Political Notebook

Legislature passes Destination Medical Center bill

With only minutes to spare before the midnight deadline, the Minnesota Senate gave final approval to more than $400 million to support Mayo Clinic’s 20-year expansion plans.

“It’s amazing. The fact that this was written in January and is passing into law this quickly is astounding,” said House bill author Kim Norton. “This is a body that tends to think and rethink and work on things forever and we should but it really does speak to how important Mayo Clinic is to the state of Minnesota.”

The bill, which was part of a larger tax bill, passed 36 to 30 and now heads to DFL Gov. Mark Dayton for his signature.

The legislative sprint to the finish came after work ground to a halt over a disagreement between House and Senate Democrats over whether to move ahead with a bare bones bonding bill that included money to restore the state Capitol building. Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, had made clear he would not end the session without money for the Capitol. That met opposition from some House Democrats who feared approving the Capitol money this year would make it much more difficult to pass a larger bonding bill next year. Among them was Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester. She voted no and said this vote will make it much more difficult to win support for a bonding bill next year that includes Rochester’s Mayo Civic Center expansion.

 In the end, lawmakers agreed to a $154 million bonding bill that included $109 million for the Capitol, $23 million for state Capitol parking, $20 million for flood mitigation, $19 million for the Minneapolis Veterans Home and $8 million for sewers. It enjoyed strong bipartisan support, including that of Rep. Mike Benson, R-Rochester.

“Small bonding bill with projects even this conservative can support just passed in the house,” Benson tweeted after the vote.

Destination Medical Center passes the House

 In what one lawmaker described as an "absolutely pivotal moment" for Rochester, the Minnesota House early Monday morning approved spending $400 million to support Mayo Clinic's sweeping expansion plans.

The House voted 69 to 65 in favor of a tax bill that included Mayo's Destination Medical Center proposal. The bill has one final stop in the Senate before heading to DFL Gov. Mark Dayton for his signature.

An emotional Rep. Tina Liebling told fellow lawmakers this bill has the potential to create 35,000 to 40,000 jobs over the next 20 years.

"This is a tax bill that has more jobs in it than any bill I've seen in the House in the nine years I've been here," she said.

She went on to say the bill's passage marks "an absolutely pivotal moment for the state, the city of Rochester (and) for Mayo Clinic."

The bill's passage comes as time is running out for the DFL-led Legislature to pass its $38 billion budget before Monday's midnight deadline. The two largest budget bills — K-12 Education and Health and Human Services — cleared both the House and Senate. Another key piece of the budget is the tax bill, which raises $2.1 billion in new revenue to plug a $627 million budget shortfall and pay for new spending.

The tax bills includes a new 4th-tier property tax of 9.875 percent on married couples with adjusted gross incomes of $250,000 or more. It raises taxes on cigarettes by $1.60 a pack and includes business-to-business taxes on warehousing, electronic repairs and telecommunications. Those tax increases led Republicans who back Mayo's Destination Medical Center project to vote against the bill.

“While gas prices rise over $4 a gallon, the Democrats just can’t get enough, and they have to have more and more and more,” said Rep. Greg David, R-Preston.

Bad news for Wanamingo...

The final tax bill deal brings with it bad news for Wanamingo and several other cities hoping to get a piece of Rochester's sales tax money.

The Minnesota Legislature required that $5 million of the $139.5 million raised by extending Rochester's half-cent sales tax would go to 17 small cities for economic development. Voters approved the sales tax extension last fall. Some cities argued — including Wanamingo — argued they were accidentally left off the list. Other cities fighting to get included were Altura, Dexter, Grand Meadow, Mazeppa and Racine.

The tax conference committee approved language that requires the Rochester City Council to vote to give the money to the original 17 small cities. Otherwise, the $5 million would automatically go back to the city. It also limits them to giving the money to that existing list of cities.

Amendment strips $5 million from Mayo Civic Center funding

Rochester's Mayo Civic Center expansion would get less funding than expectined in the proposed $800 million public works bill under an amendment proposed by the bill's author.

House Capital Investment Committee Chairwoman Alice Hausman's amendment would reduce the amount the civic center would get by $5 million to $30 million. The city had originally asked for $37 million from the state to help pay for the 188,000-square-foot addition.

Rep. Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester, said she is disappointed to see the reduction. She said the reduction has to do with a feeling among some lawmakers that Rochester has already gotten more than its fair share with $400 million of state dollars heading to the city for Mayo's Destination Medical Center initiative.

"It's disappointing but given what we're getting it's hard to complain," Norton said.

