Polinaut Category Archive: MN Legislature

Pawlenty wants statewide vote on spending cap

Posted at 2:24 PM on November 5, 2009 by Tim Pugmire (3 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2010, MN Legislature, Minnesota Governor, Tim Pawlenty

Gov. Tim Pawlenty is calling for constitutional amendment to cap state spending. His proposal would limit spending to the amount of revenue the state collected in the last two year budget period. Pawlenty says his proposal would force future governors and state lawmakers to set spending priorities.

"We need to change the way that we budget in the state of Minnesota from what we want to spend to what we have brought in the door," Pawlenty said. "Our proposal does exactly that. It is budgeting based on what is in the checkbook rather than what we hope is in the checkbook in the future."

You can listen to his full news conference here:

Listen

Here's some of the reaction to the proposal:

"At first blush, it does seem odd, that on your way out the door, with a pending $5 to $7 billion deficit, you would now recommend something that you haven't even proposed to the Legislature." - Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis

"If the Governor thinks this idiotic approach to budgeting is such a great idea, I challenge him to prove it by spending in his campaign for President during the next two years (2010 & 2011), only what he has raised for that purpose during the past two years (2008 & 2009)." - Mark Dayton, DFL candidate for governor

"I think there's some serious questions about if we do this how do we then account for all of the gimmicks (K12 shift, June accelerated sales tax) that have been used to keep the state's budget in balance during the most recent difficult times." - Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, candidate for governor

"Today, Governor Pawlenty once again put his national political ambitions above the people of Minnesota. Pawlenty walked away from negotiations with the Legislature last year and now he is proposing a constitutional amendment that would allow him to walk away from the ongoing budget problem that was created by his failed "no-new-taxes" agenda." - House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kellier, DFL-Minneapolis, candidate for governor

"I stand firmly behind Governor Tim Pawlenty's announcement today and his bold effort to bring common sense to Minnesota's budgeting process. This proposed constitutional amendment requiring that state government spending be tied to actual general fund revenue is government at its best - one that is both responsive to the concerns of the public and responsible with the hard-earned tax dollars that we are entrusted with." - Senate Minority Leader David Senjem, R-Rochester

"Gov. Pawlenty is proposing that we govern the state by looking in the rearview mirror instead of looking to the future. This is a simplistic approach to tackling Minnesota's challenges coming from a governor who has taken little interest in actually managing the state budget to meet our needs." - Rep. Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, candidate for governor

"Gov. Pawlenty's bold proposal for a constitutional amendment capping government spending is to be commended by all Minnesotans who value sensible government and fiscal sanity. While this idea will no doubt face fierce opposition from Democrats intent on hiking taxes and making government bigger, it will benefit taxpayers who must foot the bill for the state's spending. The Republican Party of Minnesota will do its part to make sure this reform measure goes to the voters in 2010." - State GOP Chairman Tony Sutton

"The Legislature has shown, regardless of who is in the majority, that it cannot control itself when it comes to spending the taxpayers' money. I dispute the assertion that limiting spending would mean less money for schools, public safety or other core services of government. We can fund what we need to, we will just have to get serious about setting priorities." - Rep. Paul Kohls, R-Victoria, who plans to carry the amendment

"Tim Pawlenty has once again proved that he is interested in gimmicks, not governing. Pawlenty has specialized in shifts, hiding costs, and calling taxes fees for his entire administration. His newest ploy is simply more of the same diverting Minnesotans from a real conversation about the challenges that we face. Everything Pawlenty has done this year is about his own political future, not whats best for Minnesotans. The timing of this proposal on the heels of his PAC fundraiser could not be more politically cynical." - Steve Kelley, DFL candidate for governor

"Issues like this have failed in other states and really what it does is it forces cuts to quality education, health care and we could see more property tax increases." House Majority Leader Tony Sertich, DFL-Chisholm

"I'm not going to hold back job growth and shackle our economy. This is nothing more than a gimmick, and when I'm governor, I'm going to end governance by gimmick." Matt Entenza, DFL candidate for governor

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Democrats oppose Pawlenty plan, whatever it might be

Posted at 10:31 AM on November 5, 2009 by Tim Pugmire (2 Comments)
Filed under: MN Legislature, Tim Pawlenty

Gov. Tim Pawlenty had not yet held his news conference this morning to announce a proposed constitutional amendment, but Democrats got an early jump on criticizing the proposal, whatever it is.

