LWVMN Capitol Letter™ -April 16, 2008

The Capitol Letter™ is a report of the activities of the LWVMN volunteer lobbyists. It is published approximately every two weeks during the Legislative Session.

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Education

LWVMN Position: LWVMN believes all Minnesota children should have equal access to a good public education. State funding for education should be at a level that makes programs of comparable substance and quality available to all. A student's access to a good education should not depend on the wealth of his or her school district.

Kay Kessel, lobbyist, (612) 926-1387

The session has gone by quickly and major events have occurred. Not only have the education committees kept their eyes on finances, they have been unwavering in their determination to close the achievement gap. SF3151/HF3472, sponsored by Sen. Patricia Torres Ray (DFL-62-Minneapolis) and Rep. Carlos Mariani (DFL-65B-Saint Paul) has helped keep the Minnesota educational system on course. The bills provide a plan for districts experiencing disparities to reduce the achievement gap by mandating that districts submit plans to improve student's academic achievement to the commissioner of education. The plan must (1) reflect a research-based understanding of high performing educational systems and best educational practices, (2) include innovative and practical strategies and programs, and (3) contain valid and reliable measures of student achievement that the district uses. Please see the full bills for details.

Meanwhile, this LWVMN lobbyist has been monitoring the School Finance Reform Task Force. This year the task force is chaired by Sen. Terri Bonoff (DFL-43-Minnetonka), Rep. Mindy Greiling (DFL-54A-Roseville) and Commissioner of Education Alice Seagren. Members of the task force are: Rep. Jim Davnie (DFL-62A-Minneapolis); Rep. Carol McFarlane (R-53B-White Bear Lake); Rep. Terry Morrow (DFL-23A-Saint Peter); Sen. Amy Koch (R-19-Buffalo); Sen. Dan Skogen (DFL-10-Hewitt); and Sen. Torres.

The recommendations of the task force are seen in what may be a new Minnesota Miracle, HF4178.

Rep. Mindy Greiling (DFL-54A-Roseville) unveiled the bill this week and it also includes positions from P.S. Minnesota, a coalition of educational organizations committed to increasing funding for education. LWVMN is part of this coalition.

On Thursday, April 10, Supt. Ric Dressen, original chair of the Finance Reform Task Force and now head of the Edina School District, spoke in favor of this bill. Supt. Greg Vandal, Sauk Rapids Rice District, and lead educator in the state for P.S. Minnesota, also testified in favor of the bill, as did Superintendent of the Year Mark Robertson of Fridley. Supt. Vandal was passionate as he testified that all Minnesota public schools are in desperate need of adequate funding and we have a constitutional duty to find a better, more equitable way to fund education in our state. Rep. Greiling's leadership has given him hope that we might succeed, he said.

Some provisions in the HF4178 are below; please see the bill for detail.

All children K-12 are counted as one pupil unit for state funding;
Provides funding for voluntary all day Kindergarten by weighting kindergartners as one pupil unit;
Lifts the five-year limit on non-English speaking students qualifying for limited English proficiency (LEP) revenue;
Increases the basic LEP revenue from $700 per pupil to 20 percent of the formula allowance ($1,500) per pupil;
Allows all districts to levy for deferred maintenance, rather than just the 21 largest districts;
Removes statewide cap on special education revenue so that each school district's initial formula amount of special education revenue is fully funded;
Places a location equity index into the formula;
Switches out $500 of local levy with state aid;
Adds transportation money;
Declining enrollment aid - creates a new component of general education revenue for districts with declining enrollment; and
Specifies that a certain percentage of general education revenue be set aside:
- 1% for gifted and talented services;
- 1.5% for innovation and research-based programs to increase learning;
- 0.5 for additional career and technical programming; and
- operating capital, staff development and basic skills revenue must be set aside as is required by current law.

HF4178 is a bill for the future. The two education finance bills for this session, SF3631/HF2475, sponsored by Sen. LeRoy Stumpf (DFL-1-Plummer) and Rep. Greiling have passed out of education committees. Sen. Stumpf's bill has had its second reading on the Senate floor and Rep. Greiling's bill has been laid over for possible inclusion in the Education Omnibus Finance bill.

