Political Notebook

Senate OK's legalizing pot for medical use

The Minnesota Senate gave preliminary approval to a bill by a vote of 36 to 28 that would legalize marijuana for medicinal use. The bill's sponsor is Sen. Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing. Supporters argue legalizing pot for patients would offer relief to Minnesotans dealing with severe pain and terminal illnesses. Opponents, including law enforcement groups, contend it would hurt drug-fighting efforts and could mean more people getting addicted to what is now an illegal drug.

Both of Rochester's senators — DFLer Ann Lynch and Republican Dave Senjem — voted against the bill.

"Just think about it. Do the people of Minnesota really want marijuana to be legalized in the name of medicine? I don't think they do," Senjem said on the Senate floor.

Local lawmakers who voted for the measure include Sen. Sharon Erickson Ropes, DFL-Winona, and Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin — along with the bill author Murphy.

A bill to legalize marijuana for medical use has passed the Senate before but has stalled in the House. If the bill does get through the legislature, it would still face a possible veto from Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Olmsted commissioners talk 'green pipes' and inmates

Olmsted County Commissioner met with area lawmakers this morning at the Capitol for an update on some of the county's legislative priorities.

One key area of concern is the county's quest to get $6 million for a steam line project from the Olmsted County Waste-to-Energy plant to Rochester Community and Technical College. Dubbed the "Green Pipes" project, the proposal would get $5 million from the state in the Senate bonding bill. But no such luck in the smaller House bonding bill — the Green Pipes project was left out.

So as a House and Senate conference committee meets to hash out differences, county officials were keen to learn whether the Green Pipes project would make the cut.

Sen. Ann Lynch, DFL-Rochester, who serves on the conference committee, said she is optimistic the project will get bonding money.

"The odds are good," Lynch told commissioners.

Meanwhile, county officials also voiced concern that a deal to have the state take back responsibility for housing short-term offenders may not happen. That would come after Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty voiced support for the state taking back these offenders to help cash-strapped counties faced with housing these offenders.

County administrator Dick Devlin told lawmakers that the Olmsted County jail was housing more than 180 offenders this weekend and capacity is 200 to 210. If the state fails to take back responsibility for housing short-term offenders, it means the county may have to start paying to house inmates elsewhere or consider building a new jail.

Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, said it is unclear what is going to happen with this issue. But if the legislature balks at the $8 million price tag for the state, then she said she will try and pitch a compromise floated by local officials. That plan would allow certain well-behaved inmates the chance to get out of prison early and counties would be responsible for probation of these inmates. In exchange, the state would take back responsibility for housing short-term offenders.

Rochester's 65th Street interchange gets big boost

Rochester's long-running battle to get an interchange built at 65th Street and U.S. 52 got a big boost on Thursday.

The Minnesota Senate approved an amendment to a transportation budget bill that would force the Minnesota Department of Transportation to issue the necessary permits for the project, provided there are no significant environmental impacts. Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem offered the amendment, which passed on a voice vote.

Senjem told fellow senators that MnDOT's refusal to issue these permits is preventing valuable projects from moving forward.

"On the east side of that (proposed) interchange, there are $168 million worth of commercial/residential projects ready to go, in the queue," Senjem said.

Sen. Ann Lynch, DFL-Rochester, said the project would create 2,500 construction jobs and between 2,000 to 3,000 permanent jobs.

The measure is still far from a done deal. It remains to be seen whether the interchange amendment will make it in to the compromise transportation budget bill that will be drafted by a House-Senate conference committee.

It's official — Entenza is running

Newly-minted Gubernatorial candidate Matt Entenza made a stop in Rochester this morning as part of a 15-city statewide tour to official kick off his campaign. He chose the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers hall for his visit. That is where workers are being trained to maintain wind turbines.

Entenza emphasized that he will focus on growing Minnesota's clean energy economy — including wind power.

Entenza  served 12 years in the Minnesota legislature including three years as DFL Minority Leader. He now heads up a progressive think tank he helped found called Minnesota 2020.

He will join a crowded field of DFL candidates who are running or considering running for governor including state Sen. John Marty, Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner, state Sen. Tom Bakk, former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, state Sen. Steve Kelley and state Rep. Paul Thissen.

But Entenza may have one advantage. He said he is so far the tallest declared candidate — and the tallest candidate has a history of winning.

Hospital leaders speak out against cuts

Hospital leaders from across the state traveled to the Capitol this morning to speak out against Gov. Tim Pawlenty's proposed cuts to hospitals. Among those making the trek were Mayo Clinic lobbyist Frank Iossi. He said Mayo Health Care Systems would lose an estimated $46 million in reimbursements over the next two years for the state.

