Week of May 11, 2008

K-12 Education Funding Bill: On Tuesday, the House and Senate passed HF6 that would provide an additional $51 per pupil to our school districts in the next year. This would not be added to the traditional funding formula that distributes dollars according a complex set of variables--it's $51 per pupil no matter what district you're in. Rep. Garafalo asked me a question on the floor about how this bill would affect Centennial School District, implying that the bill would hurt the district. I kind of told him to stick it in a nice way, indicating that my constituents heard for 16 years why their previous representative offered excuses for why he couldn't support education funding bills. Centennial advocates also e-mailed me indicating their support for the bill. Apparently my words hit home with some folks on our side of the aisle, and about 20-30 people thanked me for my comments.

We grill the DNR over use of state resource on a conference: Readers may be familiar with the recent story about how the DNR used state resources to raise money for a game warden conference. The MN Conservation Officers Association was the host organization for the North American Wildlife Enforcement Officers Association in July 2007, and 304 employees from the DNR were required to attend the conference. On Friday (May 9), I was on the House Environmental Finance Committee that held an informational hearing on just what the DNR was doing on this conference. The Star Tribune had a follow-up article on Saturday in which I was quoted. Having hosted a national recycling conference in 2005, I know what is involved to organize these things, so I was outraged to see that the DNR was soliciting sponsorship on state time. This is illegal. But the DNR is going to hire an outside firm to investigate the situation, even though the Legislative Auditor is doing one anyway. The head of the enforcement division and his wife, who is also a DNR employee, have been put on paid administrative leave.

Legislature gets rid of major subsidies in Mall of America proposal: Due to major pressure from legislators in the House (including me), House leadership put together a new proposal to help finance a parking ramp for the Mall of America II project. Instead of filching money from taxpayers like us in the northern suburbs by tapping the "fiscal disparities" pool, the House and Senate have proposed having mall patrons pay an additional food and beverage tax (since a parking fee was not acceptable to the mall) and a tax on lodging for hotels around the mall complex. The proposal also includes a requirement that employees at the new mall be paid a "living wage." This kind of puts the onus on the City of Bloomington, which has been seeking state funding for the mall and now would be the responsible party for raising these taxes. I'm not a big fan of subsidies for private businesses, but this is about the best result because it gets better wages for workers and avoids having the rest of us subsidize this business.

Bonding bill supports Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Campground/Visitor Center: Readers will know that the Governor used a line-item veto for completing the Rice Creek North Regional Trail in Lino Lakes in the bonding bill. However, one item that stayed in the bonding bill was funding for the Metropolitan Council for parks. This funding will result in the construction of a new visitor center at Rice Creek Chain of Lakes that will combine with the campground building, which some will know is kind of shack. A short trail will connect the campground with Centerville Beach on Centerville Lake.

Hill Family Papers go to MHS: The most recent newsletter of the MN Historical Society reports that the MHS is taking possession of Hill family papers. Readers may know that North Oaks was a community that was originally owned as the experimental farm of James J. Hill, the founder of the Great Northern Railroad. (A picture from 1900 from the James J. Hill Reference Library web site--#569--to the right shows the barn on the farm that is still standing.) Some of his descendants live there today. In March 2008, "the Society accepted transfer of the James J. Hill, Louis W. Hill and Maud Van Cortlandt Taylor Hill Papers, 1200 cubic feet of records, from the James J. Hill Reference Library in St. Paul." Hill family foundations are supporting the digitization of the records among other tasks.

Article on manufactured home bill: The Quad Press printed a good article about HF3477, a bill to assist owners of manufactured homes (aka mobile homes). They interviewed the folks at Legal Aid who worked with me on the bill.

Semi-Sesquicentennial: Minnesota turned 150 on Sunday, May 11th, and therefore we are celebrating the state's sesquicentennial. My dad's birthday was the same day and he turned 75. Since he is half as old as the state, that means that we celebrated his semi-sesquicentennial!

Long week ahead: Long days and nights are expected on the House floor on Monday, Tuesday, and probably several other days this week.

