Political Notebook

Business coalition launches ad campaign backing GOP budget stance

If you flip to page B5 in today's Rochester Post-Bulletin, you'll see a half-page ad thanking four local Republicans — Rep. Mike Benson, Rep. Duane Quam, Sen. Carla Nelson and Sen. Dave Senjem — for "holding the line on state spending."

The ad states, "Families have to live within their budgets — so should government. Grow jobs, not government."

It's all part of a newspaper ad campaign launched today the Coalition of Minnesota Businesses, an organization comprised of 11 employer groups including the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and the Minnesota Business Partnership. The group is lining up behind legislative Republicans arguing against tax increases and increased spending as part of a budget deal.

The coalition's Communications Director Mark Giga said they are running ads in 33 newspapers across the state specifically thanking 52 Republican lawmakers. Those ads are targeted mainly along the U.S. 52 and I-35W corridors headed up to the cities and Interstate-94 into St. Cloud. Giga said it makes sense to focus on these areas — especially Rochester.

"It's no secret that these are swing districts," he said.

Giga said he did not have an estimate of how much the coalition will spent on the newspaper ads at this point. This is the second part of an ad campaign launched before lawmakers went on their Easter/Passover break. That time the coalition spent roughly $250,000 on radio and internet ads saying the state needs to stop spending more and live within its means.

Other area GOP lawmakers getting praised in the ads are: Rep. Rich Murray of Albert Lea, Rep. Greg Davids of Preston, Rep. Tim Kelly of Red Wing and Sen. John Howe of Red Wing and Sen. Jeremy Miller of Winona. Go here to see what the ads look like.

These ads come as Alliance for a Better Minnesota, a liberal, union-funded group, has launched a TV ad campaign that supports DFL Gov. Mark Dayton's proposal to raise $1.8 billion in income taxes on the state's wealthiest 2 percent.

Lawmakers, governor fail to reach a budget deal

Lawmakers and DFL Gov. Mark Dayton are headed into overtime to try and solve the state's projected $5 billion budget deficit.

The Republican-led legislature and Dayton were unable to reach a budget agreement by the midnight Monday deadline. Unlike in past years where lawmakers and governor worked frantically up until the deadline to reach a deal, this year's end of session fizzled early with Republicans and the governor appearing resigned to a special session.

Republicans put the blame on Dayton saying he failed to get involved and negotiate despite lawmakers getting their budget proposals done in record time. Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, said Republicans made clear from the start they would not support any tax increases to balance the budget.

"We've got 200,000 Minnesotans that are unemployed right now. To put forward more job-killing tax increases will not only squelch their hope for employment but possibly employment for other people — that is ridiculous to me," Drazkowski said.

Democrats countered that Republicans have been unwilling to compromise with the governor, insisting the budget be capped at $34 billion and include no additional revenue.

"The mass of their caucus are people who came here to not compromise. And I do think that is the problem," said Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester. "They are still saying, 'Not a penny more.' How can you compromise with that?"

It will be up to Dayton to decide when to call lawmakers into a special session. He supports raising $1.8 billion in income tax increases on the state's top earners and cutting $1.8 billion to solve the gap. The rest of the savings would come from holding off repaying school districts, which had payment delayed as part of last year's budget deal. He has said he is willing to consider other types of revenue increases besides taxes including gambling.

In a statement, the governor said he has already compromised by scaling back his original proposal to raise $3.3 billion in taxes.

"Tomorrow, I’ll still be here, waiting for the legislature to take even one step toward the middle, and to answer the calls for balance and compromise we’re hearing from every corner of Minnesota," Dayton said in the statement.

Republicans argue they have already compromised by agreeing to increase spending by $2 billion compared to the last two-year budget cycle. Sen. Carla Nelson, R-Rochester, said there is concern that raising taxes could put in jeopardy the state's slow economic recovery.

"The worst thing we could do is kill the goose that lays the golden egg. We've got to be really careful we don't damage our economic recovery, and that is going to be the balancing act," she said.

Budget showdown ramps up at Capitol

With less than a week left until the May 23 deadline, DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and GOP legislative leaders are still wide apart when it comes to a budget deal.

