SESSION WEEKLY
A NON-PARTISAN PUBLICATION OF THE 
MINNESOTA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 21, 1995
VOLUME 12, NUMBER 16


WEEK IN REVIEW. . . APRIL 13 - 20, 1995
HIGHLIGHTS

Omnibus higher education funding . . . 
Proposal eliminates HECB, favors semester system

The $1.9 billion omnibus higher education funding 
bill was approved April 20 by the House Ways and 
Means Committee.
     The proposal wouldn't meet school 
administrators' state aid requests for the next 
biennium, but it would give more state money than 
the governor recommended to the newly merged 
higher education system.
     It also would eliminate the Higher Education 
Coordinating Board and would shift all the state's 
public colleges and universities (except the 
University of Minnesota) toward a semester system 
and abandon the current quarter system.
     The University of Minnesota would receive 
$970.6 million over the next biennium and the 
newly merged state university, community college, 
and technical college system would get about 
$935.6 million, under the bill.
     Both amounts exceed spending caps established 
by a 1993 law designed to control costs -- $895 
million for the merged system and $908 million for 
the U of M -- but there is no penalty for exceeding 
the limit.
     In his budget proposal, Gov. Arne Carlson 
recommended $986.9 million for the University of 
Minnesota for the biennium. U of M administrators 
had asked for $995.7 million.
     Carlson had called for $905 million in spending 
for the merged state university, technical, and 
community college system. Administrators had 
requested $1 billion for the next biennium.
     The bill specifies separate appropriations for 
each of the three higher education systems slated to 
be merged in July. Under the bill, the state 
community colleges would receive $369 million the 
state community colleges $215 million, and the 
technical colleges $351 million.
     Rep. Tony Kinkel (DFL-Park Rapids), who chairs 
the committee's Higher Education Finance Division, 
said the appropriated amounts specify the 
maximum amount the HEB can spend on each 
individual system. HEB administrators would still 
decide how to distribute merged system funds 
under the bill, he said. Dividing up the 
appropriation means costs for the merger would be 
necessarily spread across the three systems, he 
added.
     Also under the bill, the newly created Higher 
Education Services Office (HESO), responsible for 
distributing financial aid to students, would receive 
about $240 million. And the Mayo Medical School 
would receive $1.8 million in state aid over the next 
biennium.
     HF1856, sponsored by Kinkel, which now goes to 
the House floor, includes the following provisions. 

U2000
     A total of $55.7 million in state funding would 
go to the University of Minnesota for U2000 
initiatives. The funds do not include the $9.1 million 
appropriation vetoed by the governor in 1994. 
University administrators had requested $7.7 
million of that appropriation again this year.
     The U2000 plan, originally unveiled in 1993, 
calls for strengthening undergraduate programs, 
raising faculty salaries to attract and keep quality 
faculty, and upgrading the university's research 
environment.
     The governor proposed the university receive 
$53.8 million as a one-time only appropriation for 
U2000.
     University officials requested $25.6 million for 
U2000 over the next biennium, but would like that 
funding to continue.
     The House proposal is also a one-time only 
funding appropriation.

Semester system
     Classes at Minnesota's state universities, 
community colleges and technical colleges would 
last one semester rather than one quarter of the 
academic year.
     The Higher Education Board, which will 
coordinate those college systems when they merge 
in July, would have until fall 1998 to begin a 
semester school year. (See March 24, 1995, Session 
Weekly, page 13)
     Kinkel has said the move would save money 
because students would have to register only twice 
during the academic year instead of three times 
and financial aid would be distributed only twice. 
Also, 80 percent of colleges and universities 
nationwide use a semester school year, he said.
     Also under this section of the bill, schools in the 
soon-to-be-combined state university, technical and 
community college system would begin classes on 
the same fall date.
     If all system classes start at the same time, 
students could more easily transfer between 
schools, Kinkel said. The University of Minnesota 
would be exempted from this provision because the 
Legislature has no authority to mandate changes at 
that school.
     This portion of the bill was originally included in 
HF899, which Kinkel sponsored.

Financial aid limited
     The bill also calls for the state to stop 
subsidizing tuition costs after a student has earned 
48 more credits than is needed for a degree in his 
or her major.
     This would apply to students at any public 
college or university in Minnesota.
     Currently, the state pays 60 percent of a 
Minnesota student's education costs for up to 180 
credit hours. Student tuition pays the remaining 40 
percent.
     After the excess 48 credit limit is reached, 
students would be responsible for the true cost of a 
course. That would mean an otherwise $280 four-
credit course at the U of M would cost about $467.
     Also, the state university campus in Akita, 
Japan, would have two years to bring state funding 
of its Minnesota students in line with state funding 
of students on Minnesota public campuses.
     Currently, the state pays about $17,000 to 
subsidize the education of each Minnesota student 
in Akita. For students studying in Minnesota, the 
subsidy amount is about $3,500.
     This portion of the bill was originally included in 
HF899, which Kinkel sponsored.

HECB eliminated
     The Higher Education Coordinating Board, which 
is responsible for distributing financial aid to 
Minnesota's post-secondary students, would be 
eliminated and its duties moved to a newly created 
Higher Education Services Office (HESO), under the 
bill.
     Rep. Gene Pelowski (DFL-Winona) sponsored 
HF307, which has been rolled into the omnibus bill, 
said the move would save about $3.7 million over 
the next biennium. (See March 10, 1995, Session 
Weekly, page 11)
     The bill would eliminate 27 of the 67 HECB 
employee positions, Pelowski said. The remainder 
would be transferred to the HESO.
     The bill would also set up an 11-member Higher 
Education Administrators Council (HEAC) made up 
of campus presidents, the president of the private 
college council, the commissioner of education and 
others. The HEAC would be responsible for 
consulting with a newly established student 
advisory council, appointing the HESO director, and 
communicating with the Legislature and the 
governor.

More rural doctors
     A program to train medical residents at the St. 
Cloud Hospital would receive $120,000 from the 
state in 1997, with a stepped-up appropriation in 
following bienniums. 
     The money would go to establish a family 
practice residency program to be run in conjunction 
with the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine in 
Rochester, Minn. The hospital would also use 
federal government and hospital money to fund the 
program. (See March 31, 1995, Session Weekly, 
page 11)
     After they finish medical school, doctors need to 
complete a residency program before they can 
become certified doctors. 
     Rural Minnesota -- like rural areas throughout 
the nation -- faces a shortage of doctors because 
only about 30 percent of medical students today 
become general practitioners. 
     Presently, 220 additional doctors are needed in 
rural Minnesota. The hospital would train residents 
who would hopefully stay in the area and practice 
as rural doctors.
     The hospital's residency program would kick off 
in 1999 with four residents. Four students would be 
added each year until there are 12 students total in 
the three-year program.
     The Mayo Graduate School of Medicine request 
for a state appropriation would rise to $720,000 for 
each biennium when the program is fully 
implemented in 2001. The amount would equal 
$30,000 per resident.
     This portion of the bill originally entered the 
legislative process as HF1028, sponsored by Rep. 
Joe Opatz (DFL-St. Cloud). Higher Education Finance 
Division members voted to include it in the 
omnibus bill.

Increased minority enrollment
     The bill would stipulate that $5 million of the 
University of Minnesota's second-year 
appropriation be placed in a special account. Money 
from that account -- $1.25 million -- would be 
released to the school each time it reached one of 
the goals administrators have set for the institution.
     Those goals include increasing the number of 
incoming freshmen at the Twin Cities campus who 
are in the top 25 percent of their high school class. 
The school would also like to increase the retention 
rate of 1995 new entering freshmen.
     Other goals include increasing the number of 
new freshmen who are minority students, and 
increasing the number of minority faculty 
members. Also, the school would like to increase 
the number of students who graduate from the 
school within five years.
     The school has set and outlined specific goals, 
said Rep. Steve Kelley (DFL-Hopkins) who amended 
this portion of legislation into the bill. The 
legislation would help ensure the school continues 
to work toward the goals, he said.

Fee waiver
     The bill includes a provision to allow the 
president of a state university, community college 
or technical college to waive the fee a student pays 
when applying for admission.
     Frequently, this fee is prohibitive for poverty-
stricken students, who may still receive enough 
financial aid to attend the college, said Rep. Steve 
Dehler (IR-St. Joseph), who sponsored this 
provision.
     No part of current law allows for an application 
fee waiver, he said. The student or student's family 
would have to show need for the exception, he said.

Interpreter training
     An advisory committee could determine how 
best to start a training program to certify 
interpreters and translators, under this portion of 
the bill.
     Certification would begin in September 1998. 
(See March 24, 1995, Session Weekly, page 7)
     Rep. Karen Clark (DFL-Mpls) who sponsored the 
original language of this provision (HF678), has said 
because interpreters are untrained and are 
sometimes friends and relatives of the non-English 
speaking person, the actual interpretation could be 
sketchy.
     Certifying interpreters would ensure they meet 
certain standards and would protect those who use 
interpreters at court hearings and doctor's 
appointments, Clark said.
     The Higher Education Board would determine 
standards interpreters would need to meet for 
certification. 
     An interpreter acts as a go-between for people 
carrying on an oral conversation. Translators work 
from written material.

-- Jean Thilmany

BUDGET

Emergency spending bill

     A new state law authorizes nearly $3.2 million 
for emergency state government spending.
     The funds, which became available April 19, will 
be used to cover state spending during the current 
fiscal year. 
     Just over $1 million will go to the Department of 
Health to cover costs incurred during the recent 
meningitis outbreak in Mankato, which killed one 
high school student and caused several other 
residents to be hospitalized.
     The House version of the measure had included 
$245,000 to cover the meningitis outbreak, which 
was a preliminary figure based on the first round of 
meningitis immunizations. The $1 million figure 
reached by House and Senate conference committee 
members reflects the total costs incurred for some 
31,000 immunizations.
     The deficiency bill also provides:
-- $1.5 million to the Board of Public Defense to 
handle increased caseloads resulting from juvenile 
crime laws enacted in 1994; 
-- $500,000 to the Department of Veterans Affairs 
for the emergency financial and medical needs of 
veterans;
-- $77,000 to the Minnesota Racing Commission to 
regulate pari-mutuel horse racing;
-- $46,000 to the Department of Military Affairs for 
paying the city of Roseville assessments due for 
National Guard property; and
-- $30,000 to the Department of Public Safety to 
match federal funds for flood relief.
     The measure was sponsored by Rep. Jim Girard 
(IR-Lynd) and Sen. Dennis Frederickson (IR-New 
Ulm).
     (HF355/SF335*/CH48)

