The House and Senate finally managed to do it Wednesday night. For the first time in a year they agreed on a major piece of legislation. It was the bonding bill, a package that will fund nearly $1 billion worth of construction back in their districts. MPR's Michael Khoo has the story:
Lawmakers came to St. Paul in January pledging to take quick action the public works bill that ground to a halt in last year's legislative gridlock. Republican House Majority Leader Erik Paulsen of Eden Prairie says the 115-16 vote in favor of the bill is testament to a spirit of bipartisanship that was noticeably lacking in 2004.
"We were honest and upfront. We wanted to move the bill quick. We wanted to move it and who the people that we wanted to get things done. And I'm hoping we will continue in a bipartisan effort to deal with the budget issues as we move forward," he said.
The bill funds almost $950 million worth of projects -- the vast majority of which are financed by borrowing money through the sale of state bonds. That includes substantial investments in higher education buildings and classrooms, a down payment on the Northstar commuter rail line linking Minneapolis and Big Lake, and a prison renovation project in Faribault. Money is also channeled to the Shubert Theater in Minneapolis, the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, and a secure nursing home for sex offenders in St. Peter.
Mr. Khoo has another interesting story today about how to raise $200 million without a new state casino. One proposal that raises much more than $200 million is to partially roll back the income tax cuts the Ventura-era income tax cuts:
[DFl Sen. John]Hottinger says his bill would roughly double the governor's increase in K-12 education funding, as well as provide new money for early childhood programs and state colleges and universities. And the income tax is only one way to recoup the lost casino money. Hottinger says discussions are ongoing about boosting the cigarette tax -- another 80 cents per pack could replace the casino revenue -- or expanding the sales tax. Auto repair services alone would do the trick.
Crunching the numbers isn't hard. Overcoming political resistance is another story. Pawlenty has pledged not to consider new tax increases, and a number of his GOP allies are backing him up on that. Still, Nan Madden of the Minnesota Budget Project says the impact of tax increases are often overstated.
"When you spread the impact across all of Minnesota taxpayers so everyone's paying something, the extra amount that people are paying really isn't all that much," she says.
Using numbers provided by the non-partisan House Research Department, Madden says that a 1.5 percent surcharge on income taxes would roughly replace the struggling casino plan. For a family of four making $60,000 a year, that would amount to less than a dime a day.
The Star Tribune has a front page story about Congressional pensions. Sen. Mark Dayton says he won't take his (estimated at $16,000 annually after six years in the Senate). The National Taxpayers Union estimates Rep. James Oberstar is due at least about $120,000 when he retires and Martin Sabo is already due more than $100,000 per year at retirement:
The exact amount of members' pensions is a secret because Congress exempted its pension records from the federal Freedom of Information Act. At the Star Tribune's request, the taxpayers' union estimated pensions for the Minnesota delegation. Only half of the 10 Minnesota members are currently eligible for pensions because they've served in Congress for at least five years, the minimum required.
Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad would get a pension of $46,749 in 2007, while Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson and Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht would receive yearly pensions of $44,100 and $20,528, respectively, according to the NTU. Those not yet vested are Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum, Republican Reps. Mark Kennedy and John Kline and Dayton, the only Minnesotan who has announced that he won't accept his pension.
Sabo declined to comment on his pension, while Oberstar said he has not attempted to figure out how much he'll receive.
"I have no way of disputing that number because I haven't made that calculation," said Oberstar. "So I neither accept nor reject it. ... If retirement were a daily driving force in my service in Congress, I would have this figured out to the penny. I haven't looked at it in God knows when, and I don't intend to." Oberstar called the NTU a "wing of the Republican Party" and said their work is biased.
Some estimates say 4 million people have flocked to Rome for the pope's funeral. The Associated Press says you can make it 4-million-and-one:
Minnesota Congressman Gil Gutknecht will be part of a congressional delegation to Pope John Paul's funeral in Rome.
Gutknecht is among 40 members of Congress who'll get to make the trip.
The 1st District Republican was raised Lutheran and is married to a Catholic. He says he's considered himself a practicing Catholic for the last 30 years.
Gutknecht says it's a "high honor," and he's pleased to represent millions of Minnesotans who won't be present to pay their last respects to the pope.