House Majority Leader Tony Sertich, DFL-Chisholm, issued the following all-purpose, negative news release:

Statement from House Majority Leader Tony Sertich on the Governor's upcoming press conference:

"While we do not yet have all the details about the Governor's upcoming announcement, we fully expect it will have nothing to do with strengthening schools, improving health care or creating jobs for struggling Minnesotans.

This is much more about grabbing headlines than it is about addressing the immediate needs of Minnesota families. Ideas like the one he's proposing have been tried in other states and have failed.

The real killer for Minnesota families is the $2 billion more in property taxes they've paid since Governor Pawlenty took office.

Clearly, this proposal is not for Minnesota."

House Majority Leader Tony Sertich

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Lawsuit filed challenging unallotment

Posted at 6:01 PM on October 29, 2009 by Tom Scheck (0 Comments)
Filed under: MN Legislature, Tim Pawlenty

A lawsuit filed in Ramsey County District Court is challenging Governor Pawlenty's decision to balance the budget on his own. The suit is asking the court to restore money for two programs -- one that funds low income Minnesotans who have special diet needs and another that provided a renter's property tax credit. In July, Pawlenty balanced the budget on his own after he failed to reach agreement with the Legislature on the best way to erase a multi-billion deficit. Galen Robinson, with Mid-Minnesota Legal Assistance, said Pawlenty exceeded his authority.

"The two branches of government --the legislative and executive --have a responsibility to work together to resolve problems. The governor can call the Legislature back into special session to resolve disputes and finish legislation. He chose not to do this although there was time to do it."

This is the second lawsuit filed challenging Pawlenty's use of unallotment. A Ramsey County judge is currently considering a suit over Pawlenty's cut to the political contribution refund. Brian McClung, a spokesman for Pawlenty, said the governor is confident in his legal authority to use unallotment to balance the state budget.

(h/t MinnPost)

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Lesch headed for basic training

Posted at 10:09 AM on October 9, 2009 by Tim Nelson
Filed under: MN Legislature

Fourth-term St. Paul DFLer John Lesch said today he's heading for Fort Benning next week to start basic training with the Minnesota National Guard.

That's right, he's run off and joined the army.

Or the Minnesota National Guard, more properly put.

It's something he says he's always considered. (He is also a former seminarian, and once considered the Catholic priesthood.) He said his controversial and unauthorized trip to Baghdad in 2006 helped renew his interest in military service -- even though U.S. authorities weren't exactly thrilled at the time that he'd shown up uninvited in their midst in Iraq.

Still, Lesch says he's going to do it the right way this time. He's temporarily leaving his job as a St. Paul city proseuctor and going to Georgia for basic training. He plans to return to Minnesota in time for the legislative session on February 4.

While active military service in the Legislature is rare, it's not unheard of: one-time DFL Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson was a National Guard general while at the Capitol.

Lesch, though, is going in at a little lower rank. He says he'll be an E-4, one step above a private 1st class.

"I have a lot of constituents and many of my colleagues have constituents who have been activated and deployed overseas," Lesch said. "I'm going to get a different perspective about how to serve those constituents and what their needs are."

And then some, no doubt.

Hear the new House Minority Leader

Posted at 10:35 AM on June 25, 2009 by Mike Mulcahy
Filed under: MN Legislature

Rep. Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, is on Midday at 11. Zellers was elected House Minority Leader Tuesday night. He's taking over the job from Marty Seifert, who is running for governor.

Sales tax deal headed for conference committee

Posted at 11:12 AM on May 18, 2009 by Tim Nelson (1 Comments)
Filed under: MN Legislature

A pair of DFL senators say there's a deal on the table for doling out the proceeds from the new 3/8 cent sales tax.

It's the only bright spot in an otherwise gloomy scenario this session. The tax is expected to raise about $234 million in the next fiscal year, starting in July.

Tom Saxhaug, of Grand Rapids, said a few minutes ago "there will be an Article I" when the conference committee meets at 1 p.m. today. He isn't promising that everyone will vote for it.

