Capitol View: May 4, 2009 Archive

Seat belt provision removed from transportation bill

Posted at 11:38 AM on May 4, 2009 by Tim Pugmire

The Minnesota House and Senate will take action today on two of the smaller pieces of the state budget.

Conference committees met over the weekend to reach agreements on a transportation bill and an environment and energy bill. Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis, a member of the transportation conference committee, said the compromise bill preserves current funding for the state patrol and capitol security, erases a Metro Transit operating deficit and keeps the Department of Transportation running. He said the Senate's primary-offense seat belt provision was removed from the bill, but the issue remains alive. Hornstein said a stand-alone seat belt bill is one committee away from a full vote of the House.

"It's our view that the House ought to vote on it up or down, not part of an omnibus bill," Hornstein said. "And that's our intention to do this year, assuming it gets through the committee structure."

Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, a member of the environment and energy conference committee, said he thinks Gov.Tim Pawlenty will sign that bill after negotiators removed objectionable language on chemical regulation. Hansen said the bill cuts $60 million across all state environmental agencies, but keeps priority programs intact.

"We're choosing for those things where we can have people putting projects in the ground, putting people to work and doing things on the landscape that are going to help out water quality and help out people out there," Hansen said.

House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher said she expects action early this week on the bills funding agriculture and veterans, economic development, public safety and state government. All budget and tax bills must be out of conference committees by midnight Thursday.

Buckle up...

Posted at 1:09 PM on May 4, 2009 by Tom Scheck

Politico is reporting that Republicans in Washington are willing to back Republican Norm Coleman to take his case to federal court if the Minnesota Supreme Court doesn't back him:

With former Sen. Norm Coleman now standing between Democrats and their 60-seat supermajority, the GOP is prepared to back the Republican's appeal to the federal level if even a shred of doubt emerges in the case currently before the Minnesota Supreme Court.

"This makes it pretty darn important," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, of the race following Specter's switch. "I expect they will pursue the appeals until they are exhausted, whenever that may be. ... I would assume if they were unsuccessful in the Minnesota Supreme Court, there may very well be an appeal to the United States Supreme Court."

Pawlenty reminds tax chairs that he doesn't like tax increases

Posted at 2:04 PM on May 4, 2009 by Tim Pugmire (1 Comments)

In case nobody has been hearing those frequent veto threats, Gov. Tim Pawlenty sent a letter to the House and Senate tax committee chairs today reiterating his opposition to tax increases.

Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, and Rep. Ann Lenczewski, DFL-Bloomington, are currently negotiating a compromise between the Senate and House tax bills. The conference committee report must be completed by midnight Thursday. In his letter to the two chairs, Pawlenty described the tax increases in the bills as "onerous." And he claimed it would "undermine Minnesota's economic recovery."

"It is exceedingly disappointing the House and Senate Democrats have chosen to dramatically increase tax burdens on Minnesota residents at a time when the state economy is suffering from the deepest economic recession in more than 50 years," Pawlenty wrote.

The Senate tax bill would raise more than $2 billion in new revenue to help solve the state's $4.6 billion budget deficit. The House bill would raise $1.5 billion. Most of the money would come through the income tax.

Pawlenty insists the bills would hurt Minnesotans who own businesses and create jobs. He also objects to the proposed elimination of many tax deductions and credits, increases in alcohol and tobacco taxes and a new tax on digital products.

"Both bills include an additional array of objectionable provisions that are too numerous to provide a comprehensive list," Pawlenty wrote.

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