Post on 18-Mar-2021
In This Issue Page 1 - Editor Notes
Page 2 - From the Chair Book Club Notice
Page 3 ndashCapitol Corner
Page 4 - G Sobola C Rike Page 5 - Covid-19 Do You
Know Page 6 - Meet Dwayne King
Page 7 - Purpose of the Senior Caucus
Page 8 - Endorsement Task Force
Page 9 - MAGA Trump Page 10 - Annual Membership
Meeting Page 11 - Chapters Contacts
Page 12 - Calendar
Executive Committee Chair Don Bye
Vice Chair Karla Sand
Secretary Jim Reed
Treasurer John Larva
Membership Director
Position Vacant
DFL Executive Committee member Kay Hendrikson
Board of Directors Earl Bower Julianne Johnston
Dwayne King Joe Mullery Georgiana Ruzich
Tony Scallon Don Slaten
Russell Warren Chapter Chairs Mel Aanerud Lyn Burton Bonnie Lokenvitz
Richard Chambers Roger Gehrke Norm Hanson Kay Hendrikson Pat Mann Sandra Trudeau Kenneth Vreeland
Prepared and paid for by the DFL Senior Caucus Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee
Senior News Official Publication of the
DFL Senior January 2021 Volume 14 Number 4
IMPORTANT NOTICE If you change your address or email or add an email that you did not have before please contact John Larva Treasurer of the DFL Senior Caucus at 1424 Woodhill Drive Burnsville MN 55337 Or email Kay Hendrikson at dflseniorsgmailcom as soon as possible so you can continue to receive this newsletter on a quarterly basis If you do not wish to continue to receive this newsletter please contact Larva or Hendrikson using the same contact information Thank you
Editor Notes Welcome to the January issue of your Senior News the first issue of the year 2021 May 2021 be so much more forgettable than the year 2020 was for all of us This is a very full issue We encourage your comments
Senior Caucus Chair Don Bye reflects on his optimism regarding the new Biden presidency and his hope that our former vice-president will be able to get the American Democracy back on track after four disastrous years under Trump Most importantly Bye hopes Biden will bring America as well as
democracy back to where and what we think that they both should be by reinstating a government for all people by the people and of the people Don acknowledges that the damage done to both cannot be corrected and resolved overnight but that it can and it has to be done
Read about two active DFL activists and Senior Caucus members Georgiana Sobola and Charlie Rike who passed away during 2020 Their contributions to the DFL will be missed
Julianne Johnston PHN (public health nurse) retired provides another informative update on the COVID-19 crisis including an explanation of the difference between efficacy and effectiveness two terms that are now in use with the availability of several COVID-19 vaccines
Meet one of the original founders of the Senior Caucus Dwayne King Read his thoughts about our organization today
Did you know that the Senior Caucus has always been about being a visible and credible organization that would be listened to by legislators and policy makers This was the intent of its founders DFL activists all going back to 2006 They were concerned that seniors and their concerns were not being heard in the decision-making arenas See what was and has been done to make a small group membership wise a big group in the form of advocacy for senior issues Read about the work of the Endorsements Task Force during the 2020 election cycle and the people who did the hard work to make nearly forty endorsements by the Senior Caucus happen before the primaries last year
Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman offers her observations and comments regarding the actions of the legislature including the challenges from COVID-19 on the 2021 legislative session that began on January 5 2021
If you missed the Senior Caucus Annual Meeting in December by ZOOM you can read about what happened at this meeting in this issue as well
And as always do not miss the chapter contact meeting information and the calendar of pending Senior Caucus events in the issue
We must continue to wash our hands socially distance and wear masks until maybe late spring
Norm Hanson
January 2021 page 2
From the Chair Don Bye
This is the year that was The greatest part of the year was that Joe Biden wonmdashand Trump lost Trump lost as his unholy collection
of angry dissident groupings dwindled awaymdashor did they Joe Biden won his campaign for the Presidency on a positive approach to government from beginning to endmdashand he did so in convincing numbers Biden said he was running to save our democracy and I truly believe that was the case Now it is up to all of us to strive toward the Biden promise of building back a better America The goals are lofty and not realistically attainable overnight The most immediate responsibility is to survive the pandemic then then restore our deflating economy Everyone has a list of priorities which vary in order and degree There is so much work to do There is also much to undo from the damage of the past four years and from what has been left in limbo and the huge number of challenges that need to be met to truly become a better nation for all We can each only do a little bit but enough little bits from every one can make a much better community
Like it or not as we conclude the successful 2020 campaigns we are also embarking on the 2022 State campaigns And if you live in a larger municipality you are or should be thinking election 2021 Somdashnow that yoursquove had a little blip over the Holidays keep on rolling onward and upward toward our next Novembers This comparatively quiet time is excellent time for persuasion as our new governments are settling into place There are constant and continued opportunities to point out to those persuadable why every Senior should be voting for Democrats in every election Remind those within your reach of this whenever they receive their Social Security check and whenever they receive good health care at an Obamacare price Remind them whenever a grandchild does well at a public school or whenever they have just driven on a public roadway or taken public transportation that for all of that all along the way Republicans have resisted or threatened to take away much of what is needed and depended on and they will continue to resist most progressive changes in the future
Herersquos to a happier 2021 New Year for all of us Survive the pandemic GOODBYE Trump
BETTER WITH BIDEN
SENIOR NEWS The DFL Senior News is published at least four times a year by the DFL Senior Caucus 255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107 to provide news items of DFL Senior Caucus events and other items of interest to Minnesota seniors Readers are encouraged to submit articles for publication on subjects of interest to Minnesota DFL seniors Accepted articles may be edited to meet these goals and space requirements Submit articles and comments to Norm Hanson Editor 651-484-8926 or norsan45hotmailcom or Julianne Johnston 651-486-7120 juliannetjmsncom Thank you in advance for your participation in this goal
Don Bye
Book Club via Zoom
January 18 2021 1100 ndash 100 Monday
Join our Discussion on Zoom
The Relentless Business of Treaties How Indigenous Land Became US Property written by Martin Case
This book explains how the property system of the United States was foisted on indigenous peoples through the mendacity of traders speculators and politicians commercial family and political ties among US treaty signers and negotiators ensured corrupt bargains and the tragic loss of tribal lands
httpsus02webzoomusj86446648933
Meeting ID 864 4664 8933
Phone +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) Senior Caucus small group discussion on issues and policies 2008
January 2021 Page 3
House DFLers focused on COVID-19
recovery building a Minnesota that works better for
everyone Melissa Hortman Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives represents District 36B which includes portions of Anoka and Hennepin counties Prior to the 2018 elections she served as Minority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives
The Minnesota 2021 legislative session began on
January 5 and faces significant challenges including the
COVID-19 pandemic an economy impacted by the
public health crisis and a projected budget deficit As we
confront these challenges Democrats in the majority in
the Minnesota House of Representatives remain focused
on building a state that works better for everyone
Democrats are focused on recovering and rebuilding
from COVID-19 affordable health care good schools
job training and economic security We must invest in
the areas that will help Minnesotans make it through this
crisis and thrive after it
2020 was a heart-wrenching year COVID-19 has cost
the lives of more than 4000 Minnesotans We have lost
people we love years before their time from this virus
Family members have lost loved ones without being able
to hold their hands comfort them and say goodbye
Students and educators have had to adapt to distance
learning and too many people have lost jobs or had to
close or scale back their businesses
I am pleased the Minnesota Legislature provided
assistance to workers and businesses in the December
Special Session Our economic assistance package
provided some help ndash but Minnesotans need more
substantial resources that only the federal government
can provide Workers and businesses need help from the
federal government to get through what we hope are the
last difficult weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic until
vaccines are widely distributed and available to everyone
In the upcoming 2021 budget session we will continue
our work to rebuild Minnesotarsquos economy
Minnesotans mdash no matter where we live what we
look like or where we come from mdash deserve affordable
and accessible health care The House DFL successfully
worked to protect health care for 12 million Minnesotans
in the last budget and worked to make prescription drugs
more affordable We will continue our work to make sure
every Minnesotan has access to the health care they need
at a price they can afford
Every Minnesotan deserves high-quality education
and job training opportunities We need to do more to
close the opportunity gap and to help Minnesotans get the
training they need to get jobs with wages and benefits
that will support their families There are many pathways
to successful careers Connecting students with better
options for a variety of career and technical education
options can lead to more personal fulfillment and less
time and money spent by individuals and the state on
educational options that do not lead to good paying jobs
and satisfying careers
Finally Minnesotans deserve economic security
COVID-19 has further highlighted the need for all
Minnesotans to have time to care for themselves and their
families To ensure their economic security and well-
being as well as to protect public health every
Minnesotan needs paid family leave and earned sick and
ldquosaferdquo time
As Minnesota faces the challenges ahead legislators
are working in the only legislature in the country with
divided partisan control Majority House Democrats are
ready to find common ground We need Republicans
who hold the majority in the Senate to join with us and
leave the divisive rhetoric of the campaign season
behind Irsquom hopeful we will replicate the productive
partnerships we established over the last two years and
find agreement on the issues that matter most to
Minnesotans
Minnesotans care about each other ndash we want good
lives for our families and for our neighbors as well Our
shared values bring us together and serve as a foundation
for us to move forward together to build a better future
for all Minnesotans
Melissa Hortman
January 2021 Page 4
Memories of long-time DFL supporter Georgiana Sobola
Georgiana was born into an immigrant Czech family and entered grade school speaking
English as her second language After she graduated from high school she went on to earn a MA
degree in Library Science
She was a member of the Roseville League of Women Voters for more than 50 years and a
member of the League over all for sixty-nine years Georgiana was selected to be the League
representative for the Roseville Charter Commission and was also a regular League Monitor of the Roseville City
Council attending every meeting and reporting back to the League with issues and concerns
She was a translated old Czech handwritten documents into English for the Bohemian Czech Inc in Wisconsin
For many years Georgiana served as an election judge for every election held in Roseville She believed in voting
rights and citizen responsibilities For the 20 years in the previous DFL Senate District 54 she served on the
newsletter committee and submitted many well-researched articles which included city charter options income
disparity runoff voting election judges candidate forums voter ID and the importance of voting that were of
interest for the many readers She was an involved member of the DFL Senior Caucus and attended the North Metro
Chapter She was an active participant in our society Georgiana was mentally clear and up-to-date on Democratic
Party issues when she died at the age of 94 after a very short-term illness
Welcomed into this country in an immigrant family Georgiana exemplifies what a contribution she and others
have made in this country in significant ways
We have lost a good friend
Charles (Charlie Chuck Union Brother Gramps) Rike Sr was a dedicated union member
serving as union board member corresponding secretary for the State Retiree Council
member and former treasurer of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 7200
and its retiree group and the Minnesota AFL-CIO His greatest love was politics and he was a
very strong Democrat We of the DFL Senior Caucus knew him to be a very friendly person
who attended many DFL Senior Caucus events usually with a camera around his neck taking
pictures of all that was going on around him He was an active member of the Pine County DFL former chair of the
East Central Chapter Senior Caucus Board member volunteer at the State Fair DFL Senior Caucus Day table and the
Union booth across the street and prolific writer of Letters to the Editor in local and state newspapers about political
and labor concerns He was definitely not afraid to express his opinions He ran for political office twice once for
Anoka County Auditor and once for state representative however he was never elected to office He had recently
sold his house and car and moved into Lake Side Assisted Living Home in Pine City He was worried that he hadnrsquot
paid his Senior Caucus dues and wrote a check just weeks before he died on November 7 2020 He was a victim of
COVID-19 We will all miss his contributions to seniors to the DFL and to the unions to which he belonged But
most of all we will miss being with Charlie Rike (The Senior News interviewed Charlie for an article about him
You can read that article in the January 2019 Edition Charliersquos name has appeared in every issue of this newsletter
going as far back as January 2011 and before)
Charlie Rike
Georgiana Sobola
Charlie Rike with Dick Bernard and Judy Berglund at a training session State Fair Annual Picnic and Annual Meeting circa 2008
January 2021 Page 5
Important information for seniors on the COVID-19 Virus Julianne Johnston Public Health Nurse retired
As I write this ldquoessentialrdquo workers including hospital and nursing home staff are receiving one of the vaccines which have been granted emergency approval (early) from the US Food and Drug Administration The approval for Pfizer and the Germany company BioNTech and the Moderna Company have produced vaccines which have an efficacy rating of about 90 percent Efficacy means that the vaccine in clinical studies under best scientific controlled studies will produce that desired effect The vaccines prompts your body to develop antibodies against the virus You are not fully protected right away It takes your body time to develop immunity to the virus That can take weeks to develop after receiving the vaccine and a second immunization injection would be required to achieve full protection It also means that a small number of folks will not develop immunity Exactly how the vaccine will perform in the real world will depend on factors that do not have answers yet There will be a lag time in determing the actual effectiveness (success rate)
of the vaccine program and that will take months to determine Effectiveness is determined by the response in large populations in the real world Effectiveness is usually less than the original stated efficacy Experts are predicting that people who are vaccinated and have asymptomatic disease may still spread the virus to others though at a lesser rate So even if vaccinated everyone will have to continue to wear masks and practice social distancing until at least 90 percent of the population is vaccinated producing the desired ldquoherd immunityrdquo By slowing the spread of the virus vaccinated people help to protect themselves and those around them In other words if few people chose to complete the vaccine series of two injections and do not practice social distancing and mask wearing the virus will continue to spread uncontrolled It is anticipated that the vaccine will be available to everyone by June and the effectiveness of the vaccine will be determined sometime in the fall of 2021 The success of the vaccine is dependent on every one of us being part of the solution to end the COVID pandemic For more information on COVID-19 go to the Minnesota Department of Health at Minnesota Department of Health (statemnus) (hold down the CTRL key and then click on the web address)
Did you know
The Senior Caucus has a contract with Zoom Did you know that even if you do not have a computer you can join a Zoom meeting with your home telephone Or if you do not have a computer camera you can still join a meeting Any group or business within the Senior Caucus can be conducted with a Zoom meeting To get you into or organize a Zoom meeting contact Kay
Hendrikson dfleastmetrocaucusgmailcom or Earl Bower earlbowergmailcom (they are on our Technology Committee) and request that they set up a meeting for your group or meeting They can also give you instructions on how to use Zoom What Do Dues Do
The DFL Senior Caucus dues cover the expenses of events such as the Day on the Hill Annual Picnic Annual Meeting State Fair Senior Day information table at the DFL Pavilion and the Annual Gala The Senior Caucus has purchased contract with Zoom to use for meetings including the Board Meeting Chapter Chairs Group PIC book club discussions event planning and the Annual meeting It also has a paid contract with Mail Chimp for sending out important notices Dues support the start-up of chapters All printing for distribution of information to the public including this newsletter is done at a Union Printer including the hard copies of this newsletter The Senior News The Senior Caucus used its financial resources to purchase a public address system in a conference room It will also use that address system at the Annual Picnic Use of the PA system for other authorized Senior Caucus activities will be allowed
In addition according to the Senior Caucus Charter seniors who pay dues are considered voting members and are eligible to become officers in chapters and at the state Senior Caucus level
Please consider paying annual dues of $1000 annually to the Senior Caucus You can do so by following the instructions below The DFL Senior Caucus also uses an online payment system for dues You can access it by going to httpsdflseniorscom Choose JoinDonate ndash the big red button You have options You can donate your $10 annual dues payment all at once Or you can choose ongoing dues at $1 per month You can choose any amount of donation that you want You can also send a check for $10 or more made out to DFL Senior Caucus and send to
John Larva Treasurer
DFL Senior Caucus
1424 Woodhill Drive
Burnsville MN 55337
January 2021 Page 6
Getting to know Dwayne King Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston
Dwayne was raised in Caselton North Dakota (ND) on a share-crop one half section (320 acre) farm with his parents and he was one of their six children The farm produced and sold oats barley corn wheat popcorn and also raised pigs milked ten cows sold chickens and kept two horses to pull the manure spreader The farm did not have electricity until 1948 Dwayne raised and sold pigs to help pay for his college education At the age of twelve he definitely decided that he did not want to be a farmer His parents encouraged further education for all their children As a freshman at North Dakota Agricultural College now North Dakota State University Dwayne worked in the local creamery and received a scholarship from the farm where his dad worked He joined Sigma Chi an engineering fraternity and credits his fraternity for enabling him to become more outgoing He ran for the student senate while a sophomore in college and became comfortable speaking to large and small groups a good experience even though he was not elected Because it was a land grant university students were required to serve in the ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) during their first two years Dwayne opted to complete the ROTC program and he became an Army officer He graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering and worked for IBM spending much of his twenty-five years of employment with IBM as a systemrsquos engineer and a trainer for customers until he took an early retirement in 1990 Early on he made up three lists of what he hoped to achieve 1 What he wanted 2 What he thought he could achieve 3 What he did not think would be possible for him to achieve He says he has achieved three of the goals in list 3 in his lifetime Dwaynersquos mother developed Multiple Sclerosis at age fifty five and the family had to rely on Social Security Disability benefits for assistance Dwayne was aware of what the Democratic Party and Franklin Delano Roosevelt had done for people like his mother and his father helping people in difficult situations beyond their control or making When he had an opportunity to be at a rally for Jack Kennedy for president he was hooked Dwayne became involved with the Golden Valley DFL Club helping campaigns in his area He became a state delegate to a DFL convention and signed up for the Constitution Committee He traveled the state for two years getting input on the first revision of the DFL Partyrsquos constitution and then had to scramble at the last moment to produce the findings of that two-year effort He gave the report of the Constitution Committee to the DFL Central Committee and the recommendations were adopted thanks to his hard work in preparing the final report The revised DFL Constitution included proportional voting for candidates rather than the ldquosmoke
filled roomsrdquo Dwayne was named the chair of the newly formed Constitution Committee of the Minnesota DFL He ran for the House seat in his district and won election on his first try in a Republican indexed district He found that he had much to learn about being in office including how to get committee assignments learning about fellow office holders representing everyone in his district and knowing who his ldquoenemiesrdquo were in the House and in his district He learned how to ldquoread between the linesrdquo for constraints and calculations when politicians speak He was able to pass ten of eleven of his bills to the Senate They included a 40 increase in the Personal Needs Allowance for the disabled and others in nursing Homes and a payment for college students performing tasks for seniors in their homes These were difficult votes and ultimately the decision was up to the legislators regardless of what the voters may have wanted He lost in a re-election bid during the ldquoDFL Massacrerdquo (DFL lost 34 seats) when the Republicans took control of the House The Republicans had a strong get-out-the-vote strategy that was highly effective and the DFL was caught off-guard In 2006 Linda Fiest asked him to join the group that would soon create the DFL Senior Caucus Because of his experience on the Constitution Committee Dwayne was asked to write the Charter for the Senior Caucus using the DFL Constitution as an example He presented the Charter that he wrote to the DFL Constitution Committee and State DFL Convention where it was adopted in May of 2006 Dwayne then traveled all around the state with Linda Fiest recruiting seniors for the Senior Caucus Dwayne and Earl Bower also formed a team that talked to groups all over the state interested in becoming chapters of the Senior Caucus ndash a new concept for caucuses Earl and Dwayne were and remain strong proponents of developing chapters to increase the membership visibility and the importance of the Senior Caucus Dwayne reminds us that the DFL is a coalition of disparate groups who can always win when the groups pull together Dwayne would like the Senior Caucus to have more involvement in the political process He wants the endorsements from the Caucus to be fair and should endorse politicians who can and will further Senior Caucus issues He hopes that State Senior Caucus will avoid the risk of renegade actions by individuals andor committees and avoid the risk of a few people making decisions for everyone He would like the membership to be more aware of how the DFL works and learn from it and utilize core groups who know how politics should work No one chapter should have the major voice All chapters should participate equally The Senior Caucus should focus on statewide issues and its chapters should focus on local issues And since the beginning the Senior Caucus needs to continue to attract and have active membership to impact legislation that promote senior
Dwayne King
January 2021 Page 7
issues Age discriminations is rampant both within the Party and in our state and nation He notes that in general the DFL Party does not understand senior issues The Senior Caucus must raise awareness in the DFL Party raise awareness in State legislation raise awareness in national issues It would be wonderful to develop more senior caucuses in other states and then senior voting would have a greater impact
Other issues to address are the need for more awareness in Senior Caucus on health care coverage concerns for everyone ndash it is a right not a privilegemdash everyone should be eligible for coverage for the health care services that they need There is a need to consider legislative effects on our children and grandchildren as well He strongly endorses the education of the public on the needs of seniors for broadband and safe senior residential living
The purpose of the DFL Senior Caucus Yesterday and Today
Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston
The DFL Senior Caucus was founded in 2006 by
politically experienced and concerned DFL activists to
establish a statewide DFL organization that would focus
on and promote senior issues and concerns Its founders
believed that with a strong and unified voice the Senior
Caucus would influence candidates and elected officials
to address the needs of older Americans in Minnesota
through policy and law Its unified voice would assure
that the needs of older Minnesotans and their families
would be addressed in our statersquos policies and laws The
many experienced DFL party activists who founded the
Senior Caucus strongly believed that their efforts could
in fact influence voters and their choice of elected
officials
Many of the founders of the Senior Caucus were
active and engaged party activists including Linda Feist
and her husband Roger Junnila Dwayne King
Georgiana Ruzich Earl Bower James Reed Dick
Bernard Mary Ann Beneke Jim Poradek Ed Mars John
Martin and others initially or within the first couple of
years of its existence They recognized the increase in
baby boomers becoming seniors and that seniors were
living longer Their financial resources had to stretch
further than actuaries had predicted The founders also
recognized that there needed to be advocacy for this
growing senior population The founders of the DFL
Senior Caucus were pioneers in supporting senior issues
and making the Senior Caucus organization visible and
important to legislators policy makers and voters
The Senior Caucus held its first Annual Meeting in
2007 and made plans to staff an information table in the
DFL pavilion at the annual State Fair and it has done so
every year since save for 2020 when that annual event
was cancelled because of the pandemic Participants were
encouraged to contact everyone that they thought might
be interested in becoming members informing them of the
purpose of the Senior Caucus and asking them to join
Issues discussed at that initial Annual Meeting included
increasing membership developing an action plan for the
next year determining the best ways to be influential
visible and to be taken seriously by legislators and the
voters and how to decide which issues would be most
important to seniors They were developing the Senior
Caucus platform for the next year
It was determined that the priorities for research
study recommendations and resolutions were affordable
health care fair and equitable tax policies sound
transportation fair and reasonable prescription drug
prices affordable housing and safe and livable
communities Access to highspeed broadband internet
services has since been added to that initial priority list
The Senior Caucus determined that it should limit itself to
achievable goals and that it should develop a set of goals
that include the needs of non-seniors as well as those of
seniors Subsequent Annual Meetings set aside time for
the participants to brainstorm in small groups to
determine the most important issues to research and focus
and included planning sessions led by Dick Bernard and
Judy Berglund
A retreat led by Lynn VanDervort resulted in the
following recommendations shared leadership amongst
all the members assigning responsibilities and holding
assignees accountable avoiding the possibility of
developing internal factions causing dysfunction
developing intergenerational planning and programing
having shared goals recognizing gaps in membership by
age groups and using the Mission Statement to promote
shared values Those recommendations regarding the
operation of the Senior Caucus remain just as valid today
The founders of the Senior Caucus emphasized the
importance of using all available means of
communication to extend the interest in and the visibility
January 2021 Page 8
2020 Senior Caucus Endorsement Task Force Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston together with Jim Reed Joe
Mullery and Karla Sand
Since its founding in 2006 by several dedicated committed and experienced DFL activists the Senior Caucus has always been intent on becoming visible and
credible in its support of issues affecting seniors throughout the state The founders knew that that was the only way to leverage its rather small number of members
into a force that legislators and other policy makers would listen to and who would be willing to support senior issues Senior Caucus members have worked on campaigns they had and continue to have information
tables at the annual Minnesota State Fair they have information tables at DFL conventions they proudly wear t-shirts with Senior Caucus emblazoned across the front
The founders developed a state-wide newsletter early on to let seniors across the state know that the Senior Caucus exists and what it does and can do for seniors All these
efforts and activities have made legislators policy makers and the public at large aware of the Senior Caucus and see it as a visible and credible organization that cannot be
ignored The continuation of these efforts to be both visible and credible with respect to bringing senior issues and concerns to policy makers is now handled by the
important Political Involvement Committee (PIC)
A recent example of successful visibility and credibility was the Endorsement Task Force working under the auspices of the PIC that was convened to review requests for endorsement by the Senior Caucus prior to the August 2020 primary
This group handled the endorsement screenings for
candidates in districts where there were no chapters that covered the whole district Note While all chapters were invited to participate in the Senior Caucus endorsement
process not all of them met that criteria Some chapters did however and recommended endorsements for some local offices as well as for the state legislature Volunteers
included Mel Aanerud (Anoka) Bonnie Lokenvitz (East Central) Tony Scallon (greater Minneapolis) and Roger
Gehrke (South Metro)
Chapters were encouraged to set up an endorsements committee which would interview and screen all the
candidates in the districts totally within the chapter area They were then supposed to review the candidates written answers to the questionnaire and then interview the
candidates in person or on the phone or electronically for about an hour about the answers on the questionnaires and on other topics the members deemed appropriate They
would also explain the Senior Caucus views when candidates did not know or understand the issues
The questionnaire ideas came from many people Each person on a screening committee could ask pertinent questions at the screening The screeners determined in advance what additional questions they would ask and if
there was still time they could ask further questions The fact that nearly forty prospective candidates all
but four of them running for Congress or the State House or the State Senate asked for endorsement by the Senior Caucus just confirmed the recognition by those
candidates of the value placed upon that recognition and support from the Senior Caucus If they did not think that endorsement by the Senior Caucus would add value to
their campaigns they would not have sought it
Only three of the nearly forty candidates who requested endorsement by the Senior Caucus lost their
primary election bids which is quite a remarkable statement about the value as well as the credibility of the Senior Caucus endorsement The fact that they sought
endorsement by the Senior Caucus is a tribute to all the members who have worked so hard going all the way back to 2006 to make sure that the organization was
visible and credible The Senior Caucus wanted to make
of the Senior Caucus including Seniors Calling Seniors
the DFL data base telephone email and snail mail The
newsletter the Senior News was added it was published
periodically and then on a regular quarterly basis The
newsletter also produced an annual special state fair
recruitment edition to be distributed at the Senior Caucus
information table in the DFL pavilion on Senior Days at
the State Fair The founders of the Senior Caucus believed
that there was strength in numbers and building the
membership around the state would be needed to increase
the visibility of the organization By traveling around the
state Earl Bower Linda Feist and Roger Junnila
determined that chapters could be formed to increase that
membership numbers and caucus visibility Later Earl
and Dwayne King also traveled around the state
facilitating the development of chapters in both the rural
and urban parts of the state Currently there are eleven
Senior Caucus chapters throughout Minnesota
The importance of determining which issues are of
most concern and interest to seniors around the state
and informing the DFL legislators policy makers and
the public at large continues to be a major reason for
the existence of the DFL Senior Caucus today
January 2021 Page 9
sure that when it talked to legislators and policy makers and asked for support for a piece of legislation or policy
that its rationale for asking for support was credible and had been fully investigated Just offering an opinion in support of an important senior issue would not be
credible and The Senior Caucus knew that Being credible meant that it had to be supported by careful consideration and thorough research
That many DFL legislators and members of Congress
willingly provided Capitol Corner updates for the Senior
News the official newsletter of the Senior Caucus is yet
another recognition by those important folks of the
visibility and the credibility of the organization None of
the above would have happened had the Senior Caucus
not be seen as a visible and credible organization
representing senior views
Members of the Endorsements Task Force that must
be thanked for their efforts in 2020 included Chair Joe
Mullery Tony Scallon Jan Dietrich Milt Schoen and
Judy Corraro They deserve thanks for their dedication
and diligent work on this important matter a matter that
confirmed once again the visibility AND the credibility of
the Senior Caucus
How to MAGA ala Donald Trump Norm Hanson
Proclaim yourself as the smartest and
greatest president ever to reside in the White House
Denigrate all governmental institutions including
justice public health intelligence and (fill-in-the-blanks) and claim that you know more and better than all the experienced and skilled civil servants in those areas
Cozy up to the leaders of countries that are adversaries of the United States including Russia and North Korea and castigate and criticize the
leaders of countries that are friends of the United States
Pull the US from any treaties and agreements
negotiated by previous administrations especially those negotiated by President Obama
Do everything that you can to eliminate Obamacare
and claim to replace with your great health plan that does not exist
Claim that the 2016 and the 2020 elections were
rigged in favor of your opponents but then accept the results of 2016 when you won and refuse to accept them in 2020 when you lost
