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State Representative Ryan Winkler
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-7026
For more information contact: Matt Swenson 651-297-8406
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Simon and Winkler unveil plans to enhance government accountability
ST. PAUL – State Representatives Steve Simon (DFL – St. Louis Park/Hopkins) and Ryan Winkler (DFL – Golden Valley/St. Louis Park) today proposed several initiatives designed to increase government accountability. The wide-ranging proposals being introduced are all a part of a larger movement to ensure that state government is open and honest. These initiatives have the full support of House and Senate leadership.
“Providing accountability for Minnesota taxpayers is an issue that transcends party identification," Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher, DFL-Minneapolis, said. "Being an efficient steward of our collective resources is a core responsibility of Minnesota government, and a main priority of this Legislature."
Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, agreed. “Having a government that is accountable to and for the people is important,” he said. “People absolutely expect their money will be spent wisely and well. All of these provisions move us to a more open and honest process.”
Legislation being unveiled today is the result of an ad hoc group brought together by state Sen. Ann H. Rest, DFL-New Hope/Crystal/Golden Valley/Robbinsdale; Rep. Ryan Winkler, and Rep. Steve Simon. The group, called the "House-Senate Commitment to Government Accountability Group," met during the 2007 interim to discuss this important issue and craft legislation to provide enhanced accountability and reform in Minnesota government. They adopted five core principles to guide their decision-making process. These principles state that Minnesota government should:
· Deliver straight talk and open books;
· Use honest accounting and realistic budgeting;
· Cut bureaucracy and reward innovation;
· Be required to deliver results; and
· Set clear priorities and plan for the long run.
Many members of the Legislature have authored the proposals that correspond to those principles. Those proposals include:
· SF 3128/HF XXXX (Cohen/Solberg): Requires inflation to be included in the state’s fiscal forecast.
· SF 3307/HF XXXX (Cohen/Solberg): Expands access to state agency budget development information, requiring agencies to provide more information on base spending and trends, and requires the state to deposit any surplus funds into the budget reserve until the reserve reaches 5 percent of biennial spending.
· SF 2886/HF 3133 (Rest/Hortman): Modifies the budget data privacy statute to allow greater access to aid lawmakers with their budget decisions, requires budget data provided to include detailed information that supports estimated expenditures, and specifies that the agencies must provide full explanations for their requests for increased appropriations by Oct. 1.
· SF 3398/HF XXXX (Rest/Winkler): Compels the Office of Enterprise Technology to provide the Legislature with a report including all the projects submitted by state agencies and reviewed by the office and encourage more comprehensive planning.
· SF 3180/HF XXXX (Rest/Bunn): Sets up a process for appealing disputed fiscal notes and revenue estimates, and adds the date a fiscal note was requested and the estimated completion date to the front page of completed fiscal notes.
· SF 2767/HF 3135 (Sheran/Scalze): Expands the list of people who can request a local impact fiscal note to the chairs or ranking minority members of any legislative committee.
· SF 540/HF 483 (Kubly/Slawik): Forbids employers from discriminating against employees who cooperate with false claim investigations involving funds from the state or local government.
· SF XXXX/HF XXXX (Clark/Loeffler): Improves the use of the Minnesota Milestones and other statewide goals and indicators in state planning.
· HF XXXX (Loeffler): Clarifies that state employees are to be nonpartisan resources for all state decision-makers, protects employees from discipline, discharge or other discrimination if they provide information they believe to be true and accurate to improve public services. Additionally, if an employee’s responsibilities include advocating for policy or political goals, those responsibilities should be included in the job description.
“The people of Minnesota need to know that their government can be trusted,” Rep. Steve Simon said. "In order for that to happen, Minnesotans need to know what it is their government is doing. That's why enacting these new initiatives of transparency and accountability in government is so important."
“These are all principles that have been determined with the best interests of the public in mind,” Sen. Ann H. Rest, chair of the Senate State and Local Government Operations and Oversight Committee, said. “Minnesotans should know that government is accountable to them and these measures help achieve that goal.”
"Minnesotans expect state government to be accountable," said Rep. Ryan Winkler. "We're facing a budget deficit, and in these economic times it's crucial that we prioritize and spend tax dollars responsibly."
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