Political Notebook

DFL leaders to Pawlenty: "You will be held responsible"

DFL leaders in the House and Senate sent Gov. Tim Pawlenty a letter in response to his request for unallotment suggestions from lawmakers. But the letter, signed by House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, make clear that Democrats are not eager to help the Republican governor out.

In the letter, lawmakers accused the governor of ceasing to engage with the legislature once he announced his plan to use his executive authority to balance the budget if a deal wasn't reached. The letter urges the governor to think twice about unalloting payments to schools, nursing homes, hospitals, long-term care facilities and local governments. But it does not offer suggestions as to where the governor should unallot.

Meanwhile, two Rochester lawmakers say the would like to see the governor call lawmakers back to the Capitol to solve the remaining $2.7 billion gap. Here's the story. But Pawlenty's spokesman Alex Carey said the governor made it clear there will be no special session.

Meanwhile, KROC has a story about former Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe criticizing Pawlenty for choosing to balance the budget through unallotment. Here's a link.

Here is the letter sent to Pawlenty today.

May 29, 2009

 

The Honorable Tim Pawlenty
Governor
Room 130 State Capitol
St. Paul, MN  55155

Governor Pawlenty,

We are taking this opportunity to respond to your letter from last week requesting assistance with your unallotment decision.  As you may recall during the recently concluded legislative Session, once you had brought the idea of unallotment to the table, we were hoping that you would engage the legislature in a further discussion to avoid unallotment altogether.  However, you had made it very clear to us both in writing and with the brief perfunctory meetings in your office that your "decision" to move ahead with unallotment was final.

Now after five months of work on our budget that involved 201 elected officials from across the state, and after vetoing our balanced budget proposal, you are requesting help with an unallotment "decision" that is ultimately made by just you and your unelected political advisers.

 However, let us offer the following advice:

             * Strongly consider the repercussions of your actions before unallotting payments to schools. We contend that without permanent revenue and statutory authority to pay back payment shifts, any shift unilaterally executed by your unallotment authority will result in a direct cut to schools.  Increasing school class sizes and forcing more schools into debt will only put more pressure on students and teachers who are trying their best to do more with less.

             * Strongly consider the repercussions of your actions before unallotting nursing homes, hospitals and long-term care facilities.  Many of the facilities are operating on razor thin margins with little cash flow to keep the doors open.  

             * Strongly consider the repercussions of your actions before unallotting cities and counties.  Cuts to fire and police protection as well as other local services will result from a steep unallotment of local aid, not to mention large spikes in local property taxes.

             *Strongly consider the repercussions of your actions before unallotting jobs in Minnesota.  Essentially your actions will result in fewer jobs throughout Minnesota.  Laying off teachers, police officers, county aid workers, nurses, hospital employees, etc... will only further damage our struggling economy.  We cannot allow Minnesota to continue to exceed the national average in unemployment.

Governor, we did our part by crafting nine budget bills that overall made more reductions in general fund state spending than was proposed in your original budget.  However, you made the decision to veto the legislature's final balanced budget proposal and now you are left with few choices.  As you attempt to unallot essential services throughout our state, you will be held responsible for the repercussions of those actions which we believe will be detrimental to the long-term interests of Minnesota and will continue to keep our state budget in deficit.

As you move forward toward unallotment, we ask that along with your unallotment plan you also develop impact statements that will help us communicate to constituents the very real consequences of your unallotment decisions.  We need to know the job losses, class size increases, service reductions, property tax increases, facility closings, etc...that will result from your actions.

We stand ready to begin the discussion surrounding your unallotments.

Sincerely,

 
 

Margaret Anderson Kelliher                                                                                                     Lawrence
Pogemiller
Speaker of the House                                                                                                             Senate Majority Leader

 

cc: Lieutenant Governor Carol Molnau
     Commissioner Tom Hanson

Will he run? Pawlenty to announce decision soon

Looks like we won't have to wait long to find out whether Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty will seek a third term in office. In an interview with Minnesota Public Radio, Pawlenty said he plans to announce his decision this summer. Here's a link to the interview.