Do everything that you can to question the integrity of the election process no matter the lack of evidence that the elections were conducted other
than fairly and transparently Question criticize
and label all state election officials regardless of their party affiliation as being incompetent
stupid biased and trying to do everything that they could to get Biden elected
Denigrate the military by publicly referring to any
and all service men and women especially those who were wounded captured or killed as suckers and losers (despite being able to dodge
the draft five time and yet able to become commander-in-chief )
Pardon war criminals whose actions in the areas of conflict where US forces were involved placed servicemen and women in harmrsquos way
Do everything that you can with actions and words thereby able to divide the good citizens of the country facilitating the us (really me) against
them especially those Democrats liberals progressives and (fill-in-the-blanks)
Stack the SCOTUS with conservative justices that
will impact public policy for decades to come the real legacy that Trump will leave behind
And of course characteristically of who he is as a
man his inability to graciously concede that he lost his bid for re-election
And one more thingndash promote the storming of the Nations Capitol Building causing insurrection in order to prevent the confirmation of the vote for
president of someone other than you
January 2021 Page 10
DFL Senior Caucus Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting December 10 2020 Jim Reed
Members and friends gathered for the Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting which was held via Zoom on December 10 About fifty members attended which is a surprisingly large number in this year of COVID 19 Caucus members engaged openly on the topics presented Discussion centered on issues that the Senior Caucus could advance in 2021including caucus membership broadband communications aging in place specialized transportation and building coalitions to achieve greater influence Membership Director Josey Warren summarized efforts to increase membership across Greater Minnesota and to establish more Senior Caucus chapters The Minneapolis Chapter was recognized in the spring of 2020 and a St Paul chapter is just getting organized A Chapter Chairs Committee has been established with representatives from chapters to work together on programs member recruitment services communications and to share successes
Secretary Jim Reed reported on the development of broadband communications in Minnesota Some areas in Greater Minnesota still do not have broadband services which are needed by seniors to participate fully in our modern society Some federal and state funding has been made available to expand broadband service and the state has a task force to set objectives consider alternatives and review progress Advances have been made but technology presses forward and technology appeared first and sometimes only in urban centers Pressed by the 2020 pandemic government may only offer limited support for rural development The Senior Caucus will follow this progress and offer support as appropriate
Board Director Roger Gehrke reported on actions seniors should consider in order to continue to live in their own homes Actions include moving to a single level floor plan having railings attached where appropriate indoors and outdoors ensuring that appliances and vehicles are in good running order removing scatter rugs using delivery services and in-home health care He recommended discarding or donating objects no longer being used He recommended hobbies to suit a more limited lifestyle It is important to update wills trusts and health directives
Vice-chair Karla Sand gave an overview of legislative issues for specialized transportation Three issues now stand out commercial licenses for volunteer drivers high insurance costs for those drivers and taxation of reimbursement for volunteers Under current law individuals need expensive commercial licenses if they
sometimes drive a van or bus for a church or a non-profit service Insurance is expensive for covering the additional risk for disabled riders Legislation is needed to allow volunteers usually seniors to afford these extra costs The Senior Caucus will actively support legislation that will assist volunteer drivers for seniors
Complete reports from Jim Reed Karla Sand and Roger Gehrke can be found on the DFL Senior Caucus website (wwwdflseniorsorg)
Karla also introduced Senior Caucus efforts to form coalitions with other DFL caucuses and non-profits and to combine these efforts with caucus chapters The Senior Caucus will expand these coalitions whenever and wherever they are possible and will be effective The Disability Rural and Veterans Caucuses would be good working partners The Senior Caucus already works with AARP and other nonprofits to the extent that the law allow for non-profits
DFL Chair Ken Martin made a special appearance and discussed the DFL results in 2020 and prospects for 2021 He listed the DFL Party successes and concerns from the 2020 elections The party held on to the US Senate seat held the second and third US House seats gained in 2018 and retained a majority in the Minnesota House However one rural US House seat was lost and the Minnesota Senate remained in Republican hands In 2021 the DFL must rebuild its importance in rural Minnesota The Senior Caucus can help to promote the DFL as seniors are a dominate voting bloc in Greater Minnesota
The Annual Membership Meeting then considered two motions One was to actively support and promote ldquoEnd of Liferdquo legislation in the Minnesota legislature The legislation would allow terminally ill individuals of sound mind to acquire ldquoend of liferdquo medication from their physician After considerable debate the motion was tabled and referred to the Senior Caucus Board Political Involvement Committee (PIC) for further study and recommendations to the Board
The second motion was for a minor change to the Senior Caucus Charter to allow passage of charter amendments at special membership meetings as well as the Annual Membership Meeting Previously only the Annual Membership Meeting could pass charter updates This motion passed
Jim Reed
2019 In-person Annual Meeting
DFL SENIOR CAUCUS
255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107
CONTACTS Email-dflseniorsgmailcom
Website httpdflseniorsorg
Don Bye Chair 218-568-5530 byelawofficehotmailcom Karla Sand Vice Chair 651-739-7397 karlavioletshotmailcom
Committees Documents Position open Events Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Membership Position open Political Involvement Committee Coordinator Karla Sand karlavioletshotmailcom Technology Committee Kay Hendrikson dflseniorsgmailcom SENIOR NEWS The DFL Senior News is published at least four times a year by the DFL Senior Caucus 255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107 to provide news items of DFL Senior Caucus events and other items of interest to Minnesota seniors Readers are encouraged to submit articles for publication on subjects of interest to Minnesota DFL seniors Accepted articles may be edited to meet these goals and space requirements Submit articles and comments to Norm Hanson Editor 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom or Julianne Johnston 651-486-7120 juliannetjmsncom JOIN THE SENIOR CAUCUS Membership dues are $10 annually Join online or Send your check made out to DFL Senior Caucus and send to John Larva Treasurer DFL Senior Caucus 1424 Woodhill Drive Burnsville MN 55337
For waiver of dues please contact
Chair Don Bye or Vice-chair Karla Sand
January 2021 Page 11
Editors Norm Hanson newsletter editor norsan45hotmailcom 651-484-8926
Julianne Johnston design and layout editor juliannetjmsncom 651-486-7120
Columnists Norm Hanson Melissa Hortman Julianne Johnston Jim Reed
Photographs Dick Bernard Julianne Johnston Charlie Rike
Reviewer Sandy Hanson
DFL Senior Caucus Chapters January 2021 Note Chapter meetings are being held as Zoom Meetings
Persons without computers or cell phones can join with a landline phone Contact the chair to get further information about joining a meeting
Anoka Chapter - Anoka County Chair Mel Aanerud 763-434-3809 Aanerud4comcastnet East Central Chapter - SD 11 SD 15 amp Isanti County area Chair Bonnie Lokenvitz 320-679-8202 blokenvitzgmailcom East Metro Chapter - Maplewood and east Chair Kay Hendrikson 651-739-1080 dfleastmetrocaucus gmailcom Mankato Area Chapter Chair Richard Chambers 507-420-4030 gdthdraolcom Minneapolis Area Chapter Chair Kenneth Vreeland 612-722-8017 borderlord_oneyahoocom North East Minnesota Chapter - Duluth area Chair Gary Westorff 612-709-5342 nemndflsrsyahoocom North Metro Chapter ndash Northern Suburban Metropolitan area Chair Norm Hanson 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom St Paul Chapter - St Paul area Chair Lyn Burton 651-336-4493 lburton612aolcom South East MN Chapter - Rochester area Chair Patricia Mann Mannpa1chartercom South Metro Chapter - CD 2 and Dakota County area Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Tri-County Chapter ndash Washington County Chisago County and Kanabec County areas Chair Sandra Trudeau 651-492-1149 wmsandycomcastnet
DFL Senior News
255 East Plato Blvd
Saint Paul MN 55107
First Class
All Meetings at this time will be
conducted via
Zoom
Contact the chair of the meeting for
more information
DFL Senior Caucus Calendar 2021 Events All Events are Handicapped Accessible
Social Luncheon - On Hold due to the COVID-19
Senior Caucus Board Meeting - Meetings will be held via Zoom at times determined by the Board Contact Vice Chair Karla Sand 651-739-7397 or karlavioletshotmailcom
Senior Caucus Book Club - Meetings are being held by Zoom on third Mondays Contact Jim Reed jreed11665comcastnet for more information See January discussion January 18 11 am to 1 pm see page 2 page of this issue will be a ZOOM meeting
Inauguration Day on January 20 2021
Contacts for the Senior Caucus
Facebook at httpswwwfacebookcomgroupsDFLSeniorCaucus Email dflseniorsgmailcom Website httpdflseniorsorg Check out the calendar on the website for scheduled meetings and events as they
are scheduled through out each month
Standard The Senior News has the luxury that every newsletter would like to have and that is having more information submitted and ready than can be published in a ten to twelve page newsletter It is a challenge as we have to decide which articles and photos to include in each issue which ones to defer until the next issue and which ones that we have to save for a later issue We thank all of our readers for their continued support for their newsletter and the luxury as well as the challenges that this gives to US However we always welcome more articles from our readers to be sure we cover all the interests and concerns of DFL seniors
January 2021 page 2
From the Chair Don Bye
This is the year that was The greatest part of the year was that Joe Biden wonmdashand Trump lost Trump lost as his unholy collection
of angry dissident groupings dwindled awaymdashor did they Joe Biden won his campaign for the Presidency on a positive approach to government from beginning to endmdashand he did so in convincing numbers Biden said he was running to save our democracy and I truly believe that was the case Now it is up to all of us to strive toward the Biden promise of building back a better America The goals are lofty and not realistically attainable overnight The most immediate responsibility is to survive the pandemic then then restore our deflating economy Everyone has a list of priorities which vary in order and degree There is so much work to do There is also much to undo from the damage of the past four years and from what has been left in limbo and the huge number of challenges that need to be met to truly become a better nation for all We can each only do a little bit but enough little bits from every one can make a much better community
Like it or not as we conclude the successful 2020 campaigns we are also embarking on the 2022 State campaigns And if you live in a larger municipality you are or should be thinking election 2021 Somdashnow that yoursquove had a little blip over the Holidays keep on rolling onward and upward toward our next Novembers This comparatively quiet time is excellent time for persuasion as our new governments are settling into place There are constant and continued opportunities to point out to those persuadable why every Senior should be voting for Democrats in every election Remind those within your reach of this whenever they receive their Social Security check and whenever they receive good health care at an Obamacare price Remind them whenever a grandchild does well at a public school or whenever they have just driven on a public roadway or taken public transportation that for all of that all along the way Republicans have resisted or threatened to take away much of what is needed and depended on and they will continue to resist most progressive changes in the future
Herersquos to a happier 2021 New Year for all of us Survive the pandemic GOODBYE Trump
BETTER WITH BIDEN
SENIOR NEWS The DFL Senior News is published at least four times a year by the DFL Senior Caucus 255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107 to provide news items of DFL Senior Caucus events and other items of interest to Minnesota seniors Readers are encouraged to submit articles for publication on subjects of interest to Minnesota DFL seniors Accepted articles may be edited to meet these goals and space requirements Submit articles and comments to Norm Hanson Editor 651-484-8926 or norsan45hotmailcom or Julianne Johnston 651-486-7120 juliannetjmsncom Thank you in advance for your participation in this goal
Don Bye
Book Club via Zoom
January 18 2021 1100 ndash 100 Monday
Join our Discussion on Zoom
The Relentless Business of Treaties How Indigenous Land Became US Property written by Martin Case
This book explains how the property system of the United States was foisted on indigenous peoples through the mendacity of traders speculators and politicians commercial family and political ties among US treaty signers and negotiators ensured corrupt bargains and the tragic loss of tribal lands
httpsus02webzoomusj86446648933
Meeting ID 864 4664 8933
Phone +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) Senior Caucus small group discussion on issues and policies 2008
January 2021 Page 3
House DFLers focused on COVID-19
recovery building a Minnesota that works better for
everyone Melissa Hortman Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives represents District 36B which includes portions of Anoka and Hennepin counties Prior to the 2018 elections she served as Minority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives
The Minnesota 2021 legislative session began on
January 5 and faces significant challenges including the
COVID-19 pandemic an economy impacted by the
public health crisis and a projected budget deficit As we
confront these challenges Democrats in the majority in
the Minnesota House of Representatives remain focused
on building a state that works better for everyone
Democrats are focused on recovering and rebuilding
from COVID-19 affordable health care good schools
job training and economic security We must invest in
the areas that will help Minnesotans make it through this
crisis and thrive after it
2020 was a heart-wrenching year COVID-19 has cost
the lives of more than 4000 Minnesotans We have lost
people we love years before their time from this virus
Family members have lost loved ones without being able
to hold their hands comfort them and say goodbye
Students and educators have had to adapt to distance
learning and too many people have lost jobs or had to
close or scale back their businesses
I am pleased the Minnesota Legislature provided
assistance to workers and businesses in the December
Special Session Our economic assistance package
provided some help ndash but Minnesotans need more
substantial resources that only the federal government
can provide Workers and businesses need help from the
federal government to get through what we hope are the
last difficult weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic until
vaccines are widely distributed and available to everyone
In the upcoming 2021 budget session we will continue
our work to rebuild Minnesotarsquos economy
Minnesotans mdash no matter where we live what we
look like or where we come from mdash deserve affordable
and accessible health care The House DFL successfully
worked to protect health care for 12 million Minnesotans
in the last budget and worked to make prescription drugs
more affordable We will continue our work to make sure
every Minnesotan has access to the health care they need
at a price they can afford
Every Minnesotan deserves high-quality education
and job training opportunities We need to do more to
close the opportunity gap and to help Minnesotans get the
training they need to get jobs with wages and benefits
that will support their families There are many pathways
to successful careers Connecting students with better
options for a variety of career and technical education
options can lead to more personal fulfillment and less
time and money spent by individuals and the state on
educational options that do not lead to good paying jobs
and satisfying careers
Finally Minnesotans deserve economic security
COVID-19 has further highlighted the need for all
Minnesotans to have time to care for themselves and their
families To ensure their economic security and well-
being as well as to protect public health every
Minnesotan needs paid family leave and earned sick and
ldquosaferdquo time
As Minnesota faces the challenges ahead legislators
are working in the only legislature in the country with
divided partisan control Majority House Democrats are
ready to find common ground We need Republicans
who hold the majority in the Senate to join with us and
leave the divisive rhetoric of the campaign season
behind Irsquom hopeful we will replicate the productive
partnerships we established over the last two years and
find agreement on the issues that matter most to
Minnesotans
Minnesotans care about each other ndash we want good
lives for our families and for our neighbors as well Our
shared values bring us together and serve as a foundation
for us to move forward together to build a better future
for all Minnesotans
Melissa Hortman
January 2021 Page 4
Memories of long-time DFL supporter Georgiana Sobola
Georgiana was born into an immigrant Czech family and entered grade school speaking
English as her second language After she graduated from high school she went on to earn a MA
degree in Library Science
She was a member of the Roseville League of Women Voters for more than 50 years and a
member of the League over all for sixty-nine years Georgiana was selected to be the League
representative for the Roseville Charter Commission and was also a regular League Monitor of the Roseville City
Council attending every meeting and reporting back to the League with issues and concerns
She was a translated old Czech handwritten documents into English for the Bohemian Czech Inc in Wisconsin
For many years Georgiana served as an election judge for every election held in Roseville She believed in voting
rights and citizen responsibilities For the 20 years in the previous DFL Senate District 54 she served on the
newsletter committee and submitted many well-researched articles which included city charter options income
disparity runoff voting election judges candidate forums voter ID and the importance of voting that were of
interest for the many readers She was an involved member of the DFL Senior Caucus and attended the North Metro
Chapter She was an active participant in our society Georgiana was mentally clear and up-to-date on Democratic
Party issues when she died at the age of 94 after a very short-term illness
Welcomed into this country in an immigrant family Georgiana exemplifies what a contribution she and others
have made in this country in significant ways
We have lost a good friend
Charles (Charlie Chuck Union Brother Gramps) Rike Sr was a dedicated union member
serving as union board member corresponding secretary for the State Retiree Council
member and former treasurer of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 7200
and its retiree group and the Minnesota AFL-CIO His greatest love was politics and he was a
very strong Democrat We of the DFL Senior Caucus knew him to be a very friendly person
who attended many DFL Senior Caucus events usually with a camera around his neck taking
pictures of all that was going on around him He was an active member of the Pine County DFL former chair of the
East Central Chapter Senior Caucus Board member volunteer at the State Fair DFL Senior Caucus Day table and the
Union booth across the street and prolific writer of Letters to the Editor in local and state newspapers about political
and labor concerns He was definitely not afraid to express his opinions He ran for political office twice once for
Anoka County Auditor and once for state representative however he was never elected to office He had recently
sold his house and car and moved into Lake Side Assisted Living Home in Pine City He was worried that he hadnrsquot
paid his Senior Caucus dues and wrote a check just weeks before he died on November 7 2020 He was a victim of
COVID-19 We will all miss his contributions to seniors to the DFL and to the unions to which he belonged But
most of all we will miss being with Charlie Rike (The Senior News interviewed Charlie for an article about him
You can read that article in the January 2019 Edition Charliersquos name has appeared in every issue of this newsletter
going as far back as January 2011 and before)
Charlie Rike
Georgiana Sobola
Charlie Rike with Dick Bernard and Judy Berglund at a training session State Fair Annual Picnic and Annual Meeting circa 2008
January 2021 Page 5
Important information for seniors on the COVID-19 Virus Julianne Johnston Public Health Nurse retired
As I write this ldquoessentialrdquo workers including hospital and nursing home staff are receiving one of the vaccines which have been granted emergency approval (early) from the US Food and Drug Administration The approval for Pfizer and the Germany company BioNTech and the Moderna Company have produced vaccines which have an efficacy rating of about 90 percent Efficacy means that the vaccine in clinical studies under best scientific controlled studies will produce that desired effect The vaccines prompts your body to develop antibodies against the virus You are not fully protected right away It takes your body time to develop immunity to the virus That can take weeks to develop after receiving the vaccine and a second immunization injection would be required to achieve full protection It also means that a small number of folks will not develop immunity Exactly how the vaccine will perform in the real world will depend on factors that do not have answers yet There will be a lag time in determing the actual effectiveness (success rate)
of the vaccine program and that will take months to determine Effectiveness is determined by the response in large populations in the real world Effectiveness is usually less than the original stated efficacy Experts are predicting that people who are vaccinated and have asymptomatic disease may still spread the virus to others though at a lesser rate So even if vaccinated everyone will have to continue to wear masks and practice social distancing until at least 90 percent of the population is vaccinated producing the desired ldquoherd immunityrdquo By slowing the spread of the virus vaccinated people help to protect themselves and those around them In other words if few people chose to complete the vaccine series of two injections and do not practice social distancing and mask wearing the virus will continue to spread uncontrolled It is anticipated that the vaccine will be available to everyone by June and the effectiveness of the vaccine will be determined sometime in the fall of 2021 The success of the vaccine is dependent on every one of us being part of the solution to end the COVID pandemic For more information on COVID-19 go to the Minnesota Department of Health at Minnesota Department of Health (statemnus) (hold down the CTRL key and then click on the web address)
Did you know
The Senior Caucus has a contract with Zoom Did you know that even if you do not have a computer you can join a Zoom meeting with your home telephone Or if you do not have a computer camera you can still join a meeting Any group or business within the Senior Caucus can be conducted with a Zoom meeting To get you into or organize a Zoom meeting contact Kay
Hendrikson dfleastmetrocaucusgmailcom or Earl Bower earlbowergmailcom (they are on our Technology Committee) and request that they set up a meeting for your group or meeting They can also give you instructions on how to use Zoom What Do Dues Do
The DFL Senior Caucus dues cover the expenses of events such as the Day on the Hill Annual Picnic Annual Meeting State Fair Senior Day information table at the DFL Pavilion and the Annual Gala The Senior Caucus has purchased contract with Zoom to use for meetings including the Board Meeting Chapter Chairs Group PIC book club discussions event planning and the Annual meeting It also has a paid contract with Mail Chimp for sending out important notices Dues support the start-up of chapters All printing for distribution of information to the public including this newsletter is done at a Union Printer including the hard copies of this newsletter The Senior News The Senior Caucus used its financial resources to purchase a public address system in a conference room It will also use that address system at the Annual Picnic Use of the PA system for other authorized Senior Caucus activities will be allowed
In addition according to the Senior Caucus Charter seniors who pay dues are considered voting members and are eligible to become officers in chapters and at the state Senior Caucus level
Please consider paying annual dues of $1000 annually to the Senior Caucus You can do so by following the instructions below The DFL Senior Caucus also uses an online payment system for dues You can access it by going to httpsdflseniorscom Choose JoinDonate ndash the big red button You have options You can donate your $10 annual dues payment all at once Or you can choose ongoing dues at $1 per month You can choose any amount of donation that you want You can also send a check for $10 or more made out to DFL Senior Caucus and send to
John Larva Treasurer
DFL Senior Caucus
1424 Woodhill Drive
Burnsville MN 55337
January 2021 Page 6
Getting to know Dwayne King Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston
Dwayne was raised in Caselton North Dakota (ND) on a share-crop one half section (320 acre) farm with his parents and he was one of their six children The farm produced and sold oats barley corn wheat popcorn and also raised pigs milked ten cows sold chickens and kept two horses to pull the manure spreader The farm did not have electricity until 1948 Dwayne raised and sold pigs to help pay for his college education At the age of twelve he definitely decided that he did not want to be a farmer His parents encouraged further education for all their children As a freshman at North Dakota Agricultural College now North Dakota State University Dwayne worked in the local creamery and received a scholarship from the farm where his dad worked He joined Sigma Chi an engineering fraternity and credits his fraternity for enabling him to become more outgoing He ran for the student senate while a sophomore in college and became comfortable speaking to large and small groups a good experience even though he was not elected Because it was a land grant university students were required to serve in the ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) during their first two years Dwayne opted to complete the ROTC program and he became an Army officer He graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering and worked for IBM spending much of his twenty-five years of employment with IBM as a systemrsquos engineer and a trainer for customers until he took an early retirement in 1990 Early on he made up three lists of what he hoped to achieve 1 What he wanted 2 What he thought he could achieve 3 What he did not think would be possible for him to achieve He says he has achieved three of the goals in list 3 in his lifetime Dwaynersquos mother developed Multiple Sclerosis at age fifty five and the family had to rely on Social Security Disability benefits for assistance Dwayne was aware of what the Democratic Party and Franklin Delano Roosevelt had done for people like his mother and his father helping people in difficult situations beyond their control or making When he had an opportunity to be at a rally for Jack Kennedy for president he was hooked Dwayne became involved with the Golden Valley DFL Club helping campaigns in his area He became a state delegate to a DFL convention and signed up for the Constitution Committee He traveled the state for two years getting input on the first revision of the DFL Partyrsquos constitution and then had to scramble at the last moment to produce the findings of that two-year effort He gave the report of the Constitution Committee to the DFL Central Committee and the recommendations were adopted thanks to his hard work in preparing the final report The revised DFL Constitution included proportional voting for candidates rather than the ldquosmoke
filled roomsrdquo Dwayne was named the chair of the newly formed Constitution Committee of the Minnesota DFL He ran for the House seat in his district and won election on his first try in a Republican indexed district He found that he had much to learn about being in office including how to get committee assignments learning about fellow office holders representing everyone in his district and knowing who his ldquoenemiesrdquo were in the House and in his district He learned how to ldquoread between the linesrdquo for constraints and calculations when politicians speak He was able to pass ten of eleven of his bills to the Senate They included a 40 increase in the Personal Needs Allowance for the disabled and others in nursing Homes and a payment for college students performing tasks for seniors in their homes These were difficult votes and ultimately the decision was up to the legislators regardless of what the voters may have wanted He lost in a re-election bid during the ldquoDFL Massacrerdquo (DFL lost 34 seats) when the Republicans took control of the House The Republicans had a strong get-out-the-vote strategy that was highly effective and the DFL was caught off-guard In 2006 Linda Fiest asked him to join the group that would soon create the DFL Senior Caucus Because of his experience on the Constitution Committee Dwayne was asked to write the Charter for the Senior Caucus using the DFL Constitution as an example He presented the Charter that he wrote to the DFL Constitution Committee and State DFL Convention where it was adopted in May of 2006 Dwayne then traveled all around the state with Linda Fiest recruiting seniors for the Senior Caucus Dwayne and Earl Bower also formed a team that talked to groups all over the state interested in becoming chapters of the Senior Caucus ndash a new concept for caucuses Earl and Dwayne were and remain strong proponents of developing chapters to increase the membership visibility and the importance of the Senior Caucus Dwayne reminds us that the DFL is a coalition of disparate groups who can always win when the groups pull together Dwayne would like the Senior Caucus to have more involvement in the political process He wants the endorsements from the Caucus to be fair and should endorse politicians who can and will further Senior Caucus issues He hopes that State Senior Caucus will avoid the risk of renegade actions by individuals andor committees and avoid the risk of a few people making decisions for everyone He would like the membership to be more aware of how the DFL works and learn from it and utilize core groups who know how politics should work No one chapter should have the major voice All chapters should participate equally The Senior Caucus should focus on statewide issues and its chapters should focus on local issues And since the beginning the Senior Caucus needs to continue to attract and have active membership to impact legislation that promote senior
Dwayne King
January 2021 Page 7
issues Age discriminations is rampant both within the Party and in our state and nation He notes that in general the DFL Party does not understand senior issues The Senior Caucus must raise awareness in the DFL Party raise awareness in State legislation raise awareness in national issues It would be wonderful to develop more senior caucuses in other states and then senior voting would have a greater impact
Other issues to address are the need for more awareness in Senior Caucus on health care coverage concerns for everyone ndash it is a right not a privilegemdash everyone should be eligible for coverage for the health care services that they need There is a need to consider legislative effects on our children and grandchildren as well He strongly endorses the education of the public on the needs of seniors for broadband and safe senior residential living
The purpose of the DFL Senior Caucus Yesterday and Today
Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston
The DFL Senior Caucus was founded in 2006 by
politically experienced and concerned DFL activists to
establish a statewide DFL organization that would focus
on and promote senior issues and concerns Its founders
believed that with a strong and unified voice the Senior
Caucus would influence candidates and elected officials
to address the needs of older Americans in Minnesota
through policy and law Its unified voice would assure
that the needs of older Minnesotans and their families
would be addressed in our statersquos policies and laws The
many experienced DFL party activists who founded the
Senior Caucus strongly believed that their efforts could
in fact influence voters and their choice of elected
officials
Many of the founders of the Senior Caucus were
active and engaged party activists including Linda Feist
and her husband Roger Junnila Dwayne King
Georgiana Ruzich Earl Bower James Reed Dick
Bernard Mary Ann Beneke Jim Poradek Ed Mars John
Martin and others initially or within the first couple of
years of its existence They recognized the increase in
baby boomers becoming seniors and that seniors were
living longer Their financial resources had to stretch
further than actuaries had predicted The founders also
recognized that there needed to be advocacy for this
growing senior population The founders of the DFL
Senior Caucus were pioneers in supporting senior issues
and making the Senior Caucus organization visible and
important to legislators policy makers and voters
The Senior Caucus held its first Annual Meeting in
2007 and made plans to staff an information table in the
DFL pavilion at the annual State Fair and it has done so
every year since save for 2020 when that annual event
was cancelled because of the pandemic Participants were
encouraged to contact everyone that they thought might
be interested in becoming members informing them of the
purpose of the Senior Caucus and asking them to join
Issues discussed at that initial Annual Meeting included
increasing membership developing an action plan for the
next year determining the best ways to be influential
visible and to be taken seriously by legislators and the
voters and how to decide which issues would be most
important to seniors They were developing the Senior
Caucus platform for the next year
It was determined that the priorities for research
study recommendations and resolutions were affordable
health care fair and equitable tax policies sound
transportation fair and reasonable prescription drug
prices affordable housing and safe and livable
communities Access to highspeed broadband internet
services has since been added to that initial priority list
The Senior Caucus determined that it should limit itself to
achievable goals and that it should develop a set of goals
that include the needs of non-seniors as well as those of
seniors Subsequent Annual Meetings set aside time for
the participants to brainstorm in small groups to
determine the most important issues to research and focus
and included planning sessions led by Dick Bernard and
Judy Berglund
A retreat led by Lynn VanDervort resulted in the
following recommendations shared leadership amongst
all the members assigning responsibilities and holding
assignees accountable avoiding the possibility of
developing internal factions causing dysfunction
developing intergenerational planning and programing
having shared goals recognizing gaps in membership by
age groups and using the Mission Statement to promote
shared values Those recommendations regarding the
operation of the Senior Caucus remain just as valid today
The founders of the Senior Caucus emphasized the
importance of using all available means of
communication to extend the interest in and the visibility
January 2021 Page 8
2020 Senior Caucus Endorsement Task Force Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston together with Jim Reed Joe
Mullery and Karla Sand
Since its founding in 2006 by several dedicated committed and experienced DFL activists the Senior Caucus has always been intent on becoming visible and
credible in its support of issues affecting seniors throughout the state The founders knew that that was the only way to leverage its rather small number of members