The bigger question is whether Democrats have the votes to pass the bill. Bonding bills require a supermajority to pass. That means DFLers have to convince some Republicans to back the measure. One way of doing that is to include projects in Republican districts.

But the civic center funding isn't enough to make Rep. Mike Benson, R-Rochester vote for it.

"There is not a chance I am going to vote for an $800 million bonding bill this session," he said. "They are going to add $3 billion of new taxes and fees on hardworking Minnesotans. Are we going to stack another $1 billion on top of that?"

Now it's up to Mayo

During an evening press conference, Gov. Mark Dayton and DFL legislative leaders agreed that Mayo Clinic's Destination Medical Center plan will be part of the final tax bill.

The project's status was thrown into question early today when House Taxes Committee Chairwoman Ann Lenczewski voiced frustration over the amount of time being spent trying to reach a final deal and warned if a deal wasn't reached soon she was willing to wait until next year to do it.

House bill author Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester, said the House and Senate have come up with their final offer. It's now up to Mayo to decide if they want to accept it. She said she knows Mayo is disappointed that the plan isn't what they had originally envisioned and gives them less control than they want, but she said that overall, it's a good deal. That plan includes about $400 million in state money for public infrastructure upgrades to support Mayo's planned expansion of its Rochester campus. The city would chip in $128 million with the county expected to contribute roughly $40 million for transportation costs.

"This is the best we can get out of the session. It has every penny they asked for in it, it has the privacy they asked for for their work and development and it has the oversight that the community wants," Norton said.

Bill providing amnesty to underage drinkers seeking help advances

Underage drinkers who call 9-1-1 to report a medical emergency would no longer have to worry about getting in trouble with the law under a bill passed Thursday in the House.

Bill author Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, said the legislation is intended to make sure young people don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and call for help in what may be a life and death situation.
“This is a bill that tells young people that if they or a friend get into trouble that we care more about their life and their health than we do about any punishment they might incur for that drinking,” she said.

The Medical Amnesty Bill grants amnesty to an individual under age 21 who calls 9-1-1 to report a medical emergency, stays at the scene and cooperates with law enforcement. That amnesty would also apply to up to two others assisting with the emergency and the individual in need of help. The passed 124 to 8. Companion legislation is advancing in the Senate. It would make Minnesota the 11th state in the nation to adopt such a measure.

The measure was inspired by two University of Minnesota students from Rochester who worked with Liebling to craft the bill. Taylor Williams and Matt Forstie, both 2010 Century High School graduates, pushed for the bill as a way to encourage students to do the right thing in an emergency situation.

“We all make mistakes. I’ve been in situations where I probably could have made better decisions, and I think if there is any uncertainty, this bill helps to reduce it,” said Williams, who is University of Minnesota’s student body president.

Without the amnesty, the underage drinkers could be cited with a $120 ticket and eight hours of community service for alcohol consumption or possession. Williams said he knows of students who have had trouble getting into graduate school because of having that citation on their record. The amnesty would only apply to the underage consumption and possession and no other alcohol-related violations such as drunken driving.

Vote expected today on frac sand mining ban near trout streams

Red Wing DFL Sen. Matt Schmit is expected to offer an amendment to his game and fish bill today that would prohibit frac sand mining within a mile of trout streams, creeks, fens and other related waterways in southeast Minnesota.

Schmit had successfully fought to get the measure added into his bill, only to have it stripped out later in a committee hearing. An attempt to put it back in during a Senate Finance Committee hearing last week failed by one vote. Environmental groups that back the measure have been lobbying lawmakers hard in recent days. The Land Stewardship Project helped organize a bus trip of citizens from Winona this week who met with Sen. Jeremy Miller, R-Winona, to voice their disappointment that he cast the deciding vote against the trout stream language.

Industry representatives oppose the measure, saying the restrictions will amount to a defact moratorium on frac sand mining. Miller has said it should be up to local governments to decide whether to allow these mining operations instead of a one-size-fits all state policy.

The big question is whether Schmit has the votes to overcome a coalition of Republicans and Iron Range Democrats friendly to mining who oppose the measure. There has been no effort in the House to pass a similar measure. DFL Gov. Mark Dayton is a big backer of the trout stream restrictions.

"I strongly support that position and will do everything I can in conference committee to get that enacted," Dayton said this week.

On Friday morning, a small group of frac sand mining opponents gathered in front of the Senate chamber urging lawmakers to support the provisions. Kristen Eide-Tollefson of Frontenac held a sign that featured a smiling fish and read "clean water, happy trout, keep frac out."

She said she believes the trout stream restrictions are crucial.

"I wanted to let senators know how critical this support for these setbacks are," she said. "Trout fishing is a multi-billion dollar industry and when we protect them for trout, we protect them for all of us."