On Monday, Dayton announced he would be willing to scale back his tax-increase proposal. Instead of raising income taxes on couples making $150,000, it would be raised to those with a taxable income of $250,000. He said that income tax increase would affect the top 2 percent of the state's income earners. He also dropped a proposal to increase property taxes on homes valued at more than $1 million.

Since his initial budget proposal in February, Dayton has scaled back his proposed tax increases from $3.3 billion to $1.8 billion. To solve the state's projected $5 billion budget deficit, the governor's plan would delay repaying funding for schools delayed as part of last year's budget deal. That would leave a deficit of $3.356 billion. Dayton recommends dividing that in half with $1.8 billion coming from tax increases and $1.8 billion from spending cuts.

"I have offered to meet them half way and I'm not going to do any more than that. It's their responsibility to meet me half way. And then we have a resolution and we'll all go home next Monday," Dayton said.

While he prefers his tax increase proposal, Dayton said he is willing to consider other types of revenue — including gaming.

But Republican legislative leaders quickly rejected the budget proposal saying they will not go above the $34 billion budget they have set, which solves the deficit entirely with cuts and does not require any tax increases. Senate Minority Leader Amy Koch said Republicans won control of the House and Senate in 2010 because they vowed to hold the line on spending and they cannot compromise on those principles.

"We stand united against any tax proposals. We believe that government should live within its means, spend the money that's in the checkbook and no more," she said.

Expect plenty more sparring between the governor and Republicans over the budget in the coming days. Dayton is scheduled to be on Minnesota Public Radio this morning at 11 a.m. to offer his view on the budget showdown.

Click here to Download Dayton's budget letter

Area Republicans sign court brief challeging constitutionality of health care law

Several area Republicans joined fellow GOP state lawmakers in signing a "friend of the court" brief challenging the constitutionality of the new federal health care law.

A total of 80 GOP lawmakers signed the brief, including House and Senate GOP leaders. Also signing the brief are North Carolina legislative leaders. The brief was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals in the 11th District. This comes after Florida Judge Roger Vinson recently struck down the entire health care law. Vinson concluded that Congress exceeded its authority when it passed the individual mandate requiring all citizens to have health care coverage.

Local GOP lawmakers who signed onto the brief are Rep. Mike Benson of Rochester, Rep. Greg Davids of Preston; Rep. Steve Drazkowski of Mazeppa, Rep. Tim Kelly of Red Wing, Rep. Rich Murray of Albert Lea and Rep. Duane Quam of Byron. Those who did not sign on are Sen. Carla Nelson of Rochester, Sen. Dave Senjem of Rochester, Sen. John Howe of Red Wing and Sen. Jeremy Miller of Winona.

The brief argrees with Vinson arguing that the individual mandate is unconstitutional. It also argues that the law's "ambiguity prevents states from making a clear and informed choice, requiring North Carolina and Minnesota to subject themselves to unknowable and potentially crippling obligations in order to continue their participation in the Medicaid program."

Click here to Download Court brief

Minnesota Democrats filed a "friend of the court" brief last month in the same case defending the constitutionality of the health care law.

Rulings on the health care law have been mixed since it took effect. Some judges have upheld its constitutionality while others have struck down parts of the law or the entire law.

Dayton speaks out against bill backed by Senjem

DFL Gov. Mark Dayton made it clear today he is not a fan of one of Sen. Dave Senjem's bills.

Senjem's bill would require a state agency to determine whether a new rule would cost more than $10,000. An Administrative Law Judge would then review whether the agency's cost estimate appears accurate.If so, then these laws would have to get the OK of the Minnesota Legislature — except for a few exceptions.

Dayton sent a letter blasting the House version of the bill — HF 203. Senjem is the chief author of a companion bill in the Senate. In the letter, Dayton said he shares the concerns of former GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty that this change would shift responsibility for rulemaking from the executive to legislative branch and lead to major delays.

He then quotes Pawlenty, who vetoed a similar proposal in 2003.

"The changes proposed in this legislation would also add considerable delay and cost to Minnesota's rulemaking process, by requiring legislative approval of all major rulemaking. Major rulemaking in Minnesota already takes 18 to 24 months to complete, if everything goes smoothly. Requiring legislative approval as an additional stop at the end of the process would make implementation of state laws and policies very cumbersome."

