Capitol View: August 11, 2009 Archive

Education commissioner on Midday

Posted at 9:49 AM on August 11, 2009 by Tim Pugmire

State Education Commissioner Alice Seagren will talk about the list of schools not making Adequate Yearly Progress and other issues today at 11:00 a.m. on MPR's Midday with Gary Eichten.

State tax collections still lagging

Posted at 10:07 AM on August 11, 2009 by Tim Pugmire

The latest update from the Minnesota Management and Budget Department shows that weaker-than-expected income tax payments put the state's July collections behind expectations.

Minnesota took in $6.6 million less than expected across all tax and revenue streams.

GOP TV ads target Peterson and Walz on health care

Posted at 12:53 PM on August 11, 2009 by Tim Pugmire (1 Comments)

The Republican Party of Minnesota is trying to turn up the heat on two Democratic congressmen to oppose the health care reform bill.

State GOP Chairman Tony Sutton unveiled TV ads today that will run in the districts of Congressmen Collin Peterson and Tim Walz. The ads were originally produced by the Republican National Committee and describe the proposed legislation as a government takeover of health care. They also urge constituents to call their congressman to voice objections. Sutton says he thinks the campaign can influence the votes of Peterson and Walz.

"We think that if the citizens speak up and tell these congressmen that they don't want this plan, that they won't vote for it," Sutton said. "Because they know that they're in seats that frankly don't fit their political ideaology or political philosophy, and they have to be a little bit more conservative in order to get re-elected."

Calls to Peterson and Walz seeking comment were not immediately returned.

UPDATE

The AP is reporting that Walz plans to hold a town hall meeting to discuss proposed health care changes as early as next week. Walz also described the GOP criticism that he hasn't held such meetings as "ludicrous."

Walz also took issue with the claims in the ad, saying the Republican claim that Democrats want a government takeover of health care is false. He says private insurance would actually increase under the current plan. Walz says his goal for health care reform is to bring down the costs of a unsustainable system.

"I want to hear what other fix there is," Walz said. "I'm not tied to this version. If there's something out there that the Republicans think is better, but we saw eight years of absolutely nothing and we're hearing nothing now but criticism. Growing up on that farm, I know that any donkey can kick down a barn. It's a little more difficult to build it."

Comment on this post

Pawlenty: I got your leadership summit

Posted at 2:12 PM on August 11, 2009 by Mike Mulcahy (5 Comments)

A couple of weeks ago Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, proposed a bipartisan "Minnesota Leadership Summit" of former governors and legislative leaders to talk about the state's long-term budget problems. He said he wanted to build on past ideas and look to the future.

One person who won't be attending the summit is the state's current top executive Tim Pawlenty. The governor sent a stinging letter to Pogemiller and House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher today saying, among other things, that "the state already has an annual 'Minnesota Leadership Summit.' It's called the legislative session and it lasts approximately five months."

Read the whole letter here.

Comment on this post