Political Notebook

Mayo Civic Center instead of Mayo's DMC plan?

This morning, House Democrats unveiled an $800 million bonding proposal that includes $35 million for the Mayo Civic Center expansion. House Capital investment Committee Chairwoman Alice Hausmen noted during the committee's hearing on the plan that in 2009 Rochester leaders wrote a letter stating the civic center was an "important component" of Mayo Clinic's Destination Medical Center initiative.

"I think this is kind of the first step that we can take toward meeting that vision," Hausman said.

But Rochester lawmakers and city officials have been making the case that the Mayo Civic Center and Mayo Clinic's request for $585 million in state support to fund public infrastructure upgrades in the city are separate projects and should not be lumped together.

The ranking Republican on the committee, Rep. Matt Dean, criticized Democrats for not recognizing the difference.

"Saying we are doing something in Rochester, so that equals Destination Medical Community — that ain't the same thing. It probably ain't the same thing for the Mayo Clinic and the city of Rochester," he said.

He also noted the neither the governor's bonding bill proposal nor the House Democrats' plan has funding for the DMC project.

The governor did say he was willing to put money into his bonding plan for the DMC project depending on how lawmakers decide to move ahead with the plan. At this point, Mayo Clinic is pushing for the state to authorize the state to sell $585 million in appropriation bonds, which would be separate from the bonding bill.

Hausman has said previously that the $60 million included in the House bonding bill for projects in Rochester and Olmsted County — including the civic center — should count towards the state's share of the DMC plan. She fears the current plan to authorize borrowing for the whole project upfront could end up hurting the state's ability to borrow money for other projects in the future.

 

Dayton: Failing to do DMC could be 'catastrophic' for state

DFL Gov. Mark Dayton said during a press conference Monday that failing to support Mayo Clinic's Destination Medical Center plan could have dire consequences for the state.

"If we don't keep pace with what Mayo needs to be competitive with Johns Hopkins and Cleveland Clinic and others, they're going to have to understandably look for other possibilities, and that would be catastrophic for this state, just devastating," he said.

Mayo Clinic wants $585 million in public financing to help support its $6 billion Destination Medical Center plan. The clinic has pledged to spend $3.5 billion over the next 20 years to expand its Rochester campus and leverage more than $2 billion in private money. It says the state needs to step up to help the city of Rochester pay for the public infrastructure upgrades needed to handle that explosive growth. The money could be used for things like parking ramps, bridges and site acquisition.

Key DFL lawmakers have said they have concerns with the current financing plan being put forward by the clinic. That would require the state to authorize borrowing $585 million for the project. The additional state taxes generated by Mayo Clinic's expansion would be used to pay the debt service on the bonds.

Dayton has also expressed concerns with that plan and the idea of authorizing all that money upfront. But he said he is confident that a solution can be found. That could include funding the project in the traditional bonding bill or allocating $30 million per year as a budget item.

"The question is what is the best financing plan option, not if there are financing options," he said.

Dayton added that House Taxes Committee Chairwoman Ann Lenczewski's criticism that the city and Olmsted County aren't putting in enough money to the project is valid. But he noted that the city and county send $90 million more a year to the state than it gets back in funding, it's important to keep that in mind.

Dayton has appointed his Chief of Staff Tina Smith to work with lawmakers on crafting a funding plan for the Destination Medical Center that can win enough political support to pass.

"I am convinced we'll work it out," Dayton said. "Where's there's a will, there's a way."

 

Dayton town hall in Rochester next week

Residents will get a chance to weigh in on the governor's budget proposal at a town hall forum next Thursday in Rochester.

DFL Gov. Mark Dayton is hosting the forum to make the case for his budget and gather public input. It's part of a statewide series of forums called "Meetings with Mark." Previous meetings have been held in Duluth, Moorhead and St. Cloud.

Dayton's budget calls for an increase in income taxes on the state's wealthiest 2 percent of residents along with a hike in the cigarette tax. His plan also calls for a $640 million increase in funding for education, $86.5 million for job creation and $120 million for local government aid aimed at lower property taxes.

The event will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday in the Heintz Center Common Area at Rochester Community and Technical College, 1926 Collegeview Road East. It is free and open to the public.

Dayton calls funding plan for Mayo project "almost unfeasible"

Gov. Mark Dayton said that while he is a big supporter of Mayo Clinic's request for $585 million in public dollars for its Destination Medical Center initiative, he has serious concerns with the proposed financing.

During a press conference on Thursday, Dayton said his understanding of the latest proposal is that the state would have to bond for all of the money upfront for a 30-year period. That would amount to roughly $30 million in debt service a year. He compared that request to his plan to release a $750 million bonding plan in the next few weeks to fund construction projects across the state.

