Last week, we reported that David Carlson, a candidate for the State Senate in Eagan, had retweeted a tweet containing a racial slur directed at President Obama.  It turns out that just two weeks later Governor Tim Pawlenty hosted a fundraiser for Carlson. According to Carlson’s website, Pawlenty appeared at a $100/person event for Carlson on January 11.  I wonder what Tim Pawlenty thinks of David Carlson’s twitter habits?

If that weren’t bad enough, Carlson decided to throw some rocks in his glass house, using twitter to publically criticize fellow Republican State Senate candidate Mike Parry for his (nearly identical) twitter troubles.  Parry, while a candidate for the State Senate seat vacated by Dick Day, got in some hot water for writing that President Obama was a “Power Hungry Arrogant Black Man” and subsequently scrubbing the tweet (and forty others) from twitter.  Carlson responded by tweeting: “Good thing Team Carlson does not condone such behavior on twitter.” Carlson appears to have had second thoughts about this tweet as well, as it also has been removed.  Fortunatley, a loyal reader has preserved the tweet for posterity and it is also available after the jump.

At www.racinonow.com, the official website of the group Day will lead, the State Senator figures prominently in a video introduction.  Three things about this video struck me as interesting.

First, Senator Day is still a member of the Minnesota Legislature, but he’s already lobbying and extolling the virtues of a racino.

Second, notice what Senator Day is wearing in the opening scene.  He’s outside the Capitol, wearing a sport coat (not an overcoat), with no hat, no gloves, and an open collar.  I am pretty sure this scene was not filmed this week, given the not insignificant blizzard that graced our great state.  That means Senator Day was working for a lobbying group before he even announced that he was going to resign from the Legislature!

Lastly, if you skip to the end of the video, you’ll see Senator Day sitting behind a desk and speaking to the camera.  For readers unfamiliar with the Minnesota Capitol complex, that office is very clearly Senator Day’s official office in the State Office Building.  Dick Day was literally lobbying from his State Senator’s office.

I don’t know if Senator Day broke the law by lobbying while still a member of the Minnesota Legislature (and using his taxpayer funded office to boot) but even if it isn’t illegal, it sure is unethical.

In case Racino Now pulls the ad off their website, we’ve captured it and put it after the jump.

I know the man in this video.  He’s not a close friend, or a family member, but I recognize his face.  When I worked for Amy Klobuchar in 2006, one of my responsibilities was to walk down the street to KSTP every so often and check the public file to find out who was buying ad time and how much they were spending.  The man in this video, Mark, worked at the front desk.  I remember him as being an unnaturally friendly man.  He seemed to know the name of every single person who came through the lobby, and he even remembered my name after only two or three visits.  I am sad to learn of Mark’s misfortune.  I think its all too easy, especially when you are dealing with a problem as big as a multi-billion dollar deficit, to focus on the numbers and forget the human consequences of budgeting.  But when you see how someone you know will be directly affected by these proposed cuts, it really brings it home.

After watching a video like this one, its easy to understand why the DFL legislators at the Capitol are unwilling to go along with Gov. Pawlenty’s budget. Its reckless and cold-hearted.

That can be a problem, though, when you come across legislators who actually know what they’re doing. One such legislator is Larry Pogemiller, the Senate Majority Leader, who excoriated Finance Commissioner Tom Hanson yesterday.

Pogemiller had a simple argument: Spending shifts are not at all the same thing as budget cuts. Shifts, obviously, need to be paid back. They’re not true savings, they’re just procrastination. That’s why Minnesota law now requires the budget to be balanced over four years, not just two. Over four years, the Governor’s budget runs a deficit of $2.6 billion.

The Governor says that he can fix the budget without raising revenues, but the fact is that he can’t. He has only “balanced” the budget if you ignore billions of dollars in spending shifts and new borrowing, and pretend that we’ll never have to pay for them.

Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher also chimed in, saying the Governor’s budget was not ready for prime time. Watch that video after the break.

That’s why I’m disappointed with an amendment in the Minnesota Senate by none other than Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller:

The original omnibus proposal by chair Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook) [PIM item] would have imposed across-the-board income tax increases that sunset in 2014. Pogemiller’s amendment changes the sunset provision by causing the new rates to blink off, or to be reduced, in the event that any February revenue forecast prior to 2014 indicates that the state’s general fund will be balanced as of June 30 of that year.

