Political Notebook

Conservative groups launch effort to repeal Legacy Amendment

The Minnesota Voters Alliance, North Star Tea Party Patriots and the Northern Liberty Alliance have teamed up in an effort to repeal a constitutional amendment that raised the state's sales tax and dedicated the funds to the environment, outdoors, arts and cultural heritage.

The Legacy Amendment passed in 2008 with 56 percent of voters in support. The amendment raised the state's sales tax by three-eights of 1 percent.

Those backing the amendment repeal argue tax rates do not belong in the state's constitution. They also say that the amendment prevents these dollars from being used for more important government functions such as healthcare, education, infrastructure and law enforcement.

"This Amendment should be repealed because it violates principles of government, is a political slush fund, and unfairly targets our poorest citizens who need their money more than they need the elite uses to which the $250 million per year raised by the tax are put," Minnesota Voters Alliance President Andy Cilek is quoted as saying in a press release.

The Legacy Amendment opponents have launched a website where residents can sign a petition calling for the repeal.

House Republican Reps. Mark Buesgens and Tom Hackbarth have introduced a bill that proposes a constitutional amendment repealing the Legacy Amendment. It would need to pass the House and Senate before it could be put on the 2012 general election ballot.

It should be noted that the Rochester Tea Party Patriots are members of the North Star Tea Party Patriots.

 

A new shot at Legacy Amendment dollars for local projects?

Just when it seemed that some local projects had missed out on their chance to be part of the House Legacy Amendment funding bill, everything may change.

The House Legacy Funding Division last week passed the House version of the bill, which including funding for several specific projects. But now the bill's chief author Rep. Dean Urdahl, R-Grove City, said he is working on a delete-all amendment to offer Wednesday morning in the Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee. That amendment would get rid of specific allocations for various projects and instead set up a competitive grant process leaving it up to agencies to divvy out the dollars.

On the House side, several local projects failed to make the cut. That including $700,000 in funding to build a new children's museum in Rochester under a partnership with the Minnesota Children's Museum. The state museum had asked for $1 million with $700,000 expected to go to Rochester. Instead, they got $500,000. The Senate version of the Legacy Amendment bill has the funding for the Rochester museum.

Also not included is a $7 million request to renovate the Chatfield Center for the Arts and $10 million to restore Lake Zumbro. Both of these were also left out of the Senate version of the bill. The big question is whether these projects would get support under a competitive grant process.