Dear Neighbor,
Gov. Mark Dayton has been touting the upcoming 2014 session as an “unsession.” I reject that label because it indicates we won’t be doing any work at the Capitol.
That is anything but the case. For example, you can bet Democrats will be pushing minimum-wage increase legislation and trying to adopt new anti-bullying laws. Republicans will be looking to spare taxpayers by eliminating ill-advised, unpopular tax increases Dayton and the Democrats passed earlier this year. These ridiculous tax increases only happened because Democrats wanted a way to pay for more wasteful government spending.
The governor does have a website where he is soliciting ideas from citizens regarding what ineffective laws should be taken off the books. So far, around 450 ideas have been submitted.
Another important item of business for 2014 pertains to Asian carp and work to prevent them from devastating our state’s waterways. The Democrats in charge in St. Paul did nothing to address this issue last year and, now, Congressmen Keith Ellison and Rick Nolan are in Washington, D.C., pushing their own misguided plan for the Mississippi River.
It takes an act of Congress to close locks and dams, and Ellison/Nolan are trying to do exactly that. Their idea is to shut down barge traffic on the Mississippi and divert the transportation of goods to our roadways.
I will discuss some better options later, but I do not agree we should be combating carp by stopping commercial traffic on the river. Even Ellison and Nolan say they aren't sure it will work, but want to "try to do something." Another Democrat Congresswoman, Betty McCollum, admitted this would do nothing to protect the St. Croix and Minnesota Rivers.
What kind of strategy is that? Drastic action like shutting down Mississippi locks and dams deserves solid research and a real understanding for the results, not just a "try to do something" approach. That is where we could run into boatloads of unintended consequences, including adding pressure to our roadways.
Talk of key issues will ramp up as we approach the Feb. 25 start to the 2014 session. Go ahead and offer your suggestions to the governor, I just wish he would stop calling it an “unsession” because it sells short all the important work that awaits us.
Sincerely,
Tom