into a force that legislators and other policy makers would listen to and who would be willing to support senior issues Senior Caucus members have worked on campaigns they had and continue to have information
tables at the annual Minnesota State Fair they have information tables at DFL conventions they proudly wear t-shirts with Senior Caucus emblazoned across the front
The founders developed a state-wide newsletter early on to let seniors across the state know that the Senior Caucus exists and what it does and can do for seniors All these
efforts and activities have made legislators policy makers and the public at large aware of the Senior Caucus and see it as a visible and credible organization that cannot be
ignored The continuation of these efforts to be both visible and credible with respect to bringing senior issues and concerns to policy makers is now handled by the
important Political Involvement Committee (PIC)
A recent example of successful visibility and credibility was the Endorsement Task Force working under the auspices of the PIC that was convened to review requests for endorsement by the Senior Caucus prior to the August 2020 primary
This group handled the endorsement screenings for
candidates in districts where there were no chapters that covered the whole district Note While all chapters were invited to participate in the Senior Caucus endorsement
process not all of them met that criteria Some chapters did however and recommended endorsements for some local offices as well as for the state legislature Volunteers
included Mel Aanerud (Anoka) Bonnie Lokenvitz (East Central) Tony Scallon (greater Minneapolis) and Roger
Gehrke (South Metro)
Chapters were encouraged to set up an endorsements committee which would interview and screen all the
candidates in the districts totally within the chapter area They were then supposed to review the candidates written answers to the questionnaire and then interview the
candidates in person or on the phone or electronically for about an hour about the answers on the questionnaires and on other topics the members deemed appropriate They
would also explain the Senior Caucus views when candidates did not know or understand the issues
The questionnaire ideas came from many people Each person on a screening committee could ask pertinent questions at the screening The screeners determined in advance what additional questions they would ask and if
there was still time they could ask further questions The fact that nearly forty prospective candidates all
but four of them running for Congress or the State House or the State Senate asked for endorsement by the Senior Caucus just confirmed the recognition by those
candidates of the value placed upon that recognition and support from the Senior Caucus If they did not think that endorsement by the Senior Caucus would add value to
their campaigns they would not have sought it
Only three of the nearly forty candidates who requested endorsement by the Senior Caucus lost their
primary election bids which is quite a remarkable statement about the value as well as the credibility of the Senior Caucus endorsement The fact that they sought
endorsement by the Senior Caucus is a tribute to all the members who have worked so hard going all the way back to 2006 to make sure that the organization was
visible and credible The Senior Caucus wanted to make
of the Senior Caucus including Seniors Calling Seniors
the DFL data base telephone email and snail mail The
newsletter the Senior News was added it was published
periodically and then on a regular quarterly basis The
newsletter also produced an annual special state fair
recruitment edition to be distributed at the Senior Caucus
information table in the DFL pavilion on Senior Days at
the State Fair The founders of the Senior Caucus believed
that there was strength in numbers and building the
membership around the state would be needed to increase
the visibility of the organization By traveling around the
state Earl Bower Linda Feist and Roger Junnila
determined that chapters could be formed to increase that
membership numbers and caucus visibility Later Earl
and Dwayne King also traveled around the state
facilitating the development of chapters in both the rural
and urban parts of the state Currently there are eleven
Senior Caucus chapters throughout Minnesota
The importance of determining which issues are of
most concern and interest to seniors around the state
and informing the DFL legislators policy makers and
the public at large continues to be a major reason for
the existence of the DFL Senior Caucus today
January 2021 Page 9
sure that when it talked to legislators and policy makers and asked for support for a piece of legislation or policy
that its rationale for asking for support was credible and had been fully investigated Just offering an opinion in support of an important senior issue would not be
credible and The Senior Caucus knew that Being credible meant that it had to be supported by careful consideration and thorough research
That many DFL legislators and members of Congress
willingly provided Capitol Corner updates for the Senior
News the official newsletter of the Senior Caucus is yet
another recognition by those important folks of the
visibility and the credibility of the organization None of
the above would have happened had the Senior Caucus
not be seen as a visible and credible organization
representing senior views
Members of the Endorsements Task Force that must
be thanked for their efforts in 2020 included Chair Joe
Mullery Tony Scallon Jan Dietrich Milt Schoen and
Judy Corraro They deserve thanks for their dedication
and diligent work on this important matter a matter that
confirmed once again the visibility AND the credibility of
the Senior Caucus
How to MAGA ala Donald Trump Norm Hanson
Proclaim yourself as the smartest and
greatest president ever to reside in the White House
Denigrate all governmental institutions including
justice public health intelligence and (fill-in-the-blanks) and claim that you know more and better than all the experienced and skilled civil servants in those areas
Cozy up to the leaders of countries that are adversaries of the United States including Russia and North Korea and castigate and criticize the
leaders of countries that are friends of the United States
Pull the US from any treaties and agreements
negotiated by previous administrations especially those negotiated by President Obama
Do everything that you can to eliminate Obamacare
and claim to replace with your great health plan that does not exist
Claim that the 2016 and the 2020 elections were
rigged in favor of your opponents but then accept the results of 2016 when you won and refuse to accept them in 2020 when you lost
Do everything that you can to question the integrity of the election process no matter the lack of evidence that the elections were conducted other
than fairly and transparently Question criticize
and label all state election officials regardless of their party affiliation as being incompetent
stupid biased and trying to do everything that they could to get Biden elected
Denigrate the military by publicly referring to any
and all service men and women especially those who were wounded captured or killed as suckers and losers (despite being able to dodge
the draft five time and yet able to become commander-in-chief )
Pardon war criminals whose actions in the areas of conflict where US forces were involved placed servicemen and women in harmrsquos way
Do everything that you can with actions and words thereby able to divide the good citizens of the country facilitating the us (really me) against
them especially those Democrats liberals progressives and (fill-in-the-blanks)
Stack the SCOTUS with conservative justices that
will impact public policy for decades to come the real legacy that Trump will leave behind
And of course characteristically of who he is as a
man his inability to graciously concede that he lost his bid for re-election
And one more thingndash promote the storming of the Nations Capitol Building causing insurrection in order to prevent the confirmation of the vote for
president of someone other than you
January 2021 Page 10
DFL Senior Caucus Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting December 10 2020 Jim Reed
Members and friends gathered for the Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting which was held via Zoom on December 10 About fifty members attended which is a surprisingly large number in this year of COVID 19 Caucus members engaged openly on the topics presented Discussion centered on issues that the Senior Caucus could advance in 2021including caucus membership broadband communications aging in place specialized transportation and building coalitions to achieve greater influence Membership Director Josey Warren summarized efforts to increase membership across Greater Minnesota and to establish more Senior Caucus chapters The Minneapolis Chapter was recognized in the spring of 2020 and a St Paul chapter is just getting organized A Chapter Chairs Committee has been established with representatives from chapters to work together on programs member recruitment services communications and to share successes
Secretary Jim Reed reported on the development of broadband communications in Minnesota Some areas in Greater Minnesota still do not have broadband services which are needed by seniors to participate fully in our modern society Some federal and state funding has been made available to expand broadband service and the state has a task force to set objectives consider alternatives and review progress Advances have been made but technology presses forward and technology appeared first and sometimes only in urban centers Pressed by the 2020 pandemic government may only offer limited support for rural development The Senior Caucus will follow this progress and offer support as appropriate
Board Director Roger Gehrke reported on actions seniors should consider in order to continue to live in their own homes Actions include moving to a single level floor plan having railings attached where appropriate indoors and outdoors ensuring that appliances and vehicles are in good running order removing scatter rugs using delivery services and in-home health care He recommended discarding or donating objects no longer being used He recommended hobbies to suit a more limited lifestyle It is important to update wills trusts and health directives
Vice-chair Karla Sand gave an overview of legislative issues for specialized transportation Three issues now stand out commercial licenses for volunteer drivers high insurance costs for those drivers and taxation of reimbursement for volunteers Under current law individuals need expensive commercial licenses if they
sometimes drive a van or bus for a church or a non-profit service Insurance is expensive for covering the additional risk for disabled riders Legislation is needed to allow volunteers usually seniors to afford these extra costs The Senior Caucus will actively support legislation that will assist volunteer drivers for seniors
Complete reports from Jim Reed Karla Sand and Roger Gehrke can be found on the DFL Senior Caucus website (wwwdflseniorsorg)
Karla also introduced Senior Caucus efforts to form coalitions with other DFL caucuses and non-profits and to combine these efforts with caucus chapters The Senior Caucus will expand these coalitions whenever and wherever they are possible and will be effective The Disability Rural and Veterans Caucuses would be good working partners The Senior Caucus already works with AARP and other nonprofits to the extent that the law allow for non-profits
DFL Chair Ken Martin made a special appearance and discussed the DFL results in 2020 and prospects for 2021 He listed the DFL Party successes and concerns from the 2020 elections The party held on to the US Senate seat held the second and third US House seats gained in 2018 and retained a majority in the Minnesota House However one rural US House seat was lost and the Minnesota Senate remained in Republican hands In 2021 the DFL must rebuild its importance in rural Minnesota The Senior Caucus can help to promote the DFL as seniors are a dominate voting bloc in Greater Minnesota
The Annual Membership Meeting then considered two motions One was to actively support and promote ldquoEnd of Liferdquo legislation in the Minnesota legislature The legislation would allow terminally ill individuals of sound mind to acquire ldquoend of liferdquo medication from their physician After considerable debate the motion was tabled and referred to the Senior Caucus Board Political Involvement Committee (PIC) for further study and recommendations to the Board
The second motion was for a minor change to the Senior Caucus Charter to allow passage of charter amendments at special membership meetings as well as the Annual Membership Meeting Previously only the Annual Membership Meeting could pass charter updates This motion passed
Jim Reed
2019 In-person Annual Meeting
DFL SENIOR CAUCUS
255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107
CONTACTS Email-dflseniorsgmailcom
Website httpdflseniorsorg
Don Bye Chair 218-568-5530 byelawofficehotmailcom Karla Sand Vice Chair 651-739-7397 karlavioletshotmailcom
Committees Documents Position open Events Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Membership Position open Political Involvement Committee Coordinator Karla Sand karlavioletshotmailcom Technology Committee Kay Hendrikson dflseniorsgmailcom SENIOR NEWS The DFL Senior News is published at least four times a year by the DFL Senior Caucus 255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107 to provide news items of DFL Senior Caucus events and other items of interest to Minnesota seniors Readers are encouraged to submit articles for publication on subjects of interest to Minnesota DFL seniors Accepted articles may be edited to meet these goals and space requirements Submit articles and comments to Norm Hanson Editor 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom or Julianne Johnston 651-486-7120 juliannetjmsncom JOIN THE SENIOR CAUCUS Membership dues are $10 annually Join online or Send your check made out to DFL Senior Caucus and send to John Larva Treasurer DFL Senior Caucus 1424 Woodhill Drive Burnsville MN 55337
For waiver of dues please contact
Chair Don Bye or Vice-chair Karla Sand
January 2021 Page 11
Editors Norm Hanson newsletter editor norsan45hotmailcom 651-484-8926
Julianne Johnston design and layout editor juliannetjmsncom 651-486-7120
Columnists Norm Hanson Melissa Hortman Julianne Johnston Jim Reed
Photographs Dick Bernard Julianne Johnston Charlie Rike
Reviewer Sandy Hanson
DFL Senior Caucus Chapters January 2021 Note Chapter meetings are being held as Zoom Meetings
Persons without computers or cell phones can join with a landline phone Contact the chair to get further information about joining a meeting
Anoka Chapter - Anoka County Chair Mel Aanerud 763-434-3809 Aanerud4comcastnet East Central Chapter - SD 11 SD 15 amp Isanti County area Chair Bonnie Lokenvitz 320-679-8202 blokenvitzgmailcom East Metro Chapter - Maplewood and east Chair Kay Hendrikson 651-739-1080 dfleastmetrocaucus gmailcom Mankato Area Chapter Chair Richard Chambers 507-420-4030 gdthdraolcom Minneapolis Area Chapter Chair Kenneth Vreeland 612-722-8017 borderlord_oneyahoocom North East Minnesota Chapter - Duluth area Chair Gary Westorff 612-709-5342 nemndflsrsyahoocom North Metro Chapter ndash Northern Suburban Metropolitan area Chair Norm Hanson 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom St Paul Chapter - St Paul area Chair Lyn Burton 651-336-4493 lburton612aolcom South East MN Chapter - Rochester area Chair Patricia Mann Mannpa1chartercom South Metro Chapter - CD 2 and Dakota County area Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Tri-County Chapter ndash Washington County Chisago County and Kanabec County areas Chair Sandra Trudeau 651-492-1149 wmsandycomcastnet
DFL Senior News
255 East Plato Blvd
Saint Paul MN 55107
First Class
All Meetings at this time will be
conducted via
Zoom
Contact the chair of the meeting for
more information
DFL Senior Caucus Calendar 2021 Events All Events are Handicapped Accessible
Social Luncheon - On Hold due to the COVID-19
Senior Caucus Board Meeting - Meetings will be held via Zoom at times determined by the Board Contact Vice Chair Karla Sand 651-739-7397 or karlavioletshotmailcom
Senior Caucus Book Club - Meetings are being held by Zoom on third Mondays Contact Jim Reed jreed11665comcastnet for more information See January discussion January 18 11 am to 1 pm see page 2 page of this issue will be a ZOOM meeting
Inauguration Day on January 20 2021
Contacts for the Senior Caucus
Facebook at httpswwwfacebookcomgroupsDFLSeniorCaucus Email dflseniorsgmailcom Website httpdflseniorsorg Check out the calendar on the website for scheduled meetings and events as they
are scheduled through out each month
Standard The Senior News has the luxury that every newsletter would like to have and that is having more information submitted and ready than can be published in a ten to twelve page newsletter It is a challenge as we have to decide which articles and photos to include in each issue which ones to defer until the next issue and which ones that we have to save for a later issue We thank all of our readers for their continued support for their newsletter and the luxury as well as the challenges that this gives to US However we always welcome more articles from our readers to be sure we cover all the interests and concerns of DFL seniors
January 2021 Page 3
House DFLers focused on COVID-19
recovery building a Minnesota that works better for
everyone Melissa Hortman Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives represents District 36B which includes portions of Anoka and Hennepin counties Prior to the 2018 elections she served as Minority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives
The Minnesota 2021 legislative session began on
January 5 and faces significant challenges including the
COVID-19 pandemic an economy impacted by the
public health crisis and a projected budget deficit As we
confront these challenges Democrats in the majority in
the Minnesota House of Representatives remain focused
on building a state that works better for everyone
Democrats are focused on recovering and rebuilding
from COVID-19 affordable health care good schools
job training and economic security We must invest in
the areas that will help Minnesotans make it through this
crisis and thrive after it
2020 was a heart-wrenching year COVID-19 has cost
the lives of more than 4000 Minnesotans We have lost
people we love years before their time from this virus
Family members have lost loved ones without being able
to hold their hands comfort them and say goodbye
Students and educators have had to adapt to distance
learning and too many people have lost jobs or had to
close or scale back their businesses
I am pleased the Minnesota Legislature provided
assistance to workers and businesses in the December
Special Session Our economic assistance package
provided some help ndash but Minnesotans need more
substantial resources that only the federal government
can provide Workers and businesses need help from the
federal government to get through what we hope are the
last difficult weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic until
vaccines are widely distributed and available to everyone
In the upcoming 2021 budget session we will continue
our work to rebuild Minnesotarsquos economy
Minnesotans mdash no matter where we live what we
look like or where we come from mdash deserve affordable
and accessible health care The House DFL successfully
worked to protect health care for 12 million Minnesotans
in the last budget and worked to make prescription drugs
more affordable We will continue our work to make sure
every Minnesotan has access to the health care they need
at a price they can afford
Every Minnesotan deserves high-quality education
and job training opportunities We need to do more to
close the opportunity gap and to help Minnesotans get the
training they need to get jobs with wages and benefits
that will support their families There are many pathways
to successful careers Connecting students with better
options for a variety of career and technical education
options can lead to more personal fulfillment and less
time and money spent by individuals and the state on
educational options that do not lead to good paying jobs
and satisfying careers
Finally Minnesotans deserve economic security
COVID-19 has further highlighted the need for all
Minnesotans to have time to care for themselves and their
families To ensure their economic security and well-
being as well as to protect public health every
Minnesotan needs paid family leave and earned sick and
ldquosaferdquo time
As Minnesota faces the challenges ahead legislators
are working in the only legislature in the country with
divided partisan control Majority House Democrats are
ready to find common ground We need Republicans
who hold the majority in the Senate to join with us and
leave the divisive rhetoric of the campaign season
behind Irsquom hopeful we will replicate the productive
partnerships we established over the last two years and
find agreement on the issues that matter most to
Minnesotans
Minnesotans care about each other ndash we want good
lives for our families and for our neighbors as well Our
shared values bring us together and serve as a foundation
for us to move forward together to build a better future
for all Minnesotans
Melissa Hortman
January 2021 Page 4
Memories of long-time DFL supporter Georgiana Sobola
Georgiana was born into an immigrant Czech family and entered grade school speaking
English as her second language After she graduated from high school she went on to earn a MA
degree in Library Science
She was a member of the Roseville League of Women Voters for more than 50 years and a
member of the League over all for sixty-nine years Georgiana was selected to be the League
representative for the Roseville Charter Commission and was also a regular League Monitor of the Roseville City
Council attending every meeting and reporting back to the League with issues and concerns
She was a translated old Czech handwritten documents into English for the Bohemian Czech Inc in Wisconsin
For many years Georgiana served as an election judge for every election held in Roseville She believed in voting
rights and citizen responsibilities For the 20 years in the previous DFL Senate District 54 she served on the
newsletter committee and submitted many well-researched articles which included city charter options income
disparity runoff voting election judges candidate forums voter ID and the importance of voting that were of
interest for the many readers She was an involved member of the DFL Senior Caucus and attended the North Metro
Chapter She was an active participant in our society Georgiana was mentally clear and up-to-date on Democratic
Party issues when she died at the age of 94 after a very short-term illness
Welcomed into this country in an immigrant family Georgiana exemplifies what a contribution she and others
have made in this country in significant ways
We have lost a good friend
Charles (Charlie Chuck Union Brother Gramps) Rike Sr was a dedicated union member
serving as union board member corresponding secretary for the State Retiree Council
member and former treasurer of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 7200
and its retiree group and the Minnesota AFL-CIO His greatest love was politics and he was a
very strong Democrat We of the DFL Senior Caucus knew him to be a very friendly person
who attended many DFL Senior Caucus events usually with a camera around his neck taking
pictures of all that was going on around him He was an active member of the Pine County DFL former chair of the
East Central Chapter Senior Caucus Board member volunteer at the State Fair DFL Senior Caucus Day table and the
Union booth across the street and prolific writer of Letters to the Editor in local and state newspapers about political
and labor concerns He was definitely not afraid to express his opinions He ran for political office twice once for
Anoka County Auditor and once for state representative however he was never elected to office He had recently
sold his house and car and moved into Lake Side Assisted Living Home in Pine City He was worried that he hadnrsquot
paid his Senior Caucus dues and wrote a check just weeks before he died on November 7 2020 He was a victim of
COVID-19 We will all miss his contributions to seniors to the DFL and to the unions to which he belonged But
most of all we will miss being with Charlie Rike (The Senior News interviewed Charlie for an article about him
You can read that article in the January 2019 Edition Charliersquos name has appeared in every issue of this newsletter
going as far back as January 2011 and before)
Charlie Rike
Georgiana Sobola
Charlie Rike with Dick Bernard and Judy Berglund at a training session State Fair Annual Picnic and Annual Meeting circa 2008
January 2021 Page 5
Important information for seniors on the COVID-19 Virus Julianne Johnston Public Health Nurse retired
As I write this ldquoessentialrdquo workers including hospital and nursing home staff are receiving one of the vaccines which have been granted emergency approval (early) from the US Food and Drug Administration The approval for Pfizer and the Germany company BioNTech and the Moderna Company have produced vaccines which have an efficacy rating of about 90 percent Efficacy means that the vaccine in clinical studies under best scientific controlled studies will produce that desired effect The vaccines prompts your body to develop antibodies against the virus You are not fully protected right away It takes your body time to develop immunity to the virus That can take weeks to develop after receiving the vaccine and a second immunization injection would be required to achieve full protection It also means that a small number of folks will not develop immunity Exactly how the vaccine will perform in the real world will depend on factors that do not have answers yet There will be a lag time in determing the actual effectiveness (success rate)
of the vaccine program and that will take months to determine Effectiveness is determined by the response in large populations in the real world Effectiveness is usually less than the original stated efficacy Experts are predicting that people who are vaccinated and have asymptomatic disease may still spread the virus to others though at a lesser rate So even if vaccinated everyone will have to continue to wear masks and practice social distancing until at least 90 percent of the population is vaccinated producing the desired ldquoherd immunityrdquo By slowing the spread of the virus vaccinated people help to protect themselves and those around them In other words if few people chose to complete the vaccine series of two injections and do not practice social distancing and mask wearing the virus will continue to spread uncontrolled It is anticipated that the vaccine will be available to everyone by June and the effectiveness of the vaccine will be determined sometime in the fall of 2021 The success of the vaccine is dependent on every one of us being part of the solution to end the COVID pandemic For more information on COVID-19 go to the Minnesota Department of Health at Minnesota Department of Health (statemnus) (hold down the CTRL key and then click on the web address)
Did you know
The Senior Caucus has a contract with Zoom Did you know that even if you do not have a computer you can join a Zoom meeting with your home telephone Or if you do not have a computer camera you can still join a meeting Any group or business within the Senior Caucus can be conducted with a Zoom meeting To get you into or organize a Zoom meeting contact Kay
Hendrikson dfleastmetrocaucusgmailcom or Earl Bower earlbowergmailcom (they are on our Technology Committee) and request that they set up a meeting for your group or meeting They can also give you instructions on how to use Zoom What Do Dues Do
The DFL Senior Caucus dues cover the expenses of events such as the Day on the Hill Annual Picnic Annual Meeting State Fair Senior Day information table at the DFL Pavilion and the Annual Gala The Senior Caucus has purchased contract with Zoom to use for meetings including the Board Meeting Chapter Chairs Group PIC book club discussions event planning and the Annual meeting It also has a paid contract with Mail Chimp for sending out important notices Dues support the start-up of chapters All printing for distribution of information to the public including this newsletter is done at a Union Printer including the hard copies of this newsletter The Senior News The Senior Caucus used its financial resources to purchase a public address system in a conference room It will also use that address system at the Annual Picnic Use of the PA system for other authorized Senior Caucus activities will be allowed
In addition according to the Senior Caucus Charter seniors who pay dues are considered voting members and are eligible to become officers in chapters and at the state Senior Caucus level
Please consider paying annual dues of $1000 annually to the Senior Caucus You can do so by following the instructions below The DFL Senior Caucus also uses an online payment system for dues You can access it by going to httpsdflseniorscom Choose JoinDonate ndash the big red button You have options You can donate your $10 annual dues payment all at once Or you can choose ongoing dues at $1 per month You can choose any amount of donation that you want You can also send a check for $10 or more made out to DFL Senior Caucus and send to
John Larva Treasurer
DFL Senior Caucus
1424 Woodhill Drive
Burnsville MN 55337
January 2021 Page 6
Getting to know Dwayne King Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston
Dwayne was raised in Caselton North Dakota (ND) on a share-crop one half section (320 acre) farm with his parents and he was one of their six children The farm produced and sold oats barley corn wheat popcorn and also raised pigs milked ten cows sold chickens and kept two horses to pull the manure spreader The farm did not have electricity until 1948 Dwayne raised and sold pigs to help pay for his college education At the age of twelve he definitely decided that he did not want to be a farmer His parents encouraged further education for all their children As a freshman at North Dakota Agricultural College now North Dakota State University Dwayne worked in the local creamery and received a scholarship from the farm where his dad worked He joined Sigma Chi an engineering fraternity and credits his fraternity for enabling him to become more outgoing He ran for the student senate while a sophomore in college and became comfortable speaking to large and small groups a good experience even though he was not elected Because it was a land grant university students were required to serve in the ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) during their first two years Dwayne opted to complete the ROTC program and he became an Army officer He graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering and worked for IBM spending much of his twenty-five years of employment with IBM as a systemrsquos engineer and a trainer for customers until he took an early retirement in 1990 Early on he made up three lists of what he hoped to achieve 1 What he wanted 2 What he thought he could achieve 3 What he did not think would be possible for him to achieve He says he has achieved three of the goals in list 3 in his lifetime Dwaynersquos mother developed Multiple Sclerosis at age fifty five and the family had to rely on Social Security Disability benefits for assistance Dwayne was aware of what the Democratic Party and Franklin Delano Roosevelt had done for people like his mother and his father helping people in difficult situations beyond their control or making When he had an opportunity to be at a rally for Jack Kennedy for president he was hooked Dwayne became involved with the Golden Valley DFL Club helping campaigns in his area He became a state delegate to a DFL convention and signed up for the Constitution Committee He traveled the state for two years getting input on the first revision of the DFL Partyrsquos constitution and then had to scramble at the last moment to produce the findings of that two-year effort He gave the report of the Constitution Committee to the DFL Central Committee and the recommendations were adopted thanks to his hard work in preparing the final report The revised DFL Constitution included proportional voting for candidates rather than the ldquosmoke
filled roomsrdquo Dwayne was named the chair of the newly formed Constitution Committee of the Minnesota DFL He ran for the House seat in his district and won election on his first try in a Republican indexed district He found that he had much to learn about being in office including how to get committee assignments learning about fellow office holders representing everyone in his district and knowing who his ldquoenemiesrdquo were in the House and in his district He learned how to ldquoread between the linesrdquo for constraints and calculations when politicians speak He was able to pass ten of eleven of his bills to the Senate They included a 40 increase in the Personal Needs Allowance for the disabled and others in nursing Homes and a payment for college students performing tasks for seniors in their homes These were difficult votes and ultimately the decision was up to the legislators regardless of what the voters may have wanted He lost in a re-election bid during the ldquoDFL Massacrerdquo (DFL lost 34 seats) when the Republicans took control of the House The Republicans had a strong get-out-the-vote strategy that was highly effective and the DFL was caught off-guard In 2006 Linda Fiest asked him to join the group that would soon create the DFL Senior Caucus Because of his experience on the Constitution Committee Dwayne was asked to write the Charter for the Senior Caucus using the DFL Constitution as an example He presented the Charter that he wrote to the DFL Constitution Committee and State DFL Convention where it was adopted in May of 2006 Dwayne then traveled all around the state with Linda Fiest recruiting seniors for the Senior Caucus Dwayne and Earl Bower also formed a team that talked to groups all over the state interested in becoming chapters of the Senior Caucus ndash a new concept for caucuses Earl and Dwayne were and remain strong proponents of developing chapters to increase the membership visibility and the importance of the Senior Caucus Dwayne reminds us that the DFL is a coalition of disparate groups who can always win when the groups pull together Dwayne would like the Senior Caucus to have more involvement in the political process He wants the endorsements from the Caucus to be fair and should endorse politicians who can and will further Senior Caucus issues He hopes that State Senior Caucus will avoid the risk of renegade actions by individuals andor committees and avoid the risk of a few people making decisions for everyone He would like the membership to be more aware of how the DFL works and learn from it and utilize core groups who know how politics should work No one chapter should have the major voice All chapters should participate equally The Senior Caucus should focus on statewide issues and its chapters should focus on local issues And since the beginning the Senior Caucus needs to continue to attract and have active membership to impact legislation that promote senior
Dwayne King
January 2021 Page 7
issues Age discriminations is rampant both within the Party and in our state and nation He notes that in general the DFL Party does not understand senior issues The Senior Caucus must raise awareness in the DFL Party raise awareness in State legislation raise awareness in national issues It would be wonderful to develop more senior caucuses in other states and then senior voting would have a greater impact
Other issues to address are the need for more awareness in Senior Caucus on health care coverage concerns for everyone ndash it is a right not a privilegemdash everyone should be eligible for coverage for the health care services that they need There is a need to consider legislative effects on our children and grandchildren as well He strongly endorses the education of the public on the needs of seniors for broadband and safe senior residential living
The purpose of the DFL Senior Caucus Yesterday and Today
Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston
The DFL Senior Caucus was founded in 2006 by
politically experienced and concerned DFL activists to
establish a statewide DFL organization that would focus
on and promote senior issues and concerns Its founders
believed that with a strong and unified voice the Senior
Caucus would influence candidates and elected officials
to address the needs of older Americans in Minnesota
through policy and law Its unified voice would assure
that the needs of older Minnesotans and their families
would be addressed in our statersquos policies and laws The
many experienced DFL party activists who founded the
Senior Caucus strongly believed that their efforts could
in fact influence voters and their choice of elected
officials
Many of the founders of the Senior Caucus were
active and engaged party activists including Linda Feist
and her husband Roger Junnila Dwayne King
Georgiana Ruzich Earl Bower James Reed Dick
Bernard Mary Ann Beneke Jim Poradek Ed Mars John
Martin and others initially or within the first couple of
years of its existence They recognized the increase in
baby boomers becoming seniors and that seniors were
living longer Their financial resources had to stretch