There has been plenty of speculation about Pawlenty possibly running for president in 2012. KSTP has posted a story on its Web site with the headline "Signs point to no third-term for Pawlenty." The reason? During an interview with the TV station, Pawlenty said anyone who runs for the office should be expected to serve a full four years. If he has national political ambitions, that is likely a promise Pawlenty could not make.

It turns out Pawlenty is also slated to headline a fundraiser for the Arkansas Republican Party in Little Rock next month.

Demmer not convinced of need for Rochester rail bypass

Hayfield Rep. Randy Demmer may not be on board with a plan backed by Mayo Clinic for a railroad bypass that would run south of Rochester.

The bypass would allow Canadian Pacific Railway train traffic to be re-rerouted south of the city. Backers of a proposed high-speed passenger rail line have said this route could also one day connect Rochester to Chicago and the Twin Cities. But the main purpose for the bypass is freight traffic. Mayo Clinic has long been opposed to seeing increased freight traffic come through the city arguing it would be a safety hazard.

But that proposed rail line would run through a good chunk of Demmer's district in Dodge County. The Republican said he has concerns with the proposal.

"I just don't know that I am convinced yet that this is a high enough need to cut through some of the best farm country in the nation," Demmer said.

The 48-mile rail line would start in Dover and end up near Dodge Center.

He said he is also concerned about the project's $325 million price tag and questions whether that is the best use for that money. Still, he said he is trying to keep an open mind. He has already been fielding phone calls from constituents upset about the possible bypass.

Ultimately, Demmer said it is important supporters of the bypass put together public information meetings where residents can see detailed maps and learn how the proposed route could affect them. Supporters also need to be open to hearing the concerns and suggestions of landowners.

"There needs to be that kind of dialogue," he said.

Is someone to blame for failure to get St. Charles aid?

The Legislature's failure to pass $800,000 in aid that the city of St. Charles had been hoping for has some pointing fingers. The money would have made up for lost property taxes and sewer/water and electricity revenue from the North Star Foods, which was destroyed in a fire last month.

While lawmakers did manage to get money for the local school district and a sales tax exemption for the company to rebuild, the money for the city failed to win approval. The measure did win Senate approval but did not pass in the House.

In the wake of the disappointment, some politicians have been putting the blame on Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Wabasha, the bill's sponsor. Here is a link to a Winona Daily News article with some critical remarks by St. Charles Mayor Bill Spitzer. But in an interview on Tuesday, Spitzer said his comments were mischaracterized and that you can't blame one person for the bill's failure.

But Sen. Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing, was more than willing to take Drazkowski to task over the bill — along with the governor. Here is a link to today's story.

Rochester airport to get $1.4 million

U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, DFL-Mankato, announced this afternoon that Rochester International Airport will get more than $1.4 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The grant money will be used to rehabilitate taxiways at the airport.

Two other southern Minnesota airports are also expecting a federal cash infusion. Albert Lea Municipal Airport will get more than $2.1 million and Fillmore County Airport in Preston will get $195,000. The Albert Lea airport plans to use the money for the construction of a runway and the Fillmore County airport will use it for a new hangar building.

In a news release, Walz said these grants will mean more jobs for southern Minnesota.

"These projects are great news for Fillmore County, Albert Lea and Rochester," Walz said. "Regional airports in southern Minnesota are a critical economic development tool and these projects will expand jobs and future economic opportunity."

Walz seeks to make local road projects a "high priority"

DFL Congressman Tim Walz is pushing to get 13 projects in southern Minnesota included on the High Priority Projects list in this year's Surface Transportation Bill. While this does not guarantee funding for the projects, it is a key step in the process. Here are some of the local projects Walz is supporting:

— $190 million for a railroad corridor that would run south of Rochester
— $35 million to expand U.S. 14 from Dodge Center to Owatonna
— $15 million for a new interchange on U.S. 52 near Pine Island to accommodate the Elk Run development
— $15 million for a new interchange on U.S. 52/65th Street in Rochester
— $13.4 million for transit operations center in Rochester
— $7 million to upgrade 55th Street Northwest in Rochester to a four-lane expressway to U.S. 63

For a complete list of the projects, go here.

Norton's seat belt bill gets passed — a first for House

Rochester DFL Rep. Kim Norton's bill that would allow police officers to pull drivers over for failing to wear a seat belt passed the Minnesota House Monday afternoon by a vote of 73 to 60. This marks the first the bill has passed the House, according to Sen. Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing.

