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State Representative Paul Anderson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4317
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GUEST COLUMN
The season for meetings
By Rep. Paul Anderson
Summer is the season for meetings. This past week’s calendar was nearly full with gatherings on a variety of subjects, ranging from health care to manure-management systems to the economic climate for small business.
I attended the legislative hearing in St. Cloud, where local officials talked of GAMC clients being unable to get to hospitals in the metro area for treatment. No hospitals in Greater Minnesota signed up for the new program, while four facilities in the Twin Cities are part of the coordinated care delivery system. An official with the St. Cloud Hospital said one of the reasons they did not go along the program was because they didn’t have the infrastructure to handle all the needs of this type of patient.
The Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) conducted a bus tour and hosted a get-together July 13 in celebration of that organization’s 60th anniversary. Those on the tour visited a dairy farm in Eden Lake Township where an unpermitted earthen manure basin has been transformed into a state-of-the-art storage area, with concrete berms to prevent run-off. We saw a beef cattle feedlot in Munson Township where run-off that used to drain into a creek-bed area is now fully contained and pumped off-site where it soaks into the ground. We also visited a set-up in Zion Township where replacement heifers are raised. Once again, with the use of cement berms, along with rain gutters that carry water away from the feedlot area, run-off is contained. It makes for a very clean operation, and one that is environmentally friendly. The last stop on the tour was a shoreland protection project on the Chain of Lakes near Richmond.
A study called the Small Business Survival Index 2009 has been released by a group called the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council. This marks the 14th edition of the index published by the Council, headquartered in Oakton, Virginia. It ranks South Dakota as the friendliest state in the nation, in terms of business policy environment. Other top-ranked states include Nevada, Texas, and Wyoming. North Dakota comes in at number 17, Wisconsin is 30th, and Iowa is 41st.
Minnesota ranks near the bottom in this study, coming in 43rd. Of the seven states below us, six are from the Northeast, with the seventh being California.
A variety of topics were analyzed in coming up with the rankings. Such things as tax rates, electric utility costs, health insurance mandates, workers’ compensation benefits, crime rates, government spending trends, and highway cost effectiveness were all included.
I was in attendance July 12 when the Brooten city council formally accepted a $250,000 grant from the State of Minnesota (DEED) for the expansion of their industrial park. The matching funds, which must be used in three years, will be utilized to extend a 10-ton road in the park, along with funding the design of a new sewer line and water main. Expansion of several businesses has increased the need for better access from Highway 55 into the park.
On a personal note, many of us were concerned to learn that Rep. Marty Seifert of Marshall had recently been admitted to a hospital because of chest pains and shortness of breath. A Republican candidate for governor who worked very hard but lost the endorsement contest, Marty was released after a short hospitalization. We wish him well in his recovery.
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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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