Schedule: Say, I forgot to mention last week that on Friday night (the 9th) my kids and I went to visit the original copy of the Declaration of Independence at the MN History Center. I wanted my nine-year old at least to be able to remember that she saw it. The turnout, unfortunately, for this "showing" to public officials and those policy wonk-types was pretty low. I think I was the only legislator there. (There was a reception earlier in the week for legislators and some others.)

On Sunday, my wife and two children walked in the 5K Race for the Cure at the Mall of America. My seven-year old walked the whole way without even whining! There were 50,000 people who participated. They need to work on their event recycling though. :) I wished that those 50,000 people could have written a letter to the Governor asking him to sign the bill that will ban the use in Minnesota of toxic flame retardants like decabromodiphenylether (DBPE), which is present in breast milk worldwide.

On Monday the 12th, we started a lengthy floor session on a variety of issues. We got through a bunch of conference committee reports, including bills on regulating dangerous dogs, an omnibus pensions bill, a bill for a constitutional amendment asking voters to allow the creation of a citizen council that would determine legislative pay and per diem, the gestational carrier bill (aka surrogate mother legal issues), adoption records, and some others. The final bill was our major health reform bill--HF3391.

On Tuesday we had a lengthy floor session with lots of stops and starts. We came back Thursday for the same kind of stop-and-start procedure.

Visitors: lobbyist for Waste Management and National Solid Waste Management Association about conference committee report for HF3506; lobbyist for MN Retailers Association about HF3789 and compact fluorescent bulbs.

Constituent contacts:

Week of May 4, 2008

Governor signs my manufactured housing bill: The Governor signed HF3477 on Monday, May 5th. This is the bill I authored to provide predatory lending protections for owners of manufactured housing, aka mobile homes.

Governor signs my algae-to-biofuels bill: The Governor signed SF2996/HF2903 last Thursday. This is the bill that allows wastewater effluent to count as a renewable energy source. This means that wastewater treatment plants can be phosphorus sources to grow algae into sources for biodiesel. The U of M is doing the research on algae.

Compost legislation amended: Parts of my solid waste bill (HF3540) ended up in other bills, but one provision that needed to get approved in a timely fashion needed to get amended to another bill in order to stay alive. Thursday afternoon, I introduced an amendment to make it easier for compost facilities to get a permit from the MPCA without the same burdensome process one needs for a landfill or transfer station. I spent a good three hours running around organizing it on Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon. Eventually the amendment was put on SF3056, which went back to the Senate.

Primary seat belt provision sinks a transportation bill: Something unusual happened Thursday night. The omnibus transportation bill conference committee agreed on a bill that included a primary seat belt provision. This means that a police officer would be able to pull you over for not wearing a seat belt. Right now, you can only be fined for not wearing a seat belt if you are pulled over for another reason. This provision was not heard or voted on in the House but the Senate did approve it and Senators on the conference committee insisted on its inclusion in the final bill. The debate took quite a while, but the House voted to send the conference committee report back to the conference committee by a vote of 72 to 62. (I voted to keep it in the House so we could approve it--meaning I supported the primary seat belt provision.)

Opposition arose for several reasons. First, many House members did not like the Senate pushing so hard on a controversial measure when the House never had a hearing on the idea. Second, some members felt that this provision would lead to more racial profiling by police officers. Third, some members with a libertarian bent felt that this provision would take away individual freedom. So the opponents were most Republicans, inner city Democrats, and Democrats from northern Minnesota. It was an interesting coalition.

Updated report on special interest money in MN politics: Professor David Schulz of Hamline University issued a new report this month (which I just got) called "Price of Admission 2008: Political Money Trends in Minnesota." You can see lots of details of just how much PAC, lobbyist, and big donor contributions flowed to parties and candidates in the last two years. You can also see my campaign finance report for 2006 and 2007 in the links on the right side of the screen, where you can confirm that I didn't accept PAC or lobbyist contributions in the last campaign.

Schedule: On Monday we had a floor session from about 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on a wide range of bills. On Tuesday, we did not have a floor session but I attended two caucus meetings and filmed a cable TV interview. On Wednesday, our floor session went from about 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. On Thursday, we were on the floor from 9:00 a.m. to about 1:00 a.m. Friday.

