Accessibility menu
State Representative Michael Beard
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-8872
For more information contact: Jodi Boyne 651-296-0640
HOUSE BRIEFS
News and Notes: Taking care of business
News and notes from State Representative Mike Beard, District 35B – Shakopee & Prior Lake
Friday, April 17, 2009
In this week’s edition: The Legislature’s final lap?; The omnibus bill process; One more chance for a 494/169 fix; Taking care of business
The Legislature’s final lap?
For the racing fans out there, the Easter and Passover recess at the Legislature kind of represents the white flag being waved at the track signaling the start of the final lap; beginning Monday we’re down to the last four weeks of the 2009 session. The recess is also a chance to spend time in the district talking with folks about their impressions of the session so far. Last weekend I had to the opportunity to speak to a couple of business groups and discuss with them what I thought the prospects were for any additional taxes, regulations and fees coming out of the session. As far as our work at the Capitol is concerned, it is becoming increasing difficult to predict how this session is going to end. The thirteen major finance bills that we have to process in order to manage state government (more on that below) have finally started moving towards the House floor. And with only one month left we still need to hear some of them in committee, debate them on the House floor, compare our version of the bills to what the Senate has passed, appoint conference committees for those bills that have any differences, re-pass the compromise legislation through both chambers and send them to the Governor for his approval. That, unfortunately, isn’t the entire story. There’s no guarantee that Gov. Pawlenty will approve any or all of these omnibus funding bills. And looking at some of the new tax and policy provisions that Democrats have introduced, we may be in for some very long days and nights. Stay tuned to these updates for the latest on the end(?) of the 2009 legislative session.
The omnibus bill process
As I mentioned above, the legislature’s goal for 2009 is to pass thirteen major finance – or omnibus – bills. Each bill typically covers one area or department: public safety, K-12 education, transportation, etc. The thinking behind an omnibus bill is to be able to combine many similar policy proposals into a single package to save time – that’s the idea anyway. Where the process runs into trouble is that sometimes committee chairs can’t leave well enough alone and legislators are forced to debate and vote on 700+ page bills with little or no time to examine them (that’s how changes were made to the Green Acres program with almost no warning at the end of the 2008 session).
As the lead Republican on the House Transportation committee let me tell you a little bit about this year’s transportation omnibus bill. While state transportation spending is set to increase this year, because of less-than-expected revenue from the gas and vehicle sales taxes, legislators and the Governor each had to trim their initial spending proposals. While I am generally in agreement with the funding side of the bill there are a number of policy provisions in the bill that I’m not wild about. Expect an update on the Transportation bill when the final version comes up on the House floor for debate.
One more chance for a 494/169 fix
This week, the Metropolitan Council ruled that no money from the first round of federal stimulus funds will be used to address the bottleneck at the intersection of Interstate 494 and Highway 169 (here’s a link to a story from Sun Newspapers: http://www.mnsun.com/articles/2009/04/16/breaking_news/518ep23interchange.txt).
Instead, the Met Council will recommend spending the money on several smaller projects in the area. Obviously this is a major disappointment. For now, it seems that any relief for commuters in the southwest Metro will depend on a second round of federal stimulus funds. Be assured, I will continue to fight for the rebuilding of this vital interchange.
Taking care of business
Besides solving our budget deficit, the most important task facing lawmakers this session is to approve policies that create jobs. Yet I am shocked that certain liberal lawmakers are repeatedly proposing initiatives that will prevent this from happening. Here are several House proposals that are being considered in committees that will significantly impact the way employers conduct business:
HF 2031 – which prohibits Minnesota from purchasing products from Willmar-based Jenny-O Turkey at the request of unions. If Democrats succeed in blacklisting this Minnesota business, there would be nothing stopping them from going after any business at the request of unions or other special interests.
HF 644 – which sets mandates on companies with city contracts, regulating who they must hire; though union labor contracts are exempted.
HF 612 – which mandates sick leave benefits for all employers.
HF 1959 – which regulates minimum wage standards for workers whose tips plus a $6.55 hourly wage do not equal $12.
HF 84 – which changes the Consumer Fraud Act to allow anyone to sue a firm for fraud by claiming they represent a public benefit in filing the suit.
Ninety-two percent of small businesses in Minnesota pay personal income taxes, meaning that any income tax increase will directly hurt their economic recovery. With job losses piling up by the thousands, some Democrats obviously have no idea how to grow private sector jobs. Instead they have proposed a laundry list of bills that would hurt the economic recovery and put more Minnesotans out of work.
Thank you for subscribing to my email updates. If you ever have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact me at my office.
News Items
- Less Government Regulation Encourages Economic Growth - (Posted: 2012-02-27 00:00:00)
- MNDOT Awards Funding for Highway 101 Bridge Replacement - (Posted: 2012-03-30 00:00:00)
- Reform a Priority in 2012 - (Posted: 2012-01-25 00:00:00)
- Archived News Items
- Subscribe to RSS News Feeds
- Read more about RSS.