I've got a call in to Senjem to get his reaction to this. I'll post it when I talk to him. Click here to Download Dayton letter

 

Did Bruininks really say UMR might have to close due to budget cuts?

In a press release sent out by DFL Rep. Tina Liebling, it states that, "University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks told legislators that budget cuts might force the university to close the Rochester campus."

Is that really true? As someone based at the Capitol, it was the first time I had heard such a forceful statement about UMR. So I decided to do a little checking. The bottom line is that statement is misleading.

That statement in the press release is based on testimony that Bruininks gave on Feb. 22 before the House Higher Education Policy and Finance Committee. During that testimony, he talked about what it would mean if the university is faced with a 15 percent to 20 percent cut in its budget. To illustrate the size of the budget problem, he listed off several examples of programs that would have to be totally eliminated in order to make up the funding gap.

At one point, he said, "We could eliminate all four coordinate campuses across the state of Minnesota that is $76 million in state support and not balance even the lower number of these projected cut."

The four coordinate campuses are Crookston, Duluth, Morris and Rochester. But this was clearly just an example to highlight the size of the budget cuts facing the university. He also provided an example that they could eliminate the U of M's College of Science and Engineering and close the pharmacy and dental schools and that would only save $83.5 million.

The Minnesota House yesterday passed a budget bill that would cut nearly 18 percent from the university's budget based on what they were forecasted to receive. A Senate version of the bill cuts U of M's budget by 19 percent. Bruinicks did say in the hearing that deep cuts would require the university to reasses how it operates.

"We would be forced to re-examine the impact and the financial viability of entire operations in the University of Minnestoa system, statewide services, entire schools, colleges and campuses, (and) the level of enrollment in critical programs," he said.

But at no point does Bruininks state that specifically the University of Minnesota Rochester campus may have to be closed.

I called Liebling to ask her about the statement in her press release and she said that it is her responsibility to review press releases that are sent out and she should have done a better job vetting that.

"I obviously have to take responsibliity for what goes out under my name," she said.

Lawmakers reject proposal allowing logging in Whitewater, Frontenac

Members of the Minnesota House overwhelmingly rejected a proposal that would open up Whitewater and Frontenac state parks to logging.

Lawmakers voted 106 to 22 in favor of stripping the language that would allow the logging out of an environment budget bill. Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, proposed the language, which requires the commissioner of natural resources to assess the black walnut and other timber resources in the two state parks and harvest the trees that are suitable. The proceeds from the logging would go to the state.

Environmental groups launched a big push against the proposal arguing it would cause lasting harm to the state parks. The environment budget bill's author, GOP Rep. Denny McNamara of Hastings, sponsored the amendment to take out the logging language.

Drazkowski, whose district includes Whitewater State Park, urged his fellow lawmakers to support logging in the state parks.

"This is another area of state government where an asset of the government is actually rotting and going to waste. This is what Minnesotans are tired of. They are tired of the waste, fraud and abuse in government."

Rep. Tim Kelly, R-Red Wing, whose district includes Frontenac State Park, also supports allowing for logging in those state parks.

But several lawmakers, both DFL and GOP, voiced concerns about the proposal. Rep. Lyndon Carlson, R-Crystal, said he used to teach in St. Charles and spent a lot of time at Whitewater State Park.

"That’s a valley that is very sensitive and it is very sensitive to things like flooding and it is also a valley with a lot of history, and I would be very concerned if that was opened up for logging or cutting," Carlson said.

Here's how southeast Minnesota lawmakers voted on the amendment to strip out the logging language. Voting yes were: Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester; Rep. Rich Murray, R-Albert Lea; Rep. Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester, Rep. Gene Pelowski, DFL-Winona and Rep. Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Austin. Voting no were: Rep. Mike Benson, R-Rochester; Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston; Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa; Rep. Tim Kelly, R-Red Wing; and Rep. Duane Quam, R-Byron.

GOP leader gets an earful over Roch's sales tax proposal

Rochester leaders today called on House GOP Majority Leader Matt Dean to let the citizens of Rochester vote on a $160 million local sales-tax option as proposed by the city. They voiced anger about changes made to the proposal by House lawmakers who stripped out $58.5 million worth of projects.

