert vs. solar / Recession-proof beer / more

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We’re trying out a new format – headlines here, individual articles when you click on individual headlines, or the entire blog on one page when you click on the News Day headline. We hope this will make it easier for you to comment — just click on a headline, read and comment. Let us know what you think of this format …T-Paw signing off – in 2010 He’s not running for governor, and he loves his wife … Vampire news of the day A guilty plea from “The Impaler” …Schubert vs. solar Minneapolis city spending … Continue Reading

Get ready for Governor Pawlenty’s property tax hike

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Coming soon to a property tax statement near you: Governor Tim Pawlenty’s 2010 property tax increases!The governor has indicated that he will not work with the legislature on a balanced solution. He instead will use a go-it-alone strategy of direct budget cuts. The governor, who already took $110 million in revenue from counties and cities in December of 2008, has made clear that many of his future unallotments will be even more cuts to Minnesota communities. No one yet knows the manner or the level of cuts the governor will unilaterally impose. The best indicator is his 2009 budget proposal to the legislature. Continue Reading