Capitol View

Capitol View: October 24, 2011 Archive

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The Daily Digest (Minneapolis makes Vikings push, Jobs Summit this week, Bachmann relies on homeschoolers)

Posted at 6:30 AM on October 24, 2011 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: Daily Digest


Jobs and the Economy lead the Digest.

Gov. Dayton holds his jobs summit on Tuesday.

The New York Times says President Obama will take a number of executive-branch actions to confront the economy.

The head of the Minneapolis Fed sees a slow recovery ahead.

The Eagan headquarters of Mesaba Airlines will close next year.

CNN says Europe's leaders are nearing a debt solution.

Under the Dome

Two House Committees will hold hearings tonight in St. Cloud and Rochester on efforts to unionize at-home day care. Gov. Dayton has not decided whether he'll issue an executive order allowing at-home day care providers to vote on joining a union.

Vikings Stadium

Gov. Dayton meets with Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and City Council President Barb Johnson this morning.

Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch appeared on WCCO's Sunday Morning. Koch said "I would have to look at any kind of deal but I would like a referendum in Ramsey County."

Tidbit: Notice how Koch said the Vikings are "a part of our history and our heritage for 50 years" several times during the q and a? Republicans are talking about using Legacy money for the stadium.

Gov. Dayton spoke on the likelihood of building the stadium in Arden Hills.

The Star Tribune says there is a new push to put the stadium in Minneapolis.

Redistricting

Oral arguments on redistricting criteria will be held on Wednesday.

The New York Times says the battle to draw the boundaries goes to the courts.

Same-sex marriage amendment

AP says Minnesota's companies are sitting on the sidelines.

MPR reports that Oral Roberts gay grandson will preach tolerance in Minnesota.

Congress

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warns Iran to not misread the U.S. departure from Iraq.

Clinton's comments come two days after President Obama said the war in Iraq is over.

Minnesota's delegation reacts to the decision.


The Washington Post says President Obama's effort to aid homeowners and boost the housing market fall short of goals.

Politico reports that 200 companies and special interests have filed to lobby the Super Committee.

DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar is set to unveil the next phase of the jobs bill.

Klobuchar, DFL Sen. Al Franken and DFL Rep. Tim Walz are pushing the White House on the Lewis and Clark water pipeline.

DFL Rep. Keith Ellison warns fellow Democrats about rushing to embrace the Occupy Wall St. movement. He said the protesters need to find their political leaders on their own timeline.

Party politics

The Star Tribune profiles Alida Messinger - a big-time DFL donor.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley will be in the Twin Cities on Thursday to appear at a fundraiser with Gov. Dayton. The two will raise money for the Democratic Governors Association.

Race for President

MPR reports that Iowa's homeschool advocates could help GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann win that state.

Bachmann says Iraq must reimburse the U.S. for the war.

Bachmann dismissed the idea of giving up in New Hampshire.

ABC News says some of Bachmann's staffers haven't been paid for a month.

The Star Tribune says Bachmann taps into repeat donations.

Bachmann also defended her health care policy during an appearance in Iowa.

Bachmann says Herman Cain flip-flops on policy.

The New York Times says Cain came to Washington D.C. as a lobbyist.

Ron Paul calls for the end to federal student loan program.

Severson raised $35k in 3rd Quarter but a portion came from personal loan

Posted at 7:03 AM on October 24, 2011 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: Campaign 2012: U.S. Senate

Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Dan Severson's campaign finance report shows that the former state Representative raised $35,686 in the 3rd Quarter. The report lists that he has $27,820 in the bank. Severson also lists $6,300 in debt and shows that he loaned his campaign $6,300 since the start of his campaign. He loaned himself $3,000 in the latest fundraising quarter.

Severson, who lost his bid for Minnesota Secretary of State against Democrat Mark Ritchie in 2010, is vying for the GOP endorsement against Joe Arwood. Arwood, a St. Bonifacius city council member, reported raising $10,000 in the 3rd Quarter.

The eventual GOP nominee will face DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar. She reported raising more than $1 million in the 3rd Quarter and has more than $4 million in the bank.

Evangelical Iowa homeschoolers could be important to Bachmann campaign

Posted at 8:39 AM on October 24, 2011 by Mark Zdechlik (2 Comments)
Filed under: Michele Bachmann

A prominent Iowa homeschooler says Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann probably has more support from homeschoolers in the state than any of the other GOP presidential candidates. Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators President Justin LaVan told MPR News that Bachmann appears to be the favorite among Iowa homeschoolers, followed by Ron Paul and Rick Santorum.

"I think she's probably pretty well positioned and if they're like most of the homeschool families I know they're pretty well set on their decision," said LaVan.