Tell us exactly

     Minnesota lawmakers are encouraging their 
federal counterparts to balance the federal budget, 
but they want to know what such efforts are going 
to mean to Minnesotans.
     The Legislature has passed a non-binding 
resolution asking Congress for financial information 
on the impact of a balanced federal budget 
amendment on the Minnesota state budget. 
     The Republican Party's "Contract with America" 
promised a vote within the first 100 days of the 
104th Congress on a balanced budget amendment. 
It passed the U.S. House, but failed by a single vote 
in the U.S. Senate. 
     The contract says the amendment is necessary 
to "restore fiscal responsibility to an out-of-control 
Congress, requiring them to live under the same 
budget constraints as families and businesses." 
While the balanced budget amendment failed, the 
contract still promises a balanced federal budget by 
the year 2002.
     The resolution does recognize that working to 
balance the federal budget "may impose on the 
states unfunded mandates that shift to the states 
responsibility for carrying out programs that the 
Congress can no longer afford."
     A recent study completed by the U.S. Treasury 
Department for the nation's governors estimates 
that the balanced budget amendment would reduce 
federal grants to Minnesota by $1.2 billion. But 
some have dismissed that estimate as being 
politically motivated.
     Copies of the resolution have been forwarded to 
the speaker and clerk of the United States House of 
Representatives, the president and secretary of the 
United States Senate, the presiding officers of both 
houses of the legislature of each of the other states 
in the Union, and to Minnesota's senators and 
representatives in Congress.
     The proposal was sponsored by Sen. Roger Moe 
(DFL-Erskine). 
     (HFnone/SF66*/R1)

BUSINESS

Free haircuts

     A new law will allow charities and homeless 
shelters to provide free haircuts to the clients they 
serve.
     The law stems from an incident last summer 
involving two volunteers at the Union Gospel 
Mission in Duluth, Minn.
     Two sisters, Theresa Taylor and Velma 
Williamson, for years had been giving free haircuts 
to the poor, first out of their home and later in a 
makeshift hair salon in the ladies' restroom at the 
mission.
     But then the Minnesota Board of Barber 
Examiners, after complaints from several Duluth 
barbers, stepped in to say barbering without a 
license is against the law. Violators could face up to 
90 days in jail and a $700 fine.
     Since the 1920s, the state has required barbers 
to be licensed. Cutting hair for immediate family 
members is the only exception to the law.
     After several media outlets picked up the story, 
including the nationally syndicated Paul Harvey 
radio program, the Board of Barber Examiners had a 
change of heart. Members of the board voted 
unanimously to grant the sisters honorary licenses.
     But before they could be back in business, the 
barber board said the two women needed to attend 
a Minneapolis barber school for two weeks to learn 
how to sanitize the tools of the trade.
     "We couldn't afford it," Taylor said. "We've got 
families to take care of and couldn't just pick up 
and go to the Cities for several weeks."
     The sisters never did get the training. They also 
haven't touched a head of hair since August 1994.
     "We're scared to do it," Taylor said.
     The new law, effective Aug. 1, 1995, permits 
barbering for several charitable purposes "in 
nursing homes, shelters, missions, or other similar 
facilities." The cuts must be free, and there is no 
training required of the barbers.
     The measure was sponsored by Rep. Mike Jaros 
(DFL-Duluth) and Sen. Sam Solon (DFL-Duluth).
     (HF1747/SF838*/CH59)

CRIME

Unlawful masks

     Effective Aug. 1, 1995, covering one's face in 
public for religious reasons no longer will be a 
crime, under a new state law. 
     House sponsor Rep. Matt Entenza (DFL-St. Paul) 
says present law, which prohibits concealing one's 
identity by means of a "robe, mask, or other 
disguise," is unconstitutional. 
     The law, originally placed on the books in 1923, 
targeted Ku Klux Klan members, who maintained a 
significant presence in the state at the time. (See 
March 10, 1995, Session Weekly, pages 6 and 17)
     The proposal stems from a Sept. 28, 1994, arrest 
of a Muslim woman in downtown St. Paul. Police 
officers asked the woman, dressed in traditional 
Muslim attire, to lift the veil from her face. When 
she refused, they issued her a citation.
     The local Islamic community called the incident 
a clear violation of her First Amendment rights.
     In light of Minnesota's winter climate, anyone 
covering their face "as protection from weather" 
also will be exempt from the law. Technically, 
under current law, snowmobilers and others 
protecting their faces in the winter months are in 
violation of the law.
     Sen. Allan Spear (DFL-Mpls) sponsored the bill 
in the Senate.
     (HF735/SF214*/CH30)

DWI

Snowmobiling, boating, DWIs

     Certain repeat DWI offenders caught while 
driving a boat or snowmobile would lose their 
pleasure vehicles to the state, under a bill approved 
by the House Environment and Natural Resources 
Finance Committee April 18.
     HF423, sponsored by Rep. Tom Van Engen (IR-
Spicer), also would apply to all-terrain vehicles 
(ATVs).
     Under current law, those convicted of a fourth 
DWI offense within five years or a fifth DWI 
offense within 15 years lose their cars.
     Under the bill, if that fourth or fifth conviction 
happens in a boat, snowmobile, or ATV, the 
recreational vehicle also would be taken -- for good.
     Only the vehicle used to commit the drunken 
driving offense would be seized. The vehicle would 
not be subject to forfeiture if the person convicted 
of a DWI was not the vehicle's owner.
     Local law enforcement agencies could keep the 
vehicles for official use or sell them. The profits 
would have to be used for anti-DWI efforts. If the 
arresting officer works for the state, such as a DNR 
conservation officer, the proceeds must be 
forwarded to the snowmobile trails and 
enforcement account or the all-terrain vehicle 
account, depending on type of vehicle involved.
     "We don't really want the vehicles, we just want 
[drunk] people to stop driving them," Van Engen 
explained.
     He said the bill would generate an "incredibly 
small amount" of revenue for the state -- $11,000 
over the next two years. A fiscal note prepared for 
the bill indicates that counties could gain $55,000 
each year through the sale of boats, snowmobiles, 
and ATVs.
     In response to a question about a person 
snowmobiling drunk on their own property, Mike 
Grupa of the DNR's Enforcement Division said that a 
person can be cited for driving while impaired on 
both public and private property. 
     HF423 now moves to the Ways and Means 
Committee.

ENVIRONMENT

Environmental spending bill

     State spending for environment and natural 
resource programs would total almost $566 million 
over the next two-year budget cycle, under a bill 
approved by the Environment and Natural 
Resources Finance Committee April 13.
     HF1857 funds the Department of Natural 
Resources (DNR), the Minnesota Pollution Control 
Agency (MPCA), the Minnesota Zoo and 10 other 
state agencies.
     Nearly 55 percent of the state spending in the 
bill -- almost $312 million -- would go to the DNR.
     The MPCA, the next largest recipient under the 
bill, would receive about $77 million.
     The spending bill also includes nearly $36 
million for 86 environmental and recreational 
programs selected by the Legislative Commission on 
Minnesota Resources (LCMR), which is funded from 
a two-cent per-pack cigarette tax and limited state 
lottery proceeds. (See March 24, 1995, Session 
Weekly, page 9)
     Other provisions of the bill include: 

State parks, trails, recreation areas
     Funding for state parks and recreation areas 
would total more than $54 million, a spending 
increase of $1.6 million over the previous two-year 
budget.
     A total of  $9 million -- $4.5 million each from 
the general fund and the environment and natural 
resources trust fund -- would go to acquire land 
and improve the metropolitan regional park 
system. Nearly $4 million more would add land to 
existing state park and recreational areas and 
finance other improvements. (An additional $1.4 
million from the Environment and Natural 
Resources Trust Fund would supplement the funds 
for metropolitan and state parks.)
     An additional $25 million would go to programs 
to maintain existing hiking and biking trails and 
waterways.
     A $140,000 appropriation for fiscal year 1996 
would replace trucks and other vehicles destroyed 
in a February 1995 arson fire at William O'Brien 
State Park.

Fish and wildlife
     More than $70 million would be spent in fiscal 
years 1996 and 1997 on programs for lake, stream 
and wildlife area management. 
     Nearly $2 million of the funds would be marked 
for non-game wildlife management programs. 
Another $2.6 million would be marked to fund 
game and fish critical habitat programs and 
wetlands protection under the Reinvest in 
Minnesota (RIM) program.
     An additional $2.65 million would be marked for 
RIM programs contained in the LCMR 
recommendations.

Clean air and water
     The MPCA would continue existing programs to 
clean up Minnesota lakes and rivers with $18 
million in state funds, under the bill. It would 
receive another $14.3 million for air pollution 
programs, and almost $16 million for protection of 
groundwater and management of solid waste. The 
agency's hazardous waste programs would receive 
about $12.4 million over the next two-year budget 
period.
     The funding for each of those programs will 
more than double when federal dollars are secured.
     More than $2.5 million would fund continuation 
of the MPCA's four-year project to computerize its 
data for its varied environmental oversight 
programs. MPCA officials say completion of the 
Delta Project would increase the agency's efficiency 
and help businesses that it now regulates.

Ethanol production
     Minnesota farmers would be encouraged to 
produce all the ethanol that is used in the state, 
under the bill.
     It would raise to $30 million per year the 
amount the state would pay to subsidize the 
production of ethanol, although the state would 
actually spend about half that yearly amount in the 
next two years.
     The cap is currently at $10 million per year, 
which proponents of the bill say is not enough to 
encourage the long-term development of more 
ethanol plants in Greater Minnesota.
     Ethanol is made from the fermentation of corn 
and other agricultural products and has been used 
as an additive in gasoline to make it burn more 
cleanly.
     There are currently five ethanol plants in 
Minnesota (a sixth will begin production in April) 
that combined produce a total of 59 million gallons 
of ethanol per year.
     That's less than half of the 120 million gallons of 
ethanol that is consumed per year in Minnesota, 
most of which is imported from plants in Illinois, 
Iowa, and Nebraska.
     The proposal was introduced as HF202, 
sponsored by Rep. Doug Peterson (DFL-Madison). 
Peterson has argued that raising the cap to $30 
million per year would send a message to potential 
investors in ethanol plants that the state is 
committed to helping the industry.
     "If Minnesota doesn't act this year, the window 
of opportunity is going to be gone," he has said.
     That's because beginning Oct. 1 of this year, 
gasoline used in automobiles in the 10-county 
metropolitan area will be required to burn 
"oxygenated fuel" year round, instead of just during 
the winter (Oct. 1 to Feb. 1) as is required under 
current law. 
     (The law was enacted in 1991 because the Twin 
Cities was in violation of federal Environmental 
Protection Agency clean air requirements. Adding 
one part ethanol for every 10 parts of gas is one 
way to oxygenate gas, although there are 
petroleum-based additives that can do the same 
thing.)
     The need for year round "oxygenated fuel" in 
the metro area will greatly increase the demand for 
ethanol. And beginning Oct. 1, 1997, all gasoline 
sold in the state will have to be oxygenated, which 
will further increase demand for ethanol. 
     The bill also provides for $550,000 in state loans 
to companies building ethanol production facilities 
in Minnesota.