Visitors: Staff from Eureka Recycling about composting amendment; lobbyist for Municipal Legislative Commission on property tax relief proposals; lobbyist for Wells Fargo on upcoming mortgage foreclosure relief legislation; labor representative about minimum wage bill

Constituent contacts: Shoreview resident about primary election process; North Oaks resident against requiring a photo ID to vote; Shoreview couple against HF1724 creating a licensing system for "naturopathic physicians"; Shoreview resident against a greater government role in health care; two Shoreview residents supporting the Central Corridor and the proposed Lake Vermillion State Park; Shoreview resident against taxes and spending generally; Lino Lakes resident supporting a primary seat belt law; Shoreview? resident supporting passage of the omnibus transportation policy bill-HF3800 with a primary seat belt provision; Circle Pines resident in favor of newborn DNA screening; Shoreview resident concerned about utility shut-offs for consumers; district resident supporting the continuation of the political contribution refund program that Republicans sought to eliminate during debate of the House tax bill; Circle Pines resident, Lexington resident about teacher pension issue; Lexington resident and Shoreview resident against House property tax relief bill; Circle Pines resident supporting HF3448 on gestational carrier arrangements (aka surrogate mother contracts); two Lino Lakes residents supporting proposed Lake Vermillion State Park; Lino Lakes resident frustrated with delaying tactics of House Republicans; district resident asking about general budget issues; Shoreview resident against clean car bill; Lino Lakes resident and Shoreview resident supporting my vote in favor of sex education; Circle Pines resident supporting additional funding for K-12 education and Rule of 90 teacher pension proposal, and against merger of two teacher pension funds; Shoreview resident supporting education funding and against subsidy for Mall of America; Circle Pines resident upset with DNR policies in general; Circle Pines resident supporting primary seat belt law & booster seat law

Week of April 27, 2008

Property Tax Refund Calculator: The House Tax Committee has unveiled a property tax bill that will allow for greater property tax refunds for many Minnesotans. It is revenue-neutral, which means that it will not require a tax increase. You can figure out your own property tax refund on-line at the House web site. Click on "Calculate property tax relief proposed in HF3149, omnibus tax bill."

Mall of America: The media has been reporting on a bill that would subsidize the cost of a parking ramp at the Mall of America II project as part of building the new mall. Part of the proposed subsidy would be funded from a pool of money called the "fiscal disparities" program which is 40% of the commercial and industrial property taxes collected in the metro area. My constituents in Anoka County have lower property taxes because of this program, so this mall bill is problematic or me and I find it unacceptable in its current form. I am also not supportive of subsidizing a private business in this way.

Bills pass: The conference committee report on HF3477 passed on the House floor on Monday afternoon. A discussion of this bill dealing with predatory lending protections for manufactured housing owners is in the previous blog entry. It passed 126-3.

One of my other bills, SF2996/HF2903, also passed on the floor on Monday. It would count wastewater effluent as a source of renewable energy in order to promote the use of research of algae for biofuels. Wastewater treatment effluent has a lot of phosphorus in it and that can be used to increase growth in algae that can be used to make biodiesel. Renewable energy status allows producers of this energy to qualify for grants and the like. This bill passed 130-0. Senator Rummel has the Senate version and they are now identical.

Blog article: Several daily newspapers in Greater MN published by Forum Communications carried an article about political blogs and blogs of elected officials this week, and I had a bit quote in it. You can read it on-line.

Burn barrel bill: My bill (HF2802) that would curb open burning of household garbage--the largest source of dioxin pollution in the United States--made some waves in Greater Minnesota this week. The weekly Agri News carried two articles on the bill and about ten farmers have called to share their views. (See "Proposed Ban on Barrel-Burning is Controversial," "Shoreview DFLer Wants Comments on Proposed Burning Ban".)

Health care attitudes: One of the things I really wanted to do in this job is get a better idea from constituents about what kind of change in our health care system that they want, with the end result being health coverage for all, lower costs per capita, and improved quality. It has been frustrating because health care policy is so complicated. MPR did a story on how consumers want change but people are conflicted about what that change should be.