Protestors and supporters rally ahead of gay marriage vote

Thousands of people are expected to pack into the Minnesota Capitol today as the House takes up a bill to legalize gay marriage.

Two hours before the debate was set to begin, protestors and supporters were already lined up outside the House chamber chanting in support of their causes. Opponents of gay marriage clutched pink signs that read "Don't erase moms and dads." Supporters carried their own orange signs that said "I support the freedom to marry."

It's already getting loud and hot in the Capitol and security officials have advised they will not allow people to enter the Capitol once they've determined it's reached maximum capacity. Meanwhile, there are several school kid groups that happen to be here today touring the Capitol.

Most of the members of the southeast MInnesota delegation have stated how they plan to vote on the gay marriage bill, but there are a few uncertainties. Rep. Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester, has declined to discuss how she will vote. She favors a proposal by Rep.Tim Kelly, R-Red Wing, to remove the word "marriage" in state law and replace it with "civil unions." He argues that would get government out of defining marriage. He plans to offer his bill as an amendment on the House floor today. Norton has said in the past that if the same-sex marriage bill did come to the floor, she would have a hard time voting against it.

Also unknown is Rep. Gene Pelowski, DFL-Winona. He has declined to answer questions about how he will vote. All the other southeast Minnesota House Republicans have said they will vote no and the other Democrats will vote yes.

The debate kicks off at noon, and I will be live tweeting on my twitter feed @pbhcarlson.

Kelly not in support of 'civil marriage' proposal

A new proposal that could open the door to more Republicans voting for the gay marriage bill doesn't have Rep. Tim Kelly's support.

The amendment filed Wednesday by Rep. David FitzSimmons, R-Albertville, would replace the word "marriage" with the words "civil marriage" in state statutes. The Associated Press reports that the proposal has the backing of the group that has been pushing for the legalization of gay marriage — Minnesotans United for All Families — and House Majority Leader Erin Murphy. Meanwhile, Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck has reported that GOP Sen. Branden Peterson believes the amendment could get six Republicans to vote for the bill in the Senate.

But Kelly isn't getting on board with the idea. The Red Wing Republican prefers his proposal to eliminate the word "marriage" altogether in state law and replace it with "civil unions." Kelly notably defied his caucus in 2011 voting against putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot to ban same-sex marriage. All along, Kelly said his opposition has been to the idea of government being involved in defining marriage. FitzSimmons' amendment fails to solve that.

"My civil union bill is all about rights," he said. "It's about equality, and it sets everybody on the same page and it hands over the rights. But apparently that is not enough today. We want government-mandated acceptance of the new definition of marriage, and I believe that is fundamentally wrong. I don't want to tell anybody in my caucus what to believe about marriage."

Kelly still plans to offer his civil union proposal as an amendment to the gay marriage bill during tomorrow's debate.

 

House passes sweeping anti-bullying bill

Minnesota is poised to adopt one of the toughest bullying policies in the nation under a bill passed Monday in the House.

The Safe Schools and Supportive Minnesota School Act passed on a party-line vote of 72 to 57. It replaces the state’s current 37-word policy with one that requires all public school districts and charter schools to adopt bullying policies that meet certain standards.

Bill sponsor Jim Davnie, DFL-Minneapolis, said this bill is about protecting students no matter where they live.

“Students get to play checkers. They don’t deserve a checkerboard of policies across the state where if they move, they move from a setting that is safe and supportive to one that isn’t because of who they are of what somebody thinks they are,” he said.

Republicans blasted the bill saying it goes too far, taking away local districts’ ability to decide what is best for them and forcing them to follow a one-size-fits-all guidelines.

“We should have a bill that develop resiliency in kids and makes them strong,” said Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa. "But this one goes the other direction. Instead of making kids stronger, it encourages them into a path of victimhood."

The bill would put into law recommendations made by the Governor’s Task Force on the Prevention of School Bullying. It includes specific language prohibiting bullying or harassment of a student because of his or her race, religion, sexual orientation or disability, among other things. It also requires districts to record incidents of bullying and train staff and volunteers on how to handle it. Schools would also be required to report bullying data to the state. A similar bill has yet to be voted on in the Senate.

Critics of the proposal say it imposes requirements on local school districts without covering the costs. A state fiscal analysis estimates the bill would cost local districts $19.5 million statewide. Davnie says those costs would be covered by  a $5-per-student increase in the safe schools levy. It would also allow districts to use staff education dollars for anti-bullying training. and allows districts to use staff education dollars for anti-bullying training. The House DFL budget allocates $1 million to set up a state School Climate Center to assist districts with setting up these policies.