By Rep. Paul Anderson
One of the major pieces of legislation passed during the last session takes effect on Friday of this week (Aug. 1). On that date, the state’s minimum wage will increase to $8 an hour for what the state considers “large employers,” those with annual gross sales over $500,000. The wage is scheduled to increase again to $8.50 next year and finally to $9.50 on Aug. 1, 2016. The rates for small employers, those with under a half million dollars in annual gross sales, are lower with the numbers being $6.50 this year and moving up to $7.75 in two years.
There is no “tip credit” associated with the bill, and restaurant owners, among others, are concerned they will have to cut staff or raise prices to cover the increased cost. The legislation does contain an “inflation factor,” giving the commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry the authority to increase the minimum wage by up to 2.5 percent annually, based on what’s known as the Implicit Price Deflator. This inflation factor is problematic for some and was one of the reasons this bill was stuck in conference committee for nearly a year before finally being passed.
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The Legislative Energy Commission was scheduled to meet this week to hear updates on propane supply and delivery in Minnesota. The commission, established back in 2008, is directed to evaluate the energy policies of the state. They will also hear testimony concerning the extension of natural gas pipelines in Minnesota, some of which is already happening in Stearns County.
I’m concerned we could be facing a situation similar to last year, when propane prices rose to high levels and the supply grew short. Our state has lost access to a pipeline that formerly supplied 40 percent of our state’s propane needs. We were told at a transportation meeting recently that it will take 4,000 railcars to make up for the loss of that pipeline. Several companies are increasing their storage capacity, and some farmers are also putting in larger tanks for corn drying. However, if the crop comes in wet again this fall and if our winter weather is colder than normal, as it was last year, we could be facing problems again. Contracting is one way to lock in the price of propane, and prices are usually lower in the summer months than during the main heating season.
The state released numbers last week showing just how many crude oil trains pass through our state. Fifty trains per week, each carrying approximately one million gallons of North Dakota crude, go through Minnesota every week. The highest number is on Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks between Moorhead and the Twin Cities. The Canadian Pacific railroad doesn’t handle the volume of crude that the BN does, and there are fewer oil trains on its tracks.
In a related matter, MnDOT is studying the safety risks at some 500 road crossings in the state that pass over railroad tracks carrying oil trains. They will identify the highest risk intersections and then make improvements at those locations.
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