Mr. Dahle Goes to St. Paul

I was talking to Bob Vanasek in my office today. He, of course, is the former State legislator from New Prague. He talked about the pace of the current short session which he likened to a “sprint” to the May adjournment. Compared to past years, he thinks this year the session has started more like a “shot out of a cannon.” I guess I just assumed the fast pace of these past two weeks was business as usual, but most of the folks at the Capitol agree that we are off to a flying start. Last week the House and Senate passed the Outdoor Legacy Act which will refer a Constitutional Amendment to voters in November asking them to vote up or down money for Clean water, the outdoors, and the Arts. This week we will take the Transportation bill to the House and Senate floor for debate. These bills were not dreamed up since the February 12 start. The Legacy Act was first proposed 10 years ago. The transportation bill is a modification of a bill passed by the House and Senate last year, but vetoed by the Governor. We still have issues regarding health care, bonding, property tax relief, and the education formula…..all before the May deadline. Much of the work in these areas will depend on the actual budget deficit we will be facing. That report is due out later next week.

The committee work has been interesting. The Education Finance committe has been hearing bonding requests for educational facilities all across Minnesota. We will be making recommendations regarding these requests for the overall bonding bill. Tomorrow we will be hearing from the Commissioner of Education, Alice Seagren, as she weighs in on the Governor’s State of the State education initiatives.

The Commerce and Consumer Protection committee continues to weigh in on a variety of issues. Yesterday we heard from pawn shop owners and law enforcement as they debated issues of consumer privacy, crime, revenue, and local control. Next week we will hear from trial lawyers and insurance companies as they discuss consumers and inurance claims. In Energy, Communications, and Technology we heard testimony from cell phone customers regarding a bill that would require wireless phone providers to spell out clearly the terms of agreement that customers are receiving when they buy a phone, add a phone, or increase minutes on that phone. Last week that same committe heard specifics from the Governor’s office and others about renewable energy and plans to implement the Renewable Energy standard.

Turkey Growers, Credit Unions, Correctional facilities, YMCA, Insurance Representatives, Farmer’s Union members, U of M students, Working America, Nursing Home administrators, Superintendents, Clean Water Action, a young blind girl, are just a few of the people I visited with in the last two days. They only want 15 minutes. And in between the Senate floor session, which occur 2 or 3 times a week…and in between the committee meetings which meet 2 or 3 times a week (for 2-3 hours per meeting), I meet with these folks as they weigh in on a current piece of legislation or their desire for a new bill. They all are interesting people. It is exciting, fast paced, and important work. We’ll keep sprinting towards the end to try and get the work done.