Accessibility menu
State Representative Joe Atkins
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4192
For more information contact: Matt Swenson 651-297-8406
NEWS COLUMN
MINNESOTA, WE HAVE A PROBLEM
A little over four decades ago Americans held their collective breath as a growing crisis unfolded aboard the Apollo 13 spacecraft during its voyage to the moon.
The crisis began when Apollo 13 astronauts famously radioed, Houston, we have a problem. Not only was their chance of a moon landing gone, the odds of the Apollo crew returning safely were next to nil. In the days that followed, the crew and mission controllers worked their way through one crisis after another, at one point even figuring out how to fit a square filter into a round barrel. Through crisis-driven breakthroughs, the crew eventually landed safely, marking one of NASA's greatest achievements.
The states current budget crisis is nowhere near as dire, yet it presents a similar opportunity. We have a choice to make. We can either bemoan our fate, whining about how terrible Minnesota's $6.2 billion budget deficit is, or we can view it as a chance to search for innovative solutions; for ideas that bust the political logjam created when officials see only more taxes or less spending as the way out. While additional revenues and/or lower expenses are obvious answers, we are missing a prime opportunity if we don't also view the states fiscal crisis as a chance for real innovation.
This isn't just rhetoric. Let me give a handful of concrete, cost-saving, creative concepts that may well provide better government services at less expense.
mHEALTH
Nobody wants to go to the nursing home. Even when we call them eldercare facilities, assisted living, or other less onerous descriptors, they don't become much more appealing.
Recognizing that, techies and entrepreneurs have devised mobileHealth technology that enables seniors to live independently in their own homes much longer, using non-intrusive monitors to check blood sugar, detect movement, show whether a person has fallen, and can even monitor how often the refrigerator door is opened. The information is then conveyed in real-time to family members and physicians. Best of all, these independence-extending devices are a lot cheaper than the mounting daily rates at most assisted care facilities.
Now don't get me wrong Im not suggesting government force technology on the unwilling. Im simply saying it ought to be an option for those who want to maintain their independence as long as possible. An added bonus is that the longer seniors can remain independent and fend for themselves, the more it saves taxpayers. The cost of long-term care for the elderly is one of Minnesota's most rapidly increasing expenses and a major contributor to the state deficit.
SMART GRID
Connecting electricity and natural gas use with broadband technology would not only allow consumers to be more efficient and to save on their utility bills, it would also save the state money and stave off the need for additional power plants.
TECH REFORM
By now, you may have concluded that I believe technology will solve all of our ills far from it. In January, one state took cell phones away from 48,000 state workers after finding that nearly 40 percent of workers carried a state-issued cell phone. The move will save that state $20 million annually. Another state expects to save $100 million by simply making its wildly wasteful IT systems more efficient. For Minnesota, Im suggesting a full-fledged technology audit to make sure were using our resources as efficiently as possible
K-12 FUNDING REFORM
We need to remove barriers that prevent schools from operating efficiently. Currently, a school district that successfully generates a surplus in its food service budget is unable to use those dollars to reduce class sizes. That is ridiculous and should be changed.
-----------------------
Many other innovative ideas at least for government are already out there in the world you and I work in everyday. For example: making more high deductible health plans available to state employees to help them (and the state) save money; streamlining redundant regulations to save business (and the state) time and money; encouraging state agencies to adopt four-day, 10-hour/day work weeks to save energy and overtime. The truth is, Minnesotans have the ingenuity and ability to fit a square filter into a round barrel and we should.
As we approach the anniversary of the Apollo mission that so narrowly averted disaster, marking perhaps NASA's finest hours, it is fitting that we take inspiration from the thinking and actions of the astronauts and mission controllers back in 1970.
Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell stated afterwards, As we worked our way through solving one crisis after another, our percentage of success increased. Im optimistic that with a little crisis-driven motivation, the State of Minnesota can enjoy similar success, because as Gene Kranz, NASA Flight Director, remarked at the height of the crisis, Failure is not an option.
Joe Atkins
State Representative
District 39B
(651) 296-4192
rep.joe.atkins@house.mn
News Items
- Governor Dayton Signs Nurse Staffing Disclosure and Study Legislation - (Posted: May 10 2013 4:37PM)
- Minnesota House Passes Conference Committee Report on Bill Banning BPA in Children’s Food Containers - (Posted: May 10 2013 4:37PM)
- Governor Dayton Signs New Law Aimed at Protecting Minnesota Seniors from Wire Transfer Fraud - (Posted: May 10 2013 3:19PM)
- Archived News Items
- Subscribe to RSS News Feeds
- Read more about RSS.