HF2354-HF2419

TRUTH IN TAXATION, TORT REFORM, AND MORE

In this issue:

HERITAGE ENVIRONMENT FUND

APRIL 6, 2001VOLUME 18, NUMBER 14SESSION

A NONPARTISAN PUBLICATION ★ ★ ★

WeeklyMINNESOTA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES • PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE

2 April 6, 2001

CONTENTSHIGHLIGHTS

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS/RESOURCES

Consumers • 5Crime • 5Education • 6Employment • 8Environment • 8

Government • 9Health • 10Higher Education • 10Industry • 11

At Issue: Crime — Legislators have proposed more than $1 million ingrants to local law enforcement to combat clandestine methamphet-amine labs in Minnesota. • 16

At Issue: Education — A plan allocating money to three programs thattrain future teachers in cultural and social methods to help them teach inurban and urban-like schools will be considered for the K-12 omnibusbill. • 17

At Issue: Law — A bill that amends civil case law with regard to thedamages defendants must pay passes the House, but awaits action in theSenate. • 18

At Issue: Taxes — Lawmakers are debating a measure that would allowtaxpayers a direct mechanism to vote down property tax increases. • 19

It’s A Fact: How high’s the water? 4Governor’s Desk (CH1-CH12) 20Bill Introductions (HF2354-HF2419) 21Committee Schedule (April 9-13) 23

Reflections: Teachers everwhere 27Minnesota Index: Local government

lobbyist expenditures 28

On the cover: A brief blanket of snow and slush covered the Capitol lawn early April 2. Marks of thesnow disappeared by afternoon when temperatures reached the mid-40s.

—Photo by Sara Kirk

Law • 12Recreation • 12Taxes • 13Transportation • 14

SESSIONWeekly

Session Weekly is a nonpartisanpublication of the Minnesota House ofRepresentatives Public Information Office.During the 2001-2002 Legislative Session,each issue reports daily House actionbetween Thursdays of each week, lists billintroductions and upcoming committeemeeting schedules, and provides otherinformation. The publication is a service ofthe Minnesota House. No fee.

To subscribe, contact:Minnesota House of RepresentativesPublic Information Office175 State Office BuildingSt. Paul, MN 55155-1298(651) 296-2146 or1-800-657-3550TTY (651) 296-9896

DirectorLeClair G. Lambert

Editor/Assistant DirectorMichelle Kibiger

Assistant EditorMike Cook

Art & Production CoordinatorPaul Battaglia

WritersDavid Maeda, Theresa Stahl,Jonas M. Walker, Mary Kay Watson

Chief PhotographerTom Olmscheid

PhotographersAndrew Von Bank, Sara Kirk

Office ManagerNicole Wood

Staff AssistantsChristy Novak, Michelle Sorvari

Session Weekly (ISSN 1049-8176) is publishedweekly during the legislative session by the Min-nesota House of Representatives PublicInformation Office, 100 Constitution Ave., St.Paul, MN 55155-1298. Periodicals postage paidat St. Paul, MN, and at additional mailing offices.POSTMASTER: Send address changes toSession Weekly, Public Information Office,Minnesota House of Representatives, 175 StateOffice Building, 100 Constitution Ave.,St. Paul, MN 55155-1298.

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Session Weekly 3

FIRST READING★ ★ ★

BY MARY KAY WATSON

The possibility of long-term fundingfor natural resources got a high-fivefrom rep-resentatives of public and

private environmental organizations April3 at a meeting of the House Environmentand Natural Resources Policy Committee.

Rep. Mark Holsten (R-Stillwater) pre-sented the committee with a bill thatwould ask voters to consider a constitu-tional amendment to dedicate three-six-teenths of 1 percent of state sales taxrevenue for natural resources.

“The environment, though culturallyimportant to us, gets put on the backburner when it comes time for the Legis-lature to budget,” Holsten said.

“To me it’s a no-brainer,” said KentHrbek, former Twins first baseman. “I’mlooking at the long run. I want my 9-year-old daughter to understand the outdoors.”

HF1671 would place the proposal onthe 2002 ballot; if approved by the voters,it would go into effect July 1, 2005.

Holsten estimated the amount raised bythis amendment would be in the neigh-borhood of $115 million. The proposalwould replace current funding from lot-tery receipts of about$22 million.

The bill is similar to a proposal fromthe 2000 legislative session that stalled inthe House Ways and Means Committee.At the time, proponents included formerMinnesota Vikings Coach Bud Grant.

If the constitutional amendment werepassed, the bill and its Senate counterpartsponsored by Sen. Bob Lessard (Ind.-Int’lFalls) would dedicate the funds as follows:• 45 percent to improve, enhance, or protect

fishing and hunting resources;• 25 percent for state parks and trails;• 25 percent for metropolitan parks and

trails;• 3 percent for grant-in-aid trails; and• 2 percent for the Minnesota Zoo, Como

Park Zoo and Conservatory, and theDuluth Zoo.

A rich heritageBill proposes a constitutional amendment to establish apermanent natural resource fund from sales tax proceeds

Former Minnesota Twin and avid outdoorsman Kent Hrbektestifies before the House Environment and NaturalResources Policy Committee April 3 in support of HF1671, abill that would create a constitutional amendment todedicate sales tax revenue for the environment.

PHOTO BY ANDREW VON BANK

The 45 percent set aside for fishing andhunting would be placed in a separate fund,to be called the Heritage Enhancement Fund.This fund would be overseen by the HeritageEnhancement Council, which would decidehow money in that fund would be allocated.

The 11-member council would include fourlegislators, six representatives of hunting andfishing interests, and one citizen appointed bythe governor. This is a departure from the way

fish and game funds are currently budgeted,which is the responsibility of the Departmentof Natural Resources commissioner.

People who testified at the meeting wereunanimous in their support of the constitu-tional amendment. However, there was dis-agreement over who should oversee the

expenditure of the resulting funds.“The DNR wants nothing more than

to support this effort by people who be-lieve earnestly in what they are doing,”DNR Commissioner Alan Garber said.“At the same time we believe it is our re-sponsibility to see to it that funds fromour citizens are wisely spent.”

Frank Schneider, representing Muskies,Inc. and the Bass Federation, thankedHolsten for “having the courage forbringing this to the electorate.” Whilesupportive of the funding initiative,Schneider expressed reservations aboutthe oversight committee. “I don’t want tosee a second DNR,” he said.

“Let’s first secure the funding, thendecide how it shall be overseen,” saidHarvey Nelson, a retired DNR employeewho spoke in support of the bill for theMinnesota Waterfowl Association.

Holsten said the creation of a citizen’scouncil was a way to profit by the exper-tise of the many outdoors groups thathave evolved over the last 20 or 30 years.

“Private groups have access to lands wedon’t,” Holsten said. “This bill will bringsome new, different ideas to the table.”

HF1671 provides for grants “to improve,enhance, or protect fish and wildlife re-sources.” Those grants could go to fishingand hunting groups, environmental groups,or the DNR. Ninety percent of the moneyfrom the Heritage Enhancement Fund mustbe spent on game and fish projects on pub-lic and private lands. Up to 10 percent maybe used for administrative expenses, such

as hiring consultants.Tom Meyers, vice president of the Minnesota

Conservation Federation, said his group wasenthusiastic about the bill and the opportuni-ties it offers for public-private partnerships.

“The things we do on private land affectpublic land,” Meyers said. “We have an oppor-tunity to do something here that’s landmarklegislation.”

Rep. Margaret Anderson Kelliher

4 April 6, 2001

How high’s the