further than actuaries had predicted The founders also
recognized that there needed to be advocacy for this
growing senior population The founders of the DFL
Senior Caucus were pioneers in supporting senior issues
and making the Senior Caucus organization visible and
important to legislators policy makers and voters
The Senior Caucus held its first Annual Meeting in
2007 and made plans to staff an information table in the
DFL pavilion at the annual State Fair and it has done so
every year since save for 2020 when that annual event
was cancelled because of the pandemic Participants were
encouraged to contact everyone that they thought might
be interested in becoming members informing them of the
purpose of the Senior Caucus and asking them to join
Issues discussed at that initial Annual Meeting included
increasing membership developing an action plan for the
next year determining the best ways to be influential
visible and to be taken seriously by legislators and the
voters and how to decide which issues would be most
important to seniors They were developing the Senior
Caucus platform for the next year
It was determined that the priorities for research
study recommendations and resolutions were affordable
health care fair and equitable tax policies sound
transportation fair and reasonable prescription drug
prices affordable housing and safe and livable
communities Access to highspeed broadband internet
services has since been added to that initial priority list
The Senior Caucus determined that it should limit itself to
achievable goals and that it should develop a set of goals
that include the needs of non-seniors as well as those of
seniors Subsequent Annual Meetings set aside time for
the participants to brainstorm in small groups to
determine the most important issues to research and focus
and included planning sessions led by Dick Bernard and
Judy Berglund
A retreat led by Lynn VanDervort resulted in the
following recommendations shared leadership amongst
all the members assigning responsibilities and holding
assignees accountable avoiding the possibility of
developing internal factions causing dysfunction
developing intergenerational planning and programing
having shared goals recognizing gaps in membership by
age groups and using the Mission Statement to promote
shared values Those recommendations regarding the
operation of the Senior Caucus remain just as valid today
The founders of the Senior Caucus emphasized the
importance of using all available means of
communication to extend the interest in and the visibility
January 2021 Page 8
2020 Senior Caucus Endorsement Task Force Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston together with Jim Reed Joe
Mullery and Karla Sand
Since its founding in 2006 by several dedicated committed and experienced DFL activists the Senior Caucus has always been intent on becoming visible and
credible in its support of issues affecting seniors throughout the state The founders knew that that was the only way to leverage its rather small number of members
into a force that legislators and other policy makers would listen to and who would be willing to support senior issues Senior Caucus members have worked on campaigns they had and continue to have information
tables at the annual Minnesota State Fair they have information tables at DFL conventions they proudly wear t-shirts with Senior Caucus emblazoned across the front
The founders developed a state-wide newsletter early on to let seniors across the state know that the Senior Caucus exists and what it does and can do for seniors All these
efforts and activities have made legislators policy makers and the public at large aware of the Senior Caucus and see it as a visible and credible organization that cannot be
ignored The continuation of these efforts to be both visible and credible with respect to bringing senior issues and concerns to policy makers is now handled by the
important Political Involvement Committee (PIC)
A recent example of successful visibility and credibility was the Endorsement Task Force working under the auspices of the PIC that was convened to review requests for endorsement by the Senior Caucus prior to the August 2020 primary
This group handled the endorsement screenings for
candidates in districts where there were no chapters that covered the whole district Note While all chapters were invited to participate in the Senior Caucus endorsement
process not all of them met that criteria Some chapters did however and recommended endorsements for some local offices as well as for the state legislature Volunteers
included Mel Aanerud (Anoka) Bonnie Lokenvitz (East Central) Tony Scallon (greater Minneapolis) and Roger
Gehrke (South Metro)
Chapters were encouraged to set up an endorsements committee which would interview and screen all the
candidates in the districts totally within the chapter area They were then supposed to review the candidates written answers to the questionnaire and then interview the
candidates in person or on the phone or electronically for about an hour about the answers on the questionnaires and on other topics the members deemed appropriate They
would also explain the Senior Caucus views when candidates did not know or understand the issues
The questionnaire ideas came from many people Each person on a screening committee could ask pertinent questions at the screening The screeners determined in advance what additional questions they would ask and if
there was still time they could ask further questions The fact that nearly forty prospective candidates all
but four of them running for Congress or the State House or the State Senate asked for endorsement by the Senior Caucus just confirmed the recognition by those
candidates of the value placed upon that recognition and support from the Senior Caucus If they did not think that endorsement by the Senior Caucus would add value to
their campaigns they would not have sought it
Only three of the nearly forty candidates who requested endorsement by the Senior Caucus lost their
primary election bids which is quite a remarkable statement about the value as well as the credibility of the Senior Caucus endorsement The fact that they sought
endorsement by the Senior Caucus is a tribute to all the members who have worked so hard going all the way back to 2006 to make sure that the organization was
visible and credible The Senior Caucus wanted to make
of the Senior Caucus including Seniors Calling Seniors
the DFL data base telephone email and snail mail The
newsletter the Senior News was added it was published
periodically and then on a regular quarterly basis The
newsletter also produced an annual special state fair
recruitment edition to be distributed at the Senior Caucus
information table in the DFL pavilion on Senior Days at
the State Fair The founders of the Senior Caucus believed
that there was strength in numbers and building the
membership around the state would be needed to increase
the visibility of the organization By traveling around the
state Earl Bower Linda Feist and Roger Junnila
determined that chapters could be formed to increase that
membership numbers and caucus visibility Later Earl
and Dwayne King also traveled around the state
facilitating the development of chapters in both the rural
and urban parts of the state Currently there are eleven
Senior Caucus chapters throughout Minnesota
The importance of determining which issues are of
most concern and interest to seniors around the state
and informing the DFL legislators policy makers and
the public at large continues to be a major reason for
the existence of the DFL Senior Caucus today
January 2021 Page 9
sure that when it talked to legislators and policy makers and asked for support for a piece of legislation or policy
that its rationale for asking for support was credible and had been fully investigated Just offering an opinion in support of an important senior issue would not be
credible and The Senior Caucus knew that Being credible meant that it had to be supported by careful consideration and thorough research
That many DFL legislators and members of Congress
willingly provided Capitol Corner updates for the Senior
News the official newsletter of the Senior Caucus is yet
another recognition by those important folks of the
visibility and the credibility of the organization None of
the above would have happened had the Senior Caucus
not be seen as a visible and credible organization
representing senior views
Members of the Endorsements Task Force that must
be thanked for their efforts in 2020 included Chair Joe
Mullery Tony Scallon Jan Dietrich Milt Schoen and
Judy Corraro They deserve thanks for their dedication
and diligent work on this important matter a matter that
confirmed once again the visibility AND the credibility of
the Senior Caucus
How to MAGA ala Donald Trump Norm Hanson
Proclaim yourself as the smartest and
greatest president ever to reside in the White House
Denigrate all governmental institutions including
justice public health intelligence and (fill-in-the-blanks) and claim that you know more and better than all the experienced and skilled civil servants in those areas
Cozy up to the leaders of countries that are adversaries of the United States including Russia and North Korea and castigate and criticize the
leaders of countries that are friends of the United States
Pull the US from any treaties and agreements
negotiated by previous administrations especially those negotiated by President Obama
Do everything that you can to eliminate Obamacare
and claim to replace with your great health plan that does not exist
Claim that the 2016 and the 2020 elections were
rigged in favor of your opponents but then accept the results of 2016 when you won and refuse to accept them in 2020 when you lost
Do everything that you can to question the integrity of the election process no matter the lack of evidence that the elections were conducted other
than fairly and transparently Question criticize
and label all state election officials regardless of their party affiliation as being incompetent
stupid biased and trying to do everything that they could to get Biden elected
Denigrate the military by publicly referring to any
and all service men and women especially those who were wounded captured or killed as suckers and losers (despite being able to dodge
the draft five time and yet able to become commander-in-chief )
Pardon war criminals whose actions in the areas of conflict where US forces were involved placed servicemen and women in harmrsquos way
Do everything that you can with actions and words thereby able to divide the good citizens of the country facilitating the us (really me) against
them especially those Democrats liberals progressives and (fill-in-the-blanks)
Stack the SCOTUS with conservative justices that
will impact public policy for decades to come the real legacy that Trump will leave behind
And of course characteristically of who he is as a
man his inability to graciously concede that he lost his bid for re-election
And one more thingndash promote the storming of the Nations Capitol Building causing insurrection in order to prevent the confirmation of the vote for
president of someone other than you
January 2021 Page 10
DFL Senior Caucus Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting December 10 2020 Jim Reed
Members and friends gathered for the Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting which was held via Zoom on December 10 About fifty members attended which is a surprisingly large number in this year of COVID 19 Caucus members engaged openly on the topics presented Discussion centered on issues that the Senior Caucus could advance in 2021including caucus membership broadband communications aging in place specialized transportation and building coalitions to achieve greater influence Membership Director Josey Warren summarized efforts to increase membership across Greater Minnesota and to establish more Senior Caucus chapters The Minneapolis Chapter was recognized in the spring of 2020 and a St Paul chapter is just getting organized A Chapter Chairs Committee has been established with representatives from chapters to work together on programs member recruitment services communications and to share successes
Secretary Jim Reed reported on the development of broadband communications in Minnesota Some areas in Greater Minnesota still do not have broadband services which are needed by seniors to participate fully in our modern society Some federal and state funding has been made available to expand broadband service and the state has a task force to set objectives consider alternatives and review progress Advances have been made but technology presses forward and technology appeared first and sometimes only in urban centers Pressed by the 2020 pandemic government may only offer limited support for rural development The Senior Caucus will follow this progress and offer support as appropriate
Board Director Roger Gehrke reported on actions seniors should consider in order to continue to live in their own homes Actions include moving to a single level floor plan having railings attached where appropriate indoors and outdoors ensuring that appliances and vehicles are in good running order removing scatter rugs using delivery services and in-home health care He recommended discarding or donating objects no longer being used He recommended hobbies to suit a more limited lifestyle It is important to update wills trusts and health directives
Vice-chair Karla Sand gave an overview of legislative issues for specialized transportation Three issues now stand out commercial licenses for volunteer drivers high insurance costs for those drivers and taxation of reimbursement for volunteers Under current law individuals need expensive commercial licenses if they
sometimes drive a van or bus for a church or a non-profit service Insurance is expensive for covering the additional risk for disabled riders Legislation is needed to allow volunteers usually seniors to afford these extra costs The Senior Caucus will actively support legislation that will assist volunteer drivers for seniors
Complete reports from Jim Reed Karla Sand and Roger Gehrke can be found on the DFL Senior Caucus website (wwwdflseniorsorg)
Karla also introduced Senior Caucus efforts to form coalitions with other DFL caucuses and non-profits and to combine these efforts with caucus chapters The Senior Caucus will expand these coalitions whenever and wherever they are possible and will be effective The Disability Rural and Veterans Caucuses would be good working partners The Senior Caucus already works with AARP and other nonprofits to the extent that the law allow for non-profits
DFL Chair Ken Martin made a special appearance and discussed the DFL results in 2020 and prospects for 2021 He listed the DFL Party successes and concerns from the 2020 elections The party held on to the US Senate seat held the second and third US House seats gained in 2018 and retained a majority in the Minnesota House However one rural US House seat was lost and the Minnesota Senate remained in Republican hands In 2021 the DFL must rebuild its importance in rural Minnesota The Senior Caucus can help to promote the DFL as seniors are a dominate voting bloc in Greater Minnesota
The Annual Membership Meeting then considered two motions One was to actively support and promote ldquoEnd of Liferdquo legislation in the Minnesota legislature The legislation would allow terminally ill individuals of sound mind to acquire ldquoend of liferdquo medication from their physician After considerable debate the motion was tabled and referred to the Senior Caucus Board Political Involvement Committee (PIC) for further study and recommendations to the Board
The second motion was for a minor change to the Senior Caucus Charter to allow passage of charter amendments at special membership meetings as well as the Annual Membership Meeting Previously only the Annual Membership Meeting could pass charter updates This motion passed
Jim Reed
2019 In-person Annual Meeting
DFL SENIOR CAUCUS
255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107
CONTACTS Email-dflseniorsgmailcom
Website httpdflseniorsorg
Don Bye Chair 218-568-5530 byelawofficehotmailcom Karla Sand Vice Chair 651-739-7397 karlavioletshotmailcom
Committees Documents Position open Events Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Membership Position open Political Involvement Committee Coordinator Karla Sand karlavioletshotmailcom Technology Committee Kay Hendrikson dflseniorsgmailcom SENIOR NEWS The DFL Senior News is published at least four times a year by the DFL Senior Caucus 255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107 to provide news items of DFL Senior Caucus events and other items of interest to Minnesota seniors Readers are encouraged to submit articles for publication on subjects of interest to Minnesota DFL seniors Accepted articles may be edited to meet these goals and space requirements Submit articles and comments to Norm Hanson Editor 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom or Julianne Johnston 651-486-7120 juliannetjmsncom JOIN THE SENIOR CAUCUS Membership dues are $10 annually Join online or Send your check made out to DFL Senior Caucus and send to John Larva Treasurer DFL Senior Caucus 1424 Woodhill Drive Burnsville MN 55337
For waiver of dues please contact
Chair Don Bye or Vice-chair Karla Sand
January 2021 Page 11
Editors Norm Hanson newsletter editor norsan45hotmailcom 651-484-8926
Julianne Johnston design and layout editor juliannetjmsncom 651-486-7120
Columnists Norm Hanson Melissa Hortman Julianne Johnston Jim Reed
Photographs Dick Bernard Julianne Johnston Charlie Rike
Reviewer Sandy Hanson
DFL Senior Caucus Chapters January 2021 Note Chapter meetings are being held as Zoom Meetings
Persons without computers or cell phones can join with a landline phone Contact the chair to get further information about joining a meeting
Anoka Chapter - Anoka County Chair Mel Aanerud 763-434-3809 Aanerud4comcastnet East Central Chapter - SD 11 SD 15 amp Isanti County area Chair Bonnie Lokenvitz 320-679-8202 blokenvitzgmailcom East Metro Chapter - Maplewood and east Chair Kay Hendrikson 651-739-1080 dfleastmetrocaucus gmailcom Mankato Area Chapter Chair Richard Chambers 507-420-4030 gdthdraolcom Minneapolis Area Chapter Chair Kenneth Vreeland 612-722-8017 borderlord_oneyahoocom North East Minnesota Chapter - Duluth area Chair Gary Westorff 612-709-5342 nemndflsrsyahoocom North Metro Chapter ndash Northern Suburban Metropolitan area Chair Norm Hanson 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom St Paul Chapter - St Paul area Chair Lyn Burton 651-336-4493 lburton612aolcom South East MN Chapter - Rochester area Chair Patricia Mann Mannpa1chartercom South Metro Chapter - CD 2 and Dakota County area Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Tri-County Chapter ndash Washington County Chisago County and Kanabec County areas Chair Sandra Trudeau 651-492-1149 wmsandycomcastnet
DFL Senior News
255 East Plato Blvd
Saint Paul MN 55107
First Class
All Meetings at this time will be
conducted via
Zoom
Contact the chair of the meeting for
more information
DFL Senior Caucus Calendar 2021 Events All Events are Handicapped Accessible
Social Luncheon - On Hold due to the COVID-19
Senior Caucus Board Meeting - Meetings will be held via Zoom at times determined by the Board Contact Vice Chair Karla Sand 651-739-7397 or karlavioletshotmailcom
Senior Caucus Book Club - Meetings are being held by Zoom on third Mondays Contact Jim Reed jreed11665comcastnet for more information See January discussion January 18 11 am to 1 pm see page 2 page of this issue will be a ZOOM meeting
Inauguration Day on January 20 2021
Contacts for the Senior Caucus
Facebook at httpswwwfacebookcomgroupsDFLSeniorCaucus Email dflseniorsgmailcom Website httpdflseniorsorg Check out the calendar on the website for scheduled meetings and events as they
are scheduled through out each month
Standard The Senior News has the luxury that every newsletter would like to have and that is having more information submitted and ready than can be published in a ten to twelve page newsletter It is a challenge as we have to decide which articles and photos to include in each issue which ones to defer until the next issue and which ones that we have to save for a later issue We thank all of our readers for their continued support for their newsletter and the luxury as well as the challenges that this gives to US However we always welcome more articles from our readers to be sure we cover all the interests and concerns of DFL seniors
January 2021 Page 4
Memories of long-time DFL supporter Georgiana Sobola
Georgiana was born into an immigrant Czech family and entered grade school speaking
English as her second language After she graduated from high school she went on to earn a MA
degree in Library Science
She was a member of the Roseville League of Women Voters for more than 50 years and a
member of the League over all for sixty-nine years Georgiana was selected to be the League
representative for the Roseville Charter Commission and was also a regular League Monitor of the Roseville City
Council attending every meeting and reporting back to the League with issues and concerns
She was a translated old Czech handwritten documents into English for the Bohemian Czech Inc in Wisconsin
For many years Georgiana served as an election judge for every election held in Roseville She believed in voting
rights and citizen responsibilities For the 20 years in the previous DFL Senate District 54 she served on the
newsletter committee and submitted many well-researched articles which included city charter options income
disparity runoff voting election judges candidate forums voter ID and the importance of voting that were of
interest for the many readers She was an involved member of the DFL Senior Caucus and attended the North Metro
Chapter She was an active participant in our society Georgiana was mentally clear and up-to-date on Democratic
Party issues when she died at the age of 94 after a very short-term illness
Welcomed into this country in an immigrant family Georgiana exemplifies what a contribution she and others
have made in this country in significant ways
We have lost a good friend
Charles (Charlie Chuck Union Brother Gramps) Rike Sr was a dedicated union member
serving as union board member corresponding secretary for the State Retiree Council
member and former treasurer of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 7200
and its retiree group and the Minnesota AFL-CIO His greatest love was politics and he was a
very strong Democrat We of the DFL Senior Caucus knew him to be a very friendly person
who attended many DFL Senior Caucus events usually with a camera around his neck taking
pictures of all that was going on around him He was an active member of the Pine County DFL former chair of the
East Central Chapter Senior Caucus Board member volunteer at the State Fair DFL Senior Caucus Day table and the
Union booth across the street and prolific writer of Letters to the Editor in local and state newspapers about political
and labor concerns He was definitely not afraid to express his opinions He ran for political office twice once for
Anoka County Auditor and once for state representative however he was never elected to office He had recently
sold his house and car and moved into Lake Side Assisted Living Home in Pine City He was worried that he hadnrsquot
paid his Senior Caucus dues and wrote a check just weeks before he died on November 7 2020 He was a victim of
COVID-19 We will all miss his contributions to seniors to the DFL and to the unions to which he belonged But
most of all we will miss being with Charlie Rike (The Senior News interviewed Charlie for an article about him
You can read that article in the January 2019 Edition Charliersquos name has appeared in every issue of this newsletter
going as far back as January 2011 and before)
Charlie Rike
Georgiana Sobola
Charlie Rike with Dick Bernard and Judy Berglund at a training session State Fair Annual Picnic and Annual Meeting circa 2008
January 2021 Page 5
Important information for seniors on the COVID-19 Virus Julianne Johnston Public Health Nurse retired
As I write this ldquoessentialrdquo workers including hospital and nursing home staff are receiving one of the vaccines which have been granted emergency approval (early) from the US Food and Drug Administration The approval for Pfizer and the Germany company BioNTech and the Moderna Company have produced vaccines which have an efficacy rating of about 90 percent Efficacy means that the vaccine in clinical studies under best scientific controlled studies will produce that desired effect The vaccines prompts your body to develop antibodies against the virus You are not fully protected right away It takes your body time to develop immunity to the virus That can take weeks to develop after receiving the vaccine and a second immunization injection would be required to achieve full protection It also means that a small number of folks will not develop immunity Exactly how the vaccine will perform in the real world will depend on factors that do not have answers yet There will be a lag time in determing the actual effectiveness (success rate)
of the vaccine program and that will take months to determine Effectiveness is determined by the response in large populations in the real world Effectiveness is usually less than the original stated efficacy Experts are predicting that people who are vaccinated and have asymptomatic disease may still spread the virus to others though at a lesser rate So even if vaccinated everyone will have to continue to wear masks and practice social distancing until at least 90 percent of the population is vaccinated producing the desired ldquoherd immunityrdquo By slowing the spread of the virus vaccinated people help to protect themselves and those around them In other words if few people chose to complete the vaccine series of two injections and do not practice social distancing and mask wearing the virus will continue to spread uncontrolled It is anticipated that the vaccine will be available to everyone by June and the effectiveness of the vaccine will be determined sometime in the fall of 2021 The success of the vaccine is dependent on every one of us being part of the solution to end the COVID pandemic For more information on COVID-19 go to the Minnesota Department of Health at Minnesota Department of Health (statemnus) (hold down the CTRL key and then click on the web address)
Did you know
The Senior Caucus has a contract with Zoom Did you know that even if you do not have a computer you can join a Zoom meeting with your home telephone Or if you do not have a computer camera you can still join a meeting Any group or business within the Senior Caucus can be conducted with a Zoom meeting To get you into or organize a Zoom meeting contact Kay
Hendrikson dfleastmetrocaucusgmailcom or Earl Bower earlbowergmailcom (they are on our Technology Committee) and request that they set up a meeting for your group or meeting They can also give you instructions on how to use Zoom What Do Dues Do
The DFL Senior Caucus dues cover the expenses of events such as the Day on the Hill Annual Picnic Annual Meeting State Fair Senior Day information table at the DFL Pavilion and the Annual Gala The Senior Caucus has purchased contract with Zoom to use for meetings including the Board Meeting Chapter Chairs Group PIC book club discussions event planning and the Annual meeting It also has a paid contract with Mail Chimp for sending out important notices Dues support the start-up of chapters All printing for distribution of information to the public including this newsletter is done at a Union Printer including the hard copies of this newsletter The Senior News The Senior Caucus used its financial resources to purchase a public address system in a conference room It will also use that address system at the Annual Picnic Use of the PA system for other authorized Senior Caucus activities will be allowed
In addition according to the Senior Caucus Charter seniors who pay dues are considered voting members and are eligible to become officers in chapters and at the state Senior Caucus level
Please consider paying annual dues of $1000 annually to the Senior Caucus You can do so by following the instructions below The DFL Senior Caucus also uses an online payment system for dues You can access it by going to httpsdflseniorscom Choose JoinDonate ndash the big red button You have options You can donate your $10 annual dues payment all at once Or you can choose ongoing dues at $1 per month You can choose any amount of donation that you want You can also send a check for $10 or more made out to DFL Senior Caucus and send to
John Larva Treasurer
DFL Senior Caucus
1424 Woodhill Drive
Burnsville MN 55337
January 2021 Page 6
Getting to know Dwayne King Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston
Dwayne was raised in Caselton North Dakota (ND) on a share-crop one half section (320 acre) farm with his parents and he was one of their six children The farm produced and sold oats barley corn wheat popcorn and also raised pigs milked ten cows sold chickens and kept two horses to pull the manure spreader The farm did not have electricity until 1948 Dwayne raised and sold pigs to help pay for his college education At the age of twelve he definitely decided that he did not want to be a farmer His parents encouraged further education for all their children As a freshman at North Dakota Agricultural College now North Dakota State University Dwayne worked in the local creamery and received a scholarship from the farm where his dad worked He joined Sigma Chi an engineering fraternity and credits his fraternity for enabling him to become more outgoing He ran for the student senate while a sophomore in college and became comfortable speaking to large and small groups a good experience even though he was not elected Because it was a land grant university students were required to serve in the ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) during their first two years Dwayne opted to complete the ROTC program and he became an Army officer He graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering and worked for IBM spending much of his twenty-five years of employment with IBM as a systemrsquos engineer and a trainer for customers until he took an early retirement in 1990 Early on he made up three lists of what he hoped to achieve 1 What he wanted 2 What he thought he could achieve 3 What he did not think would be possible for him to achieve He says he has achieved three of the goals in list 3 in his lifetime Dwaynersquos mother developed Multiple Sclerosis at age fifty five and the family had to rely on Social Security Disability benefits for assistance Dwayne was aware of what the Democratic Party and Franklin Delano Roosevelt had done for people like his mother and his father helping people in difficult situations beyond their control or making When he had an opportunity to be at a rally for Jack Kennedy for president he was hooked Dwayne became involved with the Golden Valley DFL Club helping campaigns in his area He became a state delegate to a DFL convention and signed up for the Constitution Committee He traveled the state for two years getting input on the first revision of the DFL Partyrsquos constitution and then had to scramble at the last moment to produce the findings of that two-year effort He gave the report of the Constitution Committee to the DFL Central Committee and the recommendations were adopted thanks to his hard work in preparing the final report The revised DFL Constitution included proportional voting for candidates rather than the ldquosmoke
filled roomsrdquo Dwayne was named the chair of the newly formed Constitution Committee of the Minnesota DFL He ran for the House seat in his district and won election on his first try in a Republican indexed district He found that he had much to learn about being in office including how to get committee assignments learning about fellow office holders representing everyone in his district and knowing who his ldquoenemiesrdquo were in the House and in his district He learned how to ldquoread between the linesrdquo for constraints and calculations when politicians speak He was able to pass ten of eleven of his bills to the Senate They included a 40 increase in the Personal Needs Allowance for the disabled and others in nursing Homes and a payment for college students performing tasks for seniors in their homes These were difficult votes and ultimately the decision was up to the legislators regardless of what the voters may have wanted He lost in a re-election bid during the ldquoDFL Massacrerdquo (DFL lost 34 seats) when the Republicans took control of the House The Republicans had a strong get-out-the-vote strategy that was highly effective and the DFL was caught off-guard In 2006 Linda Fiest asked him to join the group that would soon create the DFL Senior Caucus Because of his experience on the Constitution Committee Dwayne was asked to write the Charter for the Senior Caucus using the DFL Constitution as an example He presented the Charter that he wrote to the DFL Constitution Committee and State DFL Convention where it was adopted in May of 2006 Dwayne then traveled all around the state with Linda Fiest recruiting seniors for the Senior Caucus Dwayne and Earl Bower also formed a team that talked to groups all over the state interested in becoming chapters of the Senior Caucus ndash a new concept for caucuses Earl and Dwayne were and remain strong proponents of developing chapters to increase the membership visibility and the importance of the Senior Caucus Dwayne reminds us that the DFL is a coalition of disparate groups who can always win when the groups pull together Dwayne would like the Senior Caucus to have more involvement in the political process He wants the endorsements from the Caucus to be fair and should endorse politicians who can and will further Senior Caucus issues He hopes that State Senior Caucus will avoid the risk of renegade actions by individuals andor committees and avoid the risk of a few people making decisions for everyone He would like the membership to be more aware of how the DFL works and learn from it and utilize core groups who know how politics should work No one chapter should have the major voice All chapters should participate equally The Senior Caucus should focus on statewide issues and its chapters should focus on local issues And since the beginning the Senior Caucus needs to continue to attract and have active membership to impact legislation that promote senior
Dwayne King
January 2021 Page 7
issues Age discriminations is rampant both within the Party and in our state and nation He notes that in general the DFL Party does not understand senior issues The Senior Caucus must raise awareness in the DFL Party raise awareness in State legislation raise awareness in national issues It would be wonderful to develop more senior caucuses in other states and then senior voting would have a greater impact
Other issues to address are the need for more awareness in Senior Caucus on health care coverage concerns for everyone ndash it is a right not a privilegemdash everyone should be eligible for coverage for the health care services that they need There is a need to consider legislative effects on our children and grandchildren as well He strongly endorses the education of the public on the needs of seniors for broadband and safe senior residential living
The purpose of the DFL Senior Caucus Yesterday and Today
Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston
The DFL Senior Caucus was founded in 2006 by
politically experienced and concerned DFL activists to
establish a statewide DFL organization that would focus
on and promote senior issues and concerns Its founders
believed that with a strong and unified voice the Senior
Caucus would influence candidates and elected officials
to address the needs of older Americans in Minnesota
through policy and law Its unified voice would assure
that the needs of older Minnesotans and their families
would be addressed in our statersquos policies and laws The
many experienced DFL party activists who founded the
Senior Caucus strongly believed that their efforts could
in fact influence voters and their choice of elected
officials
Many of the founders of the Senior Caucus were
active and engaged party activists including Linda Feist
and her husband Roger Junnila Dwayne King
Georgiana Ruzich Earl Bower James Reed Dick
Bernard Mary Ann Beneke Jim Poradek Ed Mars John
Martin and others initially or within the first couple of
years of its existence They recognized the increase in
baby boomers becoming seniors and that seniors were
living longer Their financial resources had to stretch
further than actuaries had predicted The founders also
recognized that there needed to be advocacy for this
growing senior population The founders of the DFL
Senior Caucus were pioneers in supporting senior issues
and making the Senior Caucus organization visible and
important to legislators policy makers and voters
The Senior Caucus held its first Annual Meeting in
2007 and made plans to staff an information table in the
DFL pavilion at the annual State Fair and it has done so
every year since save for 2020 when that annual event
was cancelled because of the pandemic Participants were
encouraged to contact everyone that they thought might
be interested in becoming members informing them of the
purpose of the Senior Caucus and asking them to join
Issues discussed at that initial Annual Meeting included
increasing membership developing an action plan for the
