Political Notebook

Lawmakers to grill regent candidates

In a little less than an hour, a joint House-Senate committee meeting will begin interviewing the eight candidates vying for four spots on the University of Minnesota's Board of Regents. Mayo Clinic Dr. Patricia Simmons will be among those getting grilled by lawmakers, hoping to be reappointed to the board. Simmons currently serves as the board's chair and has been a champion for the new University of Minnesota Rochester.

Simmons will be going up against Randy Simonson of Worthington for the First Congressional District board seat. Simonson is CEO of Newport Laboratories.

The joint committee is expected to make its recommendation on Tuesday. A joint session of the state House and Senate will then weigh in on the nominations. Of course, just getting the committee's seal is not a gurantee. Lawmakers can nominate anyone they want for the position — even people who have not gone through the interviewing process.

Guv touts stimulus projects — but bashes bill

Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Minnesota Department of Transportation Commission Tom Sorel made a stop at the Rochester International Airport this morning to announce $180 million in construction projects for greater Minnesota, paid for by the federal stimulus bill.

But even while touting the projects, the Republican governor made clear he has some serious problems with the stimulus plan. In particular, he said he is bothered by the fact that only $27.5 billion of the $787 billion bill funds road and bridge construction.

"I favored a stimulus bill. I just thought that the one that passed could have been done differently and one of the suggestions I had was to put more money in to bread and butter projects like road and bridge projects," Pawlenty said at a news conference.

Rochester was the first of five stops the pair made on a flying tour of the state. His publicity tour drew criticism from state Democrats.

"The governor is flying around Minnesota on state taxpayer dollars bragging about spending federal taxpayer dollars. This is funding he didn't want. It's ironic coming from a chief executive who vetoed state transportation bills several times," said House Majority Leader Tony Sertich.

A busy day for Roch lawmaker

Rochester Rep. Kim Norton will be making her pitch for four bills today in front of four different committees. The first bill up to bat would provide $6 million to build a steam pipeline from the Olmsted County Waste-to-Energy Facility to Rochester Community and Technical College. Fellow Democrat, Rochester Sen. Ann Lynch, presented the bill yesterday before a Senate committee looking at projects that would be ready to be built soon.

Next up is a bill that would allow public schools to start before Labor Day for the next two school years. It would also require a study to see if that change has an impact on the state's tourism industry. Minnesota resorts and the Minnesota State Fair have traditionally fought this bill, concerned that if schools starts early, it would mean less people traveling that weekend. Meanwhile, supporters argue it should be a local decision when schools start.

The third bill would modify nursing home requirements — including requiring that residents unable to move must have their position changed every two hours.

And finally, Norton will take her bill seeking to require insurance companies to pay for intensive Autism treatment before the House's Commerce and Labor Committee.

Better luck this year for brass band library?

Here is an excerpt from today's Political Notebook column. It appears area lawmakers are trying again to get funding for the Chatfield Brass Band Music Lending Library — despite the harsh criticism the project got last year.

Republican Rep. Greg Davids of Preston and Democratic Sen. Sharon Erickson Ropes of Winona are sponsoring bills that fund a new community center in Chatfield to house the Chatfield Brass Band Music Lending Library.

Last legislative session, the library garnered some unwanted attention from Pawlenty. Pawlenty vetoed the $400,000 project and said the DFL legislative leaders' decision to fund the sheet-music library while refusing to fund a veterans home in Minneapolis reflected their "misplaced priorities."

Supporters say the volunteer-run library has built an international reputation, collecting hard-to-find sheet music from throughout the world.

Under these bills, funding for the library is part of $1 million being sought to fund historical societies in flood-damaged regions. That money would go to the Minnesota Historical Society for grants to renovate Hokah City Hall, renovate and expand the Houston County Historical Center and build the Chatfield community center.

Lawmakers visit Roch to talk deficit

Tonight, lawmakers in the DFL-controlled House and Senate are hosting a "listening session" in Rochester to find out what citizens think of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's proposed budget and to hear suggestions for grappling with the state's massive budget deficit.

As of this afternoon, Rep. Andy Welti, DFL-Plainview, told me that more than 100 people have signed up to speak at the meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. in the Heintz Center Commons at Rochester Community and Technical College. I'm planning to cover the event and will have a story for tomorrow's paper.

Republicans have been critical of DFLers for the budget tour around the state. Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston, said these hearings are about ripping the Republican governor's budget.

"This is a bash-the-governor session across the entire state when the DFL house members have no plan of their own," Davids said.

GOP lawmakers put forth their own budget idea yesterday — to cut pay for legislators and constitutional officers by 5 percent. They say the proposal would save the state more than $676,000. Here's an Associated Press story about it. According to the article, DFL leaders are open to the idea of a pay cut.

Local superintendent gets big invitation

Rushford-Peterson Superintendent Chuck Ehler has been invited by Congressman Tim Walz to hear President Barack Obama's speech on Feb. 24 to a joint session of Congress — similar to the "State of the Union" address. Obama's first State of the Union will not be until 2010.

Ehler will also be meeting with federal education officials to make the case for getting money to rebuild Rushford's school building. Consultants have told school officials that rehabilitating the 103-year-old building is really not an option and that the district needs a new school.

But finding the estimated $26 million to build a new school poses a major challenge. Ehler said the community is still working to recover from the devestating floods of 2007 and that residents can not afford a big tax increase to fund the project.

The district has also created a video making the case for a new school. You can check it out here.

Franken acting like a senator?

Al Franken made a stop in Rochester yesterday, meeting with city and county officials to discuss their budget concerns and the federal stimulus package. This was just one of his stops as Franken travels around the state to meet with officials for these economic round tables.

But the trip is drawing heavy criticism from Republican Norm Coleman's campaign. A spokesman for the campaign called the Democrats visit "a publicity stunt."

In an e-mailed statement, spokesman Luke Friedrich wrote "While Al Franken tries to play senator for a day, his lawyers are in St. Paul fighting against counting the votes of the same Minnesotans Al Franken claims he wants to represent."

Franken's staff has begun referring to him as "senator elect." During his meeting with local officials, he was asked about whether he plans to open a Rochester office. Franken said he would probably ask Sen. Amy Klobuchar if he could share space in her office, opening his own office in Mankato.

As for the Coleman campaign's criticism, Franken said he is trying to make sure he is prepared to assume senate duties once the legal case is wrapped up. Officials emphasized that the biggest challenging is figure out how to access the stimulus dollars.

Franken told local leaders "It seems like the number one message that I am getting is, for myself anyway, that part of my job is to help communities figure out how to access the package."

Senator and would-be senator talk up stimulus

DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, who has begun referring to himself as "senator elect" are both making stops in Rochester talking up the federal stimulus package.

Klobuchar stopped by the Post-Bulletin at 9 a.m. to meet with the editorial board. During the meeting, she said that while the $787 billion stimulus package is not perfect, it was needed. She said it will create an estimate 3.5 million jobs nationwide and 66,000 jobs for Minnesota. She said it is also an investment in the country's infrastructure to help the nation remain competitive on a global level.

"The idea here is not just those short-term jobs, but also to have something to show for it in the long-term," Klobuchar said.

Meanwhile, Franken has announced he will be dropping by Rochester City Hall at 2 p.m. today to discuss the stimulus plan. His staff has begun referring to the DFLer as "senator elect." Meanwhile, the legal case drags on between Franken and Republican Sen. Norm Coleman over who won the November election.

Roch high-speed rail efforts hit roadblock

Rochester leaders got some bad news Thursday. A Senate committee on Thursday rejected a bill that would have provided $500,000 for studying including Rochester on a proposed high-speed rail route from Chicago to the Twin Cities.

Meanwhile, a bill for a whopping $10 million for an environmental study of a high-speed rail route along the Mississippi River through Winona won the committee's support.

The defeat comes as the city of Rochester, Mayo Clinic, Olmsted County and Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce are ramping up efforts to be part of the high-speed rail corridor through the Southeast Minnesota Rail Alliance.

Rochester Sen. Ann Lynch, who sponsored the local rail bill, said she was disappointed by the committee's decision. The Democrat said policy makers should be looking at what is best for the long-term future of the state and not focusing on politics.

Perhaps it's no surprise the bill hit a snag in the Senate Transportation Budget and Policy Division. Committee members include the chief author of the river route bill — Sen. Katie Sieben, Newport-DFL. Two co-authors are also on the committee, Senate Transportation Chair Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing, and Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis. The are no Rochester-area lawmakers on the committee.

Murphy has said building a new high-speed rail route through Rochester instead of taking advantage of the existing rail lines along the river would be too expensive and take far too long.

This is not the end of Rochester's high-speed rail bid. The Minnesota Department of Transportation is drafting a statewide rail plan that will determine the route for the high-speed rail line.

Cheaper dental fillings in Minnesota's future?

Rochester Rep. Kim Norton announced yesterday a plan to create a four-year dental therapist degree program at the University of Minnesota. The U's Board of Regents is expected to approve the program today. Norton also plans to introduce a bill today that would allow for dental therapists to practice in the state. Here's the story.

The idea behind the program is to help improve access to dentists for people in underserved rural areas and the poor. These mid-level dental professionals would be able to do preventative care including applying sealants and fluoride to teeth. They would also be trained to remove baby teeth from children and fill cavities, as long as a dentist is on site.

Norton's bill would also require that half of a dental therapist's workload be devoted to serving low-income or underserved patients.