MFL Commissioner's Blog: April 22, 2008 Archive

As I mentioned yesterday, Minority Leader Marty Seifert again proposed what is quickly becoming the most popular amendment of the year, to strip Local Government Aid from "Sanctuary Cities." Give the guy credit for persistence - its been proposed probably a dozen times by now, including twice under different drafting yesterday, and every time but the first, by my count, there's been no vote taken because of germaneness rulings. The first time, it failed by only a hair, a 66-67 vote, so I can see why he might try to shake a few more votes loose.

Still no word on where the RNC bar time bill has gone in the House, but the Senate will be discussing that, and the PedalPub that I wrote about here, in their version of the SF3672, omnibus liquor bill. You can watch it here.

When checking its status, I found an interesting trend emerging from other bills Rep. Kahn has proposed.

HF3682 Off-sale intoxicating liquor sales authorized on Sunday.
HF3495 Alcohol consumption allowed for persons aged 18 to 20 in bars and restaurants.
HF2300 Allowing alcohol sales at University of Minnesota football stadium
HF2168 Hemp industry development and regulation provided, possession and cultivation of industrial hemp defense provided, and definition of marijuana modified.

Maybe we should start calling her Party Time Phyllis. I kid, Rep. Kahn. You could actually make a pretty strong case for every one of those bills. Minnesota is one of only 15 states that doesn't allow alcohol sales on Sunday, and its pretty clear this is a relic from the days when the separation of church and state didn't prevent the establishment of a lot of "Blue laws" or laws "designed to enforce moral standards, particularly the observance of Sunday as a day of worship or rest."

HF3495, allowing alcohol sales to people over 18 in bars, has no shot at becoming law, but the principle behind it is that it might actually reduce binge drinking. Rep. Kahn told the Star Tribune that "I think one of the problems is keeping drinking such a forbidden thing for such a long period of time. It gets to be such a big deal that you're 21 and can drink." She's got a good point there.

HF2300 would allow alcohol sales in the new football stadium. Trying to separate alcohol and football seems like an impossible task, but at the same time, no alcohol is sold in Williams Arena or Mariucci Arena, the University's basketball and hockey facilities, so who knows whether this one is going anywhere.

And hemp, though it usually evokes snickers as people think of hippies listening to Phish, and substituting patchouli oil for, well, bathing, industrial hemp apparently has its merits too.

UPDATE: Sen. Linda Scheid's Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection is hearing the bill right now, and language for the RNC bar closing has been included in the unofficial House version.

Today was a pretty quiet day at the Legislature, with conference committees doing the brunt of the work. HF3551, Sen. Linda Berglin and Rep. Tom Huntley's Health Care reform bill, HF3477, Rep. Paul Gardner and Sen. John Marty's lending practices bill, and HF1812, Rep. Lyndon Carlson and Sen. Dick Cohen's finance bill that all hopes of a balanced budget are pinned on, all spend some time in front of one.

Both the PedalPub and the 4:00 a.m. bar close for the Republican National Convention were discussed in front of the Commerce and Consumer protection, and lawmakers seemed to like the idea. In fact, not a single one voiced opposition. The owner of the PedalPub, Al Boyce, brought one of the contraptions down to the Capitol for the hearing, and said that if a conference committee is necessary, they could hold it on the PedalPub. Watch it here.

Over in the House, Rep. Ann Lenczewski's Tax Committee heard testimony about the Mall of America expansion proposal. The bill, part of the omnibus tax bill, SF2869, in the Senate, would extend the tax breaks for the Mall to pay to the tune of $204 million for a new parking ramp.

Rep. Lenczewski's doesn't sound like a big fan of this proposal, as it kind of flies in the face of her HF4103 , the "No corporate tax breaks" bill.

"I don't think we should target public resources to help an individual company," she told MPR's Tim Pugmire earlier this session.

Still, her committee gave it about as thorough a hearing as you could ask for. I think every lobbying group in the state spent some time in front of that committee, taking five hours of testimony. No vote was taken on the bill

The governor helped us hand out some points, signing three bills from this session and two held over from last session since Saturday.

HF3115/SF2822, the "Good faith" insurance bill sponsored by Rep. Joe Atkins and Sen. Tarryl Clark.

HF3831/SF3474, which makes an office appointive, kinda boring but its good for points for Sen. Jim Vickerman and Rep. Doug Magnus.

HF3287/SF2930, which changes regulations on debt management services, sponsored by Rep. Jim Davnie and Sen. Linda Scheid.

Tomorrow we have floor sessions in the House and Senate, and check back for a floor-a-palooza announcement.