Capitol View

Capitol View: April 11, 2011 Archive

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The Daily Digest

Posted at 6:44 AM on April 11, 2011 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: Daily Digest

The budget conference committees start meeting today to hash out their differences in the respective budget bills.

Anti-abortion bills will also surface in House and Senate committees this week.

The GOP is looking at the Met Counci's $1 million PR budget as a target for budget savings.

The BWCA cell phone tower fight heads to trial.

Dayton released his plan to lower the minority gap.

On Saturday, Dayton visited Moorhead to view flood preparations.

The Vikings Stadium bill will be officially introduced today. It was released to the public on Friday.

The PoliGraph says DFL statements that the GOP budget will cut jobs are correct.

The Star Tribune writes that the U of M quickly ousted scientist Doris Taylor from a spin off company she helped created.

Flood fight

The Red River is leveling off.

Congress

A government shutdown was averted after House GOP leadership and Senate Democratic leadership reached a deal with President Obama. The budget details are still slow to emerge.

President Obama will offer other ways for deficit reduction during a speech on Wednesday.

GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann called the budget deal a "disappointment."

DFL Rep. Keith Ellison also voted against the measure because he said it cut jobs.

The next big battle will be whether to lift the U.S. debt ceiling.

Farm subsidies face a $30 billion hit under the GOP budget plan.

SD66 Special Election

St. Paul and Falcon Heights voters will head to the polls on Tuesday to choose whether
DFLer Mary Jo McGuire or Republican Greg Copeland should replace DFL Sen. Ellen Anderson. Anderson retired from the Senate to head the PUC.

Race for U.S. Senate

Two Facebook pages have been created to draft GOP candidates. A Draft Jason Lewis page and a Draft Randy Gilbert page.

I wrote in January about the problems the GOP was having finding a candidate to challenge DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Race for President

GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann is in Iowa today.

Fox News is reporting that Tim Pawlenty plans to hire Nick Ayers, the executive director to the Republican Governors Association, as his campaign manager.

MPR says a White House run by GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann could be a boom or a bust for the GOP.

Details have been released on the first debate.

Politico says GOP lawmakers are souring on the 2012 field.

Pawlenty won a straw poll at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference.

Ayers to run Pawlenty presidential exploratory campaign

Posted at 8:00 AM on April 11, 2011 by Mark Zdechlik
Filed under: Tim Pawlenty

Tim Pawlenty's exploratory committee, Pawlenty 2012, announced early Monday that Nick Ayers will lead the former Minnesota governor's presidential efforts. Ayers was the executive director of the Republican Governors Association.

In the announcement, the exploratory committee said Ayers, "has one of the strongest political resumes in American politics," and credits him with breaking all previous fundraising efforts at the Regional Governors Association.

Pawlenty 2012 says Ayers will re-locate to Minneapolis, where the Pawlenty campaign is headquartered, to take his new job on April 25.

The budget bill conferees

Posted at 12:00 PM on April 11, 2011 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)
Filed under: MN Legislature, Mark Dayton

GOP leadership in the Minnesota House and Senate have named many of the members of the budget bill conference committees. Those members will be tasked with reconciling the differences between the House and Senate budget bills.

Not all of the conferees have been named yet but I'm posting the the list and will update when the others are named..

There aren't many Democrats named to these conference committees but that may be because not many Democrats supported the budget bills.

Agriculture

House
GOP Rep. Rod Hamilton of Mountain Lake
GOP Rep. Paul Anderson of Starbuck
GOP Rep. Ron Shimanski of Silver Lake
GOP Rep. Mike LeMieur of Little Falls
DFL Rep. Kent Eken of Twin Valley

Senate
GOP Sen. Doug Magnus of Slayton
GOP Sen. Gary Dahms of Redwood Falls
GOP Sen. Sean Nienow of Cambridge
GOP Sen. Jeremy Miller of Winona
DFL Sen. Gary Kubly of Granite Falls

Education

House
GOP Rep. Pat Garofalo of Farmington
GOP Rep. Sondra Erickson of Princeton.
GOP Rep. Tim Kelly of Red Wing
GOP Rep. Connie Doepke of Orono
GOP Rep. Dan Fabian of Roseau

Senate
GOP Sen. Gen Olson of Minnetrista
GOP Sen. Carla Nelson of Rochester
GOP Sen. Pamela Wolf of Spring Lake Park
GOP Sen. Dave Thompson of Lakeville
GOP Sen. Ben Kruse of Brooklyn Park