Sure, it sounds great politically. Pogemiller is sending the message that we’re only raising taxes because we’re in a crisis, and we’ll undo it as soon as possible. The problem is that our budget crisis won’t really be over when the recession ends. It will only end when we start regularly taking in more revenue than we spend on a regular basis. That means higher taxes and fewer services — not just in this biennium, but for decades.

I don’t agree with all the choices being made by leaders in either house, but I do appreciate that they’re doing what needs to be done. The legislature is well on its way to balancing to budget by raising taxes and cutting spending. The House and Senate each released a tax increase plan this week, and now the House Health and Human Services Finance Division has approved a funding bill that would make $400 million in cuts.

Ultimately, there will probably have to be deeper cuts to Health and Human Services funding, but DFLers have made a good start so far. They seem to recognize that everyone will have to make sacrifices in order to balance the budget; there’s simply no way around that, unfortunately. It’s probably not going to make them popular — nobody likes being asked to make sacrifices — but I think Minnesotans will appreciate that the DFL leadership has made some tough choices that will benefit our state in the long run.

Once bills in the legislature get so large and complicated that citizens are unable to follow them, we can no longer truly stay involved in the legislative process. It’s nearly impossible to follow these bills without paid staff; thus, ordinary citizens need to rely on special interest groups to stay informed towards the end of the legislative session.

Many Minnesotans praise our system of part-time citizen legislators, but I would gladly trade our system for one in which the combination of bills into large omnibus bills is prohibited, even if the legislators needed to work for most of the year.

Bills by category:

(Some bills may appear under multiple categories)

• Economy
• Budget
• Healthcare
• Education
• Environment
• Republican nastiness
• GLBT issues
• Election reform

Economy

Tracking the MN Legislature: Federal recovery act

The first bills being added to the Daily Liberal bill tracker will probably move slowly and contentiously through the legislature, but they are priorities for DFL leaders.

House File 1 and Senate File 1 are placeholders for the Obama administration’s stimulus plan. In fact, there’s very little to these bills right now. Here are the important parts, dedicating the stimulus money:

2.4 Sec. 2. APPROPRIATIONS; FEDERAL RECOVERY ACT OF 2009.
2.5…..
2.6…..

2.7 Sec. 3. BONDING PROVISIONS; FEDERAL RECOVERY ACT OF 2009.
2.8…..
2.9…..

For obvious reasons, don’t expect this to move too quickly. In fact, they probably won’t even have any real content in them until around March, once Congress has passed the Federal Recovery Act.

Status in the House:

Status in the Senate:

Tracking the MN Legislature: Unemployment benefit extension

A proposal to extend unemployment benefits is making pretty rapid progress through the legislature. The bill, HF4 in the House and SF4 in the Senate, has already passed the Senate. It is moving rapidly through House committees.

Status in the House:

Status in the Senate:

Here’s a quick summary of the bill from Session Daily:

Because of the way the state calculates unemployment eligibility, many unemployed workers who should qualify for the federal extension aren’t able to access it. The bill would change the eligibility requirements to fix that problem, providing benefits to an estimated 3,000 additional people.

Tracking the MN Legislature: Green infrastructure

One of the best ways to create jobs right now — according to some, at least — is to build a green economy. DFL leaders in the House and Senate have tried to do just that with a bill to use federal stimulus money on green infrastructure. Here’s a brief excerpt [full text here]:

The commissioner of commerce shall immediately develop a plan for the use of federal stimulus money in energy areas traditionally within the jurisdiction of the commissioner, including public building energy-efficiency retrofitting and renovation.

Status in the House:

Status in the Senate:

Tracking the MN Legislature: Holding Northwest to its commitments

Back in the 1990s, the Metropolitan Airports Commission made a deal with Northwest Airlines: in exchange for hundreds of millions in bond financing, Northwest agreed to keep its headquarters and a certain number of jobs in the Twin Cities.

Now, because of its merger with Delta, Northwest will be leaving Minnesota. Under the deal with the MAC, they could be forced to pay back that money. Of course, Delta wants to be let out of the agreement. The DFL legislature, though, is stepping in to force Delta to pay its fair share.