"My understanding is they want us to essentially bond for the whole $600 million up front. You can see with a $750 million bonding bill for the whole state, that is almost unfeasible. So I am hoping and working toward finding some way that they can have financial support and the security as much as possible that they are going to have it on an ongoing basis," Dayton said.

He added that there is the potential the $30 million in annual costs could simply be paid in cash, as opposed to borrowing a large amount of money right away. He said he realizes that Mayo Clinic will want to have the security of knowing they can rely on those dollars and lawmakers cannot bind future legislatures to abide by their decisions.

"I can't conceive of this project getting five to six years down the road and then having anybody want to pull out of it," he said. "But I understand (Mayo Clinic) wanting better assurances than mine."

In the end, Dayton said he remains optimistic that a deal can be reached on the financing for the project.

"It's a great project. Mayo is just priceless in terms of its value to the state and value to Rochester and Olmsted County," he said.

In exchange for the public funding, Mayo Clinic is pledging to invest $3.5 billion over the next 20 years to expand its Rochester campus and leverage an additional $2 billion. The public money would be used for infrastructure upgrades in the city to support the massive growth fueled by the Destination Medical Center project.

I have put a call into Mayo Clinic to get a response to the governor's concerns. I'll update this post when I hear back from them.

Mayo Clinic spokesman Karl Oestreich said it is important for lawmakers to understand that Mayo Clinic is not asking the state to issue the bonds for the project right away. Rather, the clinic is looking at doing it in chunks over 20 years. The bill caps the amount of money that can go to the authority to $75 million per year. But the bill does want the state to authorize the full amount of bonding, and that could lead to issues with the state's ability to borrow in the future. More on that in Friday's Post-Bulletin.

 

Mayo Clinic gets shout-out in State of State address

DFL Gov. Mark Dayton made a point of recognizing Mayo Clinic President and CEO Dr. John Noseworthy during his State of the State address on Wednesday night and reiterating his support for the clinic's $6 billion Destination Medical Center initiative.

"The renowned Mayo Cinic wants us to help them continue to outclass their competitors in other state and other countries and to continue doing so from Rochester. I thank Mayo, whose CEO Dr. John Noseworthy is with us tonight as a guest of Speaker (Paul) Thissen, for giving Minnesota the change to partner with them and help assure their world medical pre-eminence for decades to come in Rochester, Minnesota," Dayton said.

That proved to be one of the few statements made by the governor during his speech that won strong bipartisan support. The governor's decision to talk about Destination Medical Center was somewhat of a surprise. His spokeswoman Katharine Tinucci said on Tuesday she did not expect him to bring it up.

Assistant Majority Leader Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester, said she appreciated the governor’s statement.

“That was really nice. I think he was showing his serious concern about Mayo Clinic’s health and their growth and their growth here in Minnesota,” she said.

Mayo Clinic is asking lawmakers for more than $500 million to pay for public infrastructure that would support its plans to expand in Rochester. As part of the deal, the clinic has pledged to spend $3.5 billion over the next 20 years and leverage an estimated $2 billion in private investment. Funding for the infrastructure would come from the increased state taxes generated by the clinic’s expansion. Norton plans to introduce the Destination Medical Center bill today in the House and Sen. Dave Senjem, R-Rochester, plans to carry it in the Senate.

Noseworthy said in an interview after the speech he was honored to be invited to the Capitol for the State of State address and to have the clinic's project mentioned by the governor.

“We are very pleased to have the governor express support for the proposal, and we look forward to working to make it a reality, to make Minnesota a destination site for health care,” he said.

Dayton meeting with lawmakers today about silica sand

Southeast Minnesota lawmakers are scheduled to meet with DFL Gov. Mark Dayton today to talk about silica sand mining.

Legislators in Senate District 21 and Senate District 28 were invited to attend. The governor is expected to discuss his position on the issue. Mining opponents have been pushing hard for a statewide Environmental Impact Statement to be done on silica sand mining and a moratorium be put in place. Red Wing Republican Rep. Tim Kelly has expressed support for such a study and possibly a temporary moratorium. Others, such as Mazeppa GOP Rep. Steve Drazkowski, oppose a the idea of a study or any other additional state regulations on the industry. He said the state already has strong regulations in place to protect the environmental and public health.

Sen. Matt Schmit, DFL-Red Wing, has said he plans to put forward a comprehensive bill shortly addressing the silica sand issue. He is still working out the details, but in the past he has indicated he is concerned a statewide EIS could end up taking too long. Rather, he has suggested working with state agencies to study some of the issues.

Dayton having surgery today in Rochester

DFL Gov. Mark Dayton is scheduled to have spinal surgery today at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. The governor is have the operation to relieve a condition called "stenosis" that causes constriction on part of the spine and to fuse a vertebrae that has shifted out of alignment.