Environment

House
GOP Rep. Dennis McNamara of Hastings
GOP Rep. Tom Hackbarth of Cedar
GOP Rep. Paul Torkelson of Nelson Township
GOP Rep. Joe Hoppe of Chaska
DFL Rep. Davie Dill of Crane Lake

Senate
GOP Sen. Ingebrigtsen of Alexandria
GOP Sen. Julie Rosen of Fairmont
GOP Sen. Chris Gerlach of Apple Valley
GOP Sen. Pederson of St. Cloud
GOP Sen. Gray Dahms of Redwood Falls

Health and Human Services

House
Conferees not named yet
GOP Rep. Jim Abeler of Anoka
GOP Rep. Steve Gottwalt of St. Cloud
GOP Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer of Big Lake
GOP Rep. Kathy Lohmer of Lake Elmo
DFL Rep. Tom Huntley of Duluth

Senate
GOP Sen. David Hann of Eden Prairie
GOP Sen. Sean Nienow of Cambridge
GOP Sen. Gretchen Hoffman of Vergas
GOP Sen. Michelle Benson of Ham Lake
GOP Sen. Scott Newman of Hutchinson

Higher Education

House
GOP Rep. Bud Nornes of Fergus Falls
GOP Rep. Bob Dettmer of Forest Lake
GOP Rep. Kurt Daudt of Crown
GOP Rep. Pat Mazorol of Bloomington
GOP Rep. David Hancock of Bemidji

Senate
GOP Sen. Michelle Fischbach of Paynesville
GOP Sen. John Carlson of Bemidji
GOP Sen. David Brown of Becker
GOP Sen. Claire Robling of Jordan
GOP Sen. Dave Senjem of Rochester

Judiciary

House
Conferees not named yet
GOP Rep. Tony Cornish of Good Thunder
GOP Rep. Tim Kelly of Red Wing
GOP Rep. Steve Smith of Mound
GOP Rep. Bruce Vogel of Willmar
GOP Rep. Kelby Woodard of Belle Plain

Senate
GOP Sen. Warren Limmer of Maple Grove
GOP Sen. Scott Newman of Hutchinson
GOP Sen. Dan Hall of Burnsville
GOP Sen. Michael Jungbauer of East Bethel
GOP Sen. Julianne Ortman of Chanhassen

State Government Finance

House
Conferees not named yet
GOP Rep. Morrie Lanning of Moorhead
GOP Rep. Bruce Anderson of Buffalo Township
GOP Rep. Mike Benson of Rochester
GOP Rep. Keith Downey of Edina
GOP Rep. Kirk Stensrud of Eden Prairie

Senate

GOP Sen. Mike Parry of Waseca
GOP Sen. Paul Gazelka of Brainerd
GOP Sen. Ray Vandeveer of Forest Lake
GOP Sen. Ted Daley of Eagan
GOP Sen. David Thompson of Lakeville

Taxes

House
GOP Greg Davids of Preston
GOP Rep. Jennifer Loon of Eden Prairie
GOP Rep. Linda Runbeck of Circle Pines
GOP Rep. Sarah Anderson of Plymouth
DFL Rep. Ann Lenczewski of Bloomington

Senate
GOP Sen. Julianne Ortman of Chanhassen
GOP Sen. Julie Rosen of Fairmont
GOP Sen Dave Senjem of Rochester
GOP Sen. Rogher Chamberlain
GOP Sen. Warren Limmer of Maple Grove


Transportation

House
GOP Rep. Mike Beard of Shakopee
GOP Rep. Torrey Westrom of Elbow Lake
GOP Rep. Mark Murdock of Ottertail
GOP Rep. Mike Benson of Rochester
GOP Rep. Rich Murray of Albert Lea
GOP Rep. Ernie Leidiger of Mayer
(Note: Zellers removed Benson from the committee and added Murray. Benson is now on the State Government committee.)

Senate
GOP Sen. Joe Gimse of Willmar
GOP Sen. John Howe of Red Wing
GOP Sen. Al DeKruif of Madison Lake
GOP Sen. Ben Kruse of Brooklyn Park
GOP Sen. Ted Lillie of Lake Elmo

(1 Comments)

Dayton to discuss higher education cuts

Posted at 1:02 PM on April 11, 2011 by Tim Pugmire
Filed under: MN Legislature, Mark Dayton

Gov. Mark Dayton is scheduled to participate Wednesday in a roundtable discussion on higher education funding.

The event will be held at Metropolitan State University, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Representatives of the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, University of Minnesota, Private College Council and Minnesota Career Colleges will also participate.