A bill circulating through the legislature would require the original agreement to be properly carried out. Here’s a brief excerpt [full text here]:

The state shall fully enforce any agreement with the state that is breached or is likely to be breached, including breach of any covenant regarding maintenance of Northwest’s hub, corporate headquarters, or employment level…
In a situation described in paragraph (a), the state shall seek repayment of any outstanding loans and payment for any concessions granted by the state to Northwest…

Status in the House:

Status in the Senate:

Tracking the MN Legislature: Republicans try to destroy MN unions

Republicans constantly praise what they call “right to work” states. Here’s what low wage right to work means: forming a union is nearly impossible. Now, arch-conservative Tom Emmer is proposing that Minnesota become a low-wage right to work state. To do that, he’s proposed a constitutional amendment. The text doesn’t actually sound too bad [full text here]:

No person shall, as a condition of employment, be required to become a member of a labor union or pay any dues, fees, assessments, or other charges of any kind to a labor union or to any charity or other third party in lieu of such payments. Nothing in this section shall prevent a person from voluntarily belonging or voluntarily providing financial support to a labor union.

However, this language usually succeeds in destroying unions. After all, if new workers could have the benefits of the union without paying, why wouldn’t they? Pretty soon, with thousands of workers following this logic, unions all over the state collapse. Here’s the ultimate result:

Right to work laws lower wages for everyone. The average worker in a right to work state makes about $5,333 a year less than workers in other states ($35,500 compared with $30,167). Weekly wages are $72 greater in free-bargaining states than in right to work states ($621 versus $549). Working families in states without right to work laws have higher wages and benefit from healthier tax bases that improve their quality of life.

I don’t this bill will make it very far, but I’ll be keeping an eye on it.

Status in the House:

No Senate companion…. yet.

Tracking the MN Legislature: Searching for solutions to foreclosures

In an effort to deal with the continuing plague of foreclosures in our communities, a number of DFLers, including Speaker Margaret Anderson-Kelliher, have introduced a bill to attempt to lessen the frequency of foreclosures. Typically, foreclosures are in neither party’s best interest. For that reason, the DFL bill would require all foreclosures to first go through mediation, in which an alternative solution may be offered. Here’s a brief excerpt of the House version [full text here]:

(b) At all mediation meetings, the mediator shall:
(1) listen to the debtor and the creditors desiring to be heard;
(2) attempt to mediate between the debtor and the creditors;
(3) advise the debtor and creditors of assistance programs available;
(4) attempt to arrive at an agreement to fairly adjust, refinance, or pay the debts; and
(5) advise, counsel, and assist the debtor and creditors in attempting to arrive at an agreement for the future conduct of financial relations among them.

As with all solutions to the housing crisis, this one is imperfect. However, I suspect both debtors and creditors will appreciate it. Debtors may be able to keep their credit intact and keep their homes, while creditors may at least recoup most of their money.

Status in the House:

Status in the Senate:

Tracking the MN Legislature: Eliminating payday loans

DFLer Charles Wiger has proposed a bill that would eliminate payday loans, high-cost loans for small amounts of money made in advance of a worker’s paycheck. The brief text of the bill is available here.

In theory, the impetus behind a bill like this is a good one. Payday loans are certainly harmful to their recipients; they’re just one of many reasons that the poor in America pay a lot more for everything they consume, despite the fact that they can ill afford to.

The trouble with this bill and others like it is that the real problem here is not payday lending — it’s poverty. The high interest and fees charged by payday lenders are certainly problematic, but the alternative is simply having no money at all to pay the bills. Which is worse? I’d argue that having no money is worse. Perhaps a more useful solution would be to institute new regulations on payday loans,, rather than simply banning them.

Follow along as this bill makes its way through the legislature.

Status in the Senate:

No House companion yet.

Tracking the MN Legislature: Regulating debt-management services

One side-effect of our terrible economy has been a proliferation of services purporting to help people manage their debt. I’m sure you’ve seen their ubiquitous commercials. I’m sure you’ve also realized that not all of them have the best intentions. As their numbers continue to grow, the legislature is considering a bill that would establish certain requirements for these debt management services. Here’s a brief excerpt [full text here]:

Sec. 16. [332A.35] CUSTOMER SERVICE.
A provider that is required to be registered under this chapter shall maintain a toll-free communication system, staffed at a level that reasonably permits an individual to speak to a certified counselor, certified debt specialist, or customer service representative, as appropriate, during ordinary business hours.