Murphy is the bill's sponsor in the Senate and has been championing the issue for 17 years. Opponents have argued the measure is an invasion of personal liberties and could lead to more racial profiling. Supporters argued it would save an estimated 30 lives per year and mean $3.4 million in new federal funds.

So what made the difference this year?

"I think the difference was the author in the House was very aggressive and worked the bill hard and did a good job. Kim Norton made the difference," Murphy said.

The bill is expected to come up for a vote on the Senate this afternoon. If it passes, it will head to the governor.

Legislative leaders and governor to meet this morning

With less than 14 hours to go before the Legislature adjourns, legislative leaders are expected to meet with the governor at 10:45 a.m. to see if a deal can be reached to solve the remaining $2.7 billion budget gap. If a deal isn't reached, Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty has said he will solve the budget deficit himself using his executive authority.

In a phone news conference this morning, DFL leaders ripped the governor for being unwilling to consider any revenue increases. Assistant Senate Majority Leader Tarryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud, accused the governor of being more concerned about running for president than running the state of Minnesota.

"He has gone national in more than one way. It seems like he is trying to push on to us the Washington ways he has been decrying," Clark said.

Last night, House Democrats tried to win Republican support for an override of the governor's elimination of a health care program for the poor. That effort failed on a strictly partisan vote. Democrats then tried to get Republicans to vote to override the governor's veto of a $1 billion tax proposal. That failed with two Democrats joining Republicans in voting no — Rep. Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Austin, and Rep. Gene Pelowski, DFL-Winona.

This morning, House Health Care and Human Services Chair Tom Huntley, DFL-Duluth, decried Pawlenty's cuts to health care and voiced fears those cuts will be even deeper if a deal is not reached.

"I would say that our health care system in Minnesota is on life support and the governor wants to pull the plug," Huntley said.

But despite these grim predictions, it does not appear that Democrats are willing to back down on their demand to raise revenue. Pawlenty has suggested using a combination of shifts and additional cuts to solve the problem. He dropped a proposal to borrow money based on future tobacco revenues after the plan failed to win support from Democrats and Republicans.

So the question remains — will it be deal or no deal?

Green Pipes survives governor's veto pen

Gov. Tim Pawlenty slashed more than $85 million worth of projects out of the bonding bill late Saturday, but an Olmsted County project was spared.

It looks like the county will still get $5 million to build a 1.25 mile steam pipe that would run from the Olmsted County Waste-to-Energy facility to University Center Rochester campus. The project has been dubbed "Green Pipes." The hope is that it will dramatically cut the cost of heating and cooling the campus. The state money requires a 50/50 match from the county.

Another winner in the bonding bill is the St. Charles School District. The bill includes up to $242,000 in state aid to make up for students who may leave the district because of last month's devastating North Star Foods fire.

But there was some bad news for Rochester Community and Technical College. The governor vetoed $3.6 million for classroom renovations for Minnesota colleges and universities. RCTC had expected to receive some of that money.

Pawlenty makes Democrats another offer

Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty has made another offer to Democratic leaders. The deal includes a $1.75 billion funding delay for K-12 education, a $450 cut in local government aid to cities, a $250 million cut to health and human services and $190 million cut to higher education. It would also include another $100 million in various reductions.

Lawmakers are meeting right now at a public hearing to discuss the offer. Off the table is a proposal the governor had been pushing for to borrow money based on the state's future tobacco settlement revenues. Pawlenty has said he is opposed to any tax increases. He vetoed a $1 billion proposal by Democrats that would have included raising income taxes on wealthier Minnesotans, boosting the alcohol tax and placing a surcharge on credit card companies' interest income.

Pawlenty has said if lawmakers fail to reach a deadline by the Constitutional deadline of Monday, he will balance the budget himself using his executive authority to cut the budget bills passed by lawmakers.

A $2.7 billion funding gap remains between the DFL's spending bills and the revenue available. On Thursday, the governor vetoed all funding for a health care program for poor Minnesotans called General Assistance Medical Care.

Pawlenty has until midnight tonight to sign and line-item veto the legislature's budget bills.