Political Party

Franken to meet with Rochester students tomorrow

State Sen. Al Franken will be in Rochester Friday afternoon visiting with students at the University of Minnesota Rochester.

Franken will meet with the university's Chancellor Stephen Lehmkuhle and students to discuss ways to make college more affordable for students. This is part of his "Making College Affordable" tour of state campuses.

Franken has been busy in recent weeks. Today he announced he was sponsoring a bill aimed at protecting health care workers and nurses from back injuries — often the result of lifting patients. The bill would require OSHA to issue a standard on safe patient handling and injury prevention that requires the use of lift equipment to move patients except when it would compromise patient care. It would also give workers training on safe patient handling.

In other news, Franken also got attention from Daily Show Host John Stewart last night for his amendment that cuts funding for defense contractors who prevent employees from suing over sexual assault. On the show, Stewart criticized 30 Republicans for voting against the measure. You can watch the video here.

Dems to tour local colleges, talk unallotment

Members of the House Higher Education committee, led by its Iron Range DFL Chair Tom Rukavina, will be visting eight colleges and universities in southern Minnesota over the next two days to discuss the impact of $100 million in cuts as part of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's unallotment.

Here is the intinerary for Thursday.

9:45 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Southeast Technical College in Red Wing
11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. in 106 Maxwell Hall at Winona State University
2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Rochester Community and Technical College
3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. at Riverland Community College in Austin

Some local DFL lawmakers are planning to join in the discussions at the schools within their districts. They include Rep. Gene Pelowski of Winona, Sen. Ann Lynch and Rep. Tina Liebling both of Rochester, and Rep. Jeanne Poppe and Sen. Dan Sparks, both of Austin.

It should be noted that Rukavina is among about a dozen Democrats considering a run for governor in 2010. The colorful lawmaker has developed a reputation over the years for outspokeness. Politics in Minnesota recently reported that Rukavina had a campaign slogan suggestion for Gov. Tim Pawlenty in 2012 if he runs for president — "Let me screw up the country like I screwed up Minnesota." Hmmm....somehow I don't think that slogan will win T-Paw's favor.

Local leaders anxiously await Pawlenty's cuts

Gov. Tim Pawlenty is scheduled to announce his plan for fixing a remaining $2.7 million budget gap at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. The Republican governor plans to use his executive power of "unallotment" to make the cuts during the next two-year budget cycle, which begins July 1.

Plenty of local leaders are planning to tune in for the big announcement to find out just how big of a budget hit their organization may take. Rochester Community and Technical College President Don Supalla said the school is already bracing for up to a $1.8 million cut

“We’ve been looking at the budget and looking at ways to reduce our expenditures,” he said.

That includes potentially delaying facility repairs, equipment replacement and furniture purchases.

Meanwhile, the city of Rochester could potential lose millions in state aid. Assistant City Administrator Gary Neumann said under the governor's original budget proposal, the city would lose $2.5 million in 2009 and $5.3 million in 2010.

Pawlenty has said in the past the unallotments will likely include cuts to Local Government Aid, health and human services and higher education. He has said he is also considering delaying funding for K-12 schools.

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.

Klobuchar's staff coming to Roch on Monday

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar staff is hosting a K-12 education forum to get feedback on the federal No Child Left Behind Law, which is up for reauthorization from Congress this year. She wants to hear from parents, teachers, administrators and residents about what sorts of educational reforms they would like to see.

Klobuchar's forum will be at 3:30 p.m. Monday at Rochester Public Schools' Edison Building in the School Board Meeting Room.

The Minnesota Senator is hosting a series of education forums across the state to get feedback. To find out more about these forums, visit this site.

Winds changing on turbine tax for schools?

Two years ago, the Minnesota Department of Education proposed taking away a tax benefit from wind turbines that goes to local schools. State education officials advocated deducting money from this wind energy production tax from state aid given to schools in these wind-rich areas. This wind tax money would stop flowing to districts July 1 of this year.

When the change was proposed, the argument was made that this wind tax is unfair for school districts that don't have wind turbines in their area. Lawmakers approved the change in 2007.

But as southern Minnesota schools have stepped up pressure to have this money restored, it appears the state's education department is backing down. Department spokeswoman Christine Dufour said the department is "currently in the process of reviewing the legislation."

In addition, Gov. Tim Pawlenty  "is open to discussing the removal of the deduction for school districts with the Legislature," according to his spokesman Alex Carey.

Here's a story I wrote for today with more details. Here's a link to Austin Democratic Rep. Robin Brown's bill aimed at restoring this wind tax funding boost.

A reprieve from budget cuts — for now

Gov. Tim Pawlenty unveiled his revised budget recommendations this afternoon. Thanks to a $2.6 billion infusion of federal stimulus dollars, K-12 education would get an extra $28 million funding boost on top of the governor's previously proposed increases over the next two-year budget cycle. Colleges and universities would also be spared from 8.2 percent in cuts.

Pawlenty's budget would restore $10 million out of $25 million of proposed cuts for the court system. The governor is also proposing that the state take back responsibility for housing short-term offenders, easing the burden on counties.

But there are plenty of cuts in the future. Beginning January 2011, the governor would move ahead with his proposed health care cuts. Democrats say that would mean 113,000 people would lose state health insurance. Over the next four-year budget cycle, Democrats charge the governor's budget would amount to a 35 percent cut in health care — including a substantial cuts to state hospital payments.

In addition, higher education would take an 11 percent funding hit in those later years. State aid to cities and counties would be frozen in the 2012-2013 budget at the level of cuts the governor is proposing over the next two years. Democrats say that amounts to a 23 percent cut in aid over the four-year budget.

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.

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.

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.