Treaty litigation costs
     The bill would give the DNR $750,000 to defend 
the state against the 1990 hunting and fishing 
rights lawsuit brought by the Mille Lacs Band of 
Ojibwe in federal court and to contest a similar 
lawsuit brought by the Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe.
     The governor had recommended $1 million in 
funding.
     The bill would allocate $400,000 for the DNR to 
survey fish and wildlife resources "in the counties 
covered by the 1837 Treaty." The DNR sought 
$808,000 for the survey.
      "We're very concerned about that reduction," 
DNR deputy commissioner Ron Nargang told 
lawmakers. He said the survey would be critical in 
the second phase of the trial next year, which will 
determine how the band and the state divide the 
"harvestable surplus" of fish and game in twelve 
Minnesota counties.
     A federal court decided last year that the Mille 
Lacs Band retains its rights to hunt, fish and gather 
under the 1837 Treaty.
     (A separate bill (HF1001) would give the Office 
of the Attorney General another $790,000 to pay 
for state expert witnesses in the treaty court case.)

Youth deer licenses
     Young people could buy an inexpensive license 
to hunt deer with firearms, under the bill.
     The "Youth Deer" provision, also contained in 
HF723  sponsored by Rep. Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook), 
would allow those under age 16 to buy a deer 
hunting license for $5, instead of paying $22 for a 
regular firearms license.
     No tag would be included in the youth license, so 
a deer shot by a youth carrying the $5 license 
would have to be tagged by a licensed hunter 
possessing a valid tag. 
     (Under current law, a tag is issued with each 
deer hunting license; hunters are allowed to take 
just one deer per season with a firearm.)
     While regular deer hunting licenses are only 
sold prior to the opening day of the firearms 
season, the youth license could be purchased at any 
time during the season.
     The bill also would allow any deer hunter "who 
fails to tag a deer" during the firearms season to get 
a second crack at a deer by buying another 
firearms license and hunting by muzzleloader.
     The 16-day muzzleloader season -- which allows 
hunting with an old-fashioned rifle that was 
common on the frontier -- follows the regular 
firearms season in late November.
     Under current law, a deer hunter is allowed to 
buy only one firearms license and hunt either 
during the regular firearms season or during the 
muzzleloader season.
     HF723 is pending on the House floor.
     
Recreational vehicle fees
     Owners of boats, snowmobiles, all-terrain 
vehicles (ATVs) and off-road motorcycles would 
pay a $2 registration fee for a three-year license. 
The registration surcharge has been 50 cents since 
1971. Originally introduced as HF1483 by Rep. Tom 
Rukavina (DFL-Virginia), the revenue generated by 
proposed surcharge increase would be kept by 
deputy registrars in Minnesota.
     Also, a current $5 surcharge on boats to fund 
public awareness efforts about Eurasian water 
milfoil, zebra mussels and purple loosestrife would 
remain in effect. Under current law, the $5 
surcharge is set to dip to $3 in 1997.

Used oil disposal
     Retailers selling more than 1,000 motor oil 
filters each year would have to accept and properly 
dispose of used oil and oil filters from the public, 
under a bill approved by the House Environment 
and Natural Resources Finance Committee April 4.
     The MPCA would receive $100,000 in fiscal year 
1996 to administer the program.
     The program would affect major retailers and 
exclude small business and gas stations, which don't 
accept more than 1,000 oil filters.
     Businesses either would have to set up their 
own collection facility or contract with another 
business -- within two miles in the Twin Cities 
metropolitan area or within five miles in Greater 
Minnesota -- to accept used oil and filters. 
     Also, the bill explicitly states that retailers "may 
not charge a fee" to accept used oil and filters. 
Under the original bill, retailers could charge 50 
cents per filter to recover disposal costs. 
     Under current law, a retailer selling motor oil is 
required only to post a notice advising consumers 
of a location within 10 miles of where they can 
dispose of used oil.
     The bill was originally sponsored by Rep. Robert 
Leighton (DFL-Austin) as HF1073.

Forest resources council
     A forest resources council charged with 
developing sustainable management practices for 
state forests would be established under the bill. 
The 13 members of the council would be appointed 
by the governor from business, labor, and 
environmental groups and government agencies.
     The governor recommended about $2.4 million 
for funding this initiative, but the House pared that 
figure to about $1.1 million.

Wetland development changes

     Counties would have more flexibility in 
developing their wetlands, under a bill that was 
given final approval by the House April 19. The 
vote was 127-4.
     The bill (HF787) would amend the 1991 
Wetlands Conservation Act to allow local 
governments to adopt their own "comprehensive 
wetland protection and management plan," said bill 
sponsor Rep. Willard Munger (DFL-Duluth).
     Those plans would take the place of rules 
adopted by the Board of Water and Soil Resources 
(BWSR), which currently oversees the law. Many 
local officials have complained those rules are too 
strict and make land development too costly. (See 
March 17, 1995, Session Weekly, page 3; March 24, 
1995, Session Weekly, page 8) 
     Under the bill, the BWSR would still have to 
approve or reject a county plan, however.
     The bill would also ease current wetland 
replacement mandates that have led five northern 
Minnesota counties to refuse to comply with the 
1991 Wetlands Conservation Act.
     The law now requires local governments to 
replace wetlands drained for roads, housing, or 
other development.
     The bill says that in counties that have 80 
percent of the wetlands that existed when 
Europeans first arrived in Minnesota, the minimum 
size of a wetland requiring replacement would be 
raised to 7,500 square feet, up from 400 square 
feet.
     Another provision would ease replacement 
requirements involving "public transportation 
projects." The measure would allow wetlands 
displaced because of these projects to be replaced 
on a one-for-one basis -- the same requirement 
that exists under current law for agricultural land.
     Under current law, wetlands in most parts of the 
state must be replaced one a two-for-one basis, 
except in areas that 80 percent or more of their 
pre-settlement wetlands. Those areas are allowed 
under current law to replace wetlands on a one-for-
one basis.
     The bill now goes to the Senate.

State-owned waters

     A bill asserting state ownership of waters inside 
federal nature areas in northern Minnesota won 
final passage April 13 in the House. The vote was 
96-31.
     Bill sponsor Rep. Thomas Bakk (DFL-Cook) said 
the bill would make it clear the state has never 
given up jurisdiction over surface waters and lake 
beds inside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area 
Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park.
     And he said he hopes the "ultimate outcome" of 
the legislation would be to prompt the National 
Park Service and other federal agencies "to have 
the courtesy" to get legislative approval for any 
further restrictions on motor boating, fishing and 
snowmobiling on the lakes.
     "The people of Minnesota should have something 
to say about the restrictions the federal 
government puts on waters that I believe belong to 
us," Bakk said.
     During floor debate on the bill, lawmakers 
questioned the effect the bill would have on 
federally imposed restrictions on boat travel and 
other activities within the areas.
     Bakk said the bill would not have an immediate 
impact on the federal regulations; rather, it is a 
matter of halting a "chipping away" of the access 
boaters and others have in the areas.
     He and other supporters of the bill would like to 
see fewer restrictions on the use of the waters. In 
particular, Bakk expressed opposition to newer 
restrictions banning fishing contests and forbidding 
snowmobiling on specific lake bays in Voyageurs.
     "It seems to be moving more and more away 
from being a multi-use park, and that's what we 
were promised," Bakk said.
     It would take a court challenge to link 
ownership of the waters to regulatory power, Bakk 
said. His bill puts the state on record about where it 
stands on ownership of the waters, he added.
     HF54 now goes to the Senate.

Emission omissions

     Newer cars no longer would be required to pass 
annual emissions tests, under a bill given final 
passage by the House April 18. The vote was 133-0.
     The bill, sponsored by Rep. Alice Johnson (DFL-
Spring Lake Park), would exempt vehicles under six 
years old from the emissions tests required for 
vehicle registration renewal in the seven-county 
metropolitan area.
     Because so few newer cars fail the test, the 
procedure is unnecessarily costly and time 
consuming, Johnson said.
     Residents in the metro area now pay $8 to get 
their vehicle's exhaust system tested. Passing this 
test is mandatory before an owner can buy new 
license plate tabs.
     The 1988 Legislature enacted the vehicle 
emissions testing program, which took effect in 
mid-1991, because the state was in violation of 
federal clean air requirements.
     "We can see that this program could be modified 
and that we would still be able to maintain our 
clean air status," Johnson said.
     The changes in HF2 would take effect in Aug. 1, 
1995. At that time, cars from the 1991 model year 
or later would not have to be tested.
     During debate on the House floor, Rep. Kevin 
Knight (IR-Bloomington) tried to amend the bill to 
eliminate the testing program entirely and, when 
that failed, to extend the testing exemption to cars 
dating back 10 model years.
     Both of the proposed amendments drew 
opposition from Johnson, who argued the state 
could be hurt by going too far in its effort to reduce 
emissions testing.
     If the state falls below standards set in the 1990 
Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) may withhold federal highway funds 
from the state.
     House members rejected the proposal to 
eliminate the entire testing program on a 64-68 
vote and the plan to extend the exemption cars 
dating back 10 model years 61-72.
     But a successful amendment by Rep. Eileen 
Tompkins (IR-Apple Valley) calls for the testing 
program to be completely eliminated at the end of 
1995 or thereafter as long as the EPA agrees to it.
     Johnson said, however, she does not expect the 
EPA will agree to the complete elimination of the 
emissions testing program soon.

Expanding trails

     The Blufflands Trail System in southeastern 
Minnesota will have its legal boundaries expanded, 
under a new state law. But it will be up to future 
legislatures to actually appropriate money to 
develop the trail system.
     The trail was originally authorized by the 1992 
Legislature. It called for connecting the Root River 
Trail to a number of towns in the area.
     It was extended by the 1994 Legislature to 
connect several cities in Houston and Fillmore 
counties -- and the city of Winona -- to the Root 
River Trail, which runs from Fountain, through 
Lanesboro, to Rushford.
     The new law will add Minnesota City, 
Rollingstone, Altura, Lewiston, Utica, St. Charles, and 
Elba, all located in Winona County, to the trail 
system.
     Funding for the trail has yet to be secured.
     The measure, effective Aug. 1, 1995, was 
sponsored by Rep. Virgil Johnson (IR-Caledonia) 
and Sen. Steve Morse (DFL-Dakota).
     (HF121*/SF310/CH26)

FAMILY

Improving child support

     A comprehensive proposal to help collect 
delinquent child support payments -- which 
includes provisions to suspend drivers and 
occupational licenses -- won approval from the 
House Health and Human Services Committee April 
18.
     As of July 1994, Minnesota kids were owed 
$551 million in delinquent support payments, 
according to the Office of the Attorney General.
     Supporters say the bill should be considered 
welfare reform, as well.
     There are currently 91,600 Minnesota child 
support cases involving families on public 
assistance.
     The bill would suspend the drivers' and 
occupational licenses of certain parents who refuse 
to pay up. It also would establish a program to 
make custody and visitation proceedings less 
confrontational.
     It is unclear how much it would cost to 
implement the bill's programs.
     The bill now moves to the Ways and Means 
Committee.
     Sponsored by Rep. Matt Entenza (DFL-St. Paul), 
the major provisions of HF966 include:

Pay it or park it
     Parents who are at least three months behind in 
their child support payments could lose their 
driver's license.
     The "pay it or park it" provision would notify 
those at least three months behind in their child 
support that they have 90 days to work out a 
payment plan with the county or the court. Failure 
to do so would result in a suspended driver's 
license. (The debtor may request a hearing on the 
matter.)
     The provision is modeled after a current Maine 
law which has generated $21 million in collections 
since its 1992 inception. It cost the state $70,000 to 
implement the program. Only 39 drivers' licenses 
have been suspended.
     Bill sponsor Rep. Matt Entenza (DFL-St. Paul) 
called the Maine program a successful deterrent. He 
said the goal is to collect money, and that few 
license suspensions are expected.
     Estimates from the Department of Human 
Services (DHS) place administrative costs for the 
program at about $70,000 annually. By fiscal year 
1999, when the program would be fully 
operational, DHS conservatively estimates the 
program will account for the collection of an 
additional $30 million in child support.

