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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
A somber scene; unallotment decision changes things
By State Rep. Paul Anderson
I observed a reminder of the stark – and sometimes brutal – reality of life this morning (May 6) as I drove to the Capitol. Police cars were already lining up for the funeral of slain Maplewood police officer, Sgt. Joseph Bergeron. Cars were parking across the street from the State Office Building, and the procession, even at that early hour, was already two blocks long. The funeral was scheduled for later that day at the Cathedral of St. Paul, located about one-half mile away. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and to all those in the law enforcement community who risk their lives to protect us.
This has been a busy week here in St. Paul. Floor sessions have been long as we dealt with numerous bills. Also on the schedule was a formal hearing on the Minnesota Vikings stadium issue in the Government Operations Committee May 5. The proposal, voted down on a narrow 10-9 vote, now has very little chance of being acted on in the final days of the session. I voted in favor of the bill because it had no tax implications for rural Minnesota.
An earlier funding proposal that would have paid for the stadium with taxes on car rentals, hotels, and sports memorabilia in the seven-county metro area was taken out of the bill the night before. The bill we heard used levy payments from the Minneapolis Convention Center to fund the stadium when the Convention Center bonds had been paid. That plan was not embraced by the Minneapolis City Council as they were concerned about diverting funds that had been planned for capital improvements at the Convention Center.
Lester Bagley, vice president of the Minnesota Vikings, told the committee that the team ranked last in the National Football League in revenue. He didn’t directly answer the question when asked if the Legislature had to act this year in order to keep the team from moving.
Another Vikings official, chief financial officer Steve Poppin, testified that the team has lost money for the last two years. He added that when the Wilf family bought the team in 2005 they paid $600 million. An appraisal hasn’t been done on the team since that time, according to Poppin, although estimates place its value in the neighborhood of $800 million.
Another big-news item occurred this week with the announcement from the Minnesota Supreme Court that the unallotment done last summer by the Governor exceeded his authority. Although the court ruled on only one small part of the $2.7 billion dollar spending reduction, it throws into question the entire amount, the largest segment being the $1.7 billion shift in payments to the state’s school districts. That part of the unallotment could be put into statute because language to that effect is included in the education bill scheduled to be heard later this week on the House floor.
The ruling was not totally unexpected to me. I read the multi-page brief when it was released, and it seemed that a distinction between the projected deficit being “unanticipated” or not was a major factor in the court’s decision. The ruling was 4-3 against Governor Pawlenty.
As of this writing, I don’t know what’s going to happen because of the Supreme Court’s decision. If the entire amount unalloted is added back to the deficit, we have a huge problem. Coupled with the realization that the $400 million in additional Medicaid payments are not going to get here before the session ends, we could be facing a current deficit of over $3 billion. I’m not sure that could be resolved by May 17, so it could be a long summer here in St. Paul.
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Rep. Anderson encourages constituents to contact his 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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