next year determining the best ways to be influential
visible and to be taken seriously by legislators and the
voters and how to decide which issues would be most
important to seniors They were developing the Senior
Caucus platform for the next year
It was determined that the priorities for research
study recommendations and resolutions were affordable
health care fair and equitable tax policies sound
transportation fair and reasonable prescription drug
prices affordable housing and safe and livable
communities Access to highspeed broadband internet
services has since been added to that initial priority list
The Senior Caucus determined that it should limit itself to
achievable goals and that it should develop a set of goals
that include the needs of non-seniors as well as those of
seniors Subsequent Annual Meetings set aside time for
the participants to brainstorm in small groups to
determine the most important issues to research and focus
and included planning sessions led by Dick Bernard and
Judy Berglund
A retreat led by Lynn VanDervort resulted in the
following recommendations shared leadership amongst
all the members assigning responsibilities and holding
assignees accountable avoiding the possibility of
developing internal factions causing dysfunction
developing intergenerational planning and programing
having shared goals recognizing gaps in membership by
age groups and using the Mission Statement to promote
shared values Those recommendations regarding the
operation of the Senior Caucus remain just as valid today
The founders of the Senior Caucus emphasized the
importance of using all available means of
communication to extend the interest in and the visibility
January 2021 Page 8
2020 Senior Caucus Endorsement Task Force Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston together with Jim Reed Joe
Mullery and Karla Sand
Since its founding in 2006 by several dedicated committed and experienced DFL activists the Senior Caucus has always been intent on becoming visible and
credible in its support of issues affecting seniors throughout the state The founders knew that that was the only way to leverage its rather small number of members
into a force that legislators and other policy makers would listen to and who would be willing to support senior issues Senior Caucus members have worked on campaigns they had and continue to have information
tables at the annual Minnesota State Fair they have information tables at DFL conventions they proudly wear t-shirts with Senior Caucus emblazoned across the front
The founders developed a state-wide newsletter early on to let seniors across the state know that the Senior Caucus exists and what it does and can do for seniors All these
efforts and activities have made legislators policy makers and the public at large aware of the Senior Caucus and see it as a visible and credible organization that cannot be
ignored The continuation of these efforts to be both visible and credible with respect to bringing senior issues and concerns to policy makers is now handled by the
important Political Involvement Committee (PIC)
A recent example of successful visibility and credibility was the Endorsement Task Force working under the auspices of the PIC that was convened to review requests for endorsement by the Senior Caucus prior to the August 2020 primary
This group handled the endorsement screenings for
candidates in districts where there were no chapters that covered the whole district Note While all chapters were invited to participate in the Senior Caucus endorsement
process not all of them met that criteria Some chapters did however and recommended endorsements for some local offices as well as for the state legislature Volunteers
included Mel Aanerud (Anoka) Bonnie Lokenvitz (East Central) Tony Scallon (greater Minneapolis) and Roger
Gehrke (South Metro)
Chapters were encouraged to set up an endorsements committee which would interview and screen all the
candidates in the districts totally within the chapter area They were then supposed to review the candidates written answers to the questionnaire and then interview the
candidates in person or on the phone or electronically for about an hour about the answers on the questionnaires and on other topics the members deemed appropriate They
would also explain the Senior Caucus views when candidates did not know or understand the issues
The questionnaire ideas came from many people Each person on a screening committee could ask pertinent questions at the screening The screeners determined in advance what additional questions they would ask and if
there was still time they could ask further questions The fact that nearly forty prospective candidates all
but four of them running for Congress or the State House or the State Senate asked for endorsement by the Senior Caucus just confirmed the recognition by those
candidates of the value placed upon that recognition and support from the Senior Caucus If they did not think that endorsement by the Senior Caucus would add value to
their campaigns they would not have sought it
Only three of the nearly forty candidates who requested endorsement by the Senior Caucus lost their
primary election bids which is quite a remarkable statement about the value as well as the credibility of the Senior Caucus endorsement The fact that they sought
endorsement by the Senior Caucus is a tribute to all the members who have worked so hard going all the way back to 2006 to make sure that the organization was
visible and credible The Senior Caucus wanted to make
of the Senior Caucus including Seniors Calling Seniors
the DFL data base telephone email and snail mail The
newsletter the Senior News was added it was published
periodically and then on a regular quarterly basis The
newsletter also produced an annual special state fair
recruitment edition to be distributed at the Senior Caucus
information table in the DFL pavilion on Senior Days at
the State Fair The founders of the Senior Caucus believed
that there was strength in numbers and building the
membership around the state would be needed to increase
the visibility of the organization By traveling around the
state Earl Bower Linda Feist and Roger Junnila
determined that chapters could be formed to increase that
membership numbers and caucus visibility Later Earl
and Dwayne King also traveled around the state
facilitating the development of chapters in both the rural
and urban parts of the state Currently there are eleven
Senior Caucus chapters throughout Minnesota
The importance of determining which issues are of
most concern and interest to seniors around the state
and informing the DFL legislators policy makers and
the public at large continues to be a major reason for
the existence of the DFL Senior Caucus today
January 2021 Page 9
sure that when it talked to legislators and policy makers and asked for support for a piece of legislation or policy
that its rationale for asking for support was credible and had been fully investigated Just offering an opinion in support of an important senior issue would not be
credible and The Senior Caucus knew that Being credible meant that it had to be supported by careful consideration and thorough research
That many DFL legislators and members of Congress
willingly provided Capitol Corner updates for the Senior
News the official newsletter of the Senior Caucus is yet
another recognition by those important folks of the
visibility and the credibility of the organization None of
the above would have happened had the Senior Caucus
not be seen as a visible and credible organization
representing senior views
Members of the Endorsements Task Force that must
be thanked for their efforts in 2020 included Chair Joe
Mullery Tony Scallon Jan Dietrich Milt Schoen and
Judy Corraro They deserve thanks for their dedication
and diligent work on this important matter a matter that
confirmed once again the visibility AND the credibility of
the Senior Caucus
How to MAGA ala Donald Trump Norm Hanson
Proclaim yourself as the smartest and
greatest president ever to reside in the White House
Denigrate all governmental institutions including
justice public health intelligence and (fill-in-the-blanks) and claim that you know more and better than all the experienced and skilled civil servants in those areas
Cozy up to the leaders of countries that are adversaries of the United States including Russia and North Korea and castigate and criticize the
leaders of countries that are friends of the United States
Pull the US from any treaties and agreements
negotiated by previous administrations especially those negotiated by President Obama
Do everything that you can to eliminate Obamacare
and claim to replace with your great health plan that does not exist
Claim that the 2016 and the 2020 elections were
rigged in favor of your opponents but then accept the results of 2016 when you won and refuse to accept them in 2020 when you lost
Do everything that you can to question the integrity of the election process no matter the lack of evidence that the elections were conducted other
than fairly and transparently Question criticize
and label all state election officials regardless of their party affiliation as being incompetent
stupid biased and trying to do everything that they could to get Biden elected
Denigrate the military by publicly referring to any
and all service men and women especially those who were wounded captured or killed as suckers and losers (despite being able to dodge
the draft five time and yet able to become commander-in-chief )
Pardon war criminals whose actions in the areas of conflict where US forces were involved placed servicemen and women in harmrsquos way
Do everything that you can with actions and words thereby able to divide the good citizens of the country facilitating the us (really me) against
them especially those Democrats liberals progressives and (fill-in-the-blanks)
Stack the SCOTUS with conservative justices that
will impact public policy for decades to come the real legacy that Trump will leave behind
And of course characteristically of who he is as a
man his inability to graciously concede that he lost his bid for re-election
And one more thingndash promote the storming of the Nations Capitol Building causing insurrection in order to prevent the confirmation of the vote for
president of someone other than you
January 2021 Page 10
DFL Senior Caucus Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting December 10 2020 Jim Reed
Members and friends gathered for the Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting which was held via Zoom on December 10 About fifty members attended which is a surprisingly large number in this year of COVID 19 Caucus members engaged openly on the topics presented Discussion centered on issues that the Senior Caucus could advance in 2021including caucus membership broadband communications aging in place specialized transportation and building coalitions to achieve greater influence Membership Director Josey Warren summarized efforts to increase membership across Greater Minnesota and to establish more Senior Caucus chapters The Minneapolis Chapter was recognized in the spring of 2020 and a St Paul chapter is just getting organized A Chapter Chairs Committee has been established with representatives from chapters to work together on programs member recruitment services communications and to share successes
Secretary Jim Reed reported on the development of broadband communications in Minnesota Some areas in Greater Minnesota still do not have broadband services which are needed by seniors to participate fully in our modern society Some federal and state funding has been made available to expand broadband service and the state has a task force to set objectives consider alternatives and review progress Advances have been made but technology presses forward and technology appeared first and sometimes only in urban centers Pressed by the 2020 pandemic government may only offer limited support for rural development The Senior Caucus will follow this progress and offer support as appropriate
Board Director Roger Gehrke reported on actions seniors should consider in order to continue to live in their own homes Actions include moving to a single level floor plan having railings attached where appropriate indoors and outdoors ensuring that appliances and vehicles are in good running order removing scatter rugs using delivery services and in-home health care He recommended discarding or donating objects no longer being used He recommended hobbies to suit a more limited lifestyle It is important to update wills trusts and health directives
Vice-chair Karla Sand gave an overview of legislative issues for specialized transportation Three issues now stand out commercial licenses for volunteer drivers high insurance costs for those drivers and taxation of reimbursement for volunteers Under current law individuals need expensive commercial licenses if they
sometimes drive a van or bus for a church or a non-profit service Insurance is expensive for covering the additional risk for disabled riders Legislation is needed to allow volunteers usually seniors to afford these extra costs The Senior Caucus will actively support legislation that will assist volunteer drivers for seniors
Complete reports from Jim Reed Karla Sand and Roger Gehrke can be found on the DFL Senior Caucus website (wwwdflseniorsorg)
Karla also introduced Senior Caucus efforts to form coalitions with other DFL caucuses and non-profits and to combine these efforts with caucus chapters The Senior Caucus will expand these coalitions whenever and wherever they are possible and will be effective The Disability Rural and Veterans Caucuses would be good working partners The Senior Caucus already works with AARP and other nonprofits to the extent that the law allow for non-profits
DFL Chair Ken Martin made a special appearance and discussed the DFL results in 2020 and prospects for 2021 He listed the DFL Party successes and concerns from the 2020 elections The party held on to the US Senate seat held the second and third US House seats gained in 2018 and retained a majority in the Minnesota House However one rural US House seat was lost and the Minnesota Senate remained in Republican hands In 2021 the DFL must rebuild its importance in rural Minnesota The Senior Caucus can help to promote the DFL as seniors are a dominate voting bloc in Greater Minnesota
The Annual Membership Meeting then considered two motions One was to actively support and promote ldquoEnd of Liferdquo legislation in the Minnesota legislature The legislation would allow terminally ill individuals of sound mind to acquire ldquoend of liferdquo medication from their physician After considerable debate the motion was tabled and referred to the Senior Caucus Board Political Involvement Committee (PIC) for further study and recommendations to the Board
The second motion was for a minor change to the Senior Caucus Charter to allow passage of charter amendments at special membership meetings as well as the Annual Membership Meeting Previously only the Annual Membership Meeting could pass charter updates This motion passed
Jim Reed
2019 In-person Annual Meeting
DFL SENIOR CAUCUS
255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107
CONTACTS Email-dflseniorsgmailcom
Website httpdflseniorsorg
Don Bye Chair 218-568-5530 byelawofficehotmailcom Karla Sand Vice Chair 651-739-7397 karlavioletshotmailcom
Committees Documents Position open Events Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Membership Position open Political Involvement Committee Coordinator Karla Sand karlavioletshotmailcom Technology Committee Kay Hendrikson dflseniorsgmailcom SENIOR NEWS The DFL Senior News is published at least four times a year by the DFL Senior Caucus 255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107 to provide news items of DFL Senior Caucus events and other items of interest to Minnesota seniors Readers are encouraged to submit articles for publication on subjects of interest to Minnesota DFL seniors Accepted articles may be edited to meet these goals and space requirements Submit articles and comments to Norm Hanson Editor 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom or Julianne Johnston 651-486-7120 juliannetjmsncom JOIN THE SENIOR CAUCUS Membership dues are $10 annually Join online or Send your check made out to DFL Senior Caucus and send to John Larva Treasurer DFL Senior Caucus 1424 Woodhill Drive Burnsville MN 55337
For waiver of dues please contact
Chair Don Bye or Vice-chair Karla Sand
January 2021 Page 11
Editors Norm Hanson newsletter editor norsan45hotmailcom 651-484-8926
Julianne Johnston design and layout editor juliannetjmsncom 651-486-7120
Columnists Norm Hanson Melissa Hortman Julianne Johnston Jim Reed
Photographs Dick Bernard Julianne Johnston Charlie Rike
Reviewer Sandy Hanson
DFL Senior Caucus Chapters January 2021 Note Chapter meetings are being held as Zoom Meetings
Persons without computers or cell phones can join with a landline phone Contact the chair to get further information about joining a meeting
Anoka Chapter - Anoka County Chair Mel Aanerud 763-434-3809 Aanerud4comcastnet East Central Chapter - SD 11 SD 15 amp Isanti County area Chair Bonnie Lokenvitz 320-679-8202 blokenvitzgmailcom East Metro Chapter - Maplewood and east Chair Kay Hendrikson 651-739-1080 dfleastmetrocaucus gmailcom Mankato Area Chapter Chair Richard Chambers 507-420-4030 gdthdraolcom Minneapolis Area Chapter Chair Kenneth Vreeland 612-722-8017 borderlord_oneyahoocom North East Minnesota Chapter - Duluth area Chair Gary Westorff 612-709-5342 nemndflsrsyahoocom North Metro Chapter ndash Northern Suburban Metropolitan area Chair Norm Hanson 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom St Paul Chapter - St Paul area Chair Lyn Burton 651-336-4493 lburton612aolcom South East MN Chapter - Rochester area Chair Patricia Mann Mannpa1chartercom South Metro Chapter - CD 2 and Dakota County area Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Tri-County Chapter ndash Washington County Chisago County and Kanabec County areas Chair Sandra Trudeau 651-492-1149 wmsandycomcastnet
DFL Senior News
255 East Plato Blvd
Saint Paul MN 55107
First Class
All Meetings at this time will be
conducted via
Zoom
Contact the chair of the meeting for
more information
DFL Senior Caucus Calendar 2021 Events All Events are Handicapped Accessible
Social Luncheon - On Hold due to the COVID-19
Senior Caucus Board Meeting - Meetings will be held via Zoom at times determined by the Board Contact Vice Chair Karla Sand 651-739-7397 or karlavioletshotmailcom
Senior Caucus Book Club - Meetings are being held by Zoom on third Mondays Contact Jim Reed jreed11665comcastnet for more information See January discussion January 18 11 am to 1 pm see page 2 page of this issue will be a ZOOM meeting
Inauguration Day on January 20 2021
Contacts for the Senior Caucus
Facebook at httpswwwfacebookcomgroupsDFLSeniorCaucus Email dflseniorsgmailcom Website httpdflseniorsorg Check out the calendar on the website for scheduled meetings and events as they
are scheduled through out each month
Standard The Senior News has the luxury that every newsletter would like to have and that is having more information submitted and ready than can be published in a ten to twelve page newsletter It is a challenge as we have to decide which articles and photos to include in each issue which ones to defer until the next issue and which ones that we have to save for a later issue We thank all of our readers for their continued support for their newsletter and the luxury as well as the challenges that this gives to US However we always welcome more articles from our readers to be sure we cover all the interests and concerns of DFL seniors
January 2021 Page 5
Important information for seniors on the COVID-19 Virus Julianne Johnston Public Health Nurse retired
As I write this ldquoessentialrdquo workers including hospital and nursing home staff are receiving one of the vaccines which have been granted emergency approval (early) from the US Food and Drug Administration The approval for Pfizer and the Germany company BioNTech and the Moderna Company have produced vaccines which have an efficacy rating of about 90 percent Efficacy means that the vaccine in clinical studies under best scientific controlled studies will produce that desired effect The vaccines prompts your body to develop antibodies against the virus You are not fully protected right away It takes your body time to develop immunity to the virus That can take weeks to develop after receiving the vaccine and a second immunization injection would be required to achieve full protection It also means that a small number of folks will not develop immunity Exactly how the vaccine will perform in the real world will depend on factors that do not have answers yet There will be a lag time in determing the actual effectiveness (success rate)
of the vaccine program and that will take months to determine Effectiveness is determined by the response in large populations in the real world Effectiveness is usually less than the original stated efficacy Experts are predicting that people who are vaccinated and have asymptomatic disease may still spread the virus to others though at a lesser rate So even if vaccinated everyone will have to continue to wear masks and practice social distancing until at least 90 percent of the population is vaccinated producing the desired ldquoherd immunityrdquo By slowing the spread of the virus vaccinated people help to protect themselves and those around them In other words if few people chose to complete the vaccine series of two injections and do not practice social distancing and mask wearing the virus will continue to spread uncontrolled It is anticipated that the vaccine will be available to everyone by June and the effectiveness of the vaccine will be determined sometime in the fall of 2021 The success of the vaccine is dependent on every one of us being part of the solution to end the COVID pandemic For more information on COVID-19 go to the Minnesota Department of Health at Minnesota Department of Health (statemnus) (hold down the CTRL key and then click on the web address)
Did you know
The Senior Caucus has a contract with Zoom Did you know that even if you do not have a computer you can join a Zoom meeting with your home telephone Or if you do not have a computer camera you can still join a meeting Any group or business within the Senior Caucus can be conducted with a Zoom meeting To get you into or organize a Zoom meeting contact Kay
Hendrikson dfleastmetrocaucusgmailcom or Earl Bower earlbowergmailcom (they are on our Technology Committee) and request that they set up a meeting for your group or meeting They can also give you instructions on how to use Zoom What Do Dues Do
The DFL Senior Caucus dues cover the expenses of events such as the Day on the Hill Annual Picnic Annual Meeting State Fair Senior Day information table at the DFL Pavilion and the Annual Gala The Senior Caucus has purchased contract with Zoom to use for meetings including the Board Meeting Chapter Chairs Group PIC book club discussions event planning and the Annual meeting It also has a paid contract with Mail Chimp for sending out important notices Dues support the start-up of chapters All printing for distribution of information to the public including this newsletter is done at a Union Printer including the hard copies of this newsletter The Senior News The Senior Caucus used its financial resources to purchase a public address system in a conference room It will also use that address system at the Annual Picnic Use of the PA system for other authorized Senior Caucus activities will be allowed
In addition according to the Senior Caucus Charter seniors who pay dues are considered voting members and are eligible to become officers in chapters and at the state Senior Caucus level
Please consider paying annual dues of $1000 annually to the Senior Caucus You can do so by following the instructions below The DFL Senior Caucus also uses an online payment system for dues You can access it by going to httpsdflseniorscom Choose JoinDonate ndash the big red button You have options You can donate your $10 annual dues payment all at once Or you can choose ongoing dues at $1 per month You can choose any amount of donation that you want You can also send a check for $10 or more made out to DFL Senior Caucus and send to
John Larva Treasurer
DFL Senior Caucus
1424 Woodhill Drive
Burnsville MN 55337
January 2021 Page 6
Getting to know Dwayne King Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston
Dwayne was raised in Caselton North Dakota (ND) on a share-crop one half section (320 acre) farm with his parents and he was one of their six children The farm produced and sold oats barley corn wheat popcorn and also raised pigs milked ten cows sold chickens and kept two horses to pull the manure spreader The farm did not have electricity until 1948 Dwayne raised and sold pigs to help pay for his college education At the age of twelve he definitely decided that he did not want to be a farmer His parents encouraged further education for all their children As a freshman at North Dakota Agricultural College now North Dakota State University Dwayne worked in the local creamery and received a scholarship from the farm where his dad worked He joined Sigma Chi an engineering fraternity and credits his fraternity for enabling him to become more outgoing He ran for the student senate while a sophomore in college and became comfortable speaking to large and small groups a good experience even though he was not elected Because it was a land grant university students were required to serve in the ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) during their first two years Dwayne opted to complete the ROTC program and he became an Army officer He graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering and worked for IBM spending much of his twenty-five years of employment with IBM as a systemrsquos engineer and a trainer for customers until he took an early retirement in 1990 Early on he made up three lists of what he hoped to achieve 1 What he wanted 2 What he thought he could achieve 3 What he did not think would be possible for him to achieve He says he has achieved three of the goals in list 3 in his lifetime Dwaynersquos mother developed Multiple Sclerosis at age fifty five and the family had to rely on Social Security Disability benefits for assistance Dwayne was aware of what the Democratic Party and Franklin Delano Roosevelt had done for people like his mother and his father helping people in difficult situations beyond their control or making When he had an opportunity to be at a rally for Jack Kennedy for president he was hooked Dwayne became involved with the Golden Valley DFL Club helping campaigns in his area He became a state delegate to a DFL convention and signed up for the Constitution Committee He traveled the state for two years getting input on the first revision of the DFL Partyrsquos constitution and then had to scramble at the last moment to produce the findings of that two-year effort He gave the report of the Constitution Committee to the DFL Central Committee and the recommendations were adopted thanks to his hard work in preparing the final report The revised DFL Constitution included proportional voting for candidates rather than the ldquosmoke
filled roomsrdquo Dwayne was named the chair of the newly formed Constitution Committee of the Minnesota DFL He ran for the House seat in his district and won election on his first try in a Republican indexed district He found that he had much to learn about being in office including how to get committee assignments learning about fellow office holders representing everyone in his district and knowing who his ldquoenemiesrdquo were in the House and in his district He learned how to ldquoread between the linesrdquo for constraints and calculations when politicians speak He was able to pass ten of eleven of his bills to the Senate They included a 40 increase in the Personal Needs Allowance for the disabled and others in nursing Homes and a payment for college students performing tasks for seniors in their homes These were difficult votes and ultimately the decision was up to the legislators regardless of what the voters may have wanted He lost in a re-election bid during the ldquoDFL Massacrerdquo (DFL lost 34 seats) when the Republicans took control of the House The Republicans had a strong get-out-the-vote strategy that was highly effective and the DFL was caught off-guard In 2006 Linda Fiest asked him to join the group that would soon create the DFL Senior Caucus Because of his experience on the Constitution Committee Dwayne was asked to write the Charter for the Senior Caucus using the DFL Constitution as an example He presented the Charter that he wrote to the DFL Constitution Committee and State DFL Convention where it was adopted in May of 2006 Dwayne then traveled all around the state with Linda Fiest recruiting seniors for the Senior Caucus Dwayne and Earl Bower also formed a team that talked to groups all over the state interested in becoming chapters of the Senior Caucus ndash a new concept for caucuses Earl and Dwayne were and remain strong proponents of developing chapters to increase the membership visibility and the importance of the Senior Caucus Dwayne reminds us that the DFL is a coalition of disparate groups who can always win when the groups pull together Dwayne would like the Senior Caucus to have more involvement in the political process He wants the endorsements from the Caucus to be fair and should endorse politicians who can and will further Senior Caucus issues He hopes that State Senior Caucus will avoid the risk of renegade actions by individuals andor committees and avoid the risk of a few people making decisions for everyone He would like the membership to be more aware of how the DFL works and learn from it and utilize core groups who know how politics should work No one chapter should have the major voice All chapters should participate equally The Senior Caucus should focus on statewide issues and its chapters should focus on local issues And since the beginning the Senior Caucus needs to continue to attract and have active membership to impact legislation that promote senior
Dwayne King
January 2021 Page 7
issues Age discriminations is rampant both within the Party and in our state and nation He notes that in general the DFL Party does not understand senior issues The Senior Caucus must raise awareness in the DFL Party raise awareness in State legislation raise awareness in national issues It would be wonderful to develop more senior caucuses in other states and then senior voting would have a greater impact
Other issues to address are the need for more awareness in Senior Caucus on health care coverage concerns for everyone ndash it is a right not a privilegemdash everyone should be eligible for coverage for the health care services that they need There is a need to consider legislative effects on our children and grandchildren as well He strongly endorses the education of the public on the needs of seniors for broadband and safe senior residential living
The purpose of the DFL Senior Caucus Yesterday and Today
Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston
The DFL Senior Caucus was founded in 2006 by
politically experienced and concerned DFL activists to
establish a statewide DFL organization that would focus
on and promote senior issues and concerns Its founders
believed that with a strong and unified voice the Senior
Caucus would influence candidates and elected officials
to address the needs of older Americans in Minnesota
through policy and law Its unified voice would assure
that the needs of older Minnesotans and their families
would be addressed in our statersquos policies and laws The
many experienced DFL party activists who founded the
Senior Caucus strongly believed that their efforts could
in fact influence voters and their choice of elected
officials
Many of the founders of the Senior Caucus were
active and engaged party activists including Linda Feist
and her husband Roger Junnila Dwayne King
Georgiana Ruzich Earl Bower James Reed Dick
Bernard Mary Ann Beneke Jim Poradek Ed Mars John
Martin and others initially or within the first couple of
years of its existence They recognized the increase in
baby boomers becoming seniors and that seniors were
living longer Their financial resources had to stretch
further than actuaries had predicted The founders also
recognized that there needed to be advocacy for this
growing senior population The founders of the DFL
Senior Caucus were pioneers in supporting senior issues
and making the Senior Caucus organization visible and
important to legislators policy makers and voters
The Senior Caucus held its first Annual Meeting in
2007 and made plans to staff an information table in the
DFL pavilion at the annual State Fair and it has done so
every year since save for 2020 when that annual event
was cancelled because of the pandemic Participants were
encouraged to contact everyone that they thought might
be interested in becoming members informing them of the
purpose of the Senior Caucus and asking them to join
Issues discussed at that initial Annual Meeting included
increasing membership developing an action plan for the
next year determining the best ways to be influential
visible and to be taken seriously by legislators and the
voters and how to decide which issues would be most
important to seniors They were developing the Senior
Caucus platform for the next year
It was determined that the priorities for research
study recommendations and resolutions were affordable
health care fair and equitable tax policies sound
transportation fair and reasonable prescription drug
prices affordable housing and safe and livable
communities Access to highspeed broadband internet
services has since been added to that initial priority list
The Senior Caucus determined that it should limit itself to
achievable goals and that it should develop a set of goals
that include the needs of non-seniors as well as those of
seniors Subsequent Annual Meetings set aside time for
the participants to brainstorm in small groups to
determine the most important issues to research and focus
and included planning sessions led by Dick Bernard and
Judy Berglund
A retreat led by Lynn VanDervort resulted in the
following recommendations shared leadership amongst
all the members assigning responsibilities and holding
assignees accountable avoiding the possibility of
developing internal factions causing dysfunction
developing intergenerational planning and programing
having shared goals recognizing gaps in membership by
age groups and using the Mission Statement to promote
shared values Those recommendations regarding the
operation of the Senior Caucus remain just as valid today
The founders of the Senior Caucus emphasized the
importance of using all available means of
communication to extend the interest in and the visibility
January 2021 Page 8
2020 Senior Caucus Endorsement Task Force Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston together with Jim Reed Joe
Mullery and Karla Sand
Since its founding in 2006 by several dedicated committed and experienced DFL activists the Senior Caucus has always been intent on becoming visible and
credible in its support of issues affecting seniors throughout the state The founders knew that that was the only way to leverage its rather small number of members
into a force that legislators and other policy makers would listen to and who would be willing to support senior issues Senior Caucus members have worked on campaigns they had and continue to have information
tables at the annual Minnesota State Fair they have information tables at DFL conventions they proudly wear t-shirts with Senior Caucus emblazoned across the front
The founders developed a state-wide newsletter early on to let seniors across the state know that the Senior Caucus exists and what it does and can do for seniors All these
efforts and activities have made legislators policy makers and the public at large aware of the Senior Caucus and see it as a visible and credible organization that cannot be
ignored The continuation of these efforts to be both visible and credible with respect to bringing senior issues and concerns to policy makers is now handled by the
important Political Involvement Committee (PIC)
A recent example of successful visibility and credibility was the Endorsement Task Force working under the auspices of the PIC that was convened to review requests for endorsement by the Senior Caucus prior to the August 2020 primary
This group handled the endorsement screenings for
candidates in districts where there were no chapters that covered the whole district Note While all chapters were invited to participate in the Senior Caucus endorsement
process not all of them met that criteria Some chapters did however and recommended endorsements for some local offices as well as for the state legislature Volunteers
included Mel Aanerud (Anoka) Bonnie Lokenvitz (East Central) Tony Scallon (greater Minneapolis) and Roger
Gehrke (South Metro)
Chapters were encouraged to set up an endorsements committee which would interview and screen all the
candidates in the districts totally within the chapter area They were then supposed to review the candidates written answers to the questionnaire and then interview the
candidates in person or on the phone or electronically for about an hour about the answers on the questionnaires and on other topics the members deemed appropriate They
would also explain the Senior Caucus views when candidates did not know or understand the issues
