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Minnesota House of Representatives

State Representative Joe Atkins

583 State Office BuildingState Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4192

For more information contact: Christina Gosack 651-296-5524

Posted: 2006-05-31 00:00:00
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NEWS COLUMN

Bipartisan Effort Yielded Real Accomplishments in 2006 Session

When the neighborhood kids get together to play baseball in our back yard, they sometimes argue a bit, causing the game to be interrupted occasionally. Once the argument is settled, things move forward again.
The same thing happens at the Capitol. While there’s nothing wrong with a good exchange of views about an issue, eventually lawmakers have to come together to get things done. This was a good year in that respect.
When the session started in March, rank-and-file legislators talked about setting aside the partisan bickering that has characterized past sessions and, instead, laying out some objectives for 2006 on which we could agree.
Priorities quickly emerged. Pass the public works bill. Protect homeowners and small businesses from condemnation abuse. Provide tax relief. Address the growing issue of identity theft and financial fraud. Ensure that the facilities housing sex offenders are secure.
Midway through the session, I noted the quiet, determined progress we were making on these priorities. The crushing attention garnered by stadium bills actually made it easier for those of us who were plugging away primarily on other issues.
By session’s end in May, a mere 11 weeks after it started, a number of pragmatic, bipartisan solutions had emerged.
A new law was passed to protect small businesses and homeowners from government abuse of condemnation. Our local communities have always been very careful about the use of condemnation; the new law will make sure all government officials in Minnesota are just as careful and appropriate.
Tax relief was next. Income tax cuts passed this session will affect over 1 million Minnesotans. By eliminating the “marriage penalty" and reducing the Alternative Minimum Tax, which is starting to hit a lot of middle-income taxpayers, many families in our area will see as much as a $500 reduction in their taxes.
The public works bill took a while longer but was worth the effort. It contains much-needed projects for our area. There’s funding for classrooms at Inver Hills Community College, South St. Paul's Port Crosby project to convert a polluted site into parkland, flood mitigation along the Mississippi River in Inver Grove Heights, and a study of transit options for Northern Dakota County. In a separate bill, we authorized funding to increase the security and capacity of facilities housing the state’s most dangerous sex offenders.
The nation’s best identity theft and investor protection laws also passed. Consumers in Minnesota now have the right to freeze their credit reports, something residents of few other states can do. That means no one can get credit in your name unless you authorize the freeze to be lifted. And my bill to protect investors and safeguard retirement savings accounts passed the House and Senate with just two dissenting votes.
All in all, a good session and, better yet, perhaps one that has laid the groundwork for even better sessions in the future. Hopefully, the baseball games in my backyard will go equally as well this summer.

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