There was an interesting report that Sen. Geoff Michel (R-41-Edina) and Sen. David Hann (R-42-Eden Prairie), who have served or are serving on the Senate E-12 Education Budget Division, are giving a grade of F to the federal government's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) bill. They recommend that the federal government should not run our classrooms; parents, teachers, and administrators must be empowered to control local education. The LWVMN has been concerned about NCLB and we have sponsored public forums in several cities, including New Ulm, Minneapolis, and Rochester (Star Tribune, April 2, 2008). We will continue to follow this debate.

Mary Cecconi, Parents United for Public Schools held a public forum on April 7th, bringing together legislators, parents and grandparents, and citizens to become informed about the ongoing rescue effort needed in Minnesota to properly fund our schools. Mary Cecconi is one of the outstanding leaders in Minnesota to keep us focused on our students and their right to an optimal public education.

Thanks to Parents United for Public Schools Update, 4/11/08 for some of this information

State Government Finance

LWVMN Position: LWVMN supports a balanced and diversified revenue system that is equitable, progressive, and reliable. Support of long-term financial management projections and a budget reserve. (1995)

LWVMN Position: LWVMN believes that the highest priority areas for state spending are the following: (1) K-12 (regular) education; (2) Health Care; (3) Environmental protection....

Laura Fredrick Wang, LWVMN Legislative Coordinator, (651) 224-5445

Speculation over how Gov. Tim Pawlenty would handle the Legislature's bonding bill ended April 7 when he used his line-item veto to trim $208 million from the bill. That is about $100 million more than was needed to bring the $925 million bill within his target.

The extra amount that the governor cut from the bill, along with the items that he chose to cut, has resulted in even more speculation as legislators, lobbyists and other political watchers wonder exactly what message the governor was sending and what comes next. First, some examples of projects that were cut from the bonding bill, courtesy of the Session Weekly:

$70 million for the Central Corridor Light-Rail project that would link Minneapolis and St. Paul;
$72 million for various University of Minnesota and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system projects, including $24 million for a new Bell Museum of Natural History on the university's St. Paul campus;
$20 million for various center city improvements and expansions, including $3 million for renovation design for Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis;
$18.5 million for improvements to various metropolitan area parks and trails, including $11 million for improvements exhibits at St. Paul's Como Zoo;
$11.75 million for proposed rail and transit projects, including $4 million for planning of a high-speed rail line connecting St. Paul to Chicago; and
$7.7 million for various sports centers proposed through the Amateur Sports Commission.

A couple of details involving what was not in the bill that was sent to the governor along with what was included in his veto make this an intriguing story, and have watchers of the process wondering if this is really the final word on bonding. Gov. Pawlenty had previously expressed support for the vetoed Central Corridor project. The Legislature did not, however, include $40 million that the governor had wanted for creation of a new Lake Vermillion State Park. Could the fact that the veto brought the bill a little over $100 million under the governor's target be an invitation for a second bonding bill this session to address these two projects? Some observers of the process think so. Keep an eye on this as the subject of future negotiation.

In the meantime, a conference committee is meeting to hammer out the details of the supplemental budget bill addressing the state's budget deficit. Word from the committee is that the process of reconciling the House and Senate bill is painstaking and slow and as of the writing of this Capitol Letter™, the committee was still working through the bill.

If you are following the process and would like updates before the bi-weekly Capitol Letter™ can get to your inbox, we recommend the comprehensive budget blog put out by the Minnesota Budget Project. The Minnesota Budget Project is part of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and does comprehensive analysis on the state budget as well as providing excellent links to spreadsheets and other resources to make sense of the complicated budget process.

Election Law

LWVUS Position: LWVUS believes voting is a fundamental citizen right that must be guaranteed.

LWVUS Position: LWVUS promotes the election of the President and Vice President by direct popular vote and abolish the electoral college. Support uniform national voting qualifications and procedures for presidential election.

LWVMN Position: LWVMN supports improvements in election laws regulating election procedures, voting and school district elections.