The questionnaire ideas came from many people Each person on a screening committee could ask pertinent questions at the screening The screeners determined in advance what additional questions they would ask and if
there was still time they could ask further questions The fact that nearly forty prospective candidates all
but four of them running for Congress or the State House or the State Senate asked for endorsement by the Senior Caucus just confirmed the recognition by those
candidates of the value placed upon that recognition and support from the Senior Caucus If they did not think that endorsement by the Senior Caucus would add value to
their campaigns they would not have sought it
Only three of the nearly forty candidates who requested endorsement by the Senior Caucus lost their
primary election bids which is quite a remarkable statement about the value as well as the credibility of the Senior Caucus endorsement The fact that they sought
endorsement by the Senior Caucus is a tribute to all the members who have worked so hard going all the way back to 2006 to make sure that the organization was
visible and credible The Senior Caucus wanted to make
of the Senior Caucus including Seniors Calling Seniors
the DFL data base telephone email and snail mail The
newsletter the Senior News was added it was published
periodically and then on a regular quarterly basis The
newsletter also produced an annual special state fair
recruitment edition to be distributed at the Senior Caucus
information table in the DFL pavilion on Senior Days at
the State Fair The founders of the Senior Caucus believed
that there was strength in numbers and building the
membership around the state would be needed to increase
the visibility of the organization By traveling around the
state Earl Bower Linda Feist and Roger Junnila
determined that chapters could be formed to increase that
membership numbers and caucus visibility Later Earl
and Dwayne King also traveled around the state
facilitating the development of chapters in both the rural
and urban parts of the state Currently there are eleven
Senior Caucus chapters throughout Minnesota
The importance of determining which issues are of
most concern and interest to seniors around the state
and informing the DFL legislators policy makers and
the public at large continues to be a major reason for
the existence of the DFL Senior Caucus today
January 2021 Page 9
sure that when it talked to legislators and policy makers and asked for support for a piece of legislation or policy
that its rationale for asking for support was credible and had been fully investigated Just offering an opinion in support of an important senior issue would not be
credible and The Senior Caucus knew that Being credible meant that it had to be supported by careful consideration and thorough research
That many DFL legislators and members of Congress
willingly provided Capitol Corner updates for the Senior
News the official newsletter of the Senior Caucus is yet
another recognition by those important folks of the
visibility and the credibility of the organization None of
the above would have happened had the Senior Caucus
not be seen as a visible and credible organization
representing senior views
Members of the Endorsements Task Force that must
be thanked for their efforts in 2020 included Chair Joe
Mullery Tony Scallon Jan Dietrich Milt Schoen and
Judy Corraro They deserve thanks for their dedication
and diligent work on this important matter a matter that
confirmed once again the visibility AND the credibility of
the Senior Caucus
How to MAGA ala Donald Trump Norm Hanson
Proclaim yourself as the smartest and
greatest president ever to reside in the White House
Denigrate all governmental institutions including
justice public health intelligence and (fill-in-the-blanks) and claim that you know more and better than all the experienced and skilled civil servants in those areas
Cozy up to the leaders of countries that are adversaries of the United States including Russia and North Korea and castigate and criticize the
leaders of countries that are friends of the United States
Pull the US from any treaties and agreements
negotiated by previous administrations especially those negotiated by President Obama
Do everything that you can to eliminate Obamacare
and claim to replace with your great health plan that does not exist
Claim that the 2016 and the 2020 elections were
rigged in favor of your opponents but then accept the results of 2016 when you won and refuse to accept them in 2020 when you lost
Do everything that you can to question the integrity of the election process no matter the lack of evidence that the elections were conducted other
than fairly and transparently Question criticize
and label all state election officials regardless of their party affiliation as being incompetent
stupid biased and trying to do everything that they could to get Biden elected
Denigrate the military by publicly referring to any
and all service men and women especially those who were wounded captured or killed as suckers and losers (despite being able to dodge
the draft five time and yet able to become commander-in-chief )
Pardon war criminals whose actions in the areas of conflict where US forces were involved placed servicemen and women in harmrsquos way
Do everything that you can with actions and words thereby able to divide the good citizens of the country facilitating the us (really me) against
them especially those Democrats liberals progressives and (fill-in-the-blanks)
Stack the SCOTUS with conservative justices that
will impact public policy for decades to come the real legacy that Trump will leave behind
And of course characteristically of who he is as a
man his inability to graciously concede that he lost his bid for re-election
And one more thingndash promote the storming of the Nations Capitol Building causing insurrection in order to prevent the confirmation of the vote for
president of someone other than you
January 2021 Page 10
DFL Senior Caucus Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting December 10 2020 Jim Reed
Members and friends gathered for the Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting which was held via Zoom on December 10 About fifty members attended which is a surprisingly large number in this year of COVID 19 Caucus members engaged openly on the topics presented Discussion centered on issues that the Senior Caucus could advance in 2021including caucus membership broadband communications aging in place specialized transportation and building coalitions to achieve greater influence Membership Director Josey Warren summarized efforts to increase membership across Greater Minnesota and to establish more Senior Caucus chapters The Minneapolis Chapter was recognized in the spring of 2020 and a St Paul chapter is just getting organized A Chapter Chairs Committee has been established with representatives from chapters to work together on programs member recruitment services communications and to share successes
Secretary Jim Reed reported on the development of broadband communications in Minnesota Some areas in Greater Minnesota still do not have broadband services which are needed by seniors to participate fully in our modern society Some federal and state funding has been made available to expand broadband service and the state has a task force to set objectives consider alternatives and review progress Advances have been made but technology presses forward and technology appeared first and sometimes only in urban centers Pressed by the 2020 pandemic government may only offer limited support for rural development The Senior Caucus will follow this progress and offer support as appropriate
Board Director Roger Gehrke reported on actions seniors should consider in order to continue to live in their own homes Actions include moving to a single level floor plan having railings attached where appropriate indoors and outdoors ensuring that appliances and vehicles are in good running order removing scatter rugs using delivery services and in-home health care He recommended discarding or donating objects no longer being used He recommended hobbies to suit a more limited lifestyle It is important to update wills trusts and health directives
Vice-chair Karla Sand gave an overview of legislative issues for specialized transportation Three issues now stand out commercial licenses for volunteer drivers high insurance costs for those drivers and taxation of reimbursement for volunteers Under current law individuals need expensive commercial licenses if they
sometimes drive a van or bus for a church or a non-profit service Insurance is expensive for covering the additional risk for disabled riders Legislation is needed to allow volunteers usually seniors to afford these extra costs The Senior Caucus will actively support legislation that will assist volunteer drivers for seniors
Complete reports from Jim Reed Karla Sand and Roger Gehrke can be found on the DFL Senior Caucus website (wwwdflseniorsorg)
Karla also introduced Senior Caucus efforts to form coalitions with other DFL caucuses and non-profits and to combine these efforts with caucus chapters The Senior Caucus will expand these coalitions whenever and wherever they are possible and will be effective The Disability Rural and Veterans Caucuses would be good working partners The Senior Caucus already works with AARP and other nonprofits to the extent that the law allow for non-profits
DFL Chair Ken Martin made a special appearance and discussed the DFL results in 2020 and prospects for 2021 He listed the DFL Party successes and concerns from the 2020 elections The party held on to the US Senate seat held the second and third US House seats gained in 2018 and retained a majority in the Minnesota House However one rural US House seat was lost and the Minnesota Senate remained in Republican hands In 2021 the DFL must rebuild its importance in rural Minnesota The Senior Caucus can help to promote the DFL as seniors are a dominate voting bloc in Greater Minnesota
The Annual Membership Meeting then considered two motions One was to actively support and promote ldquoEnd of Liferdquo legislation in the Minnesota legislature The legislation would allow terminally ill individuals of sound mind to acquire ldquoend of liferdquo medication from their physician After considerable debate the motion was tabled and referred to the Senior Caucus Board Political Involvement Committee (PIC) for further study and recommendations to the Board
The second motion was for a minor change to the Senior Caucus Charter to allow passage of charter amendments at special membership meetings as well as the Annual Membership Meeting Previously only the Annual Membership Meeting could pass charter updates This motion passed
Jim Reed
2019 In-person Annual Meeting
DFL SENIOR CAUCUS
255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107
CONTACTS Email-dflseniorsgmailcom
Website httpdflseniorsorg
Don Bye Chair 218-568-5530 byelawofficehotmailcom Karla Sand Vice Chair 651-739-7397 karlavioletshotmailcom
Committees Documents Position open Events Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Membership Position open Political Involvement Committee Coordinator Karla Sand karlavioletshotmailcom Technology Committee Kay Hendrikson dflseniorsgmailcom SENIOR NEWS The DFL Senior News is published at least four times a year by the DFL Senior Caucus 255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107 to provide news items of DFL Senior Caucus events and other items of interest to Minnesota seniors Readers are encouraged to submit articles for publication on subjects of interest to Minnesota DFL seniors Accepted articles may be edited to meet these goals and space requirements Submit articles and comments to Norm Hanson Editor 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom or Julianne Johnston 651-486-7120 juliannetjmsncom JOIN THE SENIOR CAUCUS Membership dues are $10 annually Join online or Send your check made out to DFL Senior Caucus and send to John Larva Treasurer DFL Senior Caucus 1424 Woodhill Drive Burnsville MN 55337
For waiver of dues please contact
Chair Don Bye or Vice-chair Karla Sand
January 2021 Page 11
Editors Norm Hanson newsletter editor norsan45hotmailcom 651-484-8926
Julianne Johnston design and layout editor juliannetjmsncom 651-486-7120
Columnists Norm Hanson Melissa Hortman Julianne Johnston Jim Reed
Photographs Dick Bernard Julianne Johnston Charlie Rike
Reviewer Sandy Hanson
DFL Senior Caucus Chapters January 2021 Note Chapter meetings are being held as Zoom Meetings
Persons without computers or cell phones can join with a landline phone Contact the chair to get further information about joining a meeting
Anoka Chapter - Anoka County Chair Mel Aanerud 763-434-3809 Aanerud4comcastnet East Central Chapter - SD 11 SD 15 amp Isanti County area Chair Bonnie Lokenvitz 320-679-8202 blokenvitzgmailcom East Metro Chapter - Maplewood and east Chair Kay Hendrikson 651-739-1080 dfleastmetrocaucus gmailcom Mankato Area Chapter Chair Richard Chambers 507-420-4030 gdthdraolcom Minneapolis Area Chapter Chair Kenneth Vreeland 612-722-8017 borderlord_oneyahoocom North East Minnesota Chapter - Duluth area Chair Gary Westorff 612-709-5342 nemndflsrsyahoocom North Metro Chapter ndash Northern Suburban Metropolitan area Chair Norm Hanson 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom St Paul Chapter - St Paul area Chair Lyn Burton 651-336-4493 lburton612aolcom South East MN Chapter - Rochester area Chair Patricia Mann Mannpa1chartercom South Metro Chapter - CD 2 and Dakota County area Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Tri-County Chapter ndash Washington County Chisago County and Kanabec County areas Chair Sandra Trudeau 651-492-1149 wmsandycomcastnet
DFL Senior News
255 East Plato Blvd
Saint Paul MN 55107
First Class
All Meetings at this time will be
conducted via
Zoom
Contact the chair of the meeting for
more information
DFL Senior Caucus Calendar 2021 Events All Events are Handicapped Accessible
Social Luncheon - On Hold due to the COVID-19
Senior Caucus Board Meeting - Meetings will be held via Zoom at times determined by the Board Contact Vice Chair Karla Sand 651-739-7397 or karlavioletshotmailcom
Senior Caucus Book Club - Meetings are being held by Zoom on third Mondays Contact Jim Reed jreed11665comcastnet for more information See January discussion January 18 11 am to 1 pm see page 2 page of this issue will be a ZOOM meeting
Inauguration Day on January 20 2021
Contacts for the Senior Caucus
Facebook at httpswwwfacebookcomgroupsDFLSeniorCaucus Email dflseniorsgmailcom Website httpdflseniorsorg Check out the calendar on the website for scheduled meetings and events as they
are scheduled through out each month
Standard The Senior News has the luxury that every newsletter would like to have and that is having more information submitted and ready than can be published in a ten to twelve page newsletter It is a challenge as we have to decide which articles and photos to include in each issue which ones to defer until the next issue and which ones that we have to save for a later issue We thank all of our readers for their continued support for their newsletter and the luxury as well as the challenges that this gives to US However we always welcome more articles from our readers to be sure we cover all the interests and concerns of DFL seniors
January 2021 Page 6
Getting to know Dwayne King Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston
Dwayne was raised in Caselton North Dakota (ND) on a share-crop one half section (320 acre) farm with his parents and he was one of their six children The farm produced and sold oats barley corn wheat popcorn and also raised pigs milked ten cows sold chickens and kept two horses to pull the manure spreader The farm did not have electricity until 1948 Dwayne raised and sold pigs to help pay for his college education At the age of twelve he definitely decided that he did not want to be a farmer His parents encouraged further education for all their children As a freshman at North Dakota Agricultural College now North Dakota State University Dwayne worked in the local creamery and received a scholarship from the farm where his dad worked He joined Sigma Chi an engineering fraternity and credits his fraternity for enabling him to become more outgoing He ran for the student senate while a sophomore in college and became comfortable speaking to large and small groups a good experience even though he was not elected Because it was a land grant university students were required to serve in the ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) during their first two years Dwayne opted to complete the ROTC program and he became an Army officer He graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering and worked for IBM spending much of his twenty-five years of employment with IBM as a systemrsquos engineer and a trainer for customers until he took an early retirement in 1990 Early on he made up three lists of what he hoped to achieve 1 What he wanted 2 What he thought he could achieve 3 What he did not think would be possible for him to achieve He says he has achieved three of the goals in list 3 in his lifetime Dwaynersquos mother developed Multiple Sclerosis at age fifty five and the family had to rely on Social Security Disability benefits for assistance Dwayne was aware of what the Democratic Party and Franklin Delano Roosevelt had done for people like his mother and his father helping people in difficult situations beyond their control or making When he had an opportunity to be at a rally for Jack Kennedy for president he was hooked Dwayne became involved with the Golden Valley DFL Club helping campaigns in his area He became a state delegate to a DFL convention and signed up for the Constitution Committee He traveled the state for two years getting input on the first revision of the DFL Partyrsquos constitution and then had to scramble at the last moment to produce the findings of that two-year effort He gave the report of the Constitution Committee to the DFL Central Committee and the recommendations were adopted thanks to his hard work in preparing the final report The revised DFL Constitution included proportional voting for candidates rather than the ldquosmoke
filled roomsrdquo Dwayne was named the chair of the newly formed Constitution Committee of the Minnesota DFL He ran for the House seat in his district and won election on his first try in a Republican indexed district He found that he had much to learn about being in office including how to get committee assignments learning about fellow office holders representing everyone in his district and knowing who his ldquoenemiesrdquo were in the House and in his district He learned how to ldquoread between the linesrdquo for constraints and calculations when politicians speak He was able to pass ten of eleven of his bills to the Senate They included a 40 increase in the Personal Needs Allowance for the disabled and others in nursing Homes and a payment for college students performing tasks for seniors in their homes These were difficult votes and ultimately the decision was up to the legislators regardless of what the voters may have wanted He lost in a re-election bid during the ldquoDFL Massacrerdquo (DFL lost 34 seats) when the Republicans took control of the House The Republicans had a strong get-out-the-vote strategy that was highly effective and the DFL was caught off-guard In 2006 Linda Fiest asked him to join the group that would soon create the DFL Senior Caucus Because of his experience on the Constitution Committee Dwayne was asked to write the Charter for the Senior Caucus using the DFL Constitution as an example He presented the Charter that he wrote to the DFL Constitution Committee and State DFL Convention where it was adopted in May of 2006 Dwayne then traveled all around the state with Linda Fiest recruiting seniors for the Senior Caucus Dwayne and Earl Bower also formed a team that talked to groups all over the state interested in becoming chapters of the Senior Caucus ndash a new concept for caucuses Earl and Dwayne were and remain strong proponents of developing chapters to increase the membership visibility and the importance of the Senior Caucus Dwayne reminds us that the DFL is a coalition of disparate groups who can always win when the groups pull together Dwayne would like the Senior Caucus to have more involvement in the political process He wants the endorsements from the Caucus to be fair and should endorse politicians who can and will further Senior Caucus issues He hopes that State Senior Caucus will avoid the risk of renegade actions by individuals andor committees and avoid the risk of a few people making decisions for everyone He would like the membership to be more aware of how the DFL works and learn from it and utilize core groups who know how politics should work No one chapter should have the major voice All chapters should participate equally The Senior Caucus should focus on statewide issues and its chapters should focus on local issues And since the beginning the Senior Caucus needs to continue to attract and have active membership to impact legislation that promote senior
Dwayne King
January 2021 Page 7
issues Age discriminations is rampant both within the Party and in our state and nation He notes that in general the DFL Party does not understand senior issues The Senior Caucus must raise awareness in the DFL Party raise awareness in State legislation raise awareness in national issues It would be wonderful to develop more senior caucuses in other states and then senior voting would have a greater impact
Other issues to address are the need for more awareness in Senior Caucus on health care coverage concerns for everyone ndash it is a right not a privilegemdash everyone should be eligible for coverage for the health care services that they need There is a need to consider legislative effects on our children and grandchildren as well He strongly endorses the education of the public on the needs of seniors for broadband and safe senior residential living
The purpose of the DFL Senior Caucus Yesterday and Today
Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston
The DFL Senior Caucus was founded in 2006 by
politically experienced and concerned DFL activists to
establish a statewide DFL organization that would focus
on and promote senior issues and concerns Its founders
believed that with a strong and unified voice the Senior
Caucus would influence candidates and elected officials
to address the needs of older Americans in Minnesota
through policy and law Its unified voice would assure
that the needs of older Minnesotans and their families
would be addressed in our statersquos policies and laws The
many experienced DFL party activists who founded the
Senior Caucus strongly believed that their efforts could
in fact influence voters and their choice of elected
officials
Many of the founders of the Senior Caucus were
active and engaged party activists including Linda Feist
and her husband Roger Junnila Dwayne King
Georgiana Ruzich Earl Bower James Reed Dick
Bernard Mary Ann Beneke Jim Poradek Ed Mars John
Martin and others initially or within the first couple of
years of its existence They recognized the increase in
baby boomers becoming seniors and that seniors were
living longer Their financial resources had to stretch
further than actuaries had predicted The founders also
recognized that there needed to be advocacy for this
growing senior population The founders of the DFL
Senior Caucus were pioneers in supporting senior issues
and making the Senior Caucus organization visible and
important to legislators policy makers and voters
The Senior Caucus held its first Annual Meeting in
2007 and made plans to staff an information table in the
DFL pavilion at the annual State Fair and it has done so
every year since save for 2020 when that annual event
was cancelled because of the pandemic Participants were
encouraged to contact everyone that they thought might
be interested in becoming members informing them of the
purpose of the Senior Caucus and asking them to join
Issues discussed at that initial Annual Meeting included
increasing membership developing an action plan for the
next year determining the best ways to be influential
visible and to be taken seriously by legislators and the
voters and how to decide which issues would be most
important to seniors They were developing the Senior
Caucus platform for the next year
It was determined that the priorities for research
study recommendations and resolutions were affordable
health care fair and equitable tax policies sound
transportation fair and reasonable prescription drug
prices affordable housing and safe and livable
communities Access to highspeed broadband internet
services has since been added to that initial priority list
The Senior Caucus determined that it should limit itself to
achievable goals and that it should develop a set of goals
that include the needs of non-seniors as well as those of
seniors Subsequent Annual Meetings set aside time for
the participants to brainstorm in small groups to
determine the most important issues to research and focus
and included planning sessions led by Dick Bernard and
Judy Berglund
A retreat led by Lynn VanDervort resulted in the
following recommendations shared leadership amongst
all the members assigning responsibilities and holding
assignees accountable avoiding the possibility of
developing internal factions causing dysfunction
developing intergenerational planning and programing
having shared goals recognizing gaps in membership by
age groups and using the Mission Statement to promote
shared values Those recommendations regarding the
operation of the Senior Caucus remain just as valid today
The founders of the Senior Caucus emphasized the
importance of using all available means of
communication to extend the interest in and the visibility
January 2021 Page 8
2020 Senior Caucus Endorsement Task Force Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston together with Jim Reed Joe
Mullery and Karla Sand
Since its founding in 2006 by several dedicated committed and experienced DFL activists the Senior Caucus has always been intent on becoming visible and
credible in its support of issues affecting seniors throughout the state The founders knew that that was the only way to leverage its rather small number of members
into a force that legislators and other policy makers would listen to and who would be willing to support senior issues Senior Caucus members have worked on campaigns they had and continue to have information
tables at the annual Minnesota State Fair they have information tables at DFL conventions they proudly wear t-shirts with Senior Caucus emblazoned across the front
The founders developed a state-wide newsletter early on to let seniors across the state know that the Senior Caucus exists and what it does and can do for seniors All these
efforts and activities have made legislators policy makers and the public at large aware of the Senior Caucus and see it as a visible and credible organization that cannot be
ignored The continuation of these efforts to be both visible and credible with respect to bringing senior issues and concerns to policy makers is now handled by the
important Political Involvement Committee (PIC)
A recent example of successful visibility and credibility was the Endorsement Task Force working under the auspices of the PIC that was convened to review requests for endorsement by the Senior Caucus prior to the August 2020 primary
This group handled the endorsement screenings for
candidates in districts where there were no chapters that covered the whole district Note While all chapters were invited to participate in the Senior Caucus endorsement
process not all of them met that criteria Some chapters did however and recommended endorsements for some local offices as well as for the state legislature Volunteers
included Mel Aanerud (Anoka) Bonnie Lokenvitz (East Central) Tony Scallon (greater Minneapolis) and Roger
Gehrke (South Metro)
Chapters were encouraged to set up an endorsements committee which would interview and screen all the
candidates in the districts totally within the chapter area They were then supposed to review the candidates written answers to the questionnaire and then interview the
candidates in person or on the phone or electronically for about an hour about the answers on the questionnaires and on other topics the members deemed appropriate They
would also explain the Senior Caucus views when candidates did not know or understand the issues
The questionnaire ideas came from many people Each person on a screening committee could ask pertinent questions at the screening The screeners determined in advance what additional questions they would ask and if
there was still time they could ask further questions The fact that nearly forty prospective candidates all
but four of them running for Congress or the State House or the State Senate asked for endorsement by the Senior Caucus just confirmed the recognition by those
candidates of the value placed upon that recognition and support from the Senior Caucus If they did not think that endorsement by the Senior Caucus would add value to
their campaigns they would not have sought it
Only three of the nearly forty candidates who requested endorsement by the Senior Caucus lost their
primary election bids which is quite a remarkable statement about the value as well as the credibility of the Senior Caucus endorsement The fact that they sought
endorsement by the Senior Caucus is a tribute to all the members who have worked so hard going all the way back to 2006 to make sure that the organization was
visible and credible The Senior Caucus wanted to make
of the Senior Caucus including Seniors Calling Seniors
the DFL data base telephone email and snail mail The
newsletter the Senior News was added it was published
periodically and then on a regular quarterly basis The
newsletter also produced an annual special state fair
recruitment edition to be distributed at the Senior Caucus
information table in the DFL pavilion on Senior Days at
the State Fair The founders of the Senior Caucus believed
that there was strength in numbers and building the
membership around the state would be needed to increase
the visibility of the organization By traveling around the
state Earl Bower Linda Feist and Roger Junnila
determined that chapters could be formed to increase that
membership numbers and caucus visibility Later Earl
and Dwayne King also traveled around the state
facilitating the development of chapters in both the rural
and urban parts of the state Currently there are eleven
Senior Caucus chapters throughout Minnesota
The importance of determining which issues are of
most concern and interest to seniors around the state
and informing the DFL legislators policy makers and
the public at large continues to be a major reason for
the existence of the DFL Senior Caucus today
January 2021 Page 9
sure that when it talked to legislators and policy makers and asked for support for a piece of legislation or policy
that its rationale for asking for support was credible and had been fully investigated Just offering an opinion in support of an important senior issue would not be
credible and The Senior Caucus knew that Being credible meant that it had to be supported by careful consideration and thorough research
That many DFL legislators and members of Congress
willingly provided Capitol Corner updates for the Senior
News the official newsletter of the Senior Caucus is yet
another recognition by those important folks of the
visibility and the credibility of the organization None of
the above would have happened had the Senior Caucus
not be seen as a visible and credible organization
representing senior views
Members of the Endorsements Task Force that must
be thanked for their efforts in 2020 included Chair Joe
Mullery Tony Scallon Jan Dietrich Milt Schoen and
Judy Corraro They deserve thanks for their dedication
and diligent work on this important matter a matter that
confirmed once again the visibility AND the credibility of
the Senior Caucus
How to MAGA ala Donald Trump Norm Hanson
Proclaim yourself as the smartest and
greatest president ever to reside in the White House
Denigrate all governmental institutions including
justice public health intelligence and (fill-in-the-blanks) and claim that you know more and better than all the experienced and skilled civil servants in those areas
Cozy up to the leaders of countries that are adversaries of the United States including Russia and North Korea and castigate and criticize the
leaders of countries that are friends of the United States
Pull the US from any treaties and agreements
negotiated by previous administrations especially those negotiated by President Obama
Do everything that you can to eliminate Obamacare
and claim to replace with your great health plan that does not exist
Claim that the 2016 and the 2020 elections were
rigged in favor of your opponents but then accept the results of 2016 when you won and refuse to accept them in 2020 when you lost
Do everything that you can to question the integrity of the election process no matter the lack of evidence that the elections were conducted other
than fairly and transparently Question criticize
and label all state election officials regardless of their party affiliation as being incompetent
stupid biased and trying to do everything that they could to get Biden elected
Denigrate the military by publicly referring to any
and all service men and women especially those who were wounded captured or killed as suckers and losers (despite being able to dodge
the draft five time and yet able to become commander-in-chief )
Pardon war criminals whose actions in the areas of conflict where US forces were involved placed servicemen and women in harmrsquos way
Do everything that you can with actions and words thereby able to divide the good citizens of the country facilitating the us (really me) against
them especially those Democrats liberals progressives and (fill-in-the-blanks)
Stack the SCOTUS with conservative justices that
will impact public policy for decades to come the real legacy that Trump will leave behind
And of course characteristically of who he is as a
man his inability to graciously concede that he lost his bid for re-election
And one more thingndash promote the storming of the Nations Capitol Building causing insurrection in order to prevent the confirmation of the vote for
president of someone other than you
January 2021 Page 10
DFL Senior Caucus Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting December 10 2020 Jim Reed
Members and friends gathered for the Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting which was held via Zoom on December 10 About fifty members attended which is a surprisingly large number in this year of COVID 19 Caucus members engaged openly on the topics presented Discussion centered on issues that the Senior Caucus could advance in 2021including caucus membership broadband communications aging in place specialized transportation and building coalitions to achieve greater influence Membership Director Josey Warren summarized efforts to increase membership across Greater Minnesota and to establish more Senior Caucus chapters The Minneapolis Chapter was recognized in the spring of 2020 and a St Paul chapter is just getting organized A Chapter Chairs Committee has been established with representatives from chapters to work together on programs member recruitment services communications and to share successes
Secretary Jim Reed reported on the development of broadband communications in Minnesota Some areas in Greater Minnesota still do not have broadband services which are needed by seniors to participate fully in our modern society Some federal and state funding has been made available to expand broadband service and the state has a task force to set objectives consider alternatives and review progress Advances have been made but technology presses forward and technology appeared first and sometimes only in urban centers Pressed by the 2020 pandemic government may only offer limited support for rural development The Senior Caucus will follow this progress and offer support as appropriate
Board Director Roger Gehrke reported on actions seniors should consider in order to continue to live in their own homes Actions include moving to a single level floor plan having railings attached where appropriate indoors and outdoors ensuring that appliances and vehicles are in good running order removing scatter rugs using delivery services and in-home health care He recommended discarding or donating objects no longer being used He recommended hobbies to suit a more limited lifestyle It is important to update wills trusts and health directives
Vice-chair Karla Sand gave an overview of legislative issues for specialized transportation Three issues now stand out commercial licenses for volunteer drivers high insurance costs for those drivers and taxation of reimbursement for volunteers Under current law individuals need expensive commercial licenses if they
sometimes drive a van or bus for a church or a non-profit service Insurance is expensive for covering the additional risk for disabled riders Legislation is needed to allow volunteers usually seniors to afford these extra costs The Senior Caucus will actively support legislation that will assist volunteer drivers for seniors
Complete reports from Jim Reed Karla Sand and Roger Gehrke can be found on the DFL Senior Caucus website (wwwdflseniorsorg)
