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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
OP/ED COLUMN
A LOOK AT LOCAL CROPS
From observing farm crops while riding around the district, they are, for the most part, in good shape. The wheat harvest, which has dragged on for some time now, is finally winding down, and it was a pleasant surprise. The eastern parts of the district received more rainfall than areas further west, and there the corn looks green and lush.
Where I live, in Pope County a mile south of Lake Minnewaska, rainfall has been hard to come by, although what we’ve gotten has come in a timely fashion. Our area has received only around eight inches in total for the growing season so far, from April through August. Some eastern parts of Stearns County received nearly that much in a week recently.
What we all need now is about a month of good weather, with no frost. We came close this past week end, with 43 degrees being posted at our farm the morning of Aug. 29. The sun still provides good heat but when it goes down, the temperature seems to plummet. That next evening, a little before 8 o’clock, it was still 63 degrees before the sun set. By 9 o’clock, the temperature had dropped to 50!
I attended an Answer Plot tour just outside of Belgrade on the Aug. 26, and the agronomist there said we needed another five weeks to get the corn crop to maturity. We are several hundred growing degree units behind normal, and with average temps now ranging from 75 degrees in the daytime down to 50 at night, that gives us fewer than 15 growing degree units per day. I doubt whether we will catch up before freezing temperatures are a reality.
As you read this, school is just about to start in your area, or will has already begun. It’s an exciting time of year, as schedules change at home and kids full of enthusiasm head back to school. High school sports are already underway, with the first week of football games slated for Sept. 3 and 4.
One of the hot topics in education this past session at St. Paul had to do with the mandatory starting date for schools. Many want to allow local districts to start when they feel it is best for them, and not be told by the state when they must begin the year. On the other side of the argument is the resort industry that says it needs the last holiday of the summer season to make ends meet. The State Fair also likes when school starts after Labor Day.
After being voted on in several committees, both up and down, a last-ditch effort on the House floor failed to give local districts the option of when to start. Because of that, some were probably surprised to see on the news that several schools, mainly in the metro area, did, in fact, start classes before Labor Day. The reason they were able to is that school districts can petition the Dept. of Education to begin early if they’re part of a cooperative agreement. Further, any school district may start early if it has over $400,000 in ongoing construction projects.
Another relatively obscure part of this year’s education bill is the elimination of local residents’ ability to petition for a recall or revocation of a school referendum. Previously, 15 percent of a district’s qualified voters could sign a petition to bring the topic back up again. The House bill had raised the number of voters needed to sign the petition to 30 percent, but when the omnibus bill came out of conference committee, the entire process had been eliminated.
Another change that goes into effect Oct. 1 allows school districts to levy instead of bond for post-employment benefits.
I will be at the State Fair on Friday, Sept. 4, working at the House of Representatives’ booth. It'll be interesting to visit with folks from all across the state and get their views on various topics. While at the booth, people can vote on several hot-button topics such as whether they favor the use of medical marijuana.
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Rep. Anderson encourages constituents to contact his new office with input regarding any state legislative issue. He can be reached on the web at www.house.mn/13A and via email at rep.paul.anderson@house.mn. To contact Anderson by phone, call (651) 296-4317. Mail can be sent to Rep. Paul Anderson, 239 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, Minnesota 55155.
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