Gwen Myers, Action Committee Chair, (952) 545-8696

The Voting Rights Coalition is learning more about the rules-making process every day. As reported in the last Capitol Letter™, Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Richard C. Luis supported changes proposed by the Office of the Secretary of State (OSS) on March 24. However, at the time we did not understand all the steps in this process.

We thought the rules were going directly to the governor for approval, but in fact they go to the Revisor of Statute's office, which puts bills into proper legal form and apparently does the same for rules. After the revisor, they go back past the ADJ and then to the governor. The OSS hoped that the governor would have the rules by April 11, and then he will have 14 days to act on them.

Meanwhile, back at the Capitol, on April 3 the governor signed HF1546, the bill intended to keep voter registration rolls updated. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-44A-Saint Louis Park) and Sen. Dan Larson (DFL-63-Bloomington). Once the OSS proves that they have the processes in place to actually do this, the voter rolls will be automatically updated when voters move and file a change-of-address form with the U.S. Post Office. The VRC is very pleased that this bill passed into law.

SF1298, which requires that Election Day challengers prove they are Minnesota citizens, passed in the Senate last year. It passed the House after several amendments were offered on April 7. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-19B-Delano) offered an amendment to require a photo ID to vote, establish a process for obtaining a free voter ID card for anyone without a driver's license, and institute provisional ballots. (Journal 9814) The VRC opposes all of these and the amendment failed 59-70.

Rep. Laura Brod (R-25A-New Prague) offered an amendment that would have made voter registration efforts more difficult, including a provision that would have required the OSS to set up a required training program for anyone who participates in a voter registration drive that registers more than five people. (Journal 9810) The VRC opposes making it more difficult to register voters; the amendment failed 48-92.

After a very long debate, SF1298, sponsored by Sen. Linda Higgins (DFL-58-Minneapolis) and Rep. Bill Hilty (DFL-08A-Finlayson), finally passed the house 130-0. It was received in the Senate on April 10 where Sen. Higgins moved that the Senate not accept the House language and that a conference committee be appointed. The Senate conferees are Sen. Higgins, Sen. Ann Rest (DFL-45-New Hope) and Sen. Larson. House conferees are Rep. Hilty, Rep. Jeremy Kalin (DFL-17B-Lindstrom) and Rep. Neil Peterson (R-41B-Bloomington).

Comparatively, HF3172 passed uneventfully. This bill provides for non-partisan election judges and agent delivery of ballots to the disabled. It passed the House 131-0 on April 7 and was substituted for SF2574 on General Orders in the Senate for April 14. We expect passage.

Thanks to Jonathan Maurer-Jones of the Voting Rights Coalition for much of this information.

Transportation

LWVMN's Transportation Position is based on LWVUS Natural Resources and Positions and the LWVMN State Government Spending Position.

LWVUS Position: LWVUS supports comprehensive long-range planning; wise decision making requires consideration of environmental, public health, social and economic impacts of proposed plans...

LWVUS Position: LWVUS believes that energy-efficient and environmentally sound transportation systems should afford better access to housing and jobs. . . .

LWVUS Position - Air Quality: LWVUS supports measures to reduce vehicular pollution, including... development of more energy-efficient transportation systems.

LWVUS Position - Land Use: Support for land-use planning that reflects conservation and wise management of resources.

LWVMN Position - State Government Spending: LWVMN supports maintaining a viable state-wide transportation system, including public transit.

Sally Sawyer, lobbyist, (612) 379-7199

A few weeks ago the Central Corridor Light Rail seemed to be "on track": five of the seven metro county boards—Ramsey, Anoka, Hennepin, Dakota and Washington—voted to levy a quarter-cent sales tax and enacted a Joint Powers Agreement to administer the funds for transit projects, including the Central Corridor. Then on Monday, April 7, the project encountered an unexpected obstacle: Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) included the $70 million set aside for the Central Corridor among over 50 line-item vetoes of projects in the Capital Investment Bill. This veto was especially surprising since the Governor's original bonding proposal contained funding for the project.