Sec. 17. [332A.36] PREREQUISITES FOR PROVIDING DEBT-MANAGEMENT SERVICES.
Before providing debt-management services, a registered provider shall give the individual an itemized list of goods and services and the charges for each. The list must be clear and conspicuous, be in a record the individual may keep whether or not the individual assents to an agreement, and describe the goods and services the provider offers…

Follow along as this bill makes its way through the legislature.

Status in the Senate:

No House companion yet.

Budget

Tracking the MN Legislature: Freezing government workers salaries

As the state of Minnesota continues to grapple with a massive budget deficit, Republican legislators have proposed a plan to freeze the salaries and wages of government workers. Here’s a brief excerpt [full text here]:

From the effective date of this section through June 30, 2011, a government employer must not increase the rate of salary or wages for any employee. This section prohibits any increase including, but not limited to, across-the-board increases; cost-of-living adjustments; increases based on longevity; increases as a result of step and lane changes; increases in the form of lump-sum payments; increases in employer contributions to deferred compensation plans; or any other pay grade adjustments of any kind. For purposes of this section, salary or wages does not include employer contributions toward the cost of medical or dental insurance premiums, provided that employee contributions to the costs of medical or dental insurance premiums are not decreased.

One provision in the bill, though, would severely lessen its impact:

This section does not prohibit a government employer from effectuating an increase in the rate of salary or wages for employees if required by a contract or collective bargaining agreement that is in effect before the effective date of this section.

As always, you can follow the progress of this bill below.

Status in the House:

Status in the Senate:

Tracking the MN Legislature: Solving our revenue problem with gambling

Gambling is back in the State Legislature, in a big way. Although Tim Pawlenty’s plan to expand gambling and use the revenues to plug state budget deficits failed the last time he proposed it, that hasn’t stopped both Democrats and Republicans from proposing new bills to expand gambling. In fact there are three: HF0628/SF0535; HF0633; and HF0674/SF0508

None of them have gone anywhere, but so far, HF0628 seems to have the most support. That bill allows the State Lottery to operate “video lottery terminals” — i.e. slot machines — with the provision that 33 percent of the revenues are transmitted to the state treasury [full text here].

Follow along as this bill makes its way through the legislature.

Status in the House:

Status in the Senate:

Tracking the MN Legislature: Smarter budgets with demographic forecasts

Lately, our state budgeting system has not been “smart” in any way. In fact, we’ve chosen to remain blissfully ignorant of the state of our budget through mechanisms such as refusing to consider the impact of inflation on our spending. Another way we’ve remained uninformed is our failure to consider that demographic changes — such as a growing population of the elderly, for example — will force us to change our spending patterns.

A new bill in the House would change that by requiring the budget forecast to include a demographic forecast, and an estimate of the impact changing demographics will have on our budget. Here’s the text of this brief bill:

The commissioner shall include with the forecast required by this section an analysis of projected state demographic changes and their anticipated impacts on state and local revenues and expenditures for five and ten years beyond the forecast period under subdivision 1g. The state demographer and state economist shall assist the commissioner in preparing the analysis, which must include the data and assumptions on which the projections are based.

Follow along as this bill makes its way through the legislature.

Status in the House:

No Senate companion yet.

Tracking the MN Legislature: Increasing the budget reserve

A bipartisan group of representatives in the House has taken the first step toward fixing our chronic budget problems by introducing a bill to expand the budget reserve. Not only would the bill expand Minnesota’s budget reserve, it would automatically require surpluses to go towards filling the reserve until it reached five percent of the general fund expenditures [full text here].

Expanding the budget reserve is just one of the steps recommended by the Minnesota Budget Trends Study Commission. Enacting this recommendation is a good start. The legislature should also consider enacting some of the commission’s other proposals:

• Financial forecasts should be based on current law and inflation (or deflation) of both revenues and expenditures to provide an accurate planning perspective.
• To help the Governor and Legislature manage long-term obligations, the State should begin by spending no more in the current biennial budget than can be supported by ongoing revenues.
• Any additional one-time revenues should be used strictly for building reserves, paying off shifts, capital projects, or other one-time purposes.
• When making budgetary decisions to achieve a balance of expenditures and revenues the Governor and Legislature should consider the impact of shifting the expenditure burden to the private sector or local units of government.