Occupational license suspension
     Those who are at least three months behind in 
their child support payments also could lose a 
state-issued occupational license. Current law 
doesn't specify a minimum amount before a license 
can be suspended.
     The state issues occupational licenses including 
those for barbers, doctors, contractors and other 
professions. Without a license they could not 
practice.
     Parents would be warned 30 days in advance 
that such a license suspension will be sought, and 
would have a right to a hearing on the matter.

Curbing teen sex
     To curb the trend of teens becoming pregnant at 
younger and younger ages, the state would 
authorize a grant program for communities that 
develop programs to target 12- to 14-year-old boys 
and girls.
     Funding for the program will be debated during 
the Health and Human Services Finance Division 
hearings. As yet, no money has been allocated.     
Originally sponsored by Rep. Ann H. Rest (DFL-New 
Hope) as HF517, the ENABL (Education Now And 
Babies Later) program would be created, modeled 
after a similar program in California.
     School districts, churches, YMCAs, and other 
groups would qualify for grants as long as they 
could come up with 25 percent of the cost of the 
program.     
     The program would focus on convincing 12- to 
14-year-olds to postpone sex by using an existing 
curriculum that doesn't include birth control 
information.
     Part of the program would include a statewide 
media campaign that would encourage parents to 
talk with their children about postponing sex. Older 
teens also would talk to their younger peers on 
abstaining from sex.
     The state would distribute grants to community 
organizations across the state to implement the 
ENABL program. 
     The need to reduce teen pregnancy is a taxpayer 
issue, according to proponents. In 1993, Minnesota 
spent $20 million on Aid to Families with 
Dependent Children welfare grants to families that 
began with a teen birth.
     There are about 7,100 parents on AFDC who are 
either minors now or were under 18 when their 
oldest child was born. That accounts for about 
14,000 children.

Support or service
     A "support or service" pilot project would be 
established to make able-bodied debtors without 
jobs perform community service work. They could 
be made to work up to 32 hours per week for six 
weeks. Entenza has said a similar Wisconsin 
program has proven to be an incentive for debtors 
to find work and has resulted in improved child 
support compliance.

Work reporting system
     A centralized employment database at the DHS 
would be created by Jan. 1, 1996. Business owners 
must report all new hires to the department within 
15 days or face up to a $500 fine, per employee, for 
repeatedly (and intentionally) failing to report. Its 
purpose is to track those who drift from job to job 
to avoid having wages garnished to pay child 
support.
     When the state or any other governmental unit 
hires a contractor, it, too, will be reported to the 
DHS.

Delinquent parents
     The names of those delinquent in their support 
payments would not be published in local papers 
again until Jan. 1, 1997. 
     When the program resumes, those who are on 
public assistance, have filed for bankruptcy, or 
have a pending court case concerning what they 
owe in delinquent support would not see their 
names in print. The changes follow the recent 
erroneous publication of the names of several 
people in newspapers statewide.
     The DHS would also need to publish "a printed 
retraction and apology" acknowledging those whose 
names are published in error. 

Motor vehicle liens
     The state (or person owed child support) would 
be a "secured party" listed on the motor vehicle 
title of someone at least three months delinquent in 
child support payments. When such a vehicle, 
valued at more than $4,500 is sold, the seller would 
keep $4,500 and the state or the person owed child 
support would get the rest.

Cooperation for kids
     A "cooperation for the kids" pilot project would 
be created to address issues of custody and 
visitation in a mediation setting without judges or 
attorneys. It would be implemented by the DHS, the 
Office of Administrative Hearings, and the Office of 
the Attorney General.
     The program would be implemented in select 
counties and participants would be charged on a 
sliding-fee scale. All couples would be screened to 
identify a domestic abuse situation.

Support payment center
     A centralized state child support collections unit 
would be established within the DHS in 1997. All 
payments made to local agencies would be 
forwarded to the DHS.

Freezing interest
     The accrual of interest on back child support 
owed if the parent makes timely payments for 36 
consecutive months would be frozen. This is 
designed to aid parents who at one time owed a lot 
in back child support but were unable to pay; by 
freezing the interest on that large unpaid balance, it 
is hoped that parents who resume paying can catch 
up and pay off the debt's principal. This provision 
was previously contained in HF348, sponsored by 
Rep. Tony Kinkel (DFL-Park Rapids), which was 
incorporated into HF966. 

GAMBLING

Gambling treatment funds

     Public funds for treatment of compulsive 
gamblers would be available to private, for-profit 
agencies, under a bill given final passage April 13 
in the House. The vote was 
128-0.
     Under the bill, sponsored by Rep. Tony Kinkel 
(DFL-Park Rapids), for-profit agencies would be 
able to compete with non-profits for the grant 
funding.
     Kinkel said the bill is necessary to give 
Minnesotans, especially in outstate areas, more 
opportunities for treatment.
     During the current two-year spending cycle, the 
state will spend about $1.2 million to treat problem 
gamblers. Non-profit treatment facilities are 
selected to receive some of that money through 
Department of Human Services grants. (See March 
10, 1995, Session Weekly, page 9)
     The House passed similar legislation in 1993, but 
it did not survive conference committee 
negotiations.
     This year, the Senate already has approved 
HF83/SF91*. The bill now goes to the 
governor.

GAME & FISH

To kill a mourning dove

     For the first time since 1946, mourning doves 
would be in the gun sights of Minnesota hunters, 
under a proposal approved by the House 
Environment and Natural Resources Finance 
Committee April 13. 
     The mourning dove is a "migratory bird that 
nests in Minnesota" in plentiful numbers, said Rep. 
Doug Peterson (DFL-Madison), who amended the 
proposal onto HF1857, the omnibus environment 
and natural resources finance bill. He said that the 
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) also 
supports a state mourning dove season.
     Kevin Lines, the DNR's farmland wildlife 
program leader, said the mourning dove is the 
"number one game bird in North America."
     Some 50 million birds are killed each year out of 
a population of 500 million mourning doves. The 
doves are ranked 11th in abundance out of 251 
species tracked in North America, according to 
Lines.
     The DNR would determine the hunting season 
dates and rules for hunting mourning doves.
     Hunters would need to buy a small game license 
and a $5 mourning dove stamp, under the bill.
     A fall hunting season for mourning doves and 
bag limits would have to follow U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service regulations, explained Lines. A 
season could run for 60 days beginning Sept. 1 and 
hunters could kill a daily limit of 15 birds, he said.
     Under the bill, shooting mourning doves would 
be allowed only in southern and western 
Minnesota: south of Highway 14 from Winona to 
Mankato; southwest of the Minnesota River 
between Mankato and Morton; west of Highway 71 
up to Blackduck and continuing up Highway 72 to 
Baudette.
     There was "no good reason" to eliminate the 
mourning dove season in 1947, Roger Holmes, 
director of the DNR's Fish and Wildlife Division, said.
     Holmes said opponents of shooting mourning 
doves came to the Legislature and "hounded" 
lawmakers daily until they banned hunting the 
birds.
     Since shooting mourning doves has been illegal 
during his lifetime, Lines said he never has hunted 
the birds, but "colleagues in other states rave about 
its table qualities."
     HF1857 now moves to the Ways and Means 
Committee.

Turkey saved, owls trapped

     Minnesota turkey farmers soon could have a 
new way to protect their flocks from the threat of 
great horned owls.
     A bill given final approval by the House would 
allow farmers to catch the owls in traps approved 
by the Department of Natural Resources.
     Currently, only licensed game farmers are 
permitted to trap the birds. 
     The bill (HF120/SF155*), sponsored by Rep. Jim 
Tunheim (DFL-Kennedy), was given final approval 
by the House April 13 on an 82-45 vote. 
     Turkey farmers say they suffer large financial 
losses at the hands of owls. They say the mere 
presence of an owl can cause serious problems on a 
turkey farm.
     Turkeys panic when an owl is near, and they 
have been known to run in fear, pile on one another 
and smother each other. (See April 13, 1995, 
Session Weekly, page 8)
     Under the bill, farmers would have to obtain a 
federal permit to trap owls. Traps would have to be 
tended twice daily. Uninjured owls captured in 
traps would have to be released at least 50 miles 
from the site, and injured birds would have to be 
taken to a veterinarian.
     Since there are differences between the House 
and Senate versions of the bill, a conference 
committee will be appointed.

Antlerless permits

     Youths under age 16 who have completed 
certified gun training will still be able to bag a deer 
of either sex, under a new state law.
     In 1993, lawmakers set up a two-year pilot 
program to allow youths to take a deer of either 
sex. The new law repeals a Dec. 31, 1995, sunset 
date for the program.
     Older hunters in a group are still prohibited 
from taking an antlerless deer unless they have the 
required permit.
     The measure was sponsored by Rep. Loren 
Jennings (DFL-Harris) and Sen. Bob Lessard (DFL-
Int'l Falls).
     (HF321*/SF174/CH32)

GOVERNMENT

Omnibus state government bill

     A more than $500 million omnibus state 
government spending bill with money for 
everything from ice rinks to a Korean War veterans 
memorial passed the House Governmental 
Operations Committee April 20.
     The bill (HF1001) includes new policies such as 
eliminating three gambling boards and cutting state 
agency money spent on private consultants. It is 
now on its way to the House Ways and Means 
Committee.
     Sponsored by Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Virginia) 
who chairs the committee's State Government 
Finance Division, the bill's general fund spending 
amounts to about $15.5 million less than Gov. Arne 
Carlson recommended.
     Below are some of the bill's highlights for the 
1996-1997 biennium.

