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State Representative Paul Anderson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4317
For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520
GUEST COLUMN
MINNESOTA LEADER IN COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXAM
By State Rep. Paul Anderson
With all the negative economic talk lately, here’s some positive news about Minnesota and our educational system. According to statistics released last week by the firm that oversees the ACT college entrance exam, our students rank among the nation’s best when tested for critical reasoning skills in the areas of English, math, reading and science. Among all states, Minnesota’s average score of 22.7 on a 36-point basis ranked 10th.
But among states where at least half the students took the test, Minnesota ranked first. Overall, 68 percent of our graduating students took the test, while nationally, that figure is 45 percent.
An organization in Pope County called the Working Lands Initiative sponsored a bus tour last week that took participants to various grassland management areas. The effort is a collaborative, involving all three levels of government: federal, state and local. Grassland specialists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Minnesota DNR, and Pope County Soil and Water are all taking part in the project.
They are attempting to prove that limited grazing can be an effective tool in managing the many acres of publicly owned grassland we have. Currently, much of this land is either clipped or burned off every few years to manage growth and control the layer of residue that builds up on the ground. Burning can be relatively expensive, with costs running upwards of $40 per acre.
Allowing a limited number of cattle to graze certain areas has shown promise. The farmer would erect a temporary fence and may need to haul water if none is available. The cattle are usually allowed to be in an area for approximately 30 days, either in the spring or later in the summer when the nesting season is over. Some of areas where grazing was done showed a stronger and more diverse re-growth the following year.
Talk of change in our health insurance system has dominated town hall meetings this summer. Many claims have been made, some true and some probably exaggerated. The legislation currently before the U.S House of Representatives is called H.R. 3200, and several committees are still working on the bill.
According to the Congressional Research Service, here are several of the bill’s key points, as amended: It requires individuals to have “acceptable health coverage.” Exceptions would be granted for dependents, religious objections and financial hardship. The penalty would be 2.5 percent of one’s adjusted gross income, up to the cost of the average national premium. The annual out-of-pocket limit in 2013 would be $5,000 for an individual $10,000 per family. That figure would be adjusted annually for inflation. Subsidies would be available up to 400 percent of the poverty level, currently translating to $73,240 for a family of four.
Small employers with less than $500,000 in aggregate wages would be exempt from the requirement to provide health insurance. For those small employers with up to $750,000 in wages, a sliding scale calls for up to a 6-percent penalty for not providing coverage. Large employers would be required to contribute 72.5 percent of an individual’s premium or 65 pecent of family coverage. Those who don’t would be assessed 8 percent of their payroll, which would go into the Health Insurance Exchange Trust Fund. There is a hardship exemption if those businesses would be adversely affected by job loss as a result of this requirement.
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