Follow along as this bill makes its way through the legislature.

Status in the House:

No Senate companion yet.

Healthcare

Tracking the MN Legislature: Moving toward universal health care

One of the biggest problems for the poor and the middle class these days is health-care affordability. Approximately one-sixth of all Americans are uninsured — a simply unacceptable rate for any industrialized nation. Here in Minnesota, DFLers in the legislature have introduced a plan to dramatically expand access to health care. The full text of the bill is available here.

It will be interesting to see if this bill makes it through the legislature. It has never been so needed by our citizens, but at the same time, we have absolutely no money to pay for it. You can track its status right here.

Status in the House:

Status in the Senate:

Tracking the MN Legislature: Healthcare for the unemployed

During economic downturns like the one we’re in now, healthcare becomes an even bigger problem than it is normally. The cost of continuing coverage under COBRA is outrageous, so many workers and their families simply go without. That’s a big gamble: One illness or broken bone could lead to years and years of debt as the victim tries to pay off his or her medical bills.

This issue is particularly urgent with Minnesota’s unemployment rate soaring. So, DFLers in the Legislature have offered a solution: allow anyone receiving unemployment benefits to also register for MinnesotaCare. The bill waives the four-month wait for MinnesotaCare eligibility for anyone who receives unemployment benefits [see the full text of this brief bill here].

This bill is long overdue. Families that have suddenly and unexpectedly lost their health coverage simply can’t wait four months. We shouldn’t be letting healthcare problems plunge Minnesotans into debt or even bankruptcy.

Status in the House:

Status in the Senate:

Education

Tracking the MN Legislature: The New Minnesota Miracle

It’s hard to see how DFL legislators would pay for a bill like this now, but it appears to be a priority for the DFL leadership:

A plan to reform the state’s K-12 education system has been introduced.

At a press conference, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher (DFL-Mpls) and Rep. Mindy Greiling (DFL-Roseville), House K-12 Finance Division chairwoman, said “The New Minnesota Miracle,” would reform education finance and provide $600 million of property tax relief….

Full implementation of the bill would cost between $2 billion and 2.5 billion, said Greiling, the sponsor of HF2. However, she said it could begin with “just one penny” because it offers a “scalable” plan intended to be “phased in” as funding is secured. It has been referred to the House Finance Committee.

Status in the House:

Tracking the MN Legislature: Shared services purchasing program

One of the innovative, cost-saving measures that sprung up early in the legislative session was requiring schools to join together into a purchasing pool to save costs. Here’s how it would work [bill full text here]:

For fiscal year 2010 and later, a school district or charter school is required to purchase goods and services according to the requirements of subdivisions 2 and 3. A school district or charter school may not purchase goods or services from a vendor that has not been approved by the commissioner….
A group of school districts or charter schools may develop shared services arrangements to purchase goods or services from the approved list according to subdivision 3. A shared services purchasing arrangement according to this subdivision may be two or more school districts or any combination of school districts and charter schools.

Perhaps not a perfect solution, but sometimes you need to save money where you can. By my reading, this would NOT require schools to purchase state-mandated textbooks, but if that’s in doubt, I think the bill should be clarified to avoid that.

So far this bill has only been introduced in the Senate. Status in the Senate:

UPDATE: House companion introduced Feb. 5, 2009. Status in the House:

Environment

Tracking the MN Legislature: Green infrastructure

One of the best ways to create jobs right now — according to some, at least — is to build a green economy. DFL leaders in the House and Senate have tried to do just that with a bill to use federal stimulus money on green infrastructure. Here’s a brief excerpt [full text here]:

The commissioner of commerce shall immediately develop a plan for the use of federal stimulus money in energy areas traditionally within the jurisdiction of the commissioner, including public building energy-efficiency retrofitting and renovation.

Status in the House:

Status in the Senate:

Tracking the MN Legislature: Greener towns and cities

Republican nastiness

Tracking the MN Legislature: Is the GOP really fiscally responsible?