Mighty Ducks
     The omnibus bill spends $3.2 million to build 
more indoor ice arenas in Minnesota. 
     The proposal was originally part of HF1260, 
sponsored by Rep. Bob Milbert (DFL-South St. Paul). 
The Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission would 
use money to distribute grants of up to $250,000 
each to local communities.
     Milbert, also a member of the amateur sports 
commission, said a study of ice needs in Minnesota 
discovered more than 90 communities that say they 
need a new indoor ice arena or repairs for an 
existing arena. The number of girls and boys 
participating in winter sports such as hockey and 
competitive figure skating has increased the 
demand for ice time.
     (A 1994 law mandates that all public indoor ice 
arenas must give female hockey teams "up to 30 
percent" of the prime ice time during the 1995 
winter season and "up to 50 percent" by the 1996 
season.)

Gambling
     The bill would abolish the nine-member 
Minnesota Racing Commission, seven-member 
Gambling Control Board, and seven-member State 
Lottery Board. 
     This provision was originally part of HF138  
sponsored by Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL-Mpls). 
Elimination of the three boards is expected to save 
about $136,000.
     The advisory duties of the gambling boards 
would be transferred to the directors they used to 
serve.
     The gambling departments function 
independently of one another. The racing 
commission oversees pari-mutuel horse racing. The 
Gambling Control Board regulates lawful gaming 
activities, such as bingo and pull-tabs. The State 
Lottery Board advises the lottery director on games 
and rules.
     The omnibus bill also creates new language that 
requires 70 percent of all unclaimed prize money 
from the lottery at the end of each fiscal year to be 
deposited in the state treasury. Currently, 
unclaimed prize money is added to the prize pool 
for future lottery games.

County boundaries, mandates
     A provision to study whether some of 
Minnesota's 87 counties could be consolidated and 
the effect of state mandates on local governments 
also are included in the omnibus bill.
     A total of $25,000 is set aside in fiscal year 1996 
for the Board of Government Innovation and 
Cooperation to conduct the studies.
     Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL-Mpls) originally 
sponsored the county boundary study as HF130 and 
Rep. Howard Orenstein (DFL-St. Paul) originally 
sponsored the mandate study as HF1059.
     Although Gov. Arne Carlson has proposed that 
the Board of Government Innovation and 
Cooperation be eliminated, the House omnibus state 
government spending bill sets aside about $1.9 
million during 1996-1997. The board was created 
in 1993 and awards grants to local governments 
that want to work together to share resources and 
offer better customer service. 
     The board -- in the interest of government 
efficiency -- also has the power to waive certain 
rules placed on local governments.

Mille Lacs court fight
     Costs continue to mount in the state's challenge 
of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians' 
established claim to hunting and fishing rights in a 
12-county area of east-central Minnesota that 
includes Lake Mille Lacs, the state's premier 
walleye lake.
     The omnibus state government spending bill 
gives the Office of the Attorney General another 
$790,000 to pay for state expert witnesses in the 
treaty court case.
     Peggy Willens, finance director for the Office of 
the Attorney General, has told lawmakers that none 
of the $790,000 would pay for attorneys. The 
Legislature in 1993 appropriated about $1 million 
for the attorney general's office to take the case to 
court. About half of that was to go to pay for expert 
witnesses. 
     Willens has said, "$500,000 was our estimate. It 
was low." (See related story, page 7)

State debt collection
     A measure to give the state more power to 
collect overdue debts owed to state agencies and 
threaten deadbeat debtors with a penalty surcharge 
also can be found in the omnibus state government 
finance bill.
     The penalty -- of up to 25 percent of the debt -- 
would be added to an existing bad debt, such as a 
student loan, back taxes, or a fee, to pay for the cost 
of the collection.
     As of Sept. 30, 1994, people owed $641 million 
to the state's general fund and $587 million to other 
state accounts, according to the Minnesota Collection 
Enterprise (MCE). The MCE was established by the 
1994 Legislature to coordinate a statewide effort on 
bill collections. 
     Another provision in the measure, originally 
sponsored by Rep. Howard Orenstein (DFL-St. Paul) 
as HF625, would allow the state to seize or reduce 
an individual's tax refund check or other state 
payment of more than $5,000 to pay debt owed the 
state. (Public assistance checks would not be 
seized.)
     Current law allows for such deductions only for 
back taxes or child support payments owed the 
state. 
     The state would notify the person whose funds 
would be taken, and the individual would have 30 
days to request a hearing to dispute the matter.
     Wages also could be garnished until a debt is 
paid off, as long as no other creditors were 
garnishing the wages.
     Currently, the state and other creditors can 
garnish a person's wages for up to 70 days. Debtors 
who prove that they need more money for 
necessities, such as shelter, food, and work 
transportation, could reduce a garnishment.
     The measure also would allow the Department of 
Finance to  begin a pilot program to compare which 
is more effective in collecting debt -- the state's 
MCE or private collection agencies. 
     The finance department would farm out $35 
million of the money owed to the state to private 
collection agencies, compare their collections with 
the MCE, and report to the Legislature by Feb. 1, 
1997. The department currently farms out debt to 
several national firms, but the amendment calls on 
the department to try out different firms for the 
pilot project.

Private consultants
     The state's use of private contracts and 
consultants would be cut by 10 percent during the 
1996-1997 biennium, under the omnibus state 
government spending bill.
     The state's 20 main agencies would have to cut 
10 percent off the aggregate amount they spent on 
consultants in fiscal years 1994-1995. They could 
not make the cuts from grant money or federal 
funds. Instead, they must cut from the dollars 
allocated to them by the state.
     The measure was originally sponsored by Rep. 
Joe Opatz (DFL-St. Cloud) as HF123. It is expected to 
save the state's general fund $9.2 million over the 
biennium.
     Under the measure, the governor would decide 
which agencies would face contract cuts. Some could 
increase their use of consultants as long as others 
decreased enough for an overall reduction of 10 
percent.
     The provision also would apply to the House of 
Representatives, the Senate, the Legislative 
Coordinating Commission, and the Metropolitan 
Council. Each would be required to cut 10 percent in 
their consultant spending.
     There are exemptions in the bill, such as 
contracts for highway construction and 
maintenance; consultants hired by a Minnesota 
state college or university to teach public or private 
organizations, agencies, or businesses; and 
consultants used to help with pension plans.
     Part of the provision also would require agencies 
to seek prior approval before hiring a consultant for 
a contract exceeding $5,000. The agency must 
determine that no current state employee, including 
employees outside its own agency, could do the job. 
The agency must also certify that it has publicized 
the contract.

Legislative Coordinating Commission
     Several legislative commissions would be 
abolished. Those to be eliminated include the 
Legislative Commission to Review Administrative 
Rules, the Legislative Commission on Employee 
Relations, the Legislative Commission on Planning 
and Fiscal Policy, the Legislative Water Commission, 
and the Legislative Commission on Children, Youth, 
and Their Families.
     The Mississippi River Parkway Commission and 
the Great Lakes Commission also would be 
eliminated.
     The Legislative Coordinating Commission also 
would receive an additional $30,000 over the 
biennium to contract with the Minnesota 
Foundation for Better Hearing and Speech to ensure 
that a sign language interpreter is available for 
hearing impaired citizens who seek access to 
lawmakers, legislative floor sessions, and committee 
hearings.

Veterans
     A memorial to be built on the Capitol grounds 
honoring those who served in the Korean War 
would be given $50,000 over the biennium.
     In addition, $16,200 would be set aside under 
the bill to contribute to a memorial honoring 
women in military service which is being built at 
the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery.
     Another $30,000 over the 1996-1997 biennium 
would go to help Vietnam veterans and Vietnam-
era veterans prepare and present their claims to 
the U.S. government for compensation and other 
benefits they are entitled to as a result of 
disabilities incurred in military service. Rep. Sharon 
Marko (DFL-Newport) originally sponsored this 
provision as HF1045.

House and Senate television
     The House and Senate television departments 
would receive $300,000 over the 1996-1997 
budget period. The money would be used to expand 
the broadcasts of House and Senate floor sessions 
and some committee hearings. At least half the 
money must go toward broadcasting in rural 
Minnesota. The proposal (HF1120),  sponsored by 
Rep. Gene Pelowski (DFL-Winona), originally had 
asked for $425,000 over the biennium.

Leif Erikson face-lift
     A proposal to repair the Leif Erikson statue on 
the Capitol grounds would receive $20,000 in fiscal 
year 1996. The proposal was originally sponsored 
by Rep. Mark Holsten (IR-Stillwater) as HF1219. 
Erikson, son of Eric the Red who colonized 
Greenland, is reputedly the first European to 
discover the American content.

Following union raises

     A bill to grant salary hikes to top level state 
employees, lawmakers and judges that are in line 
with raises given other state employees through 
union contracts was approved April 20 by the 
House Governmental Operations Committee.
     HF1710 calls for state agency heads to receive 
annual raises equal to the lowest amount of pay 
increase in collective bargaining agreements with 
state employees.
     Elected officials including legislators, 
constitutional officers and judges would receive 
raises in 1997 and 1998 of 3 percent, or the lowest 
amount in contract agreements with state 
employees, whichever is less.
     The bill, sponsored by Rep. Greg Davids (IR-
Preston), originally centered on recommendations 
of the state Compensation Council, an independent 
body that makes salary recommendations for 
government officials.
     But the bill was significantly altered during 
debate in the committee and in its State 
Government Finance Division.
     A proposal to divide department commissioners 
into two salary ranges, each tied to the governor's 
pay (currently $114,506 a year), was stripped from 
the bill.
     That provision called for a first range with a 
maximum salary equal to 85 percent of the 
governor's salary ($97,330) and a second range 
capped at 75 percent ($85,880). (See April 7, 1995, 
Session Weekly, page 9)
     Gov. Arne Carlson has argued increases in 
commission salaries are needed to attract top 
candidates for the high-level state jobs. But several 
lawmakers argued the proposed changes could 
result in pay increases that would simply be too 
great.
     The bill now calls for commissioners to continue 
to be divided into three salary ranges, depending 
on the size of the agency. The ranges -- capped at 
$78,000, $67,500, and $60,000 respectively -- were 
last increased in 1987.
     The original bill also called for raises for some 
administrative law judges, but that provision was 
altered in committee. 
     Originally, the bill would have pushed the 
salaries of all administrative law judges to the 
current maximum of $75,144, or 90 percent of a 
district court judge's salary. But the bill was 
amended to grant administrative law judges raises 
equal to those given to legislators and other elected 
officials.
     HF1710 now goes to the House Ways and Means 
Committee.