Schedule: On Monday we had a lengthy floor session from about 1:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. The major bill was the E-12 education policy bill. We spent a few hours on an amendment on sex education. I've been on record supporting comprehensive sex education as long as there is an opt-out provision should parents and students want an alternative curriculum, and I supported the amendment. Before session I attended a rally by Minnesota film industry workers who were supporting the reinstatement of a rebate for their industry to help attract feature films to MN. A constituent from Blaine asked me to attend and I spoke to a few people at the rally.

On Tuesday, after taking my son to the doctor, I attended a caucus meeting at the Capitol. On Wednesday, we had a floor session from 10:30 a.m. to about 5:45 p.m. covering a lot of smaller bills, including some miscellaneous energy bills. On Thursday, we had a floor session and a caucus meeting. Major bills include the minimum wage bill (I voted in support) and a resolution to Congress supporting the Employee Free Choice Act (I voted in support). We also discussed a bill that would ban the use of decabromodiphenylether (DBPE), a flame retardant that is a persistent bio-accumulative toxin.

Visitors: three people from MN Catholic Conference asking for support of an increase in the minimum wage; grassroots organizers from AFL-CIO presenting letters of support from constituents in support of an increase in the minimum wage; Lino Lakes constituent, labor organizer, and lobbyist together to promote subsidy for Mall of America parking ramp

Constituent contacts: nine constituents sending form letters supporting the Taxpayers' League Tax Cut Petition; Shoreview constituent against "left-wing" agenda of advocates for combatting climate change; Lino Lakes resident against a bill in Congress on immigration; district resident reporting on graduated drivers license issue for Mounds View High School student newspaper; Lino Lakes resident supporting state subsidy for parking ramp at Mall of America II project; Shoreview resident with question about deductibility of federal stimulus checks from state taxes (they are exempt from taxation); Lino Lakes resident against No Child Left Behind; Lino Lakes resident supporting Judge Roy Moore of Alabama; Circle Pines resident against biofuel subsidies and subsidy for Mall of America II project; Shoreview resident supporting private school vouchers; Lino Lakes resident supporting HF4178 for comprehensive school funding; Shoreview resident and Lino Lakes resident against reduced payments to safety net hospitals; Shoreview resident supporting funding for Minnesota Principals' Academy; two Shoreview residents, Blaine resident, and North Oaks resident against subsidy for Mall of America II project; Lino Lakes resident supporting algae-to-biofuels research; Shoreview resident supporting funding for a Minneapolis veterans' home and a Lake Vermillion State Park; Shoreview resident against Central Corridor; Shoreview resident against property tax bill; Shoreview resident against Mall of America II project and supporting enforcing agreements that the state has with Northwest Airlines; Shoreview resident supporting of Staffing for Patient Safety bill for nurses; Shoreview resident supporting Employee Free Choice resolution; Shoreview resident supporting MN Taxpayers League platform; Shoreview resident supporting Rule of 90 pension proposal for teachers; North Oaks resident asking about property tax bill and its affect on seasonal recreation property; Shoreview resident supporting a photo ID to vote; three Lino Lakes residents, Circle Pines resident supporting a citizens council for proposed outdoor funding sales tax revenue allocation; Shoreview resident against current route of the Central Corridor; Shoreview business owner supporting Early Stage Capital Access bill (HF3538); Shoreview resident supporting minimum wage; Circle Pines resident supporting approval of medical marijuana; North Oaks resident, two Circle Pines residents, Lino Lakes resident, two Shoreview residents supporting comprehensive sex education; two Lino Lakes residents and Circle Pines resident against comprehensive sex education; five Lino Lakes residents and Shoreview resident on a teacher pension issue

Week of April 20, 2008

Lobbyist Spending Data Published: You can see how much lobbyists spent in 2007 at the State Capitol on the Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure Board website. Associations that hire lobbyists have to report how much they spent to the nearest increment of $20,000. You can also link to my 2006 and 2007 campaign finance reports (on the link on the right of the screen) to confirm what lobbyists and PACs contributed to my campaign--which was ZERO.