Karla also introduced Senior Caucus efforts to form coalitions with other DFL caucuses and non-profits and to combine these efforts with caucus chapters The Senior Caucus will expand these coalitions whenever and wherever they are possible and will be effective The Disability Rural and Veterans Caucuses would be good working partners The Senior Caucus already works with AARP and other nonprofits to the extent that the law allow for non-profits
DFL Chair Ken Martin made a special appearance and discussed the DFL results in 2020 and prospects for 2021 He listed the DFL Party successes and concerns from the 2020 elections The party held on to the US Senate seat held the second and third US House seats gained in 2018 and retained a majority in the Minnesota House However one rural US House seat was lost and the Minnesota Senate remained in Republican hands In 2021 the DFL must rebuild its importance in rural Minnesota The Senior Caucus can help to promote the DFL as seniors are a dominate voting bloc in Greater Minnesota
The Annual Membership Meeting then considered two motions One was to actively support and promote ldquoEnd of Liferdquo legislation in the Minnesota legislature The legislation would allow terminally ill individuals of sound mind to acquire ldquoend of liferdquo medication from their physician After considerable debate the motion was tabled and referred to the Senior Caucus Board Political Involvement Committee (PIC) for further study and recommendations to the Board
The second motion was for a minor change to the Senior Caucus Charter to allow passage of charter amendments at special membership meetings as well as the Annual Membership Meeting Previously only the Annual Membership Meeting could pass charter updates This motion passed
Jim Reed
2019 In-person Annual Meeting
DFL SENIOR CAUCUS
255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107
CONTACTS Email-dflseniorsgmailcom
Website httpdflseniorsorg
Don Bye Chair 218-568-5530 byelawofficehotmailcom Karla Sand Vice Chair 651-739-7397 karlavioletshotmailcom
Committees Documents Position open Events Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Membership Position open Political Involvement Committee Coordinator Karla Sand karlavioletshotmailcom Technology Committee Kay Hendrikson dflseniorsgmailcom SENIOR NEWS The DFL Senior News is published at least four times a year by the DFL Senior Caucus 255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107 to provide news items of DFL Senior Caucus events and other items of interest to Minnesota seniors Readers are encouraged to submit articles for publication on subjects of interest to Minnesota DFL seniors Accepted articles may be edited to meet these goals and space requirements Submit articles and comments to Norm Hanson Editor 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom or Julianne Johnston 651-486-7120 juliannetjmsncom JOIN THE SENIOR CAUCUS Membership dues are $10 annually Join online or Send your check made out to DFL Senior Caucus and send to John Larva Treasurer DFL Senior Caucus 1424 Woodhill Drive Burnsville MN 55337
For waiver of dues please contact
Chair Don Bye or Vice-chair Karla Sand
January 2021 Page 11
Editors Norm Hanson newsletter editor norsan45hotmailcom 651-484-8926
Julianne Johnston design and layout editor juliannetjmsncom 651-486-7120
Columnists Norm Hanson Melissa Hortman Julianne Johnston Jim Reed
Photographs Dick Bernard Julianne Johnston Charlie Rike
Reviewer Sandy Hanson
DFL Senior Caucus Chapters January 2021 Note Chapter meetings are being held as Zoom Meetings
Persons without computers or cell phones can join with a landline phone Contact the chair to get further information about joining a meeting
Anoka Chapter - Anoka County Chair Mel Aanerud 763-434-3809 Aanerud4comcastnet East Central Chapter - SD 11 SD 15 amp Isanti County area Chair Bonnie Lokenvitz 320-679-8202 blokenvitzgmailcom East Metro Chapter - Maplewood and east Chair Kay Hendrikson 651-739-1080 dfleastmetrocaucus gmailcom Mankato Area Chapter Chair Richard Chambers 507-420-4030 gdthdraolcom Minneapolis Area Chapter Chair Kenneth Vreeland 612-722-8017 borderlord_oneyahoocom North East Minnesota Chapter - Duluth area Chair Gary Westorff 612-709-5342 nemndflsrsyahoocom North Metro Chapter ndash Northern Suburban Metropolitan area Chair Norm Hanson 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom St Paul Chapter - St Paul area Chair Lyn Burton 651-336-4493 lburton612aolcom South East MN Chapter - Rochester area Chair Patricia Mann Mannpa1chartercom South Metro Chapter - CD 2 and Dakota County area Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Tri-County Chapter ndash Washington County Chisago County and Kanabec County areas Chair Sandra Trudeau 651-492-1149 wmsandycomcastnet
DFL Senior News
255 East Plato Blvd
Saint Paul MN 55107
First Class
All Meetings at this time will be
conducted via
Zoom
Contact the chair of the meeting for
more information
DFL Senior Caucus Calendar 2021 Events All Events are Handicapped Accessible
Social Luncheon - On Hold due to the COVID-19
Senior Caucus Board Meeting - Meetings will be held via Zoom at times determined by the Board Contact Vice Chair Karla Sand 651-739-7397 or karlavioletshotmailcom
Senior Caucus Book Club - Meetings are being held by Zoom on third Mondays Contact Jim Reed jreed11665comcastnet for more information See January discussion January 18 11 am to 1 pm see page 2 page of this issue will be a ZOOM meeting
Inauguration Day on January 20 2021
Contacts for the Senior Caucus
Facebook at httpswwwfacebookcomgroupsDFLSeniorCaucus Email dflseniorsgmailcom Website httpdflseniorsorg Check out the calendar on the website for scheduled meetings and events as they
are scheduled through out each month
Standard The Senior News has the luxury that every newsletter would like to have and that is having more information submitted and ready than can be published in a ten to twelve page newsletter It is a challenge as we have to decide which articles and photos to include in each issue which ones to defer until the next issue and which ones that we have to save for a later issue We thank all of our readers for their continued support for their newsletter and the luxury as well as the challenges that this gives to US However we always welcome more articles from our readers to be sure we cover all the interests and concerns of DFL seniors
January 2021 Page 7
issues Age discriminations is rampant both within the Party and in our state and nation He notes that in general the DFL Party does not understand senior issues The Senior Caucus must raise awareness in the DFL Party raise awareness in State legislation raise awareness in national issues It would be wonderful to develop more senior caucuses in other states and then senior voting would have a greater impact
Other issues to address are the need for more awareness in Senior Caucus on health care coverage concerns for everyone ndash it is a right not a privilegemdash everyone should be eligible for coverage for the health care services that they need There is a need to consider legislative effects on our children and grandchildren as well He strongly endorses the education of the public on the needs of seniors for broadband and safe senior residential living
The purpose of the DFL Senior Caucus Yesterday and Today
Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston
The DFL Senior Caucus was founded in 2006 by
politically experienced and concerned DFL activists to
establish a statewide DFL organization that would focus
on and promote senior issues and concerns Its founders
believed that with a strong and unified voice the Senior
Caucus would influence candidates and elected officials
to address the needs of older Americans in Minnesota
through policy and law Its unified voice would assure
that the needs of older Minnesotans and their families
would be addressed in our statersquos policies and laws The
many experienced DFL party activists who founded the
Senior Caucus strongly believed that their efforts could
in fact influence voters and their choice of elected
officials
Many of the founders of the Senior Caucus were
active and engaged party activists including Linda Feist
and her husband Roger Junnila Dwayne King
Georgiana Ruzich Earl Bower James Reed Dick
Bernard Mary Ann Beneke Jim Poradek Ed Mars John
Martin and others initially or within the first couple of
years of its existence They recognized the increase in
baby boomers becoming seniors and that seniors were
living longer Their financial resources had to stretch
further than actuaries had predicted The founders also
recognized that there needed to be advocacy for this
growing senior population The founders of the DFL
Senior Caucus were pioneers in supporting senior issues
and making the Senior Caucus organization visible and
important to legislators policy makers and voters
The Senior Caucus held its first Annual Meeting in
2007 and made plans to staff an information table in the
DFL pavilion at the annual State Fair and it has done so
every year since save for 2020 when that annual event
was cancelled because of the pandemic Participants were
encouraged to contact everyone that they thought might
be interested in becoming members informing them of the
purpose of the Senior Caucus and asking them to join
Issues discussed at that initial Annual Meeting included
increasing membership developing an action plan for the
next year determining the best ways to be influential
visible and to be taken seriously by legislators and the
voters and how to decide which issues would be most
important to seniors They were developing the Senior
Caucus platform for the next year
It was determined that the priorities for research
study recommendations and resolutions were affordable
health care fair and equitable tax policies sound
transportation fair and reasonable prescription drug
prices affordable housing and safe and livable
communities Access to highspeed broadband internet
services has since been added to that initial priority list
The Senior Caucus determined that it should limit itself to
achievable goals and that it should develop a set of goals
that include the needs of non-seniors as well as those of
seniors Subsequent Annual Meetings set aside time for
the participants to brainstorm in small groups to
determine the most important issues to research and focus
and included planning sessions led by Dick Bernard and
Judy Berglund
A retreat led by Lynn VanDervort resulted in the
following recommendations shared leadership amongst
all the members assigning responsibilities and holding
assignees accountable avoiding the possibility of
developing internal factions causing dysfunction
developing intergenerational planning and programing
having shared goals recognizing gaps in membership by
age groups and using the Mission Statement to promote
shared values Those recommendations regarding the
operation of the Senior Caucus remain just as valid today
The founders of the Senior Caucus emphasized the
importance of using all available means of
communication to extend the interest in and the visibility
January 2021 Page 8
2020 Senior Caucus Endorsement Task Force Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston together with Jim Reed Joe
Mullery and Karla Sand
Since its founding in 2006 by several dedicated committed and experienced DFL activists the Senior Caucus has always been intent on becoming visible and
credible in its support of issues affecting seniors throughout the state The founders knew that that was the only way to leverage its rather small number of members
into a force that legislators and other policy makers would listen to and who would be willing to support senior issues Senior Caucus members have worked on campaigns they had and continue to have information
tables at the annual Minnesota State Fair they have information tables at DFL conventions they proudly wear t-shirts with Senior Caucus emblazoned across the front
The founders developed a state-wide newsletter early on to let seniors across the state know that the Senior Caucus exists and what it does and can do for seniors All these
efforts and activities have made legislators policy makers and the public at large aware of the Senior Caucus and see it as a visible and credible organization that cannot be
ignored The continuation of these efforts to be both visible and credible with respect to bringing senior issues and concerns to policy makers is now handled by the
important Political Involvement Committee (PIC)
A recent example of successful visibility and credibility was the Endorsement Task Force working under the auspices of the PIC that was convened to review requests for endorsement by the Senior Caucus prior to the August 2020 primary
This group handled the endorsement screenings for
candidates in districts where there were no chapters that covered the whole district Note While all chapters were invited to participate in the Senior Caucus endorsement
process not all of them met that criteria Some chapters did however and recommended endorsements for some local offices as well as for the state legislature Volunteers
included Mel Aanerud (Anoka) Bonnie Lokenvitz (East Central) Tony Scallon (greater Minneapolis) and Roger
Gehrke (South Metro)
Chapters were encouraged to set up an endorsements committee which would interview and screen all the
candidates in the districts totally within the chapter area They were then supposed to review the candidates written answers to the questionnaire and then interview the
candidates in person or on the phone or electronically for about an hour about the answers on the questionnaires and on other topics the members deemed appropriate They
would also explain the Senior Caucus views when candidates did not know or understand the issues
The questionnaire ideas came from many people Each person on a screening committee could ask pertinent questions at the screening The screeners determined in advance what additional questions they would ask and if
there was still time they could ask further questions The fact that nearly forty prospective candidates all
but four of them running for Congress or the State House or the State Senate asked for endorsement by the Senior Caucus just confirmed the recognition by those
candidates of the value placed upon that recognition and support from the Senior Caucus If they did not think that endorsement by the Senior Caucus would add value to
their campaigns they would not have sought it
Only three of the nearly forty candidates who requested endorsement by the Senior Caucus lost their
primary election bids which is quite a remarkable statement about the value as well as the credibility of the Senior Caucus endorsement The fact that they sought
endorsement by the Senior Caucus is a tribute to all the members who have worked so hard going all the way back to 2006 to make sure that the organization was
visible and credible The Senior Caucus wanted to make
of the Senior Caucus including Seniors Calling Seniors
the DFL data base telephone email and snail mail The
newsletter the Senior News was added it was published
periodically and then on a regular quarterly basis The
newsletter also produced an annual special state fair
recruitment edition to be distributed at the Senior Caucus
information table in the DFL pavilion on Senior Days at
the State Fair The founders of the Senior Caucus believed
that there was strength in numbers and building the
membership around the state would be needed to increase
the visibility of the organization By traveling around the
state Earl Bower Linda Feist and Roger Junnila
determined that chapters could be formed to increase that
membership numbers and caucus visibility Later Earl
and Dwayne King also traveled around the state
facilitating the development of chapters in both the rural
and urban parts of the state Currently there are eleven
Senior Caucus chapters throughout Minnesota
The importance of determining which issues are of
most concern and interest to seniors around the state
and informing the DFL legislators policy makers and
the public at large continues to be a major reason for
the existence of the DFL Senior Caucus today
January 2021 Page 9
sure that when it talked to legislators and policy makers and asked for support for a piece of legislation or policy
that its rationale for asking for support was credible and had been fully investigated Just offering an opinion in support of an important senior issue would not be
credible and The Senior Caucus knew that Being credible meant that it had to be supported by careful consideration and thorough research
That many DFL legislators and members of Congress
willingly provided Capitol Corner updates for the Senior
News the official newsletter of the Senior Caucus is yet
another recognition by those important folks of the
visibility and the credibility of the organization None of
the above would have happened had the Senior Caucus
not be seen as a visible and credible organization
representing senior views
Members of the Endorsements Task Force that must
be thanked for their efforts in 2020 included Chair Joe
Mullery Tony Scallon Jan Dietrich Milt Schoen and
Judy Corraro They deserve thanks for their dedication
and diligent work on this important matter a matter that
confirmed once again the visibility AND the credibility of
the Senior Caucus
How to MAGA ala Donald Trump Norm Hanson
Proclaim yourself as the smartest and
greatest president ever to reside in the White House
Denigrate all governmental institutions including
justice public health intelligence and (fill-in-the-blanks) and claim that you know more and better than all the experienced and skilled civil servants in those areas
Cozy up to the leaders of countries that are adversaries of the United States including Russia and North Korea and castigate and criticize the
leaders of countries that are friends of the United States
Pull the US from any treaties and agreements
negotiated by previous administrations especially those negotiated by President Obama
Do everything that you can to eliminate Obamacare
and claim to replace with your great health plan that does not exist
Claim that the 2016 and the 2020 elections were
rigged in favor of your opponents but then accept the results of 2016 when you won and refuse to accept them in 2020 when you lost
Do everything that you can to question the integrity of the election process no matter the lack of evidence that the elections were conducted other
than fairly and transparently Question criticize
and label all state election officials regardless of their party affiliation as being incompetent
stupid biased and trying to do everything that they could to get Biden elected
Denigrate the military by publicly referring to any
and all service men and women especially those who were wounded captured or killed as suckers and losers (despite being able to dodge
the draft five time and yet able to become commander-in-chief )
Pardon war criminals whose actions in the areas of conflict where US forces were involved placed servicemen and women in harmrsquos way
Do everything that you can with actions and words thereby able to divide the good citizens of the country facilitating the us (really me) against
them especially those Democrats liberals progressives and (fill-in-the-blanks)
Stack the SCOTUS with conservative justices that
will impact public policy for decades to come the real legacy that Trump will leave behind
And of course characteristically of who he is as a
man his inability to graciously concede that he lost his bid for re-election
And one more thingndash promote the storming of the Nations Capitol Building causing insurrection in order to prevent the confirmation of the vote for
president of someone other than you
January 2021 Page 10
DFL Senior Caucus Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting December 10 2020 Jim Reed
Members and friends gathered for the Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting which was held via Zoom on December 10 About fifty members attended which is a surprisingly large number in this year of COVID 19 Caucus members engaged openly on the topics presented Discussion centered on issues that the Senior Caucus could advance in 2021including caucus membership broadband communications aging in place specialized transportation and building coalitions to achieve greater influence Membership Director Josey Warren summarized efforts to increase membership across Greater Minnesota and to establish more Senior Caucus chapters The Minneapolis Chapter was recognized in the spring of 2020 and a St Paul chapter is just getting organized A Chapter Chairs Committee has been established with representatives from chapters to work together on programs member recruitment services communications and to share successes
Secretary Jim Reed reported on the development of broadband communications in Minnesota Some areas in Greater Minnesota still do not have broadband services which are needed by seniors to participate fully in our modern society Some federal and state funding has been made available to expand broadband service and the state has a task force to set objectives consider alternatives and review progress Advances have been made but technology presses forward and technology appeared first and sometimes only in urban centers Pressed by the 2020 pandemic government may only offer limited support for rural development The Senior Caucus will follow this progress and offer support as appropriate
Board Director Roger Gehrke reported on actions seniors should consider in order to continue to live in their own homes Actions include moving to a single level floor plan having railings attached where appropriate indoors and outdoors ensuring that appliances and vehicles are in good running order removing scatter rugs using delivery services and in-home health care He recommended discarding or donating objects no longer being used He recommended hobbies to suit a more limited lifestyle It is important to update wills trusts and health directives
Vice-chair Karla Sand gave an overview of legislative issues for specialized transportation Three issues now stand out commercial licenses for volunteer drivers high insurance costs for those drivers and taxation of reimbursement for volunteers Under current law individuals need expensive commercial licenses if they
sometimes drive a van or bus for a church or a non-profit service Insurance is expensive for covering the additional risk for disabled riders Legislation is needed to allow volunteers usually seniors to afford these extra costs The Senior Caucus will actively support legislation that will assist volunteer drivers for seniors
Complete reports from Jim Reed Karla Sand and Roger Gehrke can be found on the DFL Senior Caucus website (wwwdflseniorsorg)
Karla also introduced Senior Caucus efforts to form coalitions with other DFL caucuses and non-profits and to combine these efforts with caucus chapters The Senior Caucus will expand these coalitions whenever and wherever they are possible and will be effective The Disability Rural and Veterans Caucuses would be good working partners The Senior Caucus already works with AARP and other nonprofits to the extent that the law allow for non-profits
DFL Chair Ken Martin made a special appearance and discussed the DFL results in 2020 and prospects for 2021 He listed the DFL Party successes and concerns from the 2020 elections The party held on to the US Senate seat held the second and third US House seats gained in 2018 and retained a majority in the Minnesota House However one rural US House seat was lost and the Minnesota Senate remained in Republican hands In 2021 the DFL must rebuild its importance in rural Minnesota The Senior Caucus can help to promote the DFL as seniors are a dominate voting bloc in Greater Minnesota
The Annual Membership Meeting then considered two motions One was to actively support and promote ldquoEnd of Liferdquo legislation in the Minnesota legislature The legislation would allow terminally ill individuals of sound mind to acquire ldquoend of liferdquo medication from their physician After considerable debate the motion was tabled and referred to the Senior Caucus Board Political Involvement Committee (PIC) for further study and recommendations to the Board
The second motion was for a minor change to the Senior Caucus Charter to allow passage of charter amendments at special membership meetings as well as the Annual Membership Meeting Previously only the Annual Membership Meeting could pass charter updates This motion passed
Jim Reed
2019 In-person Annual Meeting
DFL SENIOR CAUCUS
255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107
CONTACTS Email-dflseniorsgmailcom
Website httpdflseniorsorg
Don Bye Chair 218-568-5530 byelawofficehotmailcom Karla Sand Vice Chair 651-739-7397 karlavioletshotmailcom
Committees Documents Position open Events Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Membership Position open Political Involvement Committee Coordinator Karla Sand karlavioletshotmailcom Technology Committee Kay Hendrikson dflseniorsgmailcom SENIOR NEWS The DFL Senior News is published at least four times a year by the DFL Senior Caucus 255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107 to provide news items of DFL Senior Caucus events and other items of interest to Minnesota seniors Readers are encouraged to submit articles for publication on subjects of interest to Minnesota DFL seniors Accepted articles may be edited to meet these goals and space requirements Submit articles and comments to Norm Hanson Editor 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom or Julianne Johnston 651-486-7120 juliannetjmsncom JOIN THE SENIOR CAUCUS Membership dues are $10 annually Join online or Send your check made out to DFL Senior Caucus and send to John Larva Treasurer DFL Senior Caucus 1424 Woodhill Drive Burnsville MN 55337
For waiver of dues please contact
Chair Don Bye or Vice-chair Karla Sand
January 2021 Page 11
Editors Norm Hanson newsletter editor norsan45hotmailcom 651-484-8926
Julianne Johnston design and layout editor juliannetjmsncom 651-486-7120
Columnists Norm Hanson Melissa Hortman Julianne Johnston Jim Reed
Photographs Dick Bernard Julianne Johnston Charlie Rike
Reviewer Sandy Hanson
DFL Senior Caucus Chapters January 2021 Note Chapter meetings are being held as Zoom Meetings
Persons without computers or cell phones can join with a landline phone Contact the chair to get further information about joining a meeting
Anoka Chapter - Anoka County Chair Mel Aanerud 763-434-3809 Aanerud4comcastnet East Central Chapter - SD 11 SD 15 amp Isanti County area Chair Bonnie Lokenvitz 320-679-8202 blokenvitzgmailcom East Metro Chapter - Maplewood and east Chair Kay Hendrikson 651-739-1080 dfleastmetrocaucus gmailcom Mankato Area Chapter Chair Richard Chambers 507-420-4030 gdthdraolcom Minneapolis Area Chapter Chair Kenneth Vreeland 612-722-8017 borderlord_oneyahoocom North East Minnesota Chapter - Duluth area Chair Gary Westorff 612-709-5342 nemndflsrsyahoocom North Metro Chapter ndash Northern Suburban Metropolitan area Chair Norm Hanson 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom St Paul Chapter - St Paul area Chair Lyn Burton 651-336-4493 lburton612aolcom South East MN Chapter - Rochester area Chair Patricia Mann Mannpa1chartercom South Metro Chapter - CD 2 and Dakota County area Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Tri-County Chapter ndash Washington County Chisago County and Kanabec County areas Chair Sandra Trudeau 651-492-1149 wmsandycomcastnet
DFL Senior News
255 East Plato Blvd
Saint Paul MN 55107
First Class
All Meetings at this time will be
conducted via
Zoom
Contact the chair of the meeting for
more information
DFL Senior Caucus Calendar 2021 Events All Events are Handicapped Accessible
Social Luncheon - On Hold due to the COVID-19
Senior Caucus Board Meeting - Meetings will be held via Zoom at times determined by the Board Contact Vice Chair Karla Sand 651-739-7397 or karlavioletshotmailcom
Senior Caucus Book Club - Meetings are being held by Zoom on third Mondays Contact Jim Reed jreed11665comcastnet for more information See January discussion January 18 11 am to 1 pm see page 2 page of this issue will be a ZOOM meeting
Inauguration Day on January 20 2021
Contacts for the Senior Caucus
Facebook at httpswwwfacebookcomgroupsDFLSeniorCaucus Email dflseniorsgmailcom Website httpdflseniorsorg Check out the calendar on the website for scheduled meetings and events as they
are scheduled through out each month
Standard The Senior News has the luxury that every newsletter would like to have and that is having more information submitted and ready than can be published in a ten to twelve page newsletter It is a challenge as we have to decide which articles and photos to include in each issue which ones to defer until the next issue and which ones that we have to save for a later issue We thank all of our readers for their continued support for their newsletter and the luxury as well as the challenges that this gives to US However we always welcome more articles from our readers to be sure we cover all the interests and concerns of DFL seniors
January 2021 Page 8
2020 Senior Caucus Endorsement Task Force Norm Hanson and Julianne Johnston together with Jim Reed Joe
Mullery and Karla Sand
Since its founding in 2006 by several dedicated committed and experienced DFL activists the Senior Caucus has always been intent on becoming visible and
credible in its support of issues affecting seniors throughout the state The founders knew that that was the only way to leverage its rather small number of members
into a force that legislators and other policy makers would listen to and who would be willing to support senior issues Senior Caucus members have worked on campaigns they had and continue to have information
tables at the annual Minnesota State Fair they have information tables at DFL conventions they proudly wear t-shirts with Senior Caucus emblazoned across the front
The founders developed a state-wide newsletter early on to let seniors across the state know that the Senior Caucus exists and what it does and can do for seniors All these
efforts and activities have made legislators policy makers and the public at large aware of the Senior Caucus and see it as a visible and credible organization that cannot be
ignored The continuation of these efforts to be both visible and credible with respect to bringing senior issues and concerns to policy makers is now handled by the
important Political Involvement Committee (PIC)
A recent example of successful visibility and credibility was the Endorsement Task Force working under the auspices of the PIC that was convened to review requests for endorsement by the Senior Caucus prior to the August 2020 primary
This group handled the endorsement screenings for
candidates in districts where there were no chapters that covered the whole district Note While all chapters were invited to participate in the Senior Caucus endorsement
process not all of them met that criteria Some chapters did however and recommended endorsements for some local offices as well as for the state legislature Volunteers
included Mel Aanerud (Anoka) Bonnie Lokenvitz (East Central) Tony Scallon (greater Minneapolis) and Roger
Gehrke (South Metro)
Chapters were encouraged to set up an endorsements committee which would interview and screen all the
candidates in the districts totally within the chapter area They were then supposed to review the candidates written answers to the questionnaire and then interview the
candidates in person or on the phone or electronically for about an hour about the answers on the questionnaires and on other topics the members deemed appropriate They
would also explain the Senior Caucus views when candidates did not know or understand the issues
The questionnaire ideas came from many people Each person on a screening committee could ask pertinent questions at the screening The screeners determined in advance what additional questions they would ask and if
there was still time they could ask further questions The fact that nearly forty prospective candidates all
but four of them running for Congress or the State House or the State Senate asked for endorsement by the Senior Caucus just confirmed the recognition by those
candidates of the value placed upon that recognition and support from the Senior Caucus If they did not think that endorsement by the Senior Caucus would add value to
their campaigns they would not have sought it
Only three of the nearly forty candidates who requested endorsement by the Senior Caucus lost their
primary election bids which is quite a remarkable statement about the value as well as the credibility of the Senior Caucus endorsement The fact that they sought
endorsement by the Senior Caucus is a tribute to all the members who have worked so hard going all the way back to 2006 to make sure that the organization was
visible and credible The Senior Caucus wanted to make
of the Senior Caucus including Seniors Calling Seniors
the DFL data base telephone email and snail mail The
newsletter the Senior News was added it was published
periodically and then on a regular quarterly basis The
newsletter also produced an annual special state fair
recruitment edition to be distributed at the Senior Caucus
information table in the DFL pavilion on Senior Days at
the State Fair The founders of the Senior Caucus believed
that there was strength in numbers and building the
membership around the state would be needed to increase
the visibility of the organization By traveling around the
state Earl Bower Linda Feist and Roger Junnila
determined that chapters could be formed to increase that
membership numbers and caucus visibility Later Earl
and Dwayne King also traveled around the state
facilitating the development of chapters in both the rural
and urban parts of the state Currently there are eleven
Senior Caucus chapters throughout Minnesota
The importance of determining which issues are of
most concern and interest to seniors around the state
and informing the DFL legislators policy makers and
the public at large continues to be a major reason for
the existence of the DFL Senior Caucus today
January 2021 Page 9
sure that when it talked to legislators and policy makers and asked for support for a piece of legislation or policy
that its rationale for asking for support was credible and had been fully investigated Just offering an opinion in support of an important senior issue would not be
credible and The Senior Caucus knew that Being credible meant that it had to be supported by careful consideration and thorough research
That many DFL legislators and members of Congress
willingly provided Capitol Corner updates for the Senior
News the official newsletter of the Senior Caucus is yet
another recognition by those important folks of the
visibility and the credibility of the organization None of
the above would have happened had the Senior Caucus
not be seen as a visible and credible organization
representing senior views
Members of the Endorsements Task Force that must
be thanked for their efforts in 2020 included Chair Joe
Mullery Tony Scallon Jan Dietrich Milt Schoen and
Judy Corraro They deserve thanks for their dedication
and diligent work on this important matter a matter that
confirmed once again the visibility AND the credibility of
the Senior Caucus
How to MAGA ala Donald Trump Norm Hanson
Proclaim yourself as the smartest and
greatest president ever to reside in the White House
Denigrate all governmental institutions including
justice public health intelligence and (fill-in-the-blanks) and claim that you know more and better than all the experienced and skilled civil servants in those areas
Cozy up to the leaders of countries that are adversaries of the United States including Russia and North Korea and castigate and criticize the
leaders of countries that are friends of the United States
Pull the US from any treaties and agreements
negotiated by previous administrations especially those negotiated by President Obama
Do everything that you can to eliminate Obamacare
and claim to replace with your great health plan that does not exist
Claim that the 2016 and the 2020 elections were
rigged in favor of your opponents but then accept the results of 2016 when you won and refuse to accept them in 2020 when you lost
Do everything that you can to question the integrity of the election process no matter the lack of evidence that the elections were conducted other
than fairly and transparently Question criticize
and label all state election officials regardless of their party affiliation as being incompetent
stupid biased and trying to do everything that they could to get Biden elected
Denigrate the military by publicly referring to any
and all service men and women especially those who were wounded captured or killed as suckers and losers (despite being able to dodge
the draft five time and yet able to become commander-in-chief )
Pardon war criminals whose actions in the areas of conflict where US forces were involved placed servicemen and women in harmrsquos way
Do everything that you can with actions and words thereby able to divide the good citizens of the country facilitating the us (really me) against
them especially those Democrats liberals progressives and (fill-in-the-blanks)
Stack the SCOTUS with conservative justices that
will impact public policy for decades to come the real legacy that Trump will leave behind
And of course characteristically of who he is as a
man his inability to graciously concede that he lost his bid for re-election
And one more thingndash promote the storming of the Nations Capitol Building causing insurrection in order to prevent the confirmation of the vote for
president of someone other than you
January 2021 Page 10
DFL Senior Caucus Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting December 10 2020 Jim Reed
