Political Notebook

Groups challenge Voter ID ballot question in court

A coalition of groups opposed to the proposed Voter ID constitutional amendment are asking the Minnesota Supreme Court to remove the question from the Nov. 6 ballot.

The groups, led by the ACLU, filed a lawsuit today alleging the ballot question is misleading. They argue that the ballot question fails to make clear that voters will have to show a valid government-issued photo ID and that it would set up a new provisional balloting system.

"When Minnesota voters are being asked to change their system of voting, it is of paramount importance that the changes be fairly and accurately described in the ballot question. This ballot question fails to do so," the lawsuit states.

The ACLU has filed the lawsuit on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Minnesota, Common Cause, Jewish Community Action Council and five citizens.

Supporters of the amendment responded by saying the lawsuit is no surprise. In a statement, Minnesota Majority President Jeff Davis said, "The opponents have been talking about a lawsuit from nearly the time that the Voter ID bill was introduced in the legislature. What are these folks so afraid of they feel they need to file a lawsuit trying to block Minnesotans from voting on this issue?"

Click here to read the lawsuit.

Lynch to lobby for American Dental Hygienists' Association

Former Rochester DFL Sen. Ann Lynch has a new job lobbying for the American Dental Hygienists' Association.

The association announced Lynch will take over as its director of government affairs beginning on June 5. She will be responsible for overseeing the group's advocacy efforts at the federal level and also working with state organizations to get their initiatives passed.

Lynch served one term in the state Senate, winning election to the seat in 2006. She lost her re-election bid in 2010 to GOP Sen. Carla Nelson. Prior to her time in the Senate, Lynch served on the Rochester School Board. 

While in the Senate, Lynch successfully pushed for legislation allowing for a new mid-level oral health provider. The legislation enables students to become dental therapists or advanced dental therapists. Lynch's quest to pass such a position at times put her at odds with dentists concerned about issues of supervision for these new dental care providers and what sorts of procedures they would be allowed to do. Rep. Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester, also got involved with the issue working with dentists to come up with compromise legislation.

The American Dental Hygienists' Association had lobbied hard for such a program. Lynch won the organization's presidential citation in 2009 for her work.

Mayor makes case for Mayo Civic Center funding in letter

Rochester Mayor Ardell Brede makes the city's intentions to apply for a $47.5 million economic development grant to expand the Mayo Civic Center clear in a new letter.

Brede has sent a letter to Department of Employment and Economic Development Mark Phillips touting the need for the expansion.

"There are many medical conferences that have expressed interest in coming to Rochester but have found our present facility to lack sufficient convention space and finishes to compete for regional and national medical conferences," Brede wrote.

The plan calls for building meeting rooms, a ballroom and support facilities at the civic center in hopes of attracting medical, bioscience and high tech conferences. Preliminary estimates show that the Mayo Civic Center brings in $20 million in direct spending from out-of-state visitors and the expansion project would boost that up to more than $27 million.

The city requested $35 million from the state for the project. DFL Gov. Mark Dayton included funding for the project in his $775 million bonding bill. The Senate version of the bonding bill initially included the project, but it was stripped out of the final $496 million bonding bill. Several communities are eyeing these bonding dollars for project. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman has already sent a letter to Phillips looking for $27 million to build a new St. Paul Saints stadium. The Metropolitan Council is also expected to seek funding for the Southwest Light Rail project. Chatfield also wants a piece of the money to renovate the Chatfield Center of the Arts.

One interesting thing to note — the letter repeatedly refers to the project as the "Mayo Civic Center — Convention Center Addition" project. For years, it's been referred to as an expansion of the Mayo Civic Center. But state Rep. Duane Quam, R-Byron, recently told members of the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce that he believes the project would have had a better chance of getting funded if it was called the "Mayo Convention Center" instead of "Mayo Civic Center."

Click here to Download Brede's letter

Chatfield eyes DEED bonding money, too

It's not just big cities like Rochester and St. Paul angling for a piece of the $47.5 million DEED money in the bonding bill.

The city of Chatfield, population 2,779, is also eyeing the economic development grant dollars. City clerk Joel Young said they are planning to apply for the grant to help fund the renovation of the Potter Center for the Arts. He estimates that thanks to recent investments in the property, the center has already had an economic impact of $5 million over the past two years.

"This art center goes toe to toe with other projects very well," he said.

