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State Representative Dean Urdahl
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4344
For more information contact: Jodi Boyne 651-296-0640
NEWS COLUMN
2005 LEGISLATIVE SESSION BEGINS
By State Representative Dean Urdahl
The 2005 legislative session began last week with the re-election of Steve Sviggum as Speaker of the House and a new atmosphere of bipartisan cooperation among members. Speaker Sviggum has done a marvelous job in the Speaker’s chair since 1999 and I was proud to support making him Speaker for the next two years.
With the balance of power tilted to the Republicans by a two-seat margin, legislators from both sides of the aisle pledged a to renew the spirit of bipartisanship that was missing from the Capitol in recent years. Animosity and political posturing led to last year’s session meltdown and we are all committed to making sure it doesn’t happen again.
2005 is a budget year, which means we will be setting the state budget for the 2006-2007 biennium. Setting a budget is about more that allotting dollars and cents. It’s about showing our priorities and building a state government that works for and is accountable to the people who foot the bill – you, the taxpayer. This year, we hope to pass education funding reform that gives schools the resources they need to educate children while being accountable to the parents and the taxpayers. We also will look at slowing the skyrocketing government health care costs that are expected to create budget deficits for years to come.
The third major issue we will focus on this year is transportation. The end goal of our state’s transportation policy is clear: reduce congestion in the Twin Cities while maintaining and repairing rural highways. The struggle we face is how to achieve those goals and how to pay for them.
Before the start of session, Governor Pawlenty released a proposal calling for $7.15 billion in bonding to pay for 20 years worth of road and transit improvements. The governor’s plan would borrow money between 2007 and 2017 to pay for new projects. The plan also calls for a constitutional amendment dedicating the entire Motor Vehicle Sales Tax revenue to transportation. That change alone would account for $2.6 billion for roads and transit over the next 10 years. Critics of the governor’s plan say we should not borrow to pay for transportation projects and that we should use a “pay as you go” method of funding. The truth is, Minnesota operated under a “pay as you go” strategy for 25 years and it simply isn’t adequate. The governor’s new plan is a good first step to finding a cost-effective transportation solution.
The other major item on this year’s agenda is an item left over from 2004: the bonding bill. As you recall, the House passed a bonding bill in 2004, only to watch the Senate breakdown and not pass a bonding bill. This year, both sides pledge greater cooperation in the hopes that we can get a bill passed soon to take advantage of low interest rates and low steel prices. The governor’s bonding plan includes $816 million in projects for higher education, transportation, safety and natural resources.
The governor’s bonding proposal also includes $18 million in loans for beginning farmers and small agribusinesses. I have worked hard in the last two years to make a friendlier environment for Minnesota farmers and I am pleased to see the governor include this plan in his bonding package. Helping farmers create jobs benefits the entire state. The financial impact of a small tax incentive for hiring new workers is magnified several times over by new money into the economy and tax revenue to the state. Everyone benefits when a new job is created.
As this session unfolds, expect to hear vigorous debate from all sides about how best to keep Minnesota moving in a positive direction. During that debate, it is important to keep in mind that even though we have different ideas about how to solve our problems, we all want to do what is best for Minnesota. If we become unable to get along or even discuss our differences, we will only find ourselves in the same predicament we did in 2004, and our state will suffer. We owe it to ourselves and each other to ensure that doesn’t happen again.
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