Paying old debts

     A bill authorizing the sale of state revenue 
bonds to pay off a more than $300 million legal 
judgment against the state was approved April 19 
by the State Government Finance Division of the 
House Governmental Operations Committee.
     The bill (HF1331), sponsored by Minority Leader 
Steve Sviggum (IR-Kenyon), seeks to address a 
costly legal loss resulting from a Minnesota tax 
policy of more than a decade ago.
     The Minnesota Supreme Court has held the state 
illegally taxed banks and other corporations on the 
interest paid on federal bonds during a four-year 
span in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
     The amount of the judgment against the state is 
unclear because all of the affected banks and 
corporations have yet to come forward for 
repayment, according to Sviggum. He estimated the 
judgment will cost the state about $350 million.
     Gov. Arne Carlson recommended the state make 
a $75 million cash payment in fiscal year 1996, and 
then sell bonds to pay off the rest of the judgment.
     Sviggum's bill would sell up to $400 million in 
bonds to pay off the judgment, which the state has 
four years to do. Any money  from the general fund 
would have to be approved separately by the 
Legislature.
     The bill calls for the bonds to be paid off with a 
share of state lottery proceeds, payments to rural 
treatment centers and non-dedicated fees paid to 
state agencies.
     Only the share of the state lottery proceeds that 
would otherwise go to the state's general fund 
would be used; the 40 percent share of lottery 
proceeds that is dedicated to the Environment and 
Natural Resources Trust Fund would not be 
affected.
     The bill now goes to the full Governmental 
Operations Committee.

Unfunded mandates

     A new state law will help determine how much 
money federal mandates are costing the state of 
Minnesota.
     It calls for every state agency that runs a 
program subject to federal mandates or supported 
by federal funds to report certain information to 
the Department of Finance.
     This will include anticipated federal and state 
funding for programs for the next biennium, the 
extent to which the state funding is mandated by 
federal law, and the extent to which state funding 
mandated by federal law is in compliance with 
state policy.
     Departments also will be asked to submit 
suggestions as to how state costs could be 
minimized by changing state laws or rules or 
seeking waivers of federal requirements.
     Finally, departments will need to report "the 
extent to which the agency could achieve the 
outcomes desired by the federal mandate in a less 
expensive or more efficient manner if the federal 
mandate were modified or repealed."
     The Department of Finance will, in conjunction 
with Minnesota Planning, report back to the 
Legislature by Jan. 15, 1996, with its findings.
     The proposal, sponsored by Rep. Tim Pawlenty 
(IR-Eagan) and Sen. Kevin Chandler (DFL-White  
Bear Lake), becomes effective Aug. 1, 1995.
     (HF139/SF204*/CH57)

Offensive place names

     The word "squaw" -- a term considered 
derogatory by some American Indians -- will soon 
vanish from some place names in Minnesota, under 
a new state law.
     New names in their place will be selected by the 
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) 
commissioner in cooperation with county boards, 
said House sponsor Rep. Karen Clark (DFL-Mpls).
     The proposal specifically will change the name 
of any "geographic feature" containing the word 
"squaw." It will affect lakes, ponds, islands, bays, 
and other natural features. 
     Angelene Losh and Dawn Litzau, two Cass Lake-
Bena High School students, started the movement 
against offensive place names by organizing to 
change the name of Squaw Point, which is on the 
Leech Lake Indian Reservation in northern 
Minnesota.
     Their personal testimony and supporting 
materials presented to legislators indicated that the 
word "squaw" is a French corruption of "otsiskwa," 
an Iroquois word denoting female sexual parts. The 
Ojibwe word for woman is "ikwe."
     The name-change campaign met with success 
Feb. 7 when the Cass County Board of 
Commissioners unanimously voted to change the 
name of Squaw Point to Oak Point.
     There is another Squaw Point in Minnesota, six 
Squaw Lakes, and a Squaw Pond, according to Glen 
Yakel, a supervisor in the DNR's Waters Division.
     Anticipating that the measure would become 
law, letters from the DNR already have been sent to 
the five county boards that will be involved in 
name changes. 
     The measure, which became effective April 19, 
was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Skip Finn 
(DFL-Cass Lake).
     (HF714/SF574*/CH53)

HEALTH

Omnibus MinnesotaCare

     Insurance companies no longer would be 
required to cover abortion services as part of a 
standard health care policy in Minnesota, under a 
bill approved April 18 by the House Health and 
Human Services Committee.
     The successful amendment offered by Rep. Ken 
Otremba, (DFL-Long Prairie) was attached to the 
omnibus MinnesotaCare bill (HF1077). 
     Currently, the state mandates that private 
insurance companies cover basic procedures that 
are "appropriate and necessary." Otremba's 
amendment eliminates "elective abortions" from the 
list.
      He said elective abortions -- those not 
performed to benefit the life of the female or in 
cases of rape or incest -- don't qualify as 
"appropriate and necessary."
     Under the amendment, if a judge determines 
any part of the language about elective abortion 
unconstitutional, everything in the bill about 
standard health coverage, including what it is and 
which health care procedures would be considered 
"appropriate and necessary" would be stricken from 
the bill, changing its scope.
     Otremba's move has abortion-rights advocates 
and abortion opponents lobbying hard on the bill.
     Those supporting the amendment maintain it 
would not prevent insurance companies from 
providing abortion coverage. Instead, it no longer 
would require insurers to offer abortion coverage 
as part of a basic package of care.
     Abortion-rights advocates, however, argue the 
amendment limits a woman's access to an abortion 
by requiring her to buy special coverage if her 
employer chooses not to purchase a plan that 
covers the procedure.
     They argue the amendment is too broad and 
wouldn't cover an abortion of a severely deformed 
fetus or other problem pregnancy that doesn't 
threaten the life of the mother.
     The omnibus MinnesotaCare bill (HF1077) also 
includes the following provisions:
--Minnesotans insured through MinnesotaCare, the 
state-subsidized health insurance program for the 
uninsured, would have to pay at least $4 per month 
to be enrolled in the program. Many people now 
pay for their MinnesotaCare but they pay based on 
their income. In 1994, it was estimated that 8.9 
percent of Minnesotans were uninsured.
--More people would be eligible for MinnesotaCare. 
Income eligibility requirements would change so 
single adults and couples with no children could 
earn up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level. 
That is up from 125 percent. Under the bill, couples 
earning up to about $14,760 , and single people 
earning up to $ 11,040, would qualify. Current law 
sets the income limit at $12,300 and $9,200, 
respectively. 
-- The bill no longer contains a provision that would 
penalize people with annual incomes above 275 
percent of the federal poverty level  ($37,592 for a 
family of four) who don't buy their own health 
insurance. Under the original bill, those people 
would have faced a reduced tax deduction.
-- Also, the bill no longer includes the regulated all-
payer option (RAPO), which would have allowed the 
state to standardize insurance prices and ensured 
health insurance companies operated under 
uniform rules.
     The bill (HF1077), which is sponsored by Rep. 
Roger Cooper (DFL-Bird Island), next heads to the 
House Ways and Means Committee. (See April 7, 
1995, Session Weekly, page 10)

Breast cancer treatment

     A bill to require insurance companies to pay for 
bone marrow transplants for Minnesota residents 
with breast cancer passed the House Financial 
Institutions and Insurance Committee April 19.
     Some breast cancer patients whose doctors tell 
them their best chance of survival is a high-dose 
chemotherapy treatment accompanied by a bone 
marrow transplant have battled insurance 
companies that refuse to pay for the procedure.
     A bill sponsored by Rep. Dee Long (DFL-Mpls) 
wouldn't give insurance companies the option. 
They'd have to pay. (See April 7, 1995, Session 
Weekly, page 10)
     HF1742 also would prohibit insurance 
companies from charging co-payments greater than 
those that apply to other portions of the policy.
     Lawmakers have heard debate from several 
doctors, all of whom agree the treatment should be 
covered by insurance. But some doctors say only 
patients in a clinical study should be covered.
     Patients, however, don't want to take the chance 
they'll be part of the group that doesn't receive the 
treatment. In a clinical study there is a 50 percent 
chance you'll be a part of the study that receives 
the treatment but an equal chance you'll be a part 
of a "control" group that doesn't receive the 
treatment. 
     Dr. Linda Burns, an assistant professor at the 
University of Minnesota, has called the treatment 
"investigational" and said she is working with 
breast cancer patients as part of a national clinical 
study. 
     "I ask you not to mislead the women of this 
state," Burns has said. "It is not known" whether the 
transplant treatment actually is effective.
     Dr. John Schwerkoske, who has treated roughly 
49 cancer patients (half of whom have breast 
cancer) with the transplant treatment, disagrees. 
Twenty-five percent are now in remission, he said, 
cautioning that it will be years before it is known if 
they are cured.
     "I think it is a better treatment," he has said. 
"We have to leave the decision in patient's hands."
     Supporters argue that regardless of the 
conflicting scientific opinions, the issue is a matter 
of choice for patients. If a doctor and a patient 
believe this is the best treatment, an insurance 
company shouldn't have the right to say no.
     Besides, proponents say, many doctors and 
studies show that it is an effective treatment, albeit 
a costly one.
     Mike Hatch, former head of the Department of 
Commerce, and now an attorney who has 
represented women whose insurance companies 
refused to pay for the procedure, has said costs can 
run about $65,000 compared to traditional 
chemotherapy, administered in low doses over 
several months, which costs about $45,000.
     He said he has represented many women in 
recent years and cited court decisions that have 
required insurance companies to pay for the 
procedure. Courts have found the procedure can be 
effective and is not experimental.
     The bill now moves to the Ways and Means 
Committee.

Vulnerable adults

     Adults vulnerable to abuse because they suffer 
from a physical or mental disability or are 
dependent on caregivers would receive further 
protection, under a bill approved April 13 by the 
House Health and Human Services Committee.
     The bill (HF598) would strengthen the law 
which allows for someone to be prosecuted for 
neglecting or abusing a vulnerable adult, said Rep. 
Lee Greenfield (DFL-Mpls), who sponsors the bill. It 
also would create felony penalties for any caregiver 
who intentionally physically or mentally abuses a 
vulnerable adult. (See April 13, 1995, Session 
Weekly, page 6; March 17, 1995, Session Weekly, 
page 12)
     Under current law, a person who intentionally 
fails to supply food, clothing, shelter, or other 
necessities to a vulnerable adult may be charged 
with the gross misdemeanor offense of criminal 
neglect, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 
one year in jail and a fine of up to $3,000.
     The bill would include a caregiver acting with 
"conscious disregard for danger to human life and 
reckless indifference to the risk of harm" under the 
criminal neglect statute and the penalty for such an 
action would be increased to a felony offense. The 
maximum penalty would be 10 years in prison and 
a $20,000 fine.
     The bill also calls for criminal background 
checks to be conducted on personal care attendants 
who are providing services through the state's 
Medical Assistance program.
     It would also streamline the current mandated 
reporting system, Greenfield said. People such as 
health care providers who suspect a vulnerable 
adult is being abused are legally mandated to 
report the suspected abuse to the state. Under the 
bill, mandated reports could be made orally; now 
they must be written. Also, the reports would be 
made to one designated county site. 
     The House Ways and Means Committee will hear 
the bill next.