Should the funds not be forthcoming, Minnesota stands to lose $450 million in federal funds; there is fierce competition for these funds among metropolitan areas throughout the country. A delay in construction could increase project costs by $40 million. The governor cited the size of the Capital Investment Bill presented to him by the Legislature as a reason for his veto. However, there is speculation that the Governor might be receptive to restoring light rail funding if the Legislature is willing to restore some of his requests—for example, a proposed state park for Lake Vermillion.

The importance of the Central Corridor Light Rail cannot be over-stated: it is a crucial component in a comprehensive transportation system, linking the downtowns of Minneapolis and Saint Paul and the University of Minnesota to the Northstar Commuter Rail and the Hiawatha Light Rail as well as to possible future rail lines, such as a high-speed train from St. Paul to Rochester to Chicago and St. Paul to Duluth. The line would reduce congestion, give commuters transportation options, improve air and environmental quality, trigger economic development and enhance Minnesota's competitive edge.

The Governor and members of the Legislature need to hear from constituents now. Please call, email or write them urging the restoration of these funds as critical to Minnesota's future.

Contact information:

Call or e-mail your representatives and senator:
- Get your representative's name and contact information at 651-296-2146 or 800-657-3550 or go to this site: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/housemembers.asp
- Get your senator's name and contact information at 651-296-0504 or 888-234-1112 or go to this site: http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/members/index.php#header
Most representatives' e-mails follow the same pattern: rep.margaret.kelliher@house.mn

Most senators' e-mails also follow this pattern: sen.larry.pogemiller@senate.mn

If you e-mail, put "Constituent support for Central Corridor Light Rail" on the Subject line.

Note – Members read their e-mails during the sessions.
Call Gov. Pawlenty.
- 651-296-3391
- 800-657-3717
- tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us

On another subject, it appears that the Transportation Funding bill, passed last month by the Legislature over Gov. Pawlenty's veto of the measure, has begun to pay dividends: the Desoto Bridge on Highway 23 in St. Cloud will be replaced now rather than repaired, and the Hastings Bridge on Highway 61 will also be replaced soon. These bridges had the same structure as the I-35W Bridge and have been showing strain for some years. According to Acting MnDOT Commissioner Bob McFarlin, funds generated by new tax have enabled MnDOT to reevaluate their repair and replacement schedule.

Immigration

New LWVUS Position: Immigration policies should promote reunification of immediate families; meet the economic, business and employment needs of the United States; and be responsive to those facing political persecution or humanitarian crises. Provision should also be made for qualified persons to enter the U.S. on student visas. All persons should receive fair treatment under the law.

LWV supports federal immigration law that provides an efficient, expeditious system (with minimal or no backlogs) for legal entry of immigrants into the U.S.

Further details can be found on the LWVUS website.

Judy Stuthman, LWVMN Board Member, (651) 644-8588
Kathy Tomsich, lobbyist, (651) 490-1809

The new LWVUS Immigration Position is a strong position which will allow LWV to bring a voice of reason into a heated discussion.

LWVUS does not have a position on REAL ID, i.e., on a national identification card. Consensus was not reached in the recent study in response to the statement, “In order to deal more effectively with unauthorized immigrants, Federal immigration law should include: social security card or other national identification card with secure identifiers for all persons residing in the U.S.”

However, a national ID card is an issue that affects everyone through state actions, and is something we should be following. The REAL ID Act of 2005 is a federal law which imposes certain uniform standards for all states to follow when issuing driver's licenses and state ID cards. There was concern that undocumented immigrants might be able to get a driver's license more easily in some states than others. Sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin), it passed the House as a rider to a bill for emergency appropriations for the Iraq War and funding for tsunami relief. Though not in the original bill passed by the Senate, it was inserted in the conference report on HR1268 and then unanimously passed by the Senate without any hearings or floor debate. Is it a national identity card? Homeland Security says it is not, because it only sets forth the standards while the individual states actually issue the cards and maintain the database.

Because of the concern for the enormous cost to states of implementing such a program and very real concerns for the security of the private information that will be encoded on the cards, 18 states have opted out of complying with REAL ID. In the Minnesota 2007 legislative session, SF984 authored by Sen. Mee Moua (DFL-67-Saint Paul) and its companion HF1438 authored by Rep. Carlos Mariani (DFL-65B-Saint Paul) had bipartisan support for opting out and had no real opposition. Time ran out before it was to come to the Senate floor, but most saw it as very likely to pass in the 2008 Session.