LaVan said most homeschool families have likely already analyzed their priorities as Christian, or evangelical Christian, families and they're unlikely to withdraw that support.

The Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators does not endorse candidates, but the group provides its thousands of members with political information.

Iowa homeschoolers are widely credited with helping Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee win his surprise 2008 GOP caucus victory.

(2 Comments)

Koch hits Vikings tailgate

Posted at 9:46 AM on October 24, 2011 by Tom Scheck (2 Comments)
Filed under: MN Legislature, Mark Dayton, Vikings stadium

IMG951286.jpg

From MPR's Tim Nelson...

With the Vikings stadium debate still unresolved at the Capitol, it looks like fans of the team took the opportunity to do a little tailgate lobbying this weekend in Minneapolis.

That's 'Save the Vikes' founder Cory Merrifield at bottom right, with GOP Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch sporting a natty Vikings scarf.

No word on whether they won any points with Koch on behalf of the team.

It looks like the meeting today between Koch, her legislative colleagues and Gov. Mark Dayton, floated by the governor last week isn't happening. Word.is it may happen Friday.

(2 Comments)

Bachmann's former New Hampshire team issues statement

Posted at 10:25 AM on October 24, 2011 by Catharine Richert (3 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2012, Michele Bachmann

Former staffers of Rep. Michele Bachmann's New Hampshire campaign have issued a joint statement to clarify reports surrounding their resignation, indicating that there was bad blood between members of the state staff and Bachmann's national team.

Those team members include Jeff Chidester, Bachmann's New Hampshire campaign manager, Nicole Yurek, Mattheu LeDuc, Caroline Gigler, and Tom Lukacz.

The five-person group's decision to disband came after "much soul-searching by each individual and after countless hours of discussion as a team," the statement reads. "Although the team members regret our departure from the campaign, we know there was very little choice."

The team said that even though they "collectively felt loyalty to the candidate, they no longer have faith in the national team," a view they shared with Bachmann's national staff on several occasions but that they feel was "not taken seriously by some members of the national team."

The staffers say that they were regularly ignored by the national team and not included in strategy discussions.

The statement says that the national team's attitude toward the New Hampshire staff extended to the voters of New Hampshire as well:

"The manner in which some in the national team conducted themselves towards Team-NH was rude,unprofessional, dishonest, and at times cruel. But more concerning was how abrasive, discourteous, and dismissive some within the national team were towards many New Hampshire citizens. These are our neighbors and our friends, and some within the national team treated them more as a nuisance than as potential supporters."

Members of the team were asked to temporarily go off the payroll until the middle of October, 2011 due to financial concerns within the campaign, according to the statement.

Read the entire new release here.

(3 Comments)

Is a racino coming up on the inside rail?

Posted at 5:31 PM on October 24, 2011 by Tim Nelson
Filed under: MN Legislature, Vikings stadium

Rep. Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar, said last week that he's been resuscitating plans to fund a new Vikings stadium with a plan that would allow slot machines at the state's two horse tracks. And now he says he's got the paperwork to prove it works.

Hackbarth asked the state to release a fiscal note on his so-called Racino bill, outlining how much money the state might net if it authorized trackside slots. The answer? A lot.

"It's $137 million a year, that we have to spend, and we can pay not only the state's portion, the $300 million, but you can also assume that we can pay the $350 million that Ramsey County was going to be on the hook for," Hackbarth says. "We can do the $650 (million) out of this...And then you've got money left over."

Hackbarth suggested the Racino legislation would provide $27 million for a new St. Paul Saints stadium and will allow lawmakers to pay back a portion of the K12 school shift used to balance the state's budget.

Here's the paperwork itself -- be warned it's about 30 pages long. Hackbarth says the operative number is on the first page -- listed in the FY15 column in the "New Fund" row. Hackbarth says would be the Vikings stadium fund.

As far as we know, this is the note's public debut. The Minnesota Indian Gaming Association's executive director, John McCarthy, says he's heard about the note, but hadn't seen it yet.

McCarthy says, however, that he's seen state-sanctioned gaming notes before:

"People actually involved in the gambling industry see things a little differently," he says. "I don't know that they're taking into account competition or other factors..."

The bottom line, McCarthy says, is that Racino won't be what state officials are hoping for.

One problem for Racino backers is how many votes the plan would garner from Democrats. DFL Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk said his caucus isn't inclined to support any expansion of gambling. He said fewer than five Senate Democrats would be likely to support a Racino bill or a bill that would build a casino in downtown Minneapolis.

Racino Fiscal Note

MPR's Tom Scheck contributed to this report.

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