Political Notebook

Rochester high-speed rail backers to hold Capitol press conference

The Southeast Minnesota Rail Alliance has scheduled a press conference at the state Capitol in St. Paul tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. to unveil a new study. According to a news release, the study will provide an "apples-to-apples" comparison of potential high-speed routes between the Twin Cities and Wisconsin.

Alexander Metcalf, president of Transportation Economics & Mangement Systems, Inc., will answer questions about the results of the Tri-State III High-Speed Rail Study. He will be joined by legislative advocates and members of the Southeast Minnesota Rail Alliance, which commissioned the study.

While the news release does not provide any details as to what is in the report, Rochester DFL Sen. Ann Lynch said she believes the results will be a boost for Rochester's efforts to be part of a high-speed rail line.

"I think it is going to show that there is a very strong case for developing a route that encompasses Rochester," Lynch said.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation is currently working to finish a statewide rail plan by the end of the year. Rochester is hoping to be a stop on a potential high-speed rail route from Chicago to the Twin Cities. Meanwhile, members of OnBoard Midwest are pushing for high-speed rail along the Mississippi River where there are existing railroad tracks. That plan calls for the trains to run from La Crosse, Wis. through Winona and Red Wing ending in St. Paul.

Mayors push for candidates to take stand on LGA

The Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities today announced a campaign aimed at urging voters to ask gubernatorial candidates whether they support Local Government Aid. As part of that announcement, they unveiled a two-minute video that states cities have lost $782 million in LGA since 2003 and that Minnesota property taxes have gone up 64 percent.

The coalition also takes aim at Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. It features a video of him when he was running for governor in 2002. In the video, Pawlenty says, "You can't run around the state and say I'm not going to increase taxes and then cut LGA in a way that drives up local property taxes."

While Pawlenty makes these comments, a chart shows the cuts in LGA and the rising property taxes.

Austin Mayor Tom Stiehm is also featured in the video. He talks about the impact of state aid cuts on Austin's public safety.

"We're down one police officer already," he said. "We are anticipating another police officer going in August."

Pawlenty's spokesman Alex Carey offered this reaction to the coalition's campaign.

“During these difficult economic times, cities need to streamline and become more efficient, and not turn reflexively to local property tax increases. For 2009, Governor Pawlenty capped the cut in LGA payments to cities at 3.3 percent. Cities should be able to find ways to manage a small reduction to their revenues, just like families and businesses are doing, without massively hiking local property taxes.”

To watch the video, go here.

Instant Runoff Voting in Olmsted?

Tomorrow night, the League of Women Voters is hosting  a meeting in Rochester aimed at explaining Instant Runoff Voting. In a nutshell, the system allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. The idea is to make sure the winner has an absolute majority of votes instead of a simple plurality.

Minneapolis voters will be using the new system this fall for mayoral, council and two board elections. St. Paul voters will be deciding this fall whether to go to IRV, also known as Ranked Choice Voting.

The event will be from 7 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. Thursday at the Rochester Public Library. The event will be run by Dag Knudsen of Lake City, who is a member of the Board of Directors of FairVote Minnesota. Participants will get the chance to vote in a mock election using this system.

The League has come out in support of Ranked Choice Voting. But this voting method is not without its critics. Minnesota Public Radio had an interesting story about one of those critics. You can find it here.

Pam Fuller, Olmsted County's election coordinator, told me today she has not heard of any efforts to get IRV here. Could this meeting be an attempt to build support to push for the idea locally? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Mayo Clinic scores major political victory

Mayo Clinic got a boost of good news Tuesday on its efforts to shape health care reform.

The Senate Finance Committee accepted an amendment to its health care bill that would set up a "value index" aimed at paying providers based on quality of care, not quantity. That is something that Mayo Clinic has aggressively been lobbying for as lawmakers have worked to draft legislation. Here is a link to a story in today's paper by PB Health Reporter Jeff Hansel.

Minnesota DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar has been pushing hard to get the language included in the bill. Last week, she and the amendment's author Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, led a group of 28 senators in calling on the president to change the payment system.

In a news release, Klobuchar is quoted as saying, "The change included today will help control costs and get the most from our health care dollars. This will strengthen the strong safety net of Medicare by ensuring funds are there to pay for our seniors' health care."

Dr. Denis Cortese, the clinic's president and CEO, praised the lawmakers' efforts saying that "paying for value in health care is one of the four cornerstones for reform that emerged from our consensus driven health policy process."

Of course, the tricky part is figuring out exactly how to measure quality. Cortese said it needs to include outcomes, safety and patient satisfaction. Under the proposal in the senate bill, it would require a "value index" to established that would go into effect in 2012 and be administered by the secretary of Health and Human Services. But other than that, the details are sketchy.

Last week,  American Medical Association President Dr. J. James Rohack said that while the organization is open to this type of payment system, he said it needs to be tested before it is applied to everyone. He also warned it is important for physicians to not be penalized for patients who make poor choices. For example, if a patient is prescribed a cholesterol-reducing drug and opts not to take the medication and eats a double cheeseburger, it is unfair for the doctor to be held responsible for that patient's poor health outcome.

Roch's Patricia Simmons part of German health tour

Mayo Clinic physician and University of Minnesota Regent Patricia Simmons is part of a 13-member delegation leaving tomorrow for Germany to learn about that country's health care system.

As part of the trip, delegation members will attend a seminar in Berlin from Sept. 22 to 27 that compares the U.S. and German systems. Topics explored will include health polity, insurance, hospitals, doctors, e-health and pharmaceuticals.