Property Tax Unveiled (with my bill in it): The Property Tax Division of the House Tax Committee unveiled its bill on Monday night. I haven't talked about some legislation in it that I authored yet because I didn't know if it would get put in the bigger bill. My bill (HF4188) is designed to increase the maximum property tax refund (PTR) you can get from the state, and it would take the worst "bite" out of property taxes for those on the bottom of the income scale like retirees, the disabled, and those on fixed incomes. It would also help most people with a refund on their property taxes. My suburban co-authors signed on to the bill with me since the Senate was only considering increasing local government aid (LGA) to cities as its property tax cut proposal this year. Since a lot of suburban cities don't receive LGA, I was looking for a way to help with property taxes in our district. The bigger bill (HF1222) includes some LGA and the property tax refund program. It is funded mostly by taking the market value homestead credit (MVC) and putting it into the PTR program. More later!

Kerry Lake Constituents Speak Out Against New DNR Rules: This month I've heard from quite a few Shoreview residents about Kerry Lake. This is actually a small stormwater runoff pond in a residential development that has evolved into a recreational lake of sorts. There are new DNR rules going into effect that would restrict what lakeshore homeowners would be able to do to the shoreline and the water directly adjacent to it. You can find the rule proposals at the DNR web site. The homeowners would like to continue treating the water for aquatic plants but the DNR rules would likely preclude this options.

On Tuesday morning the Environment & Natural Resources Committee in the House had an informational hearing on a bill that would legislatively change the new rules. I'm on the committee and did pose a question about how the proposed bill or the DNR rules would affect man-made bodies of water like Kerry Lake. (No one had an answer at the time.) Although I had to leave early to chair a conference committee, I did speak to the DNR's deputy commissioner later and he will see how the proposed DNR rules would affect Kerry Lake specifically.

The committee meeting was taped and is available on-line. At the moment it is at top of the page, but if you view this later look for April 22, House Environment & Natural Resources Committee, Informational Hearing on HF1457. An Arden Hills resident testified about the rules and how it would affect Lake Johanna. The meeting lasted 1 hour and 42 minutes.

Governor Outlines Differences on Budget Fix: A lot of tension seems to have lifted at the Capitol after leadership from both parties from the House and Senate met with the Governor last week. Everyone wants to find an acceptable fix to the $900+ million budget deficit by May 19th. Our leadership asked for, and received, a written list of concerns that the Governor has with both the House and Senate versions of our budget balancing bills. (The House version is HF1812.) These bills are now in conference committee. This is a good thing. Last year we proceeded in sending bills to the Governor that some said he would veto because the Governor was not specific about what he objected to in the bills. This time the Governor has given us a clear idea of issues he has with the bills, and they fill eight pages. It looks like he has a bigger problem with the Senate than the House at this point. I agree with a few of his points, including the forgiveness of $35 million in debt for RiverCentre that St. Paul owes the state. He also did not take issue with any of the legislation I have authored that is now in HF1812 on a conservation rate structure for public water suppliers and three solid waste and recycling reports.

Governor Signs Credit Freeze Report Bill: On Monday I received notification that the Governor signed my bill (HF1665). For more information on this bill see last week's entry.

Conference Committee on HF3477: My bill on predatory lending protections for owners of manufactured housing (aka mobile homes) went to conference committee on Tuesday. Senator Marty is the Senate author and there are three conferees from each body that met to work out the differences between the two bills. Since it is a House file, I wielded the gavel for the meeting. We got everything worked out just fine in about 30 minutes and we took testimony from All Parks Alliance for Change and the Manufactured Home Park Owners Association. Not that it is the most fascinating viewing, but you can watch it on-line at the Senate media's web page. Look for April 22nd, Conference Committee on HF3477, and the file will use Real Player.

Minnesota's incarceration rate more like Sweden than Texas: Right across the street from my district is the Lino Lakes Correctional Facility. I've had the chance to visit the facility last year, and quite a few employees live in my district. That's why I found interesting a recent New York Times article that shows how low our incarceration rate is. The United States incarcerates 751 people for every 100,000 people in the country; Minnesota is at about 300 while Texas is at about 1,000 and Sweden is at 80.

So it was a little bit more discouraging to see that we also have one of the highest levels of drunken driving in the U.S. We also have the highest number of teen driver crashes in the U.S.