Criminal doctors

     Any doctor convicted of a felony-level criminal 
sexual conduct offense will have his or her medical 
license automatically -- and permanently -- 
revoked, under a new state law.
     And Minnesota doctors convicted of felonies 
"reasonably related to the practice of patient care" 
will have their licenses automatically suspended.
     The law also will apply to physician's assistants, 
physical therapists, or other health professionals 
licensed by the state Board of Medical Practice.
     Under the measure, license suspension will be 
automatic following a felony conviction, and a 
doctor or other health professional will have to 
request a hearing to get back his or her license. For 
reinstatement, the individual will have to 
demonstrate that he or she has been rehabilitated 
by "clear and convincing evidence."
     Under current law, the board has the authority 
to suspend a doctor's license, but a hearing is held 
first. The board can suspend a license without a 
hearing in some circumstances, but the burden is 
then on the board to set up a hearing seeking a 
final determination.     
     The new law will shift the burden to the health 
professional, who must seek a hearing and prove 
the suspension should not be made permanent. 
     Another provision in the bill will allow the 
medical board to suspend or revoke the license of a 
doctor or health professional who fails to repay a 
state or federal student loan. 
     Most of the proposal becomes effective Aug. 1, 
1995. The provision relating to the revocation of a 
state license because of a criminal sexual 
misconduct conviction became effective March 28, 
1995. 
     The measure was sponsored by Rep. Steve 
Kelley (DFL-Hopkins) and Sen. Pat Piper (DFL-
Austin).
     (HF231*/SF95/CH18)

LAW

Seized goods for sale

     Unclaimed items recovered by police 
departments across the state could be sold in non-
profit stores, under a bill on its way to the 
governor.
     The initial version of the bill approved last 
month by the House aimed to let the Minneapolis 
Police Department sell some of the 18,000 items -- 
such as electronic equipment, tools and lawn 
mowers that it recovers each year -- through a 
non-profit store.
     The Senate altered HF859 to extend the policy to 
police departments throughout the state.
     The bill, given final passage by the House April 
13 on a 108-17 vote, would allow merchandise not 
claimed within 60 days to be sold at auction, as is 
the current practice, or by sale through a non-profit 
agency.
     In 1992, Minneapolis police began working with 
a community organization on a plan to teach young 
people bicycle repair, business management, and 
other skills by setting up a non-profit store, the 
Phantom Bike Shop, for the sale of "recycled" 
bicycles. The store receives damaged bikes the 
police cannot auction off, fixes them up, and sells 
them.
     The bill would allow the police departments to 
dispose of unclaimed items through similarly run 
second-hand goods stores. Police would not provide 
items such as clothing, fine jewelry, and firearms to 
the stores.
     Police departments would benefit by gaining a 
percentage of the sale price on the items sold at the 
store and clearing out storage space, said bill 
sponsor Rep. Karen Clark (DFL-Mpls).

Inmate name changes

     Harley Davidson, Punisher X, and Jay De Lawless 
are Minnesota prisoners, but they didn't go behind 
bars with those names. Once incarcerated, they 
obtained legal name changes at taxpayer expense.
     A new law to curtail the occurrence of such 
name changes will take effect Aug. 1, 1995.
     The law will limit prisoners to one name change 
while within the state prison system. And it can be 
done at public expense only when "failure to allow 
the name change would infringe on the 
constitutional rights of an inmate." Religious reasons 
would be an example of such a case.
     A total of 305 name changes were made 
between 1990 and February 1995, according to Jim 
Bruton, deputy commissioner of the Department of 
Corrections. Some inmates have changed their name 
as many as three times. Currently, there is no limit 
on the number of name changes a prisoner may 
request.
     Each change costs between $400 and $500, 
Bruton has said. The most concrete cost is in the 
form of a $142 filing fee that is waived for most 
prisoners because they can't afford it. The 
remainder of the cost is the price of bringing a 
judge, court reporter, and bailiff to the state prisons 
several times per year. Time spent by Department 
of Corrections staff renaming prison files also adds 
up, Bruton has said.
     The proposal was sponsored in the House by 
Rep. Dave Bishop (IR-Rochester) and in the Senate 
by Sen. Tracy Beckman (DFL-Bricelyn).
     (HF125*/SF197/CH16) 

TRANSPORTATION

Omnibus transportation bill

     An omnibus transportation appropriation bill 
outlining funding for the state's roads, bridges, and 
aviation projects won approval from the House 
Ways and Means Committee April 20.
     The spending bill closely mirrors the governor's 
recommendations for both total spending as well as 
the $2.2 billion appropriated to the Minnesota 
Department of Transportation (MnDot).
     In all, the bill (HF1793/SF1536*) would 
appropriate about $2.5 billion to various 
transportation projects and departments. The 
governor had recommended about the same 
amount in transportation spending.
     The bill calls for $20.2 million to go to the  
Driver and Vehicle Services Department within the 
Department of Public Safety over the next 
biennium. Also, $20.4 million would go to the 
Department of Public Safety for its pipeline safety 
and traffic safety departments.
     State road construction projects would receive 
$754 million, under the bill.
     The Metropolitan Council, which is responsible 
for coordinating the metropolitan area public 
transportation system, would receive $84.2 million 
over the next biennium. Of that money, $30.6 
million would go to Metro Mobility, which provides 
rides to approximately 24,000 people with 
disabilities around the metropolitan area.
     Also, $625,000 would go to the council to study 
operating buses between suburbs, and from 
downtown St. Paul and downtown Minneapolis to 
the suburbs. Few such routes exist now.
     The met council had requested $93.3 million for 
the next biennium in state funds to run its 
transportation programs. The governor had 
recommended $89 million to operate metropolitan 
area buses and the Metro Mobility program.
     The bill also sets out a schedule for the 
department of transportation to follow when 
constructing the Wakota Bridge between St. Paul 
and Newport.
     The present bridge is in such poor repair a new 
one is needed by the year 2000, said Rep. Carlos 
Mariani (DFL-St. Paul), who sponsored in the bill.
     The Legislature needs to ensure that MnDOT will 
include the project on its construction schedule. 
Though the state appropriates MnDOT funding, that 
department is free to schedule road construction 
and repair projects.
     The bill calls for the bridge construction to begin 
by August 1999.
     The omnibus transportation spending bill also 
includes a $250,000 appropriation to help build the 
world's first bus powered by an electric strip 
embedded in the road.
     That money would be matched by federal and 
private dollars and would help pay for vehicle 
testing.
     In 1994, the Legislature appropriated $200,000 
to the St. Cloud-based Saints Road Project to study 
how the electric bus developed by the company 
would move through snow and ice.
     The 1995 bill stipulates the Metropolitan Council 
Transit Operation would analyze findings of the 
continued testing.
     The bus' developers hope it is one day used as 
public transportation in Minnesota and 
internationally.
     The bill will next be heard on the House floor.

Safe school buses

     Minnesota school bus drivers convicted of a DWI 
while on duty would be banned from ever driving a 
school bus again, under a bill now pending before 
the full House.
     The provision has been included in Article 2 of 
the K-12 education omnibus bill (HF1000). 
     Current law calls for a five-year ban in such a 
case -- the same suspension that is in place for a 
school bus driver who is convicted of a DWI while 
in a personal car. 
     Additionally, the state would no longer require 
that school bus drivers learn first aid or take eight 
hours of annual in-service training.
     Last year, the Legislature passed a 
comprehensive school bus safety law, which 
allowed school districts to get a 1 percent boost in 
their transportation safety aid each year to make 
their buses safer. The law also called for more 
school bus driver training.
     HF1000 would leave it up to school districts -- 
not the state -- to determine how much first aid 
training drivers should receive. Current law says all 
drivers have to show they know first aid and 
cardiopulmonary resuscitation before they can 
obtain a school bus driver's license. 
     Some members have called the requirement an 
unfunded mandate for local school districts.
     Proponents have said school districts face a bus 
driver shortage because the frequently low-paying 
and part-time positions require specific training 
and a criminal background check. Potential bus 
drivers also must show they understand student 
behavior, know how to get students on and off the 
bus in an orderly fashion, and know what to do in 
emergencies.
     Other changes would:
-- clarify that school bus drivers are included in the 
state's Good Samaritan law, which makes them 
immune from criminal and civil liability when 
rendering emergency care or assistance while on 
duty;
-- create a mandatory minimum fine of $300 for 
failure to stop for a school bus with an extended 
stop arm. Current law calls for a driver's license 
suspension for a first-time offender. Under the bill, 
a license would only be suspended for a repeat 
offender;
-- reduce the current five-year bus license 
cancellation to one year for a driver receiving a 
fourth moving violation in three years.
     Article 2 of HF1000 was previously moving 
through the House as HF892, a bill assembled by 
the School Bus Safety Task Force and sponsored by 
Rep. David Tomassoni (DFL-Chisholm). 

Selling junked cars

     Junked vehicles which have been towed to 
private or public impound lots could be 
immediately sold, under a bill given final approval 
by the House April 13. The vote was 125-6.
     Junked vehicles -- vehicles with little value that 
often don't run -- frequently sit at impound lots. No 
one comes to claim them or to pay the towing and 
storage fees, which results in income lost for lot 
owners, said Rep. Jeff Bertram (DFL-Paynesville), 
who sponsors HF586. 
     To be defined as a "junk vehicle" under the bill, 
a vehicle must be three or more years old, 
extensively damaged, apparently inoperable, not 
registered, and having value only as scrap.
     Such vehicles could be immediately sold at 
public auctions or sold as scrap.
     The bill also would allow the towing of 
"unauthorized" vehicles -- those left unattended on 
public property more than 24 hours after being 
tagged for unauthorized parking. 
     Currently, local governments can tow only 
abandoned vehicles -- vehicles which have sat for 
long periods of time on public or private property. 
(Vehicles also can be towed immediately if parked 
in a location that creates a traffic hazard.)
     Such vehicles could be sold at a public auction 
45 days after notice is given to the vehicle's owner 
of the proposed sale.
     The bill would also allow impound lot owners to 
notify a vehicle owner of the proposed public sale 
of their car. Under present law, only units of local 
government can give such notice.
     The bill now moves to the Senate.

