Local Democrats hear from voters in Mankato
By Dan Linehan dlinehan@mankatofreepress.comThe Mankato Free Press
MANKATO — Marijuana decriminalization: almost certainly not. Minimum wage increase: almost certainly yes. Bonding: Probably. But, hey, you never know.
Rep. Kathy Brynaert and Sen. Kathy Sheran, both Democrats from Mankato, predicted the shoo-ins, the maybes, and the nopes of the 2014 session.
“That’s not coming this session for certain, I’d say,” Brynaert said of marijuana decriminalization. Even its more accepted relative, medicinal marijuana, is a question mark.
“Unless the medical community gets involved, I don’t see that issue moving,” she said. Brynaert has heard from supporters, but wants to hear from experts.
“Ask your doctor to talk to me,” she said.
The minimum wage discussion was something of a reprise of the previous evening’s town hall meeting, in that both Democrats voiced support but poured some water on the increase as a middle class panacea.
Nine-fifty an hour isn’t a living wage, Brynaert said in a discussion about poverty, because it can’t support a family. There are other things the state is doing to help fight poverty, she said.
And even though it’s a bonding year, Sheran suggested it’s possible a bill might not pass because Democrats need Republican votes in both chambers.
“We could get into one of these tussles this year about something that we can’t pull up enough votes to get a bonding bill through,” she said. In other words, it’s not a sure thing.
Of course, the town hall meeting is more than a chance to prognosticate; the legislators also got to hear plenty of complaints from the 50 or so people at the Blue Earth County Library in Mankato.
Those ranged from wide-ranging discussions on the role of government to intensely personal issues of poverty and disability.
Mankatoan Ted Downey wanted to know if economic growth is still being sought as a yardstick for the state’s development. Growth, though widely sought by policy makers, is seen as a driver of greenhouse gases.
Sheran said she didn’t think sustainable development is necessarily at odds with the environment.
Wally Boyer told the legislators about his son, who has a traumatic brain injury that leaves him unable to work full-time. His son earned $38 too much on a recent, unusually large, paycheck and was forced to choose between losing his benefits or paying the state about $40 more every paycheck.
Sheran sympathized: “It’s nonsense. That is absolutely nonsensical. … Those are policies that drive people into poverty.”
Rich Stolp of Mankato spoke about the estate tax, and about how small business owners and farmers can pass along $4 million tax-free, but others have a limit of $1 million. There’s no good reason to make that distinction, he said.
Sheran said the Legislature would like to cut taxes for gift relief and estates, but “we’d have to figure out what to cut to pay for that.”
Link to article: http://www.mankatofreepress.com/local/x651173867/Town-hall-offers-preview-of-2014-session