Last week, Senate Republicans feigned outrage when the DFL wouldn’t agree to their latest political gimmick. They claimed that even the smallest savings would be a good start to ending our budget crisis.

But if they’re so concerned about the deficit, why is Senate Majority Leader David Senjem already proposing to spend $5 Million on Phase II of the National Volleyball Center in Rochester? Seriously, Senator Senjem, isn’t this a project that could wait a few years in the interest of closing the deficit?

Don’t think I haven’t noticed that there are DFLers on board here, too. Wasteful spending clearly crosses party boundaries. But folks, this year we simply can’t afford spending as usual. Everyone, including the volleyball players, will have to tighten their belts.

Watch some wasteful spending pass through the Senate with me:

Tracking the MN Legislature: Republicans try to destroy MN unions

Republicans constantly praise what they call “right to work” states. Here’s what low wage right to work means: forming a union is nearly impossible. Now, arch-conservative Tom Emmer is proposing that Minnesota become a low-wage right to work state. To do that, he’s proposed a constitutional amendment. The text doesn’t actually sound too bad [full text here]:

No person shall, as a condition of employment, be required to become a member of a labor union or pay any dues, fees, assessments, or other charges of any kind to a labor union or to any charity or other third party in lieu of such payments. Nothing in this section shall prevent a person from voluntarily belonging or voluntarily providing financial support to a labor union.

However, this language usually succeeds in destroying unions. After all, if new workers could have the benefits of the union without paying, why wouldn’t they? Pretty soon, with thousands of workers following this logic, unions all over the state collapse. Here’s the ultimate result:

Right to work laws lower wages for everyone. The average worker in a right to work state makes about $5,333 a year less than workers in other states ($35,500 compared with $30,167). Weekly wages are $72 greater in free-bargaining states than in right to work states ($621 versus $549). Working families in states without right to work laws have higher wages and benefit from healthier tax bases that improve their quality of life.

I don’t this bill will make it very far, but I’ll be keeping an eye on it.

Status in the House:

No Senate companion…. yet.

Tracking the MN Legislature: Republicans attack minorities and immigrants

Here’s the Minnesota Republican strategy in a nutshell: Cut government services and attack minorities and immigrants. To that end, Republicans recently introduced three bills in quick succession which aim to make life more difficult for immigrants and minorities.

There’s SF 144, which would weaken law enforcement by lifting a long separation between law enforcement and immigration enforcement. There’s SF 145, which would require all recipients of public assistance to be fingerprinted — under the assumption, I suppose, that they’re all dirty crooks. And finally, there’s SF 146, which seeks to disenfranchise the poor and minorities by requiring a photo ID for voting.

Fortunately, these bills won’t be going anywhere. Nevertheless, I’ve committed to following the bills I track through the legislature. Keep an eye out in case these bills make any progress.

SF 144:

SF 145:

SF 146:

Tracking the MN Legislature: Republicans try to abolish state agencies

The Republican party is no longer content to simply bring incompetence to our state agencies. Now they want to do away with them altogether. Here’s an excerpt from a new bill being proposed by some prominent Republicans [full text here]:

Group 1. The following agencies are abolished on June 30, 2011: Department of Health, Department of Human Rights, Department of Human Services, all health-related licensing boards listed in section 214.01, Council on Affairs of Chicano/Latino People, Council on Black Minnesotans, Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans, Indian Affairs Council, Council on Disabilities, and all advisory groups associated with these agencies.
Group 2. The following agencies are abolished on June 30, 2013: Department of Education, Board of Teaching…

….and so on and so forth, until they’re all gone.

In fairness, that’s not exactly the point of the bill. Theoretically, the point is to have a discussion about each agency and whether it’s serving a useful purpose. But some of the Republicans proposing this would love nothing more than to eliminate most major state agencies — after all, if our government doesn’t do anything, we can stop levying taxes!

Follow along as this bill makes its way through the legislature. Or in this case, you’ll most likely follow along as it goes nowhere.

Status in the House:

No Senate companion yet.

Tracking the MN Legislature: GOP says welfare recipients are drug addicts

It’s incredible how many useless bills the Republicans in our Legislature can produce in one session. The latest, proposed by five House Republicans, would require all recipients of MFIP, Minnesota’s version of the welfare program, to go through drug and alcohol testing before being eligible for benefits. We all get the point: Conservatives think the poor are just lazy, drug-addled bums who don’t deserve our help. Or perhaps I’m reading the wrong meaning into this bill; isn’t that what it says?