"Rochester is fully capable of making intelligent deicsions as to how we want to spend our money and don't tread in that area is my recommendation to you because it is a hot subject in town," said Rochester resident Chub Stewart.

Dean and Rep. Keith Downey, R-Edina, were in town for a luncheon with Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce members. It soon became clear that the number one issue among those in the room was the city's sales tax.

Rochester City Council President Dennis Hanson said the city had a committee of citizens that spent 14 weeks analyzing proposals for the city sales tax.

He asked, "I guess my question is why does the state legislature seem to feel they have to get so involved in Rochester's local option sales tax when they really could quite frankly care less about the rest?

That question drew strong applause among the roughly 50 attendees. Dean ended up apologizing to the city of Rochester saying that there appeared to have been a miscommunication on the sales tax bill.

"It sounds to me like this process probably got sideways somwewhere along the way and there was probably communication problems from working together," he said, "and I just want to apologize for that with the city and the folks who brought these (concerns) forward."

The city needs the legislature to give it the authorization to put the sales tax measure before the voters. House Taxes Committee Chair Greg Davids has been an outspoken critic of some of the projects in the proposal including a senior center, a youth center, and a library expansion. He supported the move to cut down the size of the sales tax proposal. A Senate version of the measure sponsored by Sen. Dave Senjem, R-Rochester, has remained intact.

I'll have more on this in a story for tomorrow's paper.

 

Budget forecast brings $1.2 billion of good news

The official budget forecast update news conference is set for 11:30 a.m. but the big budget number has already been leaked. The Associated Press is reporting that the latest forecast shows that the state's projected budget deficit has dropped from $6.2 billion to $5 billion.

We'll find out the details of just why that happened during the press conference. But it certainly must be welcome news to the governor and lawmakers tasked with plugging the budget hole. Dayton has said that if additional money became available he would restore cuts in his proposed budget to nursing homes and home health agencies. Gov. Mark Dayton will hold a news conference at 5 p.m. tonight to offer his response to the budget deficit.

GOP legislative leaders will also offer their take on the budget news at 1:30 p.m. today. With the final numbers out, the big question becomes when will Republicans unveil their budget proposal?

 

Tea Party Patriots not happy with League of Women Voters

The Rochester Tea Party Patriots are accusing the League of Women Voters of being a clearly partisan group in the wake of a recent local forum on the issue of voter ID.

Here is how the group sums up the forum in an e-mailed newsletter:

"Those who attended the meeting let us know that it was a put up job. The scenario was well rehearsed. The bottom line was: "Problem? What Problem?" They are circulating a petition that will give cover to the Democrat legislators so they can remain in denial. This petition is not "scientific" but just plain biased.

It is now clear that the League of Women Voters is a partisan group. Understand that if you attend any of their meetings."

This stems from a forum earlier this month sponsored by the league on the issue of whether or not voters should have to show photo ID in order to vote. Local GOP Rep. Mike Benson, R-Rochester, is sponsoring a bill that would require voter ID. Speakers featured at the event were from two organizations: the state League of Women Voters and Citizens for Election Integrity. Both of those organizations testified against Benson's voter ID bill during a House committee hearing citing concerns it could prevent legitimate voters from casting their ballots. But the measure has strong support among Republicans who argue it is needed to prevent voter fraud.

I have reached out to the Rochester league chapter to get a reaction to this. I will post the reaction when I get it.

Update: Here is the response to the Tea Party Patriots' criticism from Kathy Maegerlein, president of the League of Women Voters Rochester.

"Although the LWV is non-partisan, we do study issues and take positions on issues. Our basic position on voting at the national level is that "Voting is a fundamental citizen right that must be guaranteed", and, at the state level, 'Support improvements in election laws regulating election procedures, voting and school district elections.'

Our speakers presented the results of the report Facts About Ineligible Voting and Voter Fraud in Minnesota, which was done by the Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota, and the Minnesota Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance, which was based on input from over 80 County Attorneys. We also had a good discussion following the presentation with both sides of the issue being heard."