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State Representative Tina Liebling
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-0573
For more information contact: Melissa Parker 651-296-8873
NEWS COLUMN
Letter from the Capitol -- March 11, 2005
Children's Freedom to Breathe Act
On Tuesday the Commerce Committee heard a bill that would allow 16 and 17 year olds to work in restaurants where liquor is being served--as dishwashers, waiters, and the like. As I was reviewing the bill in preparation for the meeting, it suddenly struck me that those kids would be exposed to secondhand smoke. I quickly wrote an amendment that read: "No child under the age of 18 may work in an establishment where smoking is permitted" and submitted it to the committee chair.
Most committees have a "24 hour rule" for amendments, which is flexible at the chair's discretion. I submitted my amendment 22.5 hours before the hearing, and it was copied and distributed before the meeting so I thought it would be heard. I wanted to get a "roll call" vote on the amendment, so the committee could record which members voted to protect children's health. The committee chair ruled that the 24-hour rule applied and refused to allow a vote on the amendment.
Having failed to get the amendment heard, I am writing a separate bill to be called the "Children's Freedom to Breathe Act." If some legislators will not protect adult workers, perhaps they will be willing to protect children from breathing secondhand smoke. Some will say this will make it harder for teens to work and for some businesses to exist. However, we already protect children by prohibiting them from working in hazardous occupations--no matter what the economic benefits might be. At least when it comes to kids, their health and welfare must come first.
Shutting down the Meth Labs
Thursday the Commerce Committee heard one of the several methamphetamine bills moving through the legislature. As you may know, meth use--and especially meth labs--is a public health and environmental crisis in Southeast Minnesota. These labs contaminate the environment, put meth cooks, their families, citizens, and law enforcement officers in grave danger, and cost millions for cleanup. The Commerce Committee only has jurisdiction over certain parts of the bill--so we debated the section of the bill dealing with restrictions on one of the readily available ingredients used to produce this illegal drug-- pseudoephedrine. Pseudoephedrine is found in Sudafed and many other over-the-counter cold medicines. Many medications contain pseudoephedrine in combination with other drugs or in liquid or gel form, but these preparations are more difficult to use for meth production and have not been much of a problem.
The bill before the committee would restrict the sale of pseudoephedrine pills to pharmacies, placing them behind the counter. The buyer would have to be 18 or older, show identification, sign a log, and would be restricted in how much he or she can buy in a month. These sound like onerous restrictions for a common drug that is reasonably safe to use, and they are. Pharmacists and retailers testified that there was not enough room behind the pharmacy counters and that forcing pharmacy personnel to control the sales is not cost effective. That is probably true, but the crisis is serious enough to warrant those restrictions. However, an amendment that allowed pseudoephedrine to be displayed in a locked case outside the pharmacy was added to the bill.
Fighting Cuts in Local Government Aid
This week the legislature voted to alter last year's bill that changed Local Government Aid, called LGA. This bill’s aid formula has a huge impact for Rochester-- over $3.9 million dollars.
LGA is money that the state has given cities and towns for many years. The governor and legislator cut LGA severely during the last legislative session, forcing local governments to cut their budgets and raise property taxes.
The point of LGA is to help cities fund vital services--like police and fire protection--that would otherwise be funded with property taxes. LGA keeps property taxes down, but it also allows communities with a lower tax base to provide at least a minimal set of services. During the last legislative session, the governor and legislature balanced the budget by cutting LGA. However, the new law contained a glitch. A paragraph from the old law was left in, which had the effect of giving some communities, like Rochester, a better deal than the law intended. When lawmakers discovered the glitch, the governor agreed to apply the LGA formula as intended instead of as written, hurting Rochester.
Although most of the legislature again voted to cut LGA to Rochester and dozens of other Minnesota cities, I voted against these cuts. Cutting LGA so severely was unfair last year, and it is still unfair...
Raising State Government Salaries
Some of you have commented on the story about the commission that has recommended raising the pay of judges, legislators, and the governor. As far as I know, no one has introduced legislation to make this happen. If a bill does surface I will not support it, especially not while schools are forced to continue cutting budgets, working people are losing of health insurance, minimum wage is still $5.15 per hour, and nursing home workers have not had a raise for years.
As always, it is a great privilege to represent you in St. Paul. Please continue to e-mail, write, call, and visit.
News Items
- Rep. Tina Liebling Named Chair of House Health and Human Services Policy Committee - (Posted: 2012-11-16 00:00:00)
- Statement on DEED Bonding Project Announcement - (Posted: 2012-09-13 00:00:00)
- Local Legislators to Hold Town Hall Meeting - (Posted: 2012-07-19 00:00:00)
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