But he seemed confident that the House's most controversial outdoor provisions -- the ones generating some angst among hunters, anglers and the Lessard Outdoor Heritage Commission -- have been paved over.

He demurred on another of the controversial elements on debate over the new tax. A few lawmakers were trying to take retired Sen. Bob Lessard's name off the Lessard Outdoor Heritage Committee that doles out a big chunk of the money. The name "will be in there, somehow," Saxhaug said of his former colleague.

Patricia Torres Ray, of Minneapolis, said the less-controversial parks, trails and clean water provisions are done and look good for this afternoon's meeting.

We haven't been able to track down Dick Cohen, the conference committee's DFL co-chair. But as one of the Legislatures' most ardent patrons of the arts, he's been the most insistent on getting a deal done. Presumably, Cohen will have something to bring to the table today.

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The Bad News Bearers

Posted at 2:19 PM on March 3, 2009 by Tim Nelson
Filed under: MN Legislature

State officials released a revised budget forecast this morning, including a gap between revenues and projected expenditures that's 25 percent wider than it was in November. The real gap stands at about $6.4 billion dollars, a near record. Federal stimulus funds, though, are expected to buy down the actual gap to about $4.6 billion.

Here's what it looked like as state budget director Tom Hanson, standing at the podium, delivered the news to a roomful of reporters (in front) and lobbyists (in back) in Room 15 at the State Capitol. (Click for a bigger version.)

Here's the full-sized file. The tick-tock on the announcement and what the governor, DFL and GOP legislators had to say, is below.

Pawlenty campaign raised $750,000 in '08

Posted at 11:49 AM on January 28, 2009 by Mike Mulcahy (3 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2008, MN Legislature

One of the biggest guessing games in Minnesota politics is whether Gov. Tim Pawlenty plans to run for re-election next year. Pawlenty won't tip his hand until after the legislative session because he doesn't want his political plans to add even another level of contention to the debate over the budget.

But the governor's campaign reported today that Pawlenty is sitting on a healthy and growing war chest. The governor raised just over $750,000 last year and increased his cash on hand from about $375,000 to nearly $580,000. Not a bad place to start from if he is planning to run.

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Don't look now

Posted at 9:46 AM on January 9, 2009 by Tim Nelson (2 Comments)
Filed under: MN Legislature

The first week of the Session up at the Capitol saw a rather, um, unheralded debut.

The state Senate started using its new "reader boards." They're the signs on either side of the chamber that show what the Senate is doing and how each member votes.

The reader boards are known more affectionately by Republicans as "Jumbotron," but not necessarily for the size of the displays.

The new digital signage is part of a system that includes voting buttons for Senators and touch screens for Senate staff. The package cost about half a million dollars and went up last fall.

Senate staff said at the time that the old voting system was almost 30 years old and they couldn't get spare parts for it any more. (By the way, it looks like some of it may have been scrapped out to a corridor in the Capitol basement, if you're short of parts for your own Reagan-era legislative reader board.)

The new one is swank: it's full color and can display photos, as well as votes and bill information. It also displays votes with a "Y" and an "N." The old one used colored lights that were sometimes difficult to decipher on television.

And did we mention the new boards are FULL COLOR?

Minneapolis DFLer Linda Higgins said from the floor that the font hue made the new board a little hard to read. She encouraged staff to change it to something more legible.

Her DFL colleague from St. Paul went even farther. "I find it glary," said Sandy Pappas, after noting the blue-green LED color of the lettering. "It makes me dizzy and nauseous."

You could practically see the shaudenfreude on the Republicans' faces. They voted against the Senate budget that included the upgrade.

"It's the money that makes me ill," said Paynesville Republican Michelle Fischbach, during a visit to Polinaut's World Headquarters yesterday. "You know, the old board served its purpose. The people of Minnesota were able to tell how we voted on a bill, how we voted on an amendment... We didn't have to spend a half million dollars that makes DFL Senators sick."

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One of the "override six" defeated

Posted at 11:22 PM on November 4, 2008 by Molly Bloom (2 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2008, MN Legislature

Tom Weber reports that Ron Erhardt, one of the "override six" now running as an independent, has been defeated in district 41A.