The German health care system is based on private providers operating within a government-supervised regulatory framework.

Other delegation members include Minnesota Commissioner of Health and Human Services Cal Ludeman and Skip Humphrey with the AARP National Board. The group also includes several legislators and scholars.

Mayo Clinic gets a national exam and Kline's attacks draw cheers

There's plenty of health care reform-related news to catch up on from the past weekend.

Mayo Clinic is scrutinized in a Washington Post article entitled "Is the Mayo Clinic a Model or a Mirage? Jury is Still Out." The article raises the question of whether the Mayo model can be replicated at other hospitals, given that the clinic's patients are generally wealthier, healthier and less racially diverse than in other parts of the country. It's an interesting read.

Also, Second District Rep. John Kline held a health care town hall on Friday. The Pioneer Press reports that the Republican congressman attacked the Democrats' health care overhaul plans. He even went so far as to shove a phonebook-size binder said to be the Democrats health plan off a table to the floor. According to the story, the crowd reacting by going "wild, rising to deliver cheers and extended applause."

AMA president comes to Roch, talks about health reform

American Medical Association President J. James Rohack is in Rochester today to speak about national health care reform.

Rohack will be addressing members of the Minnesota Medical Association as part of their annual conference. The Chicago Tribune recently had an interesting article about how the AMA has done a 180 on health care reform by supporting President Obama's efforts. According to the article, the AMA played a key role in killing President Harry Truman's efforts to reform health care. But some are alleging that the AMA was bought off by the administration in exchange for support of the overhaul. Here is a link to the article.

It will be interesting to see how Rohack's message is received by the doctors today at the Mayo Civic Center. I'm planning to cover the event and will write a story.

Pawlenty blocks ACORN from getting state dollars

Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty today joined fellow GOPers who are working to block ACORN from getting any taxpayer money. The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, has drawn the ire of Republicans following an undercover sting where ACORN workers offered tax advice to two conservatives dressed up as a pimp and a prostitute.

In a letter to Management and Budget Commissioner Tom Hanson, Pawlenty wrote that given recent reports of the left-leaning organization's questionable behavior and potential illegal activity, he was issuing a directive that ACORN stop receiving state funds. Pawlenty's letter

This comes after the U.S. Senate voted in favor of blocking ACORN from getting any federal dollars. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, is also calling on President Obama to use his executive authority to extend the ban to all federal agencies.

For Pawlenty, a possible presidential candidate for 2012, the announcement garnered plenty of media attention including from Politico.

So just how much money does ACORN get from the state? According to the Associated Press, ACORN officials say they have no contracts with the state. The story quotes ACORN deputy political director Kevin Whelan as saying Pawlenty's move "seems like it's motivated by politics or publicity."

GOP gubernatorial candidate Marty Seifert had scheduled a press conference for tomorrow morning to call for ACORN to be blocked from receiving state funds.

Kelliher touts her rural roots

House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher today headed back to the family farm in Mankato to announce her candidacy for governor in 2010. The Minneapolis DFLer is clearly trying to position herself as a candidate that understands rural issues.

An eight-minute video posted on her campaign Web site devotes plenty of time to Kelliher's childhood on the family farm. It features family video of her riding horses and cleaning cows. Her mom also vouches for Kelliher's work ethic, noting her daughter had to feed the cows and clean the pens. The video also shows images of Kelliher's children suited up for hockey and her husband says, "We think we need to take the label hockey mom back" — a clear reference to former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

In the video, Kelliher emphasizes the importance of education when it comes to Minnesota's future. She says the state cannot afford to have "an opportunity gap" between rural and metro Minnesota. She also takes some digs at current Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

"The way that (the session) ended is exactly why I am running for governor because no Minnesota governor should walk away from negotiations with the legislature or turn their back on Minnesota," she said.

It will be interesting to see if this focus on her rural roots ends up winning her support in outstate Minnesota. The Republican Party of Minnesota has jumped on Kelliher's attempt to appeal to outstate Minnesota. The party sent out a press release entitled "Kelliher not fooling anyone with Mankato makeover."

The party chairman Tony Sutton is quoted in the release as saying, "As an out of touch Minneapolis liberal, Kelliher has voted to raise the gas tax, the metro wide sales tax and income taxes. People in Greater Minnesota and the suburbs need to be aware of this tax and spend wolf in sheep's clothing." 

Klobuchar, Franken oppose medical device tax

Minnesota's two senators joined two Indiana senators today in voicing opposition to a proposed tax on medical device manufacturers.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Al Franken, both Democrats, signed a letter addressed to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus voicing opposition to the tax. The tax is currently part of the committee's health care reform proposal. Also signing the letter in opposition to the tax was Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh and Republican Sen. Dick Lugar.

The letter states that independent estimates conclude the proposal would result in an annual income tax surcharge of between 10 percent to 30 percent on medical device manufacturers.

The lawmakers write that "At a time when every effort is being made to promote small business and growth industries of the future, the proposed medical device tax would harm economic development and health care innovation nationally and in our states."

The letter also notes that cuts to hospital reimbursements will likely be part of health care reform, which will also have an impact on the medical device industry. The letter states that these proposed cuts would result in $15 billion to $17 billion in cuts to the medical device industry.

The letter comes one day after Minnesota Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty sent a letter to Klobuchar and Franken urging them to oppose the tax. Pawlenty warned it could harm a key partnership between Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota. Here's what I wrote yesterday.