I’m particularly curious about this language from the bill [full text here]:

An applicant must provide evidence of a negative test result to the appropriate county agency prior to being accepted for MFIP benefits [emphasis added].

Does that mean the test would be at the applicant’s expense? It would be just like conservative policy to pass along new costs to the most vulnerable Minnesotans.

Follow along as this bill makes its way through the legislature.

Status in the House:

No Senate companion yet.

GLBT issues

Tracking the MN Legislature: Marriage and Family Protection Act

It’s no secret that I think we’re not ready for a bill legalizing gay marriage. Personally, I believe there’s a PR battle that needs to be won first. However, for better or worse, the “Marriage and Family Protection Act” promises to be an important bill during this session. Here’s a brief excerpt [full text here]:

Fundamental fairness requires that same-sex couples be permitted to marry on the same terms as heterosexual couples. Minnesota’s exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage serves no legitimate government purpose and is contrary to the public interest. The discrimination and harm caused by the prohibition of same-sex marriage cannot be remedied except by permitting those couples to marry.

The bill goes on to amend the marriage laws, allowing same-sex couples to be legally married.

Status in the House:

Status in the Senate:

Tracking the MN Legislature: Civil unions for all

As Minnesota continues its soul searching over GLBT rights and equal marriage, a number of different paths have been proposed. There’s already a bill that would allow gay marriage; another was recently proposed that would establish civil unions for everyone while relegating the term “marriage” to religious ceremonies. Here’s the gist [full text here]:

517.01 MARRIAGE A CIVIL UNION CONTRACT.
Marriage A civil union, so far as its validity in law is concerned, is a civil contract between a man and a woman two parties, recognized by the state of Minnesota, to which the consent of the parties, capable in law of contracting, is essential. Lawful marriage may be contracted only between persons of the opposite sex and only A civil union contract is only valid when a license has been obtained as provided by law and when the marriage civil union is contracted in the presence of two witnesses and solemnized by one authorized, or whom one or both of the parties in good faith believe to be authorized, so to do. Marriages subsequent to April 26, 1941, not so contracted shall be null and void.

Follow along as this bill makes its way through the legislature.

Status in the House:

No Senate companion yet.

Election reform

Tracking the MN Legislature: Putting an end to gerrymandering

The 2010 Census is coming, and with it, the inevitable process of redistricting. For too long, redistricting in Minnesota — and around the United States — has been a partisan process, rigged by the party in power to increase the number of seats they can gain over the next decade. I’m proud that, at a time when the DFL has overwhelming majorities in the legislature, they are working to make redistricting more — not less — competitive.

To that end, a bill offered by Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogermiller would put a non-partisan redistricting commission in charge of the process, instead of the legislature. I think the bill can be summed up with one line [full text here]:

The districts must be created to encourage political competitiveness

That’s certainly the way things ought to be.

Status in the Senate:

Tracking the MN Legislature: Primaries in June, not September

Minnesota has always had a difficult election calendar, in my opinion. Primaries in September made for a very short general election, and could cause great damage to a party with a contested nomination, if the other party could begin campaigning for the general election months earlier. Now, a new bill would move the primary to June, instead of September [full text here]:

Status in the Senate:

Tracking the MN Legislature: Automatic voter registration

Now here’s a great idea: Instead of making it harder for people to vote, what if we made it easier? As voting is one of the most fundamental rights any American has, it makes sense to remove as many obstacles as possible. One of those obstacles would be removed by a new bill that would automatically register any eligible voter when they apply for a driver’s license or state ID. Here’s a brief excerpt [full text here]:

Automatic registration. An individual who properly completes an application for a new or renewed Minnesota driver’s license, instruction permit, or identification card, and who is eligible to vote under section 201.014, must be registered to vote as provided in this section, unless the applicant declines to be registered.

It will be interesting to follow what the Republicans say about this. After all, they do want to require IDs for people to vote. Isn’t this a good first step?

Follow along as this bill makes its way through the legislature.

Status in the House:

Status in the Senate:

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