Health committee ground rules draw criticism

03/22/2005

Dane Smith
Star Tribune
March 20, 2005

The rules imposed in a hearing last week by Health Policy and Finance Committee Chairman Fran Bradley, R-Rochester, drew some criticism from advocates for human service programs.

The hearing was to gather response to proposed human service budget cuts and about 35 individuals signed up to speak. Marcia Avner, public policy director for the Minnesota Council of Non-Profits, objected to Bradley’s request that testimony be submitted in writing in advance, that speakers limit their presentation to two minutes and that anybody advocating more spending should offer recommendations for cuts or “reform” in other human service spending areas.

Together, these requirements created “a chilling effect on people’s eagerness to share concerns and ideas with elected officials,” Avner said, and many speakers firmly believe that their requests should or could be paid for with tax or revenue increases, not cuts elsewhere.

Bradley defended the ground rules, contending that they were requests rather than requirements, except perhaps for the time limit. Many testifiers were allowed to exceed the limit, at least by a little. Advance written testimony gives a chance for people to respond in full, while summarizing their arguments in two minutes provides for sharper focus in what often becomes hours of “rambling,” Bradley said. Nobody complained to him personally, he added.