According to to the governor's office, Dayton is expected to spend the weekend in Rochester recovering and plans to leave the hospital on Monday. He will then spend the next couple of weeks working from home at the Governor's Residence as he recuperates. As a result, public events that had been planned for early January are being rescheduled.

Dayton's surgery comes less than two weeks before the start of the 2013 legislative session on Jan. 8

UPDATE: Governor's Spokeswoman Katharine Tinucci said Dayon is out of surgery and awake. Mayo Clinic surgeon Dr. Jeremy Fogelson performed the procedure and reported there were no complications.

House GOP leaders ask Dayton to veto K-12 social studies standards

Two key House Republican leaders sent DFL Gov. Mark Dayton a letter on Thursday asking him to veto the proposed K-12 standards for social studies.

House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt and Republican lead for the House Education Finance Committee Kelby Woodard both signed the letter. In it they write that "after revieweing the proposed new standards, we do not believe these reflect what Minnesotans expect our students to learn and comprehend in the subject areas of history, government, and economics."

In particular, the Republicans mention concerns about the standards having "virtually no mention of the values of American patriotism." These standards also fail to mention Osama Bin Laden, the wars in Afghanistan and the events of Sept. 11. Daudt and Woodard also have concerns with how the Cold War is addressed and that George Washington is not mentioned until fifth grade civics.

"While we appreciate the work that has been done in revising these standards, we hope you can agree that Minnesota kids deserve better," they wrote.

Click here to Download Veto request letter

Drazkowski warns of 'extreme environmental advocates' pushing more regulation

In an email to constituents on Sunday, Rep. Steve Drazkowski warns of an effort by government officials and "extreme environmental advocates" to increase environmental regulations that will "undoubtedly include the killing of even more Minnesota jobs."

The Mazeppa Republican is critical of a report recently competed by the Environmental Quality Board that recommends beefing up the board's staffing and improving its transparency. Drazkowski notes in his email that legislation was introduced last session to eliminate the board because its usefulness "has been almost non-existent." He also warns that a series of Environmental Congress meetings around the state are simply a way to legitimize the board.

"As far as I can tell, the efforts by our state government to notify farmers and other business owners throughout the state, about these meetings, has been extremely limited. This may have been by design.  I encourage you to attend one or more of these sessions to represent common sense in the discussions.  Please notify your friends and neighbors in other parts of the state, as well," Drazkowski wrote.

The Rochester meeting is tomorrow from 9:30 a.m. to noon at Wood Lake Meeting Center. It appears the Rochester Tea Party Patriots are also skeptical of these Environmental Congress meetings, writing in their weekly newsletter that "this will likely be a put up job with a predetermined outcome."

Ellen Anderson, senior adviser to the governor on energy and environment, said Drazkowski's assertion that notification about the meetings has been limited is "completely false." She said the board has sent out hundreds of email invitations to various stakeholders including farm groups, chambers of commerce, mining groups, environmental groups and energy groups — just to name a few.

 

 

 

 

Dayton to Vikes: I supported a People's Stadium, not a Rich People's Stadium

DFL Gov. Mark Dayton is none too pleased with the Minnesota Vikings. The governor fired off a letter to the football team's owners Mark and Zygi Wilf today warning them he will fight any efforts to make season ticket holders pay part of the cost of building the new $975 million stadium.

"This private contribution is your responsibility, not theirs. I said this new stadium would be a 'People's Stadium,' not a 'Rich People's Stadium.' I meant it then, and I mean it now," Dayton wrote.

This comes after recent media reports that the Vikings emailed surveys to season-ticket holders to see if they would be willing to pay more for personal seat licenses in order to get the rights to certain seats. Dayton vowed he would urge the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority to block the sale of those licenses and "if necessary, I will go to the Legislature next January and urge that the authorization be rescinded."

Dayton also made clear he is not pleased with the Vikings' eagerness to play home games overseas. He said that when the Vikings intially announced that one of their 2013 home games would be played in London, the team said it should not count towards their three-game limit of overseas games over 15 years because the final agreement had not been signed.

Dayton said after his "strong objection," the team reversed course and said it would count as one of the three games, but he noted that the team is already talking about a second home game that would be played overseas.

"The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority and the Vikings are supposed to be working together to build a new $975 million stadium. It would be far more helpful, if the Vikings focused public attention on a desire to play home games there, rather than elsewhere," Dayton wrote.

Local residents will get their chance to weigh in today on plans for the stadium's design. The Vikings and Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority are hosting a listening session with the stadium architect at 6:30 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Rochester.

Click here to Download Dayton's letter to the Vikings