"Burn Barrel" bill gets a hearing. One of my bills this year is HF2802 that would effectively ban the open burning of household garbage. This practice is the single biggest source of dioxin pollution in the United States. The MPCA has been working hard to educate counties, law enforcement, and rural residents about the public health hazards of burning household garbage outdoors. It was identified as a major priority by a group of stakeholders in the MPCA's 2007 Solid Waste Policy Report. I knew that the Agriculture, Rural Economies & Veterans Affairs Committee would not likely pass the bill, but the chair did commit to have an informational hearing on Wednesday of this week. The hearing was of great help, since this committee has members that represent rural communities around the state that would have to comply with any law on burning. Having an informational hearing is a great way to see where resistance and support might come from on a bill. What I heard was support for banning the burning of household garbage but resistance to banning the burning of true "farm waste" such as feed bags and twine because of concern over the cost of garbage collection in many rural areas. Later I did an interview with Agri News on the issue.

Schedule: On Monday morning, I met with Senator Marty and staff about the conference committee on HF3477. Afterwards I met with Senator Rummel on district issues. Then there was a caucus meeting and a floor session. On Tuesday morning, I attended part of an informational hearing on HF1457 mentioned above. Afterwards I convened the conference committee on HF3477, also mentioned above. In the afternoon I filmed a cable TV interview. On Wednesday morning, I presented my bill on garbage burning, mentioned above. From about 9:00 a.m. to about 5:00 p.m. we had a floor session with a focus on energy legislation including the cap-and-trade bill. Afterwards I was in a caucus meeting. On Thursday we had an all-day floor session with a focus on the agriculture and veterans' affairs policy bill and the 2008 transportation policy bill.

Visitors: two North Oaks residents visiting the Capitol; two Shoreview residents visiting the Capitol; lobbyist and staff from Best Buy about a recycling issue; lobbyist and staff from Eureka Recycling about a composting amendment; North Metro 15 camera crew interviewing me on legislative issues; Circle Pines resident for Parkinson's Disease day on the hill

Constituent contacts: Lino Lakes resident, Lexington resident, and three Shoreview resident s supporting clear car emissions bill; Shoreview resident supporting Green Solutions Act; Lino Lakes resident favoring lower business taxes; Shoreview resident supporting health care reform (but not single-payer) and against tax increases to balance the budget; Blaine resident promoting rebate for filmmakers to come to Minnesota; Shoreview resident supporting minimum wage increase; Lino Lakes pharmacist against continued cuts to pharmacy reimbursement rates; Shoreview resident against subsidies for biofuels; Shoreview resident supporting legalization of medical marijuana; Lino Lakes resident against comprehensive sex education; North Oaks resident against subsidy for Mall of America; Lino Lakes resident and Shoreview resident against the "left-wing" global warming agenda; Shoreview resident, Lexington resident, Lino Lakes resident supporting bill against animal fighting gear; Shoreview? resident against storage of newborn DNA samples; Lino Lakes resident against relaxing graduation testing standards for K-12 education; Shoreview resident supporting bonding for Central Corridor and Asian-Pacific Cultural Center; Shoreview resident supporting mercury-free option for vaccines; North Oaks resident and Lino Lakes resident against illegal immigration; Shoreview resident against clean cars bill

Week of April 13, 2008

This week included three lengthy floor sessions where we took up "calendar bills." These bills have made it through committees and now reside on the House floor in what is called the General Register. House staff pick bills off of the General Register for debate and a vote by placing those bills on the Calendar for the Day. Most bills are noncontroversial ("vehicle window glazing restriction exemptions" and "authorizing local government interstate assistance") and pass in a few minutes. Others have some controversy and attract amendments designed to change the bill. We track bills and amendments on our laptops. (A few dozen of us have a card on our desk to ask the pages not to give us the paper amendments at our desks.)

Here are a few comments about some notable bills.

Northwest Airlines merger: The Governor and the House and Senate leadership are meeting to see what action the state might take to address the merger of Northwest and Delta Airlines. It's pretty complicated and there are old agreements with NWA in place that have financial implications for the state. However, some House Republicans chose to have a press conference on Wednesday saying that they have a plan to attract Delta to move its headquarters to Minnesota. Turns out it was an amendment placed on a bill on staggering the terms for members of the Metropolitan Council. The Speaker ruled that the amendment was out of order because it was not "germane" or relevant to the bill. (I'm told the Governor didn't know of this amendment either.) The amendment was actually a proposal to eliminate the entire corporate franchise tax for all businesses in the state. There was no fiscal note to show how badly this would affect the state budget, so my view is that my House Republican colleagues were just trying to make some hay knowing that the amendment would be ruled out of order.