The city needs $7 million to finish the entire project, which includes turning Potter Auditorium into a state-of-the-art performance venue. It would also renovate a 96-year-old school building to house a community/events center and provide office space for regional arts organizations. Young said city officials may ask for a smaller amount up front to boost the odds they'll get funding.

Chatfield's efforts to get state bonding dollars and Legacy Amendment money for the project haven't panned out. In 2010, then-Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoed funding for the project from the bonding bill. This past session, a Senate version of the bonding bill included $2.2 million for the project. But that got stripped out of the final bonding bill.

The city has also had to combat misconceptions about the project. Pawlenty at one point referred to it as a "pottery center," upsetting city officials who pointed out it has nothing to do with pottery. It's also been confused with a previous project proposal that would have built a new Chatfield Brass Band Music Lending Library. It's a project that was singled out for ridicule by Pawlenty and others as an example of runaway government spending. Last month, Republican House Majority Leader Matt Dean made disparaging remarks on the House floor about the "sheet music museum." That drew a swift response from Chatfield Mayor Don Hainlen, who sent a letter to Dean emphasizing the lending library and the Chatfield Center for the Arts are two different projects.

"The point, Rep. Dean, is that the residents of Chatfield have made significant contributions to the State of Minnesota and continue to do so every day," Hainlen wrote, "and they deserve more respect than that shown by flippant remarks like those you made."

Parry, Howe among first to file for office

Two area Republicans wasted no time this morning filing for office. 1st District congressional candidate Mike Parry was the second candidate in line at the Minnesota Secretary of State's Office in St. Paul. He said he wanted to be among the first to file for office to show voters he is willing to put in the hard work necessary to defeat three-term DFL incumbent Tim Walz.

"It really sets a tone for people when they see that. They know that I'm aggressive and I'm out early and I will be working late and they know that this is the type of person I am," he said.

Parry will battle former GOP state Rep. Allen Quist of St. Peter in the Aug. 14 Republican primary for the chance to take on Walz in November.

Also lining up to fill out the necessary paperwork and pay the filing fee was first-term Sen. John Howe, R-Red Wing. He was the first senate candidate to file for office. He was the first Senate incumbent to file for re-election.

"I think it's important to let your intentions be known right away, and to let the people of the district know how proud I am to continue serving them," Howe said in a statement.

Howe will face Red Wing public policy consultant Matt Schmit, who recently won the DFL party endorsement.

The filing period runs from today to 5 p.m. on June 5.

 

A dumbing down of Congress?

The Sunlight Foundation released a report today that finds the gradel level of congressional speeches has dropped from a high of 11.5 grade in 2005 to 10.6 grade level. It also analyzes what grade level members of Congress are speaking at when they take to the floor.

The researchers analyzed the complete Congressional Record since 1996 They used the Flesch-Kincaid test to do the analysis, which equates higher-grade levels with longer words and longer sentences.The member of Minnesota's congressional delegation with the lowest score was 5th District DFL Rep. Keith Ellison of Minneapolis with a 9.3 grade level. Taking the top spot was 4th District DFL Rep. Betty McCollum from St. Paul. Below are the scores for the entire Minnesota congressional delegation from lowest to highest.

DFL Rep. Keith Ellison: 9.3

GOP. Rep. Michele Bachmann: 9.52

DFL Sen. Al Franken: 9.98

DFL Rep. Tim Walz: 10.06

DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar: 10.24

DFL Rep. Collin Peterson: 10.41

GOP Rep. John Kline: 11.09

GOP Rep. Chip Cravaack: 11.17

GOP. Rep. Erik Paulsen: 11.93

DFL Rep. Betty McCollum: 12.71

Bills, Hegseth and Severson battle for GOP endorsement

Republicans will decide today which of three candidates running for the U.S. Senate to endorse. State Rep. Kurt Bills, Afghanistan war vet Pete Hegseth and former state Rep. Dan Severson are all battling for the endorsement in hopes of taking on DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar in November. The balloting is slated to begin at noon today.

Ron Paul supporters are expected to play a big role in today's state GOP convention. That's likely good news for Bills, who has Presidential candidate Ron Paul's support for his Senate bid. Paul is expected to address the more than 2,000 Republican delegates this afternoon.

Vikings bill headed to Senate for final vote

In the early morning hours Thursday, the Minnesota House gave its blessing to a nearly $1 billion Minnesota Vikings stadium plan. The Senate is expected to take up the bill today and, if it passes, it heads to DFL Gov. Mark Dayton for his signature.