Hats and driver's licenses

     A new law will allow those suffering hair loss 
due to illness or head injury to wear a head 
covering in their driver's license photograph.
     House sponsor Rep. Jeff Bertram (DFL-
Paynesville) proposed the bill after learning of a 
constituent who was told she had to take off her 
turban before her driver's license photograph could 
be taken. She wore the turban to cover up hair loss 
due to chemotherapy treatment for cancer.
     "It was very traumatic to her," Bertram said.
     Public safety employees now use their discretion 
in letting people wear hats or a head covering for 
photographs. The bill also will apply to state-issued 
identification cards. 
     Additionally, the bill will allow Minnesotans 
with religious objections to leave their photographs 
off their state identification cards. Current law 
allows the practice for a state driver's license.
     The measure, which becomes effective Aug. 1, 
1995, was sponsored by Sen. Joe Bertram (DFL-
Paynesville) in the  Senate. 
     (HF52/SF33*/CH7) 

Betty Adkins Bridge

     A new state law will name a bridge near Elk 
River, Minn., after a former state senator who 
represented the area for 12 years. 
     The bridge over the Mississippi River near Elk 
River connecting Highway 101 in Wright County 
with Highway 169 in Sherburne County will be 
designated the "Betty Adkins Bridge." 
     The commissioner of transportation will furnish 
and erect plaques or signs to mark and memorialize 
the bridge.
     Betty Adkins, of St. Michael, Minn., was first 
elected to the Senate in 1982 and served through 
the 1994 session. At the time, she was chair of the 
Senate Metropolitan and Local Government 
Committee.
     The measure, which becomes effective Aug. 1, 
1995, was sponsored by Rep. Bruce Anderson (IR-
Buffalo Township) and Sen. Mark Ourada (IR-
Buffalo).
     (HF6/SF50*/CH19)

Bridge of Hope

     A bridge over the Mississippi River at St. Cloud 
will be named the "Bridge of Hope," under a new 
state law.
     The bill's sponsor, Rep. Jim Knoblach (IR-St. 
Cloud), said the Highway 15 bridge will be named 
in honor of Jacob Wetterling and other abducted 
and missing children.
     Jacob Wetterling of St. Joseph, Minn., was 
abducted near his home in 1989 and is still missing.
     The Minnesota Department of Transportation 
(MnDOT) will create a suitable design for signs and 
plaques marking the bridge. Members of the local 
community will reimburse MnDOT for costs 
incurred in "marking and memorializing" the 
bridge.
     Rep. Joe Bertram (DFL-Paynesville) sponsored 
the measure in the Senate.
     The new law becomes effective Aug. 1, 1995.
     ( HF175/SF194*/CH50)


Of Germans and prohibition . . .
Capitol 'rathskeller' victim of anti-German 
sentiment 

Beneath the flaking paint in the Capitol's basement 
cafeteria 
     lies bits and pieces of Minnesota's German 
heritage -- before 
     the storm clouds of WWI cast a suspicious 
shadow on many German-Americans in Minnesota.
     "The restaurant is rather unique," stated the 
1905 St. Paul Pioneer Press, as quoted by North 
Star Statehouse: An Armchair Guide to the 
Minnesota State Capitol. "Its decoration and style of 
architecture are fashioned after the rathskeller of 
Germany."
     Americanized German eagles were painted on 
the ceiling and German slogans such as "Esset und 
trinket, was ihr habt und denket, was ihr wollt ("Eat 
and drink what you have, and think what you 
choose") were painted over the arches in the 
cafeteria, wrote North Star Statehouse author 
Thomas O'Sullivan.
     But the war and the 1917 Minnesota 
Legislature's creation of the Minnesota Commission 
of Public Safety -- considered a low point in the 
state's history by some -- led to a crackdown on 
many things German.
     The commission was empowered to "maintain 
domestic law and order and to assure a decent 
contribution by the people of Minnesota to the war 
effort," according to Watchdog of Loyalty: The 
Minnesota Commission of Public Safety During 
World War I.
     "In a move unusual even in wartime, the 
lawmakers invested the commission with sweeping 
powers which it used energetically to harass non-
English-speaking immigrants, especially Germans, 
and members of the Nonpartisan League, a 
supposedly radical farmer-labor movement which 
had begun in North Dakota and spread to 
Minnesota," according to They Chose Minnesota: A 
Survey of The State's Ethnic Groups.
     "To carry out its overly zealous aim of achieving 
what it regarded as nothing less than 100 percent 
patriotism, the commission employed a network of 
spies, undue use of its investigatory powers, the 
encouragement of denunciations often made out of 
personal spite, and the deplorable compliance of 
Minnesotans, including German-born citizens, many 
of whom hastened to express their loyalty."
     Of the 1,739 complaints made to the commission 
in 1917 and 1918, 974, or 56 percent, were aimed 
at Germans, wrote June Drenning Holmquist, author 
of They Chose Minnesota. 
     History books even compare the commission's de 
facto leader, Minneapolis corporate attorney John F. 
McGee, to the Wisconsin senator of a generation 
later, Joseph McCarthy, who built a career rooting 
out supposed communists.
     Meanwhile, the prohibition movement was 
building in Minnesota in particular and across the 
country in general. It was a Minnesotan, 
Congressman Andrew J. Volstead, who authored the 
law that brought prohibition to the country in the 
1920s and early 1930s.
     That led to further concern about having a beer 
hall in the basement of the Capitol.
     "In this climate, slogans like . . . "eat and drink 
what you have, and think what you choose" were 
deemed inappropriate for the statehouse of a loyal 
and sober commonwealth," wrote O'Sullivan.
     It was the Minnesota Commission of Public 
Safety's Women's Auxiliary Committee that applied 
the pressure to purge the German atmosphere of 
the cafeteria.
     An Aug. 21, 1917, letter to then-Gov. J.A.A. 
Burnquist from the committee's Alice Ames Winter 
asked that "the German inscriptions on the walls of 
the restaurant in the basement of the capital" [sic] 
be removed, according to state archive records.
     Their existence, she contended, was "very 
unfortunate," particularly because the somewhat 
"bibulous character of some of the mottoes does not 
seem to accord with the spirit of the times."
     Bibulous, for the record, means "of or relating to 
drink or drinking."
     Eventually, Burnquist consented. O'Sullivan 
quoted a 1939 Capitol guidebook as describing the 
room "in tones of pastel yellow, deep blue and 
silver."
     Traces of the old decor were uncovered during a 
partial renovation of the Capitol in the late 1980s. 
But until that restoration is complete, Capitol 
cafeteria diners are permitted only a glimpse of the 
state's rich German-American past.

-- Grant Moos

In the Hopper . . . April 14 - 20, 1995
BILL INTRODUCTIONS

Thursday, April 13

HF1837--Solberg (DFL)
Ways & Means
Legislative, executive and state agency 
appropriations reduced.

HF1838--Ostrom (DFL)
Taxes
Federal adjusted gross income adopted as tax base, 
personal exemptions and dependent credits 
provided, and money appropriated.

HF1839--Wenzel (DFL)
Taxes
Local government aid formula modified for cities 
with a population of 2,500 or less.

HF1840--Wenzel (DFL)
Taxes
Local government aid reduction calculation method 
modified.

HF1841--Johnson, V. (IR)
Environment & Natural Resources Finance
Environmental learning center matching money 
provisions modified.

HF1842--Solberg( DFL)
Local Government & Metropolitan Affairs
Aitkin area resource recovery authority 
established.

HF1843--Pugh (DFL)
Judiciary
Uniform land security interest act adopted.


Tuesday, April 18

HF1844--Rest (DFL)
Rules & Legislative Administration
Education cost financing with property taxes 
prohibited, and constitutional
amendment proposed.

HF1845--Huntley (DFL)
Rules & Legislative Administration
Education cost financing with property taxes 
prohibited, and constitutional amendment 
proposed.

HF1846--Jefferson (DFL)
Rules & Legislative Administration
Education cost financing with property taxes 
prohibited, and constitutional amendment 
proposed.

HF1847--Johnson, R. (DFL)
Rules & Legislative Administration
Education cost financing with property taxes 
prohibited, and constitutional amendment 
proposed.

HF1848--Mariani (DFL)
International Trade & Economic Development
Congress memorialized to prohibit states from 
certain practices used to attract and retain 
businesses.

HF1849--Bishop (IR)
General Legislation, Veterans Affairs,
 & Elections
Attorney General candidates required to be learned 
in the law, and constitutional amendment proposed.

Wednesday, April 19

HF1850--Sarna (DFL)
Education
Special School District No. 1, Minneapolis, School 
District disolved andportions attached to other 
districts.

HF1851--Pugh (DFL)
General Legislative, Veterans Affairs, 
& Elections
School district special election contribution 
restrictions provided.

HF1852--Solberg (DFL)
Environment & Natural Resources
Game and fish short-term license period of validity 
established.

HF1853--Wenzel (DFL)
Taxes
Local government aid formula modified for cities 
with a population of 2,500 or less.

HF1854--Long (DFL)
Taxes
Omnibus state and local tax and budget reform bill, 
and money appropriated.


Thursday, April 20

HF1855--Hasskamp (DFL)
Rules & Legislative Administration
Education cost financing with property taxes 
prohibited, and constitutional amendment 
proposed.

HF1856--Kelso (DFL)
Ways & Means
Omnibus higher education appropria-
tions bill.

HF1857--Brown (DFL)
Ways & Means
Omnibus environment and natural resources 
appropriations bill.

HF1858--Carruthers (DFL)
Judiciary
Criminals barred from recovering damages for 
injuries sustained during criminal 
conduct.

HF1859--Winter (DFL)
Rules & Legislative Administration
Education cost financing with property taxes 
prohibited, and constitutional amendment 
proposed.

HF1860--Bettermann (IR)
Judiciary Finance
Parkers Prairie appropriated money for explosion 
damage.

MINNESOTA INDEX

Minnesota Fishing

Anglers taking to Minnesota lakes for the season 
opener, in millions     1
Times in the 47-year history of the governor's 
fishing opener that it has not 
     been held on a predetermined lake (On May 13, 
1995, it will be held on several 
     lakes in Kandiyohi County)     1
Years since the opener was last held in Kandiyohi 
County     20
Percent of Minnesotans who fish     34
Percent of people nationwide who fish     19
Boaters who died in watercraft accidents, 1994     
19
Victims who died during opening weekend     2
Minnesotans arrested for boating while intoxicated, 
1994     120
Fee for an annual resident fishing license     $13
     Amount that the store selling the license gets to 
keep     $1
     Fine for fishing without a license     $75
Annual DNR fisheries budget, in millions     $17
     Percent of that budget paid for by the U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service     43
Employees in the fisheries division of the DNR     
285
     Spread over how many Minnesota offices, 
(including area, regional, 
     headquarters, and hatchery offices)     56
     Percent of those staffers who are 'field level,' "in 
rubber boots hauling 
     up nets, meeting with anglers and working along 
shorelines" 
     according to a DNR publication     88
Game fish lakes overseen by the DNR     5,483
     Acreage of those lakes, in millions     3.8
Lakes with walleyes     1,753
Lakes with northern pike     4,000
Panfish caught and kept by anglers for every 
walleye kept     20:1
Number of walleye fingerlings it takes to make a 
pound     20
Miles of streams and rivers overseen by the DNR     
15,000
Designated trout streams     623
Lakes stocked by the DNR     900
Species of catfish in Minnesota     7
     Number of those that are bullheads     3
Weight of the state record flathead catfish taken 
from the St. Croix River 
     in 1970, in pounds     70

Source: Minnesota Fishing '95, Minnesota 
Department of Natural Resources.