Facing a voter revolt in a typically strong GOP area, Gov. Tim Pawlenty came to Rochester Tuesday and did what governors do. He proposed new spending (but not much). Despite the state's $700 million projected budget shortfall (now up to $1 billion counting the governor's proposed new spending on K-12 education), Pawlenty proposed spending $3 million to begin planning for a four year university in Rochester. That's something the city has wanted for decades.
In the Pioneer Press, Bill Salisbury pointed out what's new:
Pawlenty made pitches for a series of initiatives that he had unveiled in recent weeks, including creating a performance-based pay for teachers and using a public-private purchasing alliance to obtain health care at better prices. He also announced these four new priorities:
• Establish a "turbocharged truth-in-taxation" plan that would enable citizens to repeal property tax increases by cities, counties, townships and school districts.
• Send more state higher education dollars directly to students, instead of colleges and universities.
• Create a four-year university in Rochester — a 40-year-old idea that he dusted off and breathed new life into.
• Invest $15 million in state funds, matched by millions more in private donations, for bioscience research at a new Mayo Clinic-University of Minnesota genomics lab here.
Pawlenty's truth-in-taxation idea isn't new. It's been bouncing around the Legislature for at least eight years. But this is the first time Pawlenty has given it this much emphasis.
The Republican governor embraced another idea that's been around for years when he called for shifting more state funding directly to college students, instead of institutions. But it was the first time he endorsed it, his staff said.
By directing more money to financial aid instead of appropriations to the schools, Pawlenty said schools would be more responsive and accountable to the needs of students.
And the Democrats? Well, as you might expect, they were not impressed. MPR's Laura McCallum had some reaction:
DFL leaders worry that his budget will slash state health-care programs. Assistant Senate Majority Leader Ann Rest, a DFLer from New Hope, says Pawlenty's budget priorities leave many unanswered questions.
"He talks about new money for education, but he doesn't say where it's coming from. He talks about no new taxes but he didn't say no new property taxes, which is what we had to deal with in the previous budget," Rest said.
Rest also questions the cost of another proposal the governor outlined -- a so-called "Turbocharged Truth in Taxation". Pawlenty says when taxpayers receive their annual Truth in Taxation forms, they should also receive postcards they could mail to local governments to oppose the level of taxation.
Republicans lost two Rochester House seats to the DFL in November, and came close to losing a third. Pawlenty made clear in his speech that he will push again for a $27 million genomics center in his bonding bill this year. MPR's Michael Khoo had a look at the political element of the governor's address:
The Legislature failed to pass a so-called bonding bill for funding public works projects last year when partisan gridlock brought the session to a standstill. Many observers blame the lack of progress for a string of Republican defeats in the fall House elections -- and a corresponding rise in the strength of the DFL minority. Those election results included two upsets in the Rochester area. DFLer Andy Welti of Plainview is one of the beneficiaries of that trend. He says the governor's attention to southeastern Minnesota shows he heard a clear message in the 2004 election.
"I think definitely he did want to highlight those key points, those key elements that are crucial to greater Minnesota and southeast Minnesota. But also there could possibly be some political implications, maybe trying to build his base of support here for the next election."
Welti called the governor's visit and his initiatives "positive." He says the Rochester projects do more than just burnish the governor's reputation. Welti says the university plan and the genomics facility are important economic development tools for the entire region, if not the entire state.
And Welti's Republican predecessor, Bill Kuisle, says the governor's emphasis on greater Minnesota is not a post-election conversion. He notes that Mayo Clinic site that hosted Pawlenty's speech was born, in part, due to tax incentives included in Pawlenty's Job Opportunity Building Zones, which were enacted in the governor's first year in office. Kuisle says despite voter disapproval at last year's gridlock, he rejects criticism that Republican leadership has been ineffective.
"You know, the do-nothing Legislature. There was a lot of great things that came out of it in the last two years, and this is one of them. Seven hundred new jobs. You know, how can you beat that?"
The governor didn't make an announcement about tribal gambling in the State of the State, but he says one is coming soon. In the Star Tribune, Pat Doyle and Mark Brunswick say it could involve Bloomington:
In a sign of intensified interest in a metro casino, Gov. Tim Pawlenty and representatives of the Mall of America have held separate meetings recently with Bloomington officials to talk about a possible casino at the giant shopping center.
On the same day that Pawlenty hinted in his State of the State address about new gambling initiatives, it was disclosed that he met in December with the Bloomington mayor and city manager to talk about a casino and other issues. The meeting, confirmed Tuesday by Pawlenty press secretary Brian McClung, was described in minutes of a Jan. 3 City Council meeting. Mayor Gene Winstead reported that Pawlenty "indicated his desire to introduce a generic bill regarding gaming and a casino in the metro area."
The venture could involve a deal with northern Minnesota Indian tribes that have been looking for a better location for a casino, as well as with wealthier southern Minnesota tribes, and "a site of interest for such a casino is the Mall of America Phase II," according to the minutes.
The story goes on to note that Bloomington legislators oppose a casino in the city and it quotes a Pawlenty spokesman saying no decision has been made.
Pawlenty will lay out his plan to balance the budget next week. As for any gambling deal, he says it would pay for "extras," not the ongoing work of state government.