As part of the final bill negotiated between House and Senate lawmakers, the Vikings are being asked to pay $50 million more than they had pledged for a total of $477 million. The state's share of $348 million will be paid for through electronic pull-tabs and linked bingo. The bill passed 71-60 with Democrats putting up the majority of votes.

Rochester Rep. Kim Norton was among the DFLers voting yes. she was pleased to see that the Minnesota Vikings will have to put in more money toward the project and that a tax on luxury seats would kick in if electronic pull-tabs don't raise the money needed.

"I think the people of Minnesota will benefit not only from the financial and jobs aspects of having the Vikings here, but also having a professional sport in the state is an asset in and of itself," Norton
said.

Other lawmakers could not sign onto the bill because of its reliance on electronic pull-tabs. Rep. Mike Benson, R-Rochester, said while he has serious concerns about how increased gambling impacts society, he also  has questions about whether electronic pull-tabs will generate the revenue necessary to pay the state's share of the cost.

"The revenue stream that we are going to rely on to pay this back is just so untested and suspect and so it was important for me to make the case we rushed the bill," he said.

Below is a rundown of how the southeast Minnesota House delegation voted on the stadium bill.

Voting yes: Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston; Rep. Tim Kelly, R-Red Wing; Rep. Rich Murray, R-Albert Lea; Rep. Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester; Rep. Gene Pelowski, DFL-Winona; and Rep. Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Austin.

Voting no: Rep. Mike Benson, R-Rochester; Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa; Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester; and Rep. Duane Quam, R-Byron.

 

Quist calls for immediate audit of state's Medicaid program

1st District Republican congressional candidate Allen Quist is calling on DFL Gov. Mark Dayton to order an immediate audit of the state's Medicaid program. Quist cited a recent U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform report that that blasts Minnesota's oversight of its Medicaid program.

"If this report is accurate, then widespread Medicaid fraud is occurring in Minnesota and it may be in the neighborhood of $1 billion a year that is being wasted," he said.

Joining Quist at a Capitol press conference was David Feinwachs, former counsel for the Minnesota Hospital Association who said he lost his job because he raised questions about how Minnesota was using federal Medicaid dollars. He testified at a congressional hearing last month about Medicaid fraud. He accused the state of using an accounting trick to bring in more federal Medicaid dollars and then using those dollars for other programs.

"This is completely unacceptible and as taxpayers we should be outraged," he said.

Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley has launched a federal investigation into Medicaid fraud in Minnesota and across the country. Minnesota's program came to Grassley's attention after the state announced UCare was donating $30 million to the state. The federal government argued it was a reimbursements for Medicaid overpayments and that it should get half of the money. The state ended up agreeing to send half the money to the federal government. Minnesota Department of Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson has said the problems with the state's Medicaid program stem from contracts with HMOs that were signed during Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty's administration. The department issued the following statement in response to Quist's criticism:

"The Minnesota Department of Human Services welcomes examination of its managed care contracting. DHS supported the recently passed HMO audit legislation as well as the financial audits of the plans currently underway that were ordered by Governor Dayton last year."

Quist said the recent legislation that delays an audit of the state's Medicaid program for two and a half years is simply unacceptable. The St. Peter Republican is running against Sen. Mike Parry, R-Waseca, in the August primary for the chance to take on DFL 1st District Rep. Tim Walz. Quist said there are estimates that addressing Medicaid fraud nationwide could save $100 billion. He said that would go a long way towards trying to solve the nation's ballooning budget deficit.

Click here to  Download Medicaid fraud report

The Minnesota Vikings — based in Delaware?

Sen. John Howe has discovered something that does not make him happy. The Minnesota Vikings, LLC is incorporated in Delaware — not Minnesota. Delaware is a popular place for companies to incorporate because they do not have to pay income taxes if they don't do business in the state. The state also has no sales or personal property tax.

Howe argues that if the Minnesota Vikings want a public subsidy from the state of Minnesota to build a stadium, they should be based here and paying taxes.

"There is a fairness issue and everybody who says just vote yes for a stadium doesn't understand that," Howe said.

The Red Wing Republican said he plans to offer an amendment today to the Vikings stadium bill that would require the Vikings organization to be based in Minnesota in order to get state funding for a stadium. Howe also plans to offer an amendment that would pay for the state's share of the stadium with a user fee on stadium-related items like tickets, parking and sports memorabilia. The Minnesota Vikings are fiercly opposed to that idea. Click here to Download Vikings letter to Sen. Howe. Go here to see Howe's response.