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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Bob Vogel (R)

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Legislative update

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Dear Neighbor,

Various omnibus bills are making their final committee stops in the House and we had an interesting meeting related to a jobs and energy package this week. Part of the discussion centered on efforts to limit the amount of land that is being clear-cut to create solar gardens. Our state already is losing so-called green acres and there is concern over the impacts of having many more acres cleared out in the name of solar expansion. There is a certain irony to taking out great swaths of trees and other vegetation in the name of clean air.

We also had a hearing recently to address Real ID. It was our first chance to receive information from state officials on this subject since we recently lifted the state law prohibiting research and other action. The information we received indicates that software issues would make it millions of dollars more costly to implement the system this year as opposed to waiting until the fall of 2017. Waiting until then to bring Real ID online in Minnesota still would be ahead of January 2018, the earliest the federal standards would go into effect.

A number of other questions with Real ID remain unanswered, including some relative to our constitutional rights. Look for more as this topic develops.

On the floor this week, legislation passed with the goal of providing more clarity to landowners, operators, and government officials regarding Minnesota's new buffer law.

Some of the revisions include:

  • Eliminating problematic "benefitted area" language, and identifying the most recent public water inventory and public ditches that are subjected to buffers.
  • Codifying the exemption for private ditches.
  • Shifting buffer jurisdiction from state to local agencies. Under the plan, counties and local watershed districts would have jurisdiction. If they decline, the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) would gain authority.
  • Reinforcing that the DNR's only role will be to conduct mapping.
  • Eliminating any change from current statute regarding the measurement of ditch buffers.
  • Ensuring fair compensation for farmers by compensating for buffers based on property values prior to buffer installation

Landowners and operators are urged to double check the DNR's maps when they become available in their county to ensure that any mistakes are quickly corrected.

Work on transportation plans continue in St. Paul. We all seem to agree our roads and bridges need work, so I am urging fellow legislators to work together this session so we can enact a stable source of funding for the long term.

House Republicans are offering a plan which dedicates taxes Minnesotans are already paying on car parts, auto repairs, vehicle leases, and rental cars to a special Transportation Stability Fund. By adding in a portion of the $900 million budget surplus and bonding, the plan would fix 15,500 lane miles of roads and 330 bridges statewide.

The Senate DFL majority's plan focuses less on roads and bridges, devoting less than 4 percent of the $900 million surplus to transportation. In addition, Gov. Mark Dayton and DFL lawmakers continue advocating for a historic gas tax increase and expansion of light rail in the Twin Cities area.

Dollars used to cover the high cost of expanding light-rail trains in the Twin Cities would be better used on the state's roads and bridges. Reports show the state could repave six lanes of every interstate highway in the state, fund four years of Metro Transit bus operations, raise funding for the new small cities road and bridges program and pay for roadway projects throughout our state – including one in our district that would cost $3.8 million all for the cost of one light-rail line.

Sincerely,

Bob