Members and friends gathered for the Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting which was held via Zoom on December 10 About fifty members attended which is a surprisingly large number in this year of COVID 19 Caucus members engaged openly on the topics presented Discussion centered on issues that the Senior Caucus could advance in 2021including caucus membership broadband communications aging in place specialized transportation and building coalitions to achieve greater influence Membership Director Josey Warren summarized efforts to increase membership across Greater Minnesota and to establish more Senior Caucus chapters The Minneapolis Chapter was recognized in the spring of 2020 and a St Paul chapter is just getting organized A Chapter Chairs Committee has been established with representatives from chapters to work together on programs member recruitment services communications and to share successes
Secretary Jim Reed reported on the development of broadband communications in Minnesota Some areas in Greater Minnesota still do not have broadband services which are needed by seniors to participate fully in our modern society Some federal and state funding has been made available to expand broadband service and the state has a task force to set objectives consider alternatives and review progress Advances have been made but technology presses forward and technology appeared first and sometimes only in urban centers Pressed by the 2020 pandemic government may only offer limited support for rural development The Senior Caucus will follow this progress and offer support as appropriate
Board Director Roger Gehrke reported on actions seniors should consider in order to continue to live in their own homes Actions include moving to a single level floor plan having railings attached where appropriate indoors and outdoors ensuring that appliances and vehicles are in good running order removing scatter rugs using delivery services and in-home health care He recommended discarding or donating objects no longer being used He recommended hobbies to suit a more limited lifestyle It is important to update wills trusts and health directives
Vice-chair Karla Sand gave an overview of legislative issues for specialized transportation Three issues now stand out commercial licenses for volunteer drivers high insurance costs for those drivers and taxation of reimbursement for volunteers Under current law individuals need expensive commercial licenses if they
sometimes drive a van or bus for a church or a non-profit service Insurance is expensive for covering the additional risk for disabled riders Legislation is needed to allow volunteers usually seniors to afford these extra costs The Senior Caucus will actively support legislation that will assist volunteer drivers for seniors
Complete reports from Jim Reed Karla Sand and Roger Gehrke can be found on the DFL Senior Caucus website (wwwdflseniorsorg)
Karla also introduced Senior Caucus efforts to form coalitions with other DFL caucuses and non-profits and to combine these efforts with caucus chapters The Senior Caucus will expand these coalitions whenever and wherever they are possible and will be effective The Disability Rural and Veterans Caucuses would be good working partners The Senior Caucus already works with AARP and other nonprofits to the extent that the law allow for non-profits
DFL Chair Ken Martin made a special appearance and discussed the DFL results in 2020 and prospects for 2021 He listed the DFL Party successes and concerns from the 2020 elections The party held on to the US Senate seat held the second and third US House seats gained in 2018 and retained a majority in the Minnesota House However one rural US House seat was lost and the Minnesota Senate remained in Republican hands In 2021 the DFL must rebuild its importance in rural Minnesota The Senior Caucus can help to promote the DFL as seniors are a dominate voting bloc in Greater Minnesota
The Annual Membership Meeting then considered two motions One was to actively support and promote ldquoEnd of Liferdquo legislation in the Minnesota legislature The legislation would allow terminally ill individuals of sound mind to acquire ldquoend of liferdquo medication from their physician After considerable debate the motion was tabled and referred to the Senior Caucus Board Political Involvement Committee (PIC) for further study and recommendations to the Board
The second motion was for a minor change to the Senior Caucus Charter to allow passage of charter amendments at special membership meetings as well as the Annual Membership Meeting Previously only the Annual Membership Meeting could pass charter updates This motion passed
Jim Reed
2019 In-person Annual Meeting
DFL SENIOR CAUCUS
255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107
CONTACTS Email-dflseniorsgmailcom
Website httpdflseniorsorg
Don Bye Chair 218-568-5530 byelawofficehotmailcom Karla Sand Vice Chair 651-739-7397 karlavioletshotmailcom
Committees Documents Position open Events Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Membership Position open Political Involvement Committee Coordinator Karla Sand karlavioletshotmailcom Technology Committee Kay Hendrikson dflseniorsgmailcom SENIOR NEWS The DFL Senior News is published at least four times a year by the DFL Senior Caucus 255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107 to provide news items of DFL Senior Caucus events and other items of interest to Minnesota seniors Readers are encouraged to submit articles for publication on subjects of interest to Minnesota DFL seniors Accepted articles may be edited to meet these goals and space requirements Submit articles and comments to Norm Hanson Editor 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom or Julianne Johnston 651-486-7120 juliannetjmsncom JOIN THE SENIOR CAUCUS Membership dues are $10 annually Join online or Send your check made out to DFL Senior Caucus and send to John Larva Treasurer DFL Senior Caucus 1424 Woodhill Drive Burnsville MN 55337
For waiver of dues please contact
Chair Don Bye or Vice-chair Karla Sand
January 2021 Page 11
Editors Norm Hanson newsletter editor norsan45hotmailcom 651-484-8926
Julianne Johnston design and layout editor juliannetjmsncom 651-486-7120
Columnists Norm Hanson Melissa Hortman Julianne Johnston Jim Reed
Photographs Dick Bernard Julianne Johnston Charlie Rike
Reviewer Sandy Hanson
DFL Senior Caucus Chapters January 2021 Note Chapter meetings are being held as Zoom Meetings
Persons without computers or cell phones can join with a landline phone Contact the chair to get further information about joining a meeting
Anoka Chapter - Anoka County Chair Mel Aanerud 763-434-3809 Aanerud4comcastnet East Central Chapter - SD 11 SD 15 amp Isanti County area Chair Bonnie Lokenvitz 320-679-8202 blokenvitzgmailcom East Metro Chapter - Maplewood and east Chair Kay Hendrikson 651-739-1080 dfleastmetrocaucus gmailcom Mankato Area Chapter Chair Richard Chambers 507-420-4030 gdthdraolcom Minneapolis Area Chapter Chair Kenneth Vreeland 612-722-8017 borderlord_oneyahoocom North East Minnesota Chapter - Duluth area Chair Gary Westorff 612-709-5342 nemndflsrsyahoocom North Metro Chapter ndash Northern Suburban Metropolitan area Chair Norm Hanson 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom St Paul Chapter - St Paul area Chair Lyn Burton 651-336-4493 lburton612aolcom South East MN Chapter - Rochester area Chair Patricia Mann Mannpa1chartercom South Metro Chapter - CD 2 and Dakota County area Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Tri-County Chapter ndash Washington County Chisago County and Kanabec County areas Chair Sandra Trudeau 651-492-1149 wmsandycomcastnet
DFL Senior News
255 East Plato Blvd
Saint Paul MN 55107
First Class
All Meetings at this time will be
conducted via
Zoom
Contact the chair of the meeting for
more information
DFL Senior Caucus Calendar 2021 Events All Events are Handicapped Accessible
Social Luncheon - On Hold due to the COVID-19
Senior Caucus Board Meeting - Meetings will be held via Zoom at times determined by the Board Contact Vice Chair Karla Sand 651-739-7397 or karlavioletshotmailcom
Senior Caucus Book Club - Meetings are being held by Zoom on third Mondays Contact Jim Reed jreed11665comcastnet for more information See January discussion January 18 11 am to 1 pm see page 2 page of this issue will be a ZOOM meeting
Inauguration Day on January 20 2021
Contacts for the Senior Caucus
Facebook at httpswwwfacebookcomgroupsDFLSeniorCaucus Email dflseniorsgmailcom Website httpdflseniorsorg Check out the calendar on the website for scheduled meetings and events as they
are scheduled through out each month
Standard The Senior News has the luxury that every newsletter would like to have and that is having more information submitted and ready than can be published in a ten to twelve page newsletter It is a challenge as we have to decide which articles and photos to include in each issue which ones to defer until the next issue and which ones that we have to save for a later issue We thank all of our readers for their continued support for their newsletter and the luxury as well as the challenges that this gives to US However we always welcome more articles from our readers to be sure we cover all the interests and concerns of DFL seniors
January 2021 Page 9
sure that when it talked to legislators and policy makers and asked for support for a piece of legislation or policy
that its rationale for asking for support was credible and had been fully investigated Just offering an opinion in support of an important senior issue would not be
credible and The Senior Caucus knew that Being credible meant that it had to be supported by careful consideration and thorough research
That many DFL legislators and members of Congress
willingly provided Capitol Corner updates for the Senior
News the official newsletter of the Senior Caucus is yet
another recognition by those important folks of the
visibility and the credibility of the organization None of
the above would have happened had the Senior Caucus
not be seen as a visible and credible organization
representing senior views
Members of the Endorsements Task Force that must
be thanked for their efforts in 2020 included Chair Joe
Mullery Tony Scallon Jan Dietrich Milt Schoen and
Judy Corraro They deserve thanks for their dedication
and diligent work on this important matter a matter that
confirmed once again the visibility AND the credibility of
the Senior Caucus
How to MAGA ala Donald Trump Norm Hanson
Proclaim yourself as the smartest and
greatest president ever to reside in the White House
Denigrate all governmental institutions including
justice public health intelligence and (fill-in-the-blanks) and claim that you know more and better than all the experienced and skilled civil servants in those areas
Cozy up to the leaders of countries that are adversaries of the United States including Russia and North Korea and castigate and criticize the
leaders of countries that are friends of the United States
Pull the US from any treaties and agreements
negotiated by previous administrations especially those negotiated by President Obama
Do everything that you can to eliminate Obamacare
and claim to replace with your great health plan that does not exist
Claim that the 2016 and the 2020 elections were
rigged in favor of your opponents but then accept the results of 2016 when you won and refuse to accept them in 2020 when you lost
Do everything that you can to question the integrity of the election process no matter the lack of evidence that the elections were conducted other
than fairly and transparently Question criticize
and label all state election officials regardless of their party affiliation as being incompetent
stupid biased and trying to do everything that they could to get Biden elected
Denigrate the military by publicly referring to any
and all service men and women especially those who were wounded captured or killed as suckers and losers (despite being able to dodge
the draft five time and yet able to become commander-in-chief )
Pardon war criminals whose actions in the areas of conflict where US forces were involved placed servicemen and women in harmrsquos way
Do everything that you can with actions and words thereby able to divide the good citizens of the country facilitating the us (really me) against
them especially those Democrats liberals progressives and (fill-in-the-blanks)
Stack the SCOTUS with conservative justices that
will impact public policy for decades to come the real legacy that Trump will leave behind
And of course characteristically of who he is as a
man his inability to graciously concede that he lost his bid for re-election
And one more thingndash promote the storming of the Nations Capitol Building causing insurrection in order to prevent the confirmation of the vote for
president of someone other than you
January 2021 Page 10
DFL Senior Caucus Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting December 10 2020 Jim Reed
Members and friends gathered for the Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting which was held via Zoom on December 10 About fifty members attended which is a surprisingly large number in this year of COVID 19 Caucus members engaged openly on the topics presented Discussion centered on issues that the Senior Caucus could advance in 2021including caucus membership broadband communications aging in place specialized transportation and building coalitions to achieve greater influence Membership Director Josey Warren summarized efforts to increase membership across Greater Minnesota and to establish more Senior Caucus chapters The Minneapolis Chapter was recognized in the spring of 2020 and a St Paul chapter is just getting organized A Chapter Chairs Committee has been established with representatives from chapters to work together on programs member recruitment services communications and to share successes
Secretary Jim Reed reported on the development of broadband communications in Minnesota Some areas in Greater Minnesota still do not have broadband services which are needed by seniors to participate fully in our modern society Some federal and state funding has been made available to expand broadband service and the state has a task force to set objectives consider alternatives and review progress Advances have been made but technology presses forward and technology appeared first and sometimes only in urban centers Pressed by the 2020 pandemic government may only offer limited support for rural development The Senior Caucus will follow this progress and offer support as appropriate
Board Director Roger Gehrke reported on actions seniors should consider in order to continue to live in their own homes Actions include moving to a single level floor plan having railings attached where appropriate indoors and outdoors ensuring that appliances and vehicles are in good running order removing scatter rugs using delivery services and in-home health care He recommended discarding or donating objects no longer being used He recommended hobbies to suit a more limited lifestyle It is important to update wills trusts and health directives
Vice-chair Karla Sand gave an overview of legislative issues for specialized transportation Three issues now stand out commercial licenses for volunteer drivers high insurance costs for those drivers and taxation of reimbursement for volunteers Under current law individuals need expensive commercial licenses if they
sometimes drive a van or bus for a church or a non-profit service Insurance is expensive for covering the additional risk for disabled riders Legislation is needed to allow volunteers usually seniors to afford these extra costs The Senior Caucus will actively support legislation that will assist volunteer drivers for seniors
Complete reports from Jim Reed Karla Sand and Roger Gehrke can be found on the DFL Senior Caucus website (wwwdflseniorsorg)
Karla also introduced Senior Caucus efforts to form coalitions with other DFL caucuses and non-profits and to combine these efforts with caucus chapters The Senior Caucus will expand these coalitions whenever and wherever they are possible and will be effective The Disability Rural and Veterans Caucuses would be good working partners The Senior Caucus already works with AARP and other nonprofits to the extent that the law allow for non-profits
DFL Chair Ken Martin made a special appearance and discussed the DFL results in 2020 and prospects for 2021 He listed the DFL Party successes and concerns from the 2020 elections The party held on to the US Senate seat held the second and third US House seats gained in 2018 and retained a majority in the Minnesota House However one rural US House seat was lost and the Minnesota Senate remained in Republican hands In 2021 the DFL must rebuild its importance in rural Minnesota The Senior Caucus can help to promote the DFL as seniors are a dominate voting bloc in Greater Minnesota
The Annual Membership Meeting then considered two motions One was to actively support and promote ldquoEnd of Liferdquo legislation in the Minnesota legislature The legislation would allow terminally ill individuals of sound mind to acquire ldquoend of liferdquo medication from their physician After considerable debate the motion was tabled and referred to the Senior Caucus Board Political Involvement Committee (PIC) for further study and recommendations to the Board
The second motion was for a minor change to the Senior Caucus Charter to allow passage of charter amendments at special membership meetings as well as the Annual Membership Meeting Previously only the Annual Membership Meeting could pass charter updates This motion passed
Jim Reed
2019 In-person Annual Meeting
DFL SENIOR CAUCUS
255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107
CONTACTS Email-dflseniorsgmailcom
Website httpdflseniorsorg
Don Bye Chair 218-568-5530 byelawofficehotmailcom Karla Sand Vice Chair 651-739-7397 karlavioletshotmailcom
Committees Documents Position open Events Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Membership Position open Political Involvement Committee Coordinator Karla Sand karlavioletshotmailcom Technology Committee Kay Hendrikson dflseniorsgmailcom SENIOR NEWS The DFL Senior News is published at least four times a year by the DFL Senior Caucus 255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107 to provide news items of DFL Senior Caucus events and other items of interest to Minnesota seniors Readers are encouraged to submit articles for publication on subjects of interest to Minnesota DFL seniors Accepted articles may be edited to meet these goals and space requirements Submit articles and comments to Norm Hanson Editor 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom or Julianne Johnston 651-486-7120 juliannetjmsncom JOIN THE SENIOR CAUCUS Membership dues are $10 annually Join online or Send your check made out to DFL Senior Caucus and send to John Larva Treasurer DFL Senior Caucus 1424 Woodhill Drive Burnsville MN 55337
For waiver of dues please contact
Chair Don Bye or Vice-chair Karla Sand
January 2021 Page 11
Editors Norm Hanson newsletter editor norsan45hotmailcom 651-484-8926
Julianne Johnston design and layout editor juliannetjmsncom 651-486-7120
Columnists Norm Hanson Melissa Hortman Julianne Johnston Jim Reed
Photographs Dick Bernard Julianne Johnston Charlie Rike
Reviewer Sandy Hanson
DFL Senior Caucus Chapters January 2021 Note Chapter meetings are being held as Zoom Meetings
Persons without computers or cell phones can join with a landline phone Contact the chair to get further information about joining a meeting
Anoka Chapter - Anoka County Chair Mel Aanerud 763-434-3809 Aanerud4comcastnet East Central Chapter - SD 11 SD 15 amp Isanti County area Chair Bonnie Lokenvitz 320-679-8202 blokenvitzgmailcom East Metro Chapter - Maplewood and east Chair Kay Hendrikson 651-739-1080 dfleastmetrocaucus gmailcom Mankato Area Chapter Chair Richard Chambers 507-420-4030 gdthdraolcom Minneapolis Area Chapter Chair Kenneth Vreeland 612-722-8017 borderlord_oneyahoocom North East Minnesota Chapter - Duluth area Chair Gary Westorff 612-709-5342 nemndflsrsyahoocom North Metro Chapter ndash Northern Suburban Metropolitan area Chair Norm Hanson 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom St Paul Chapter - St Paul area Chair Lyn Burton 651-336-4493 lburton612aolcom South East MN Chapter - Rochester area Chair Patricia Mann Mannpa1chartercom South Metro Chapter - CD 2 and Dakota County area Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Tri-County Chapter ndash Washington County Chisago County and Kanabec County areas Chair Sandra Trudeau 651-492-1149 wmsandycomcastnet
DFL Senior News
255 East Plato Blvd
Saint Paul MN 55107
First Class
All Meetings at this time will be
conducted via
Zoom
Contact the chair of the meeting for
more information
DFL Senior Caucus Calendar 2021 Events All Events are Handicapped Accessible
Social Luncheon - On Hold due to the COVID-19
Senior Caucus Board Meeting - Meetings will be held via Zoom at times determined by the Board Contact Vice Chair Karla Sand 651-739-7397 or karlavioletshotmailcom
Senior Caucus Book Club - Meetings are being held by Zoom on third Mondays Contact Jim Reed jreed11665comcastnet for more information See January discussion January 18 11 am to 1 pm see page 2 page of this issue will be a ZOOM meeting
Inauguration Day on January 20 2021
Contacts for the Senior Caucus
Facebook at httpswwwfacebookcomgroupsDFLSeniorCaucus Email dflseniorsgmailcom Website httpdflseniorsorg Check out the calendar on the website for scheduled meetings and events as they
are scheduled through out each month
Standard The Senior News has the luxury that every newsletter would like to have and that is having more information submitted and ready than can be published in a ten to twelve page newsletter It is a challenge as we have to decide which articles and photos to include in each issue which ones to defer until the next issue and which ones that we have to save for a later issue We thank all of our readers for their continued support for their newsletter and the luxury as well as the challenges that this gives to US However we always welcome more articles from our readers to be sure we cover all the interests and concerns of DFL seniors
January 2021 Page 10
DFL Senior Caucus Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting December 10 2020 Jim Reed
Members and friends gathered for the Fourteenth Annual Membership Meeting which was held via Zoom on December 10 About fifty members attended which is a surprisingly large number in this year of COVID 19 Caucus members engaged openly on the topics presented Discussion centered on issues that the Senior Caucus could advance in 2021including caucus membership broadband communications aging in place specialized transportation and building coalitions to achieve greater influence Membership Director Josey Warren summarized efforts to increase membership across Greater Minnesota and to establish more Senior Caucus chapters The Minneapolis Chapter was recognized in the spring of 2020 and a St Paul chapter is just getting organized A Chapter Chairs Committee has been established with representatives from chapters to work together on programs member recruitment services communications and to share successes
Secretary Jim Reed reported on the development of broadband communications in Minnesota Some areas in Greater Minnesota still do not have broadband services which are needed by seniors to participate fully in our modern society Some federal and state funding has been made available to expand broadband service and the state has a task force to set objectives consider alternatives and review progress Advances have been made but technology presses forward and technology appeared first and sometimes only in urban centers Pressed by the 2020 pandemic government may only offer limited support for rural development The Senior Caucus will follow this progress and offer support as appropriate
Board Director Roger Gehrke reported on actions seniors should consider in order to continue to live in their own homes Actions include moving to a single level floor plan having railings attached where appropriate indoors and outdoors ensuring that appliances and vehicles are in good running order removing scatter rugs using delivery services and in-home health care He recommended discarding or donating objects no longer being used He recommended hobbies to suit a more limited lifestyle It is important to update wills trusts and health directives
Vice-chair Karla Sand gave an overview of legislative issues for specialized transportation Three issues now stand out commercial licenses for volunteer drivers high insurance costs for those drivers and taxation of reimbursement for volunteers Under current law individuals need expensive commercial licenses if they
sometimes drive a van or bus for a church or a non-profit service Insurance is expensive for covering the additional risk for disabled riders Legislation is needed to allow volunteers usually seniors to afford these extra costs The Senior Caucus will actively support legislation that will assist volunteer drivers for seniors
Complete reports from Jim Reed Karla Sand and Roger Gehrke can be found on the DFL Senior Caucus website (wwwdflseniorsorg)
Karla also introduced Senior Caucus efforts to form coalitions with other DFL caucuses and non-profits and to combine these efforts with caucus chapters The Senior Caucus will expand these coalitions whenever and wherever they are possible and will be effective The Disability Rural and Veterans Caucuses would be good working partners The Senior Caucus already works with AARP and other nonprofits to the extent that the law allow for non-profits
DFL Chair Ken Martin made a special appearance and discussed the DFL results in 2020 and prospects for 2021 He listed the DFL Party successes and concerns from the 2020 elections The party held on to the US Senate seat held the second and third US House seats gained in 2018 and retained a majority in the Minnesota House However one rural US House seat was lost and the Minnesota Senate remained in Republican hands In 2021 the DFL must rebuild its importance in rural Minnesota The Senior Caucus can help to promote the DFL as seniors are a dominate voting bloc in Greater Minnesota
The Annual Membership Meeting then considered two motions One was to actively support and promote ldquoEnd of Liferdquo legislation in the Minnesota legislature The legislation would allow terminally ill individuals of sound mind to acquire ldquoend of liferdquo medication from their physician After considerable debate the motion was tabled and referred to the Senior Caucus Board Political Involvement Committee (PIC) for further study and recommendations to the Board
The second motion was for a minor change to the Senior Caucus Charter to allow passage of charter amendments at special membership meetings as well as the Annual Membership Meeting Previously only the Annual Membership Meeting could pass charter updates This motion passed
Jim Reed
2019 In-person Annual Meeting
DFL SENIOR CAUCUS
255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107
CONTACTS Email-dflseniorsgmailcom
Website httpdflseniorsorg
Don Bye Chair 218-568-5530 byelawofficehotmailcom Karla Sand Vice Chair 651-739-7397 karlavioletshotmailcom
Committees Documents Position open Events Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Membership Position open Political Involvement Committee Coordinator Karla Sand karlavioletshotmailcom Technology Committee Kay Hendrikson dflseniorsgmailcom SENIOR NEWS The DFL Senior News is published at least four times a year by the DFL Senior Caucus 255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107 to provide news items of DFL Senior Caucus events and other items of interest to Minnesota seniors Readers are encouraged to submit articles for publication on subjects of interest to Minnesota DFL seniors Accepted articles may be edited to meet these goals and space requirements Submit articles and comments to Norm Hanson Editor 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom or Julianne Johnston 651-486-7120 juliannetjmsncom JOIN THE SENIOR CAUCUS Membership dues are $10 annually Join online or Send your check made out to DFL Senior Caucus and send to John Larva Treasurer DFL Senior Caucus 1424 Woodhill Drive Burnsville MN 55337
For waiver of dues please contact
Chair Don Bye or Vice-chair Karla Sand
January 2021 Page 11
Editors Norm Hanson newsletter editor norsan45hotmailcom 651-484-8926
Julianne Johnston design and layout editor juliannetjmsncom 651-486-7120
Columnists Norm Hanson Melissa Hortman Julianne Johnston Jim Reed
Photographs Dick Bernard Julianne Johnston Charlie Rike
Reviewer Sandy Hanson
DFL Senior Caucus Chapters January 2021 Note Chapter meetings are being held as Zoom Meetings
Persons without computers or cell phones can join with a landline phone Contact the chair to get further information about joining a meeting
Anoka Chapter - Anoka County Chair Mel Aanerud 763-434-3809 Aanerud4comcastnet East Central Chapter - SD 11 SD 15 amp Isanti County area Chair Bonnie Lokenvitz 320-679-8202 blokenvitzgmailcom East Metro Chapter - Maplewood and east Chair Kay Hendrikson 651-739-1080 dfleastmetrocaucus gmailcom Mankato Area Chapter Chair Richard Chambers 507-420-4030 gdthdraolcom Minneapolis Area Chapter Chair Kenneth Vreeland 612-722-8017 borderlord_oneyahoocom North East Minnesota Chapter - Duluth area Chair Gary Westorff 612-709-5342 nemndflsrsyahoocom North Metro Chapter ndash Northern Suburban Metropolitan area Chair Norm Hanson 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom St Paul Chapter - St Paul area Chair Lyn Burton 651-336-4493 lburton612aolcom South East MN Chapter - Rochester area Chair Patricia Mann Mannpa1chartercom South Metro Chapter - CD 2 and Dakota County area Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Tri-County Chapter ndash Washington County Chisago County and Kanabec County areas Chair Sandra Trudeau 651-492-1149 wmsandycomcastnet
DFL Senior News
255 East Plato Blvd
Saint Paul MN 55107
First Class
All Meetings at this time will be
conducted via
Zoom
Contact the chair of the meeting for
more information
DFL Senior Caucus Calendar 2021 Events All Events are Handicapped Accessible
Social Luncheon - On Hold due to the COVID-19
Senior Caucus Board Meeting - Meetings will be held via Zoom at times determined by the Board Contact Vice Chair Karla Sand 651-739-7397 or karlavioletshotmailcom
Senior Caucus Book Club - Meetings are being held by Zoom on third Mondays Contact Jim Reed jreed11665comcastnet for more information See January discussion January 18 11 am to 1 pm see page 2 page of this issue will be a ZOOM meeting
Inauguration Day on January 20 2021
Contacts for the Senior Caucus
Facebook at httpswwwfacebookcomgroupsDFLSeniorCaucus Email dflseniorsgmailcom Website httpdflseniorsorg Check out the calendar on the website for scheduled meetings and events as they
are scheduled through out each month
Standard The Senior News has the luxury that every newsletter would like to have and that is having more information submitted and ready than can be published in a ten to twelve page newsletter It is a challenge as we have to decide which articles and photos to include in each issue which ones to defer until the next issue and which ones that we have to save for a later issue We thank all of our readers for their continued support for their newsletter and the luxury as well as the challenges that this gives to US However we always welcome more articles from our readers to be sure we cover all the interests and concerns of DFL seniors
DFL SENIOR CAUCUS
255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107
CONTACTS Email-dflseniorsgmailcom
Website httpdflseniorsorg
Don Bye Chair 218-568-5530 byelawofficehotmailcom Karla Sand Vice Chair 651-739-7397 karlavioletshotmailcom
Committees Documents Position open Events Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Membership Position open Political Involvement Committee Coordinator Karla Sand karlavioletshotmailcom Technology Committee Kay Hendrikson dflseniorsgmailcom SENIOR NEWS The DFL Senior News is published at least four times a year by the DFL Senior Caucus 255 E Plato Blvd St Paul MN 55107 to provide news items of DFL Senior Caucus events and other items of interest to Minnesota seniors Readers are encouraged to submit articles for publication on subjects of interest to Minnesota DFL seniors Accepted articles may be edited to meet these goals and space requirements Submit articles and comments to Norm Hanson Editor 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom or Julianne Johnston 651-486-7120 juliannetjmsncom JOIN THE SENIOR CAUCUS Membership dues are $10 annually Join online or Send your check made out to DFL Senior Caucus and send to John Larva Treasurer DFL Senior Caucus 1424 Woodhill Drive Burnsville MN 55337
For waiver of dues please contact
Chair Don Bye or Vice-chair Karla Sand
January 2021 Page 11
Editors Norm Hanson newsletter editor norsan45hotmailcom 651-484-8926
Julianne Johnston design and layout editor juliannetjmsncom 651-486-7120
Columnists Norm Hanson Melissa Hortman Julianne Johnston Jim Reed
Photographs Dick Bernard Julianne Johnston Charlie Rike
Reviewer Sandy Hanson
DFL Senior Caucus Chapters January 2021 Note Chapter meetings are being held as Zoom Meetings
Persons without computers or cell phones can join with a landline phone Contact the chair to get further information about joining a meeting
Anoka Chapter - Anoka County Chair Mel Aanerud 763-434-3809 Aanerud4comcastnet East Central Chapter - SD 11 SD 15 amp Isanti County area Chair Bonnie Lokenvitz 320-679-8202 blokenvitzgmailcom East Metro Chapter - Maplewood and east Chair Kay Hendrikson 651-739-1080 dfleastmetrocaucus gmailcom Mankato Area Chapter Chair Richard Chambers 507-420-4030 gdthdraolcom Minneapolis Area Chapter Chair Kenneth Vreeland 612-722-8017 borderlord_oneyahoocom North East Minnesota Chapter - Duluth area Chair Gary Westorff 612-709-5342 nemndflsrsyahoocom North Metro Chapter ndash Northern Suburban Metropolitan area Chair Norm Hanson 651-484-8926 norsan45hotmailcom St Paul Chapter - St Paul area Chair Lyn Burton 651-336-4493 lburton612aolcom South East MN Chapter - Rochester area Chair Patricia Mann Mannpa1chartercom South Metro Chapter - CD 2 and Dakota County area Chair Roger Gehrke 952-412-7171 rogergehrkeyahoocom Tri-County Chapter ndash Washington County Chisago County and Kanabec County areas Chair Sandra Trudeau 651-492-1149 wmsandycomcastnet
DFL Senior News
255 East Plato Blvd
Saint Paul MN 55107
First Class
All Meetings at this time will be
conducted via
Zoom
Contact the chair of the meeting for
more information
DFL Senior Caucus Calendar 2021 Events All Events are Handicapped Accessible
Social Luncheon - On Hold due to the COVID-19
Senior Caucus Board Meeting - Meetings will be held via Zoom at times determined by the Board Contact Vice Chair Karla Sand 651-739-7397 or karlavioletshotmailcom
Senior Caucus Book Club - Meetings are being held by Zoom on third Mondays Contact Jim Reed jreed11665comcastnet for more information See January discussion January 18 11 am to 1 pm see page 2 page of this issue will be a ZOOM meeting
Inauguration Day on January 20 2021
Contacts for the Senior Caucus
Facebook at httpswwwfacebookcomgroupsDFLSeniorCaucus Email dflseniorsgmailcom Website httpdflseniorsorg Check out the calendar on the website for scheduled meetings and events as they
are scheduled through out each month
Standard The Senior News has the luxury that every newsletter would like to have and that is having more information submitted and ready than can be published in a ten to twelve page newsletter It is a challenge as we have to decide which articles and photos to include in each issue which ones to defer until the next issue and which ones that we have to save for a later issue We thank all of our readers for their continued support for their newsletter and the luxury as well as the challenges that this gives to US However we always welcome more articles from our readers to be sure we cover all the interests and concerns of DFL seniors
DFL Senior News
255 East Plato Blvd
Saint Paul MN 55107
First Class
All Meetings at this time will be
conducted via
Zoom
Contact the chair of the meeting for
more information
DFL Senior Caucus Calendar 2021 Events All Events are Handicapped Accessible
Social Luncheon - On Hold due to the COVID-19
Senior Caucus Board Meeting - Meetings will be held via Zoom at times determined by the Board Contact Vice Chair Karla Sand 651-739-7397 or karlavioletshotmailcom
Senior Caucus Book Club - Meetings are being held by Zoom on third Mondays Contact Jim Reed jreed11665comcastnet for more information See January discussion January 18 11 am to 1 pm see page 2 page of this issue will be a ZOOM meeting
Inauguration Day on January 20 2021
Contacts for the Senior Caucus
Facebook at httpswwwfacebookcomgroupsDFLSeniorCaucus Email dflseniorsgmailcom Website httpdflseniorsorg Check out the calendar on the website for scheduled meetings and events as they
are scheduled through out each month
Standard The Senior News has the luxury that every newsletter would like to have and that is having more information submitted and ready than can be published in a ten to twelve page newsletter It is a challenge as we have to decide which articles and photos to include in each issue which ones to defer until the next issue and which ones that we have to save for a later issue We thank all of our readers for their continued support for their newsletter and the luxury as well as the challenges that this gives to US However we always welcome more articles from our readers to be sure we cover all the interests and concerns of DFL seniors