An advisory for the roundtable lists several topics for discussion, including the impact of proposed spending cuts on people, jobs and tuition.

This will be Dayton's third roundtable on budget issues in recent weeks. He previously met with a group of mayors to discuss Local Government Aid and with representatives of the building trades to discuss economic development and a bonding bill.

Romney officially explores 2012 WH bid

Posted at 3:30 PM on April 11, 2011 by Mark Zdechlik
Filed under: Pawlenty travel

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney announced today he's formed a presidential exploratory committee. Like former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Romney used an Internet video to spread the news.


Romney's presentation is decidedly no-frills. Pawlenty's? Not so much. Remember the fast-paced, highly produced video his campaign put out on March 21?


Gone Hollywood?

Posted at 4:05 PM on April 11, 2011 by Tim Nelson
Filed under: MN Legislature

A film crew brought some bright lights to the Capitol this morning. They were filming on the south side of the Rotunda.

But, alas, it was for the small screen.

It was part of an ad campaign being prepared by the St. Paul-based Bush Foundation. Spokesman Scott Cooper says its a cooperative effort with 14 higher education institutions, promoting education careers.

"With all that's going on, you know," said Cooper, the profession could use some promotional help for prospective teachers. He said the ad will feature people in various settings talking about the importance of teachers in their lives.

Look for ads in May.

Freedom Club hits airwaves to hit Dayton

Posted at 4:36 PM on April 11, 2011 by Tom Scheck (13 Comments)

The conservative Freedom Club, a non-profit group of Minnesota business owners, announced today that it's launching a statewide TV ad campaign to criticize Gov. Mark Dayton's proposed budget. Michael Scholl, executive director of the Freedom Club, wouldn't say how much money the group is spending on the campaign except that it's "substantial." A person with knowledge of the buy says it's $130,000 and the ad will run in Duluth, Mankato, Minneapolis and Rochester.

Scholl said the ad is aimed at influencing lawmakers and the public as the budget debate begins.

"We have six weeks left in the session and our supporters want to make it perfectly clear that taxes aren't an option," Scholl said. "We have to cut spending."

The Freedom Club raised and spent more than $1 million to help elect Republicans to the Minnesota Legislature. In fact, the House Republican Campaign Committee gave the group $107,000 to do polling on legislative races in 2010.

Bob Cummins, who owns Primera Technology, George Anderson with Crown Holdings Inc., William Austin with Starkey Hearing Foundation, Micheal Fry with EBF & Associates and Dean Suquist with Mate Precision Tooling were the major contributors to the Freedom Club PAC in 2010.

The ad could be the first of many that run this legislative session as outside groups try to influence public opinion over the competing budget plans. A spokesman for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce says that group is still considering whether to run ads.

A spokeswoman for DFL leaning The Alliance for a Better Minnesota said she isn't sure if her group will run ads during the session.

A spokesman for Gov. Dayton had no comment on the ad buy by the Freedom Club.

(13 Comments)

Lawmakers hope Ag agrement sets the tone

Posted at 6:38 PM on April 11, 2011 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: MN Legislature, Mark Dayton

A joint House/Senate Conference committee has agreed on a bill that funds Agriculture programs over the next two years. The committee of ten Republicans and Democrats unanimously backed the measure. It spends $76 million in general fund revenue over the next two years on programs like agricultural research, food and plant inspection and agriculture education.

Republican Senator Doug Magnus says he hopes it's a sign that the GOP controlled Legislature can compromise with Democratic Governor Mark Dayton on other budget matters.

"Since we're the first horse out of the gate, we wanted to make sure we headed in the right direction and hoped everyone takes notice of what we've done," Magnus said.

The Ag budget bill historically receives bipartisan support and GOP Rep. Rod Hamilton hopes the full House and Senate can vote on the measure by the end of the week.

""I am very optimistic that we put a bill together that the governor can sign and it passed out of here on a bipartisan basis," Hamilton said. "We can work together."

Agriculture Commissioner Dave Frederickson told lawmakers that he would tell Governor Dayton to sign the bill.

While lawmakers are cheering the bipartisan agreement on the Ag bill, there will be tougher budget decisions ahead. Gov. Dayton has been calling for an income tax hike on Minnesota's top earners to balance the state's budget. Republicans in both the House and Senate say they'll oppose a tax increase of any kind.

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The feature examines statements made by Minnesota politicians and checks them for accuracy. Based on data analysis, document reviews and interviews with non-partisan analysts, statements are rated true, misleading, false or inconclusive. More

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