Republican Keith Downey is projected to defeat Erhardt and DFL challenger Kevin Staunton.

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Another DFL pickup in the MN House

Posted at 10:26 PM on November 4, 2008 by Molly Bloom
Filed under: Campaign 2008, MN Legislature

Reporter Tom Weber tells us that DFLer Kory Kath has defeated Republican Owatonna Mayor Tom Kuntz. This was Republican Rep. Connie Ruth's seat.

MN House race update

Posted at 9:35 PM on November 4, 2008 by Molly Bloom
Filed under: Campaign 2008, MN Legislature

Each party manages to flip an open seat.

DFL candidate Jerry Newton defeats Jake Cimenski in district 49B. This was Kathy Tinglestad's district, one of the "override six."

In district 51A, Republican Tim Sanders defeats DFLer Shawn Hamilton. DFL incumbent Rep. Scott Kranz did not seek re-election.

The Daily Digest: 1-4-08

Posted at 9:06 AM on January 4, 2008 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: Daily Digest, MN Legislature, President

Which is more shocking: A convincing Mike Huckabee win in Iowa, a convincing Barack Obama win in Iowa or a convincing win by DFLer Kevin Dahle in Senate District 25?

The Digest is still in Iowa where the amount of oxygen increased significantly now that the press corps is headed to New Hampshire. Here's an interesting tidbit - someone on the radio said that the Des Moines airport expects several thousand rental cars to be returned today. Just ship them on up to St. Paul for the RNC Convention but make sure you clean the fast food stains off the upholstery.

Was it good for you, Iowa?

The Iowa caucuses are now over. Obama and Huckabee now get the bounce as they head to New Hampshire for Tuesday's primary. Some are calling the victories "an earthquake in the Midwest." Which one of these fine gentlemen came up with earthquake term first - Brooks or Broder?

MPR wonders whether Iowa will effect Minnesota voters. Gov. Pawlenty tells KIMT that it will. Pawlenty was in Mason City last night speaking on behalf of Arizona Senator John at a caucus.

I'm told that was Pawlenty's last campaign related activity between now and Tuesday's New Hampshire primary.

The Obama organizers in Minnesota and the co-chairs for Mitt Romney's Minnesota steering committee will be talking this afternoon about their preparations for the February 5th Caucuses.

Moving on to other earthquakes (or mild tremors)

DFLer Kevin Dahle also won convincingly over former GOP Rep. Ray Cox in Senate District 25. The Senate (controlled by DFLers) is now veto proof. Don't get all crazy about overrides, DFLers. GOP House Minority Leader Marty Seifert has made it his mission to sustain vetoes.

Cox told the Star Tribune that DFL Rep. Tim Walz and DFL U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken helped turn out the vote on Dahle's behalf.

State government

Gov. Pawlenty and Will Steger hold a forum on climate change today in Ely.

The Star Tribune chases the Pi Press on the new Ventura book. Why all the hate in your heart, Gov. Ventura?:

"I won't put myself in front of them again. I will talk to any other media in America, but not the ones from Minnesota. When I go on tour for this book, it won't happen in my home state. I'm not going to put them in a position to make money off me anymore. When I give a quote, they're going to have to give credit to someone else that I said it to. It's the only way I can strike back at them."

MPR chases as well but says the CIA confirms that a meeting with former Gov. Jesse Ventura did occur.

The Pi Press has a story saying the smoking ban is harming a club.

The former director of state and local government affairs at Northwest Airlines will now be working on transportation issues for a lobbying firm. Transportation -- Hmm? Is that going to be a big issue at the Capitol this session? That's a joke for the more serious folks out there. If you can't tell, I'm sleep deprived and over caffeinated. Not a good sign for a long drive home.

Congress

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Magill has been chosen as the acting U.S. Attorney for the district of Minnesota. He replaces Rachel Paulose. MPR and the Star Tribune have stories.

DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar opens an office on the Iron Range.

She's also working to replace the 148th jets in Duluth. GOP Sen. Norm Coleman is mentioned as well.

2008

Brian Davis, a Republican hoping to challenge DFL Rep. Tim Walz in Minnesota's 1st, reports raising $80 thousand.