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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Paul Anderson (R)

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Updating status of some interesting 'other' bills

Monday, June 16, 2014

By Rep. Paul Anderson

 

To the surprise of many, Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed a bill after the session ended that had drawn strong bi-partisan support from both the House and Senate. It was legislation that put limits on Internet lottery sales, including having tickets available at gas pumps. It had drawn the ire of several groups when the folks who run the lottery went ahead and expanded Internet sales without getting specific approval from the Legislature. One representative said he could envision a scene at a busy service station, with cars backed up waiting to put in gas, and those at the pumps busy purchasing lottery tickets. I’m pretty sure this topic will be revisited.

 

Among the many bills passed by the Legislature this past session were several that didn’t garner much attention. One example is legislation that bans the use of lead in wheel weights, those small pieces of metal attached to tires and wheels to improve their balance and run more smoothly. The bill doesn’t take effect for six months to allow tire repair shops to use up the supply of existing lead weights before switching to other wheel weights that are not made of lead.

 

You may recall the House of Representatives passed legislation that put limits on the number of so-called “pay day loans” residents could take out. Citing the high cost of such transactions, the House bill placed an annual limit on such loans at four. I thought the bill was not written properly as it did little to actually lower the cost of such loans. When similar legislation was taken up in the Senate, the limit on the number of loans that could be taken out in a year’s time was increased to ten. The bill died in the final days of session when time ran out and the two bills could not be reconciled.

 

On the energy front, investor-owned utilities (IOU’s) were mandated to come up with a discount rate for charging electric cars during low electric-demand periods, such as overnight. A study will also be undertaken that looks at the cost of converting large propane customers to natural gas. It appears that some of this is already being done in parts of Stearns County with new gas lines being laid that will serve major users such as turkey barns and large corn drying facilities.

 

A popular item in Minnesota during summertime is farmers markets, and legislation was approved this past session to allow food tasting at such events. With some limitations such as the size of samples, those who allow customers to sample their wares will not have to follow state food handling laws. A special exemption was also allowed for chili cook-offs.

 

On the education front, the so-called PSEO “gag rule” was eliminated. PSEO is the state program that pays high school students’ tuition costs when enrolled in college or technical school classes. Up until now, counselors and others couldn’t inform students of the financial savings to families when students signed up for such programs. Now, that information can be given to prospective students and their parents. My concern with the legislation is that students may now choose to take PSEO classes based solely on financial implications when, for a variety of other reasons, they may not be ready to take classes on a college campus, for example.

 

And, in an example of political correctness, we no longer have Asian carp in Minnesota. We now call them “invasive” carp.

 

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