After a year's wait, one hour before it was to go to the Senate floor for discussion, the authors were surprised to receive word that Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) would veto the entire Transportation Policy Omnibus Bill if language opting out of REAL ID was included.

Action by the conference committee was delayed for 24 hours, but without an offer of compromise from the governor, the committee agreed that compliance with REAL ID would follow only after (1) adequate federal money is given to implement the program; (2) reasonable safeguards are included to protect an individual's private data; and (3) unreasonable costs are not passed on to applicants. Also included is the statement that "nothing …prevents the commissioner of public safety from enhancing the security features of Minnesota's driver's licenses or state identification cards."

The House passed the omnibus bill with the compromise language. As of the writing of the Capitol Letter™ it was awaiting action in the Senate. It is unknown at this time what action Gov. Pawlenty will take on the bill.

Health Care

LWVUS Position: LWVUS believes a basic level of quality health care at an affordable cost should be available to all US residents. Other US health care policy goals should include the equitable distribution of services, efficient and economical delivery of care, advancement of medical research and technology, and a reasonable total national expenditure level for health care.

LWVUS favors a national health insurance plan financed through general taxes in place of individual insurance premiums [and] is opposed to a strictly private market-based model of financing the health care system... (1993)

Glenda Larson, lobbyist, (612) 377-3985

The House health reform bill, HF3391, sponsored by Rep. Tom Huntley (DFL-07A-Duluth), passed the House Health Care and Human Services Finance Division Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee the week of March 31. It was heard in the full house on April 10 and passed 83-50. It was received in the Senate on April 14 and referred to the Senate Rules and Administration Committee. SF3099, the Senate companion sponsored by Sen. Linda Berglin (DFL-61-Minneapolis) was approved by the Senate 39-23, received by the House and referred to the Ways and Means Committee on April 2.

Based on recommendations from the Health Care Access Commission and the governor's Transformation Task Force, the bill proposes changes in the way Minnesota pays providers for health care and manages chronic diseases. Providers would submit bids for the total cost of care based on their cost to treat a set of chronic diseases. The timeline for implementation of this payment system (known as Level 3) was lengthened to allow for further study and the results need legislative approval before going into effect. A Health Care Transformation Commission would be created to coordinate health care transformation activities in the state.

Universal coverage goals for insurance remain in the bill - 94 percent of people covered by 2009, 96 percent by 2011, 97 percent by 2012 and 98 percent by 2013 - but the personal responsibility mandate that would require Minnesotans to buy health insurance if the uninsured rate didn't fall far enough by 2011 was removed. County-based purchasing for public programs was added to the bill. Also included is a provision to develop a model and conduct an economic analysis of costs and benefits of the various health care reform proposals. The Health Care Access Fund would be used to pay for the changes required by the bill. Rep. Huntley stated that this bill would increase coverage, reform the payment system and improve chronic disease outcomes.

There were other controversial provisions removed, including the elimination of the Minnesota Health Insurance Exchange. The exchange would have sold health plans to individuals and employers. Also removed from the bill was pay-for-performance measures and reference to health plans used by small business.

Stand by for further developments.

Thanks to the Session Weekly 4/4/08 and the Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition (MUHCC).

Clarification:

In the last Capitol Letter™, SF3707, sponsored by Sen. John Doll (DFL-40-Burnsville) was mistakenly referred to as the "cost study/global modeling" bill. In fact, the "global modeling bill" is SF3573 and is sponsored by Sen. Kathy Sheran (DFL-23-Mankato). SF3573 provides for a grant to the University of Minnesota School of Public Health to develop a model that will assess the impact of proposed health care reforms on all sectors of the health care system. Sen. Doll's bill proposes an appropriation to the University of Minnesota for the Department of Public Health to conduct an economic analysis of costs and benefits of various health care reform plans. This proposal has now been incorporated into Sen. Sheran's bill and Sen. Doll has been added as an author of SF3573. We regret the error.

LWVMN Capitol Letter™

Volume XXXIV Issue 5, April 16, 2008