My credit freeze report payment bill passed: HF1665/SF1578 passed this week after I presented the bill on the House floor on Monday. This bill allows consumers to pay by means other then credit card for one's $5 credit freeze report when your account has been compromised. A constituent brought this to me because when he tried to pay for his report, one credit bureau said he could only pay by credit card. Seems kind of dumb if your credit card has been stolen. The bill passed 131-0 and the Senate accepted the House version 61-0, and it was presented to the Governor on April 17th.

Newborn DNA testing: Rep. Thissen had a bill that would provide more notification to parents about the state's newborn DNA testing program. His son had a genetic disorder that was discovered by this testing program, and the program probably saved his son's life. This bill led to a lengthy discussion about data privacy, and I was in agreement for the most part with those representatives who wanted parents to give informed consent for this testing. In the hospital, staff take a blood sample which then goes into a database that is owned by the state, and researchers can perform research on the DNA. Most parents (including me!) did not know that for the last ten years no one really needed to notify parents of this procedure. Thissen's bill would require notification that tells you that you have the option to have the blood sample destroyed, but to find the form you need to do this is pretty hard. So I voted for amendments that required a Tennessen warning for this procedure. A Tennessen warning is when you actually get a form that you have to sign to show that you consent to the testing. There was an another amendment that would require that all blood samples collected before the notification became law be destroyed. But since this conflicted with federal law that requires holding the data for at least 24 months I didn't vote for this amendment. Ultimately just about everyone voted for the final bill since it was better than existing law.

Nuclear power revisited: There was a joint hearing this week on new developments and thinking about nuclear power. I missed it because of a conflict, but you can link to a story about it at the House web site.

Schedule: On Monday, I attended a caucus meeting and a floor session. (See comments above about notable bills this week.) On Tuesday, I presented a bill on Anoka County Library levy limits to the House Tax Committee, attended a caucus meeting, and spoke to the Roseville League of Women Voters meeting about drinking water and recycling. On Wednesday, I attended a lengthy floor session, a meeting of legislators from Anoka County about the Mall of America expansion proposal, and a caucus meeting. On Thursday, I was on the floor for the better part of the day. I handled a lot of constituent mail and e-mail on Friday.

Visitors: Lino Lakes resident and lobbyist about K-12 education funding; board member and staff of recycling nonprofit organization about composting legislation; Anoka County about Circle Pines library bill; lobbyist for Municipal Legislative Commission on my property tax cut bill (HF4188); North Oaks resident about health care reform; district resident in support of Out Front Minnesota's GLBT legislative agenda

Constituent contacts: two Shoreview residents against California Clean Car standards; 18 district residents supporting HF3935 for a citizens' council for allocating funding for outdoor purposes; Shoreview resident against storage of genetic testing data for newborns; Shoreview resident supporting bill against puppy mills; four Shoreview residents supporting HF893 negating new DNR rules about lakeshore management; Shoreview resident supporting health care reform bill; North Oaks resident concerned about payment reform measure in HF3391; Lino Lakes resident supporting resolution favoring an end to the embargo on Cuba; Shoreview resident against concessions to Northwest Airlines; Shoreview resident supporting Taxpayers' League Tax Cut Petition; Shoreview couple against wetland bank credit proposal (HF2737); Lino Lakes resident supporting House position of adding $51 per pupil in budget; Shoreview resident supporting comprehensive sex education; Circle Pines resident agreeing with my vote on an amendment to phase out ethanol subsidies; Lino Lakes resident supporting health care reform (HF3391); Shoreview resident asking about lack of college tuition credit on state income taxes (the Governor vetoed it in 2007); Lino Lakes resident against breed-specific dangerous dog bill, supporting increased penalties for animal fighting, supporting HF2906 on dangerous dogs; Lino Lakes resident against public funding of abortion