Page 3 of 3123

Looking Ahead

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008

Looking AheadSolving the near and long-term state budget deficits will be the primary focus of the 2009 Legislative session.  State economists warn this is the longest recession since WWII and it likely will take longer for the state to emerge successfully than in past recessions.  Therefore, the legislature will be focused on long-term, fiscally responsible policies that set up the state for future success.  That will require a combination of government reforms, reasonable spending reductions, and a commitment to preserve the things that have made Minnesota a national leader in the past.

The state’s economists attribute the steep decline to overall economic performance and the current recession, which began in December 2007.  Minnesota lost more than 42,000 jobs from October 2007 to October 2008, and the state is expected to lose as many as 77,000 jobs in 2009.  The key to emerging from the recession will be job creating policies that will attract new economic activity to Minnesota.  Growing opportunities and jobs in the biosciences, renewable energy, and rural economic development should be a high priority.  Improving the business climate and targeted investments toward job creation, such as “angel” tax credits or support for local economic development programs like the MN Investment fund can help us reach some of those goals.

Obviously, the state will need to take a close look at existing program, agencies, and expenditures, and review them using the following 3 questions:

1.  Is this expenditure an appropriate governmental purpose authorized by our laws and Constitution?

2. Is this expenditure necessary, especially in difficult economic times?

3.  Is this expenditure actually producing the intended result, or is there a more efficient and economical way to accomplish this legitimate state purpose?

We need to look at ways to give relief to local governments and school districts.  This means taking a hard look at existing mandates and allowing those local units of government more autonomy in moving existing resources to meet existing and essential needs.  We need to collaborate and coordinate for more efficient public services in areas of transportation, buying power, combined billing, delivery of service, and administration.

This will be a difficult session, but it is imperative that the Senate, House, Governor, Republicans, and Democrats all get on the same page to come up with solutions that will help lead Minnesota out of this recession.  I will continue to lay out some ideas as to how we can do that in the next several weeks leading up to the January 6 session. Please feel to contact me with your ideas as well.

Tags:
Posted in Economy, Energy, Environment, Kevin Dahle MN Senate District 20 | No Comments »

Mill Towns Trail

Thursday, September 11th, 2008

The Friends of the Mill Towns Trail are excited about projects that may come to fruition by this time next year. I attended a meeting last night in Dundas with some of the Trails faithful describing what’s next for the trail.

There are 3 projects on the horizon. A bridge will be erected across the Cannon River in Northfield near Walgreen’s connecting to an underpass of Hwy 3. Some additional trail will be built west of Cannon Falls and another bridge will be built in Faribault which will include underpass access for both Hwys. 21 and Hwy 3 north of town. This is exciting stuff for trail enthusiasts. They have worked tirelessly to raise money to complete a trail providing the missing link between Mankato and Red Wing.

mapmilltowns 175x121 Mill Towns TrailMoney has come from several sources. The Northfield Bike tour this past weekend, as part of the Defeat of Jesse James Day celebration, netted nearly $16,000, two thirds of which will go to the Mill Towns trail.   Over 1300 riders took part.  Hats off to the Northfield Rotary club for organizing the event and for their generous donations over the years to the trail group. Local initiatives and cooperation are very effective in leveraging federal dollars and grant money. The trail received a federal grant several years ago. State money from the capital bonding bill brought in about $650,000 from the last session. And the DNR, an advocate for completion of the trail, has recently come through with lottery money for the trail.

There is still much to be done. Accessing right of ways, purchasing abandoned rail, completing trail heads and facilities, and maintaining existing trail is costly and involves long term commitment. The economic and recreational benefits for towns like Dundas and Northfield are worth the effort. We should all get behind these types of partnerships.

For more info about the trail: http://www.milltownstrail.org/

Posted in Economy, Environment, Rice County, Transportation | No Comments »

School Land Trust

Monday, August 4th, 2008

trees School Land TrustOver 150 years ago, Minnesota received several land grants from the federal government to be held in trust for specific purposes, such as schools. On Wednesday of last week, I attended a joint hearing of the Environment, Energy, Natural Resources and the E-12 Education Budget committee regarding Minnesota’s school trust lands.

Today the state holds about 2.5 million acres of school trust land and about 1 million acres of land with mineral rights. In the past, money generated from these lands has been allocated to school districts, with a general fund subtraction. In other words, if a school district receives $1 from the land trust it would lose $1 from their general fund. In 2008, the legislature permanently eliminated that subtraction. This amounted to additional revenue per pupil. Belle Plaine received $34.2 per pupil unit, Northfield $32.5, and Cleveland received $30.3. Other senate district 25 school districts fell somewhere between that 30 and 35 dollar increase.

Although the future of mineral mining in Minnesota is uncertain, the potential is apparent. For example, three mineral deposits in the Duluth area alone contain resources that could generate royalties of $1.4 billion at today’s metal prices if mined over a period of 20-25 years. There is a dramatic growth in world demand for metals, spurred mostly by growth in Asia and emerging markets.

