Rep. Liebling: Letter From the Capitol #6

03/29/2005

Monday, March 28, 2005

Dear Friends:

The pace is getting quicker at the Capitol as the first deadline looms.
By April 6, all bills must have passed through their policy committees.
Committees are holding additional meetings at night. This means I will
need to be in two--or even three--places at once some days this week. I
only wish I had a time turner like the one Hermione used in “Harry
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.” Still, it is a privilege to serve
you in the Minnesota House.

Budget Battles

The talk last week was about the budget resolution, which was supposed
to come to the House floor but did not make it.

The budget resolution sets how much the State can spend from the
General Fund for July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2007 (the 2006-07 biennium).
The Ways and Means Committee produced a budget resolution that closely
matched the Governor’s budget proposal. The Governor’s budget proposal
relies on gambling revenues, program cuts, and property taxes increases
to give a modest increase to K-12 schools but little else.

The budget resolution that will come to the House floor--reflecting the
will of the Republican House leadership--assumes no new state revenues.
The Governor’s budget is a wolf in sheep’s clothing because it raises
taxes, but does it without taking responsibility. Any increases to one
area, such as schools, will have to come from another area, such as
health care.

Most Republicans argue that this will balance the budget without
raising taxes. Instead of an honest discussion of who pays and how much,
the Governor’s plan will give us another huge property tax increase,
more fees, and a shift to gambling--which some call a tax on poor
families.

The House now has 68 Republicans and 66 Democrats, so if every Democrat
and even one Republican votes against the budget resolution the
resolution will fail. Last week one Republican member was missing and at
least one other Republican (Dorman) threatened to vote against the bill.
Fearing defeat, the House leadership held the bill for another day.

Quite a few people from our district have written and called about the
“Dorman/Greiling” amendment that may be offered to raise the budget cap.
When the amendment was first announced it was for an increase of $750
million. Rep. Dan Dorman of Albert Lea, a Republican, thought he could
get 5-10 other Republican votes to raise the cap, but was unable to get
even one. The last word, however, is that Dorman will offer an amendment
for an increase in the neighborhood of $358 million, one that would dip
into the state’s cash account but not require any new revenues.

A higher cap would not require the state to raise taxes or spend more
money, but it would leave those options open so we can have a full
discussion of where the state’s money should come from and where it
should go. I would have voted for the original amendment but that would
not have passed because some legislators on both sides of the aisle are
afraid to be labeled as tax raisers.

I believe this fear of being labeled a “tax raiser” puts too little
faith in Minnesotans, who have historically understood that smart
investments don’t cost, they pay. If you think the state should maintain
or increase our investments in MinnesotaCare, provider reimbursements,
services to the elderly and people with disabilities, the
Mayo-University of Minnesota bioscience partnership, higher education,
or any other area, you should be concerned about the budget resolution.

As always, I welcome your opinions on this or any other issue.

Higher Education in Rochester

The Governor’s recommendation for Rochester’s higher education needs
passed through the Senate Higher Education Policy Committee with some
changes. This week it will be heard in the Senate Higher Education
Finance Committee. The original bill will also be heard in the House
Higher Education Policy Committee and in the Government Operations
Committee. The bills in both houses call for establishing an
eleven-member committee to make decisions about Rochester’s higher
education future with $200,000 in initial planning funds, and$3 million
in startup funding for the new entity.

Our Rochester legislative delegation has worked hard to explain the
bill to other members and we have not met any significant opposition.
People understand that we are looking for a tailored higher education
model that does not replicate what exists elsewhere in Minnesota. The
new entity--with no sports teams or bands--might not look like most
people’s vision of a four-year university, but it would offer
upper-division and graduate degrees with a significant research
component.

Spousal Support

Next week I will have hearings on two of my bills. My spousal support
bill requires the Minnesota Department of Human Services to collect
payments for spousal support when a judge orders it as part of a divorce
proceeding. The Department has done this for years, but decided last
year that the statute did not require this service. My bill does not
change anyone’s right to spousal support or the ways the payment can be
enforced. It simply says that the State must continue to collect the
money owed and turn it over to the person entitled to it.

This bill will protect the incomes of close to 2,000 people--many
elderly and disabled--who rely on spousal support to get by. It has the
extra benefit of helping these people stay off public assistance, and it
costs the state next to nothing once it is in place. A constituent told
me about the problem, and I am proud to work on fixing it.

Children’s Freedom to Breathe Act

Last week I introduced the Children’s Freedom to Breathe Act. Since the
first child labor laws were passed in the early 1900s, children under 18
have been prohibited from working in hazardous occupations. We generally
don’t let them mine coal, operate dangerous machinery, or do other jobs
that could harm their health. We regulate their hours of work.

We now know that secondhand smoke causes cancer, asthma, and other
diseases. We don’t allow children under 18 to smoke. How can we allow
them to work in clouds of secondhand smoke? My bill would end that.

I hope you had an enjoyable break. It is always a privilege to
represent you in the Minnesota House. Your comments help me a great
deal. Keep those calls, e-mails, letters, and visits coming!

Warmly,
Tina Liebling

Tina Liebling
State Representative
House District 30A (Rochester)
393 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155-1298
651-296-0573
800-339-9038