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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Jeff Howe (R)

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Mid-session report from St. Paul

Friday, March 13, 2015

Dear Neighbor,

The 2015 session is approximately half complete and deadlines are approaching for bills to clear preliminary committee hurdles. One interesting bill we heard this week addresses water appropriations regarding the Cold Spring brewery. I'm advocating improvements in this area and will circle back as things develop.

The first deadline for a committee to act favorably on a bill in its legislative body of origin is March 20. One week later is the deadline for approving bills that met the first deadline in the other body. Finally, April 24 is the deadline for legislation pertaining to major appropriation and finance bills.

As for the bills themselves, one with local ties recently was introduced. I am a co-author of Colton’s Law (H.F. 969), which would provide a more seamless transition from imprisonment to intensive supervision (if so ordered) by requiring all electronic monitoring equipment to be installed and immediately operational upon an offender’s release from incarceration.

This bill changes the current installation of equipment requirement from "policy" to law. The issue came to light when Orono High School graduate Colton Gleason was assaulted and killed in a 2012 random act of violence in St. Cloud. The juvenile offender was allowed to roam free for two days after his release from prison before monitoring equipment ordered as part of his sentence was installed and made operational. It was in those days he delivered a sucker punch to Gleason, leading to his death. There are some technical issues being resolved with this bill, but it was warmly received by the Public Safety Committee and should continue in the process.

The House passed HF 2 last week, a bill which allows school boards to take performance into account along with tenure. The way things are now, decisions pertaining to layoffs are made based on seniority unless different policies are negotiated between school boards and the teachers' union. New testing methods for teachers have been implemented to assist in this process.

Under Minnesota’s current “last in, first out” (LIFO) teacher tenure laws, schools must lay off teachers based on seniority only — unless school boards and the union negotiate their own layoff policies. A recent KSTP/Survey USA poll shows 80 percent of respondents indicate effectiveness should be a factor in making personnel decisions. The Star Tribune also recently showed support for this initiative in an article written by that paper's editorial board, encouraging the Senate and Gov. Mark Dayton to also approve this bill.

Lastly, a bill I authored to provide more flexibility in how local volunteer firefighters, ambulance personnel and first responders are compensated cleared a House committee. The bill provides the ability to set up a different pay schedule if the employer and employee agree. This paper-shuffling tool is something that would help local governments.

I will let you know how these items unfold and, as always, your thoughts on the issues are welcome.

Good luck,

Jeff