In state statute: The goal of the Permanent school fund is to secure long term economic returns consistent with Minnesota constitutional fiduciary responsibilities, with sound natural resource conservation management principles.

This committee and others will continue to look for ways to maximize this potential source of income. We will continue to look for ways to provide badly needed revenue and relief for school district budgets across the state of Minnesota. I am excited about the possibilities.

Posted in Economy, Education, Environment | No Comments »

End of Session

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

The 2008 Legislature solved the $935 million budge shortfall using a combination of $355 million in spending cuts, $100 million in corporate tax changes, and $550 million from the state’s Rainy Day Fund. A brief overview of the session:

  • The Education Bill provides an additional $51 per student in one-time aid to school districts.  The bill also allows districts to transfer up to $51 per student from their capital operating funds to help districts put more money into classrooms.
  • The Transportation package will invest $6.6 billion in new resources into our state’s infrastructure over the next 10 years.
  • The Legislature, with an overwhelming bipartisan majority in both House and Senate, passed a $925 million bonding bill, which will create thousands of jobs.  Local projects include money for the Mills Town Trail, the Faribault Prison expansion, and the Scott County Regional Training facility.
  • After a year’s worth of work and bipartisan compromise, the Legislature passed significant health care reform that will result in reduced costs and increased access.
  • Historic legislation that will give Minnesotans the choice to invest invest in the things they love most about  their state:  lakes and rivers, outdoor resources, and cultural amenities. A constitutional amendment will be on the ballot this fall that will dedicate and additional 3/8 of 1% of state sales tax revenue in those unique qualities that characterize Minnesota’s way of life.
  • A $24 million compensation for the survivors of the I-35W Bridge collapse.
  • Homeowners will see property tax relief under the 2008 tax bill.  This includes a plan that would prevent local levies from rising more than 3.9% a year, and investments of $60 million in Local Government Aid which will go to cities and counties to cushion the effect of a levy limit.

This provides a brief summary of the 2008 legislative session.  Other important work was done in the areas of agriculture, commerce and consumer protection, pensions, energy and the environment, higher education, veterans and military affairs,  business and economic development.  I will be weighing in on some of the specifics of many of these bills as we head into summer.

Posted in Economy, Education, Environment, Health Care, Kevin Dahle MN Senate District 20, Scott County, Transportation | No Comments »

Committees Put in Long Hours

Sunday, March 9th, 2008

The Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, which I serve on, has been putting in some extra hours this past week. We regularly meet on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons….but this past week we added some additional meetings on Tuesday evening and Friday morning. We will be meeting Monday morning and Tuesday evening again this week. Many of the committees have fallen behind because of the extra time put into the Senate floor sessions in February and early March. Prolonged debate on the Outdoor Legacy Act, the Transportation bill, the non-confirmation of Transportation Commissioner Carol Molnau, and most recently, some extended discussion about the bonding and tax bills have put many committees behind schedule. Even the committee chairs have said this is not your typical session.

The Commerce and Consumer Protection committee has been dealing with some controversial issues recently. The Wireless Protection Act needed several days of testimony from cell phone consumers and Wireless providers before it eventually passed out of committee. This week we are working on a mortgage foreclosure deferment bill which is encountering stiff resistance from the banking industry. An interesting tug of war between trial lawyers and insurance companies took place last week as the committee listened to testimony from a variety of interests as the “bad faith” bill was forwarded to the Judiciary committee without recommendation. This bill offers some recourse for consumers who have difficulty seeing eye to eye with insurance companies about claims following catastrophes such as hail storms. It will be interesting to see what the final version of this bill might look like should it make the floor of the Senate.

The Education Finance committee still meets 3 days a week, but our early testimony was devoted to bonding initiatives that may or may not have ended up as part of the bonding bill passed by the Senate last week. This committee really gears up during the odd numbered education funding years.

The Energy, Communication, Utilities, and Communications committee (my 3rd committee) has heard some interesting proposals as well. I presented a bill there last week which will allow the strategic planting of trees as a direct expenditure for utility companies wanting to use funds for the Conservation Improvement Program. That bill will go to the floor probably next week.

I have enjoyed bringing bills before the various committees. In addition to the Tree Planting bill, I carried the Senate version of a bill sponsored by David Bly that would allow a pilot program for Alternative Learning Centers to evaluate average yearly progress (AYP) using other criteria besides federally and state mandated tests. I will also be presenting bills related to notifications regarding flood insurance and a bill allowing continued discussion of the Dan Patch RR line just to name a few.

The committees are working hard to hear as many bills as possible before the first deadline. This means additional hours for most legislators. I am enjoying the work and every day I look forward to the breadth and diversity of issues that come before the often overlooked committees where most of the real work of the legislature takes place.

Tags:
Posted in Education, Energy, Environment, Kevin Dahle MN Senate District 20, Transportation | No Comments »


Page 3 of 3123

Vote Kevin Dahle 2012