Iossi said right now half of Mayo Health System's patients are on Medicare, Medicaid and MinnesotaCare. A major problem is that reimbursements have lagged behind actual costs for treatment. For instance, Mayo Clinic gets reimbursed 68 cents for every $1 spent on a Medicare patient.

"It's a cost shift. We have to charge others more for that, and we're at the point where we can't do that anymore," he said.

Statewide, the Minnesota Hospital Association estimates Pawlenty's budget would result in $764 million cuts to hospitals. Meanwhile, the House DFL's budget plan would cut more than $76 million. Here are some of the estimated cuts for Rochester hospitals under the governor's budget plan : St. Marys Hospital, $19 million; Methodist Hospital, $6.4 million; and Olmsted Medical Center, $1.3 million.

Lynch turns out to be lynchpin for public safety bill

A Senate public safety budget bill seemed headed for a defeat on Monday, until Sen. Ann Lynch switched her vote. The Rochester Democrat had originally voted no on the omnibus public safety bill. The bill includes a 7 percent cut to public safety and corrections.

But after the first vote failed, Lynch switch her "no" vote to a "yes," helping the bill to pass by a vote of 34 to 31.  A total of 11 Democrats joined Republicans in voting against the bill.

After the vote, Lynch said she did have some concerns with the bill. In particular, she was upset the bill did not include a measure she proposed aimed at helping counties struggling with having to house short-term offenders in county jails. The state used to house these offenders but began mandating the county house them.

Lynch said voting for these tough budget cuts is not easy.

"When you are looking at a $6 billion budget deficit and trying to balance that with good public policy, it doesn't often match up really neatly," she said.

When asked whether DFL leaders pressured her to vote yes, Lynch said it came down to supporting the Senate's budget work.

"I think that it is important that we move our omnibus funding bills forward," she said. "We have a job to get done and I am committed to that end. And I think that is what was reflected in that action."

High-speed rail and taxes dominate local political news

There is plenty of political news brewing today. On Sunday, First District DFL Rep. Tim Walz came to Rochester for a high-speed rail roundtable discussion. Joining him was Obama Administration official Mark Yachmetz, associate administrator of railroad development at the Federal Railroad Administration. This marked the Obama Administration's first such meeting in the Midwest since the President announced his plan to spend billions in the coming years on high-speed rail. My colleague, Laura Gossman, covered the event. Here's her story.

House DFLers also unveiled their plans this morning to raise $1.5 billion in taxes. According to The Associated Press, the plan includes an income tax hike for married joint filers making $300,000 or more. It would also boost tax rates on cigarettes and liquor.

Tax day means tea party in Rochester

Citizens frustrated with what they see as out-of-control spending by the government will use this federal tax deadline day to make their voices heard. Tea parties modeled after the Boston Tea Party are scheduled in more than 800 cities across the nation — including Rochester. The parties are likely to focus on the government's massive stimulus package and recent bailouts.

The Rochester event runs from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on the east side of Silver Lake. Here is a link to the Minnesotans Tea Party  Web page, which feature video of the tea party's theme song. Participants are also encouraged to bring along canned goods to donate to Channel One Food Shelf — especially pork and beans and SPAM.

I wonder if they will dump any tea in Silver Lake? I'll be there to find out.

Walz to talk energy in Rochester today

First District Congressman Tim Walz is headed to Rochester this afternoon to speak at the Association of Energy Service Providers. The DFLer is expected to talk about energy-related dollars that are available as part of the federal stimulus plan. The event is expected to draw energy experts from around the Midwest. We have a reporter that is planning to cover Walz's speech.

The event is being held at Rochester Community and Technical College's Heintz Center.

'Uh-oh' — Minnesota Dental Association targets Lynch in ad

I opened today's Rochester Post-Bulletin and was struck by a full-page ad  paid for by the Minnesota Dental Association. It features a patient with his mouth open and two gloved hands clutching dental tools that are in his mouth. Above the picture it says "The last thing you want to hear when you're getting dental care is 'uh-oh.'"

The ad then goes on to single out Rochester Sen. Ann Lynch saying she "wants to allow a new type of dental worker to perform unsupervised surgery on you and your family."

The ad urges readers to call the Democrat's office and "tell her unsupervised workers doing dental surgery is a bad idea."

This all centers around Lynch's bill, which would create a new mid-level dental practitioner. The goal is to help address dental access problems — especially for some lower-income residents in the urban core and rural areas. The oral health practitioners would be allowed to fill cavities, pull teeth and prescribe certain medication.

The Minnesota Dental Association today launched a vigorous ad campaign against the proposal. It includes a full-page ad in today's Minneapolis Star Tribune and ads in other newspapers across the state. They are also doing some radio ads and Web-only ads. But it's safe to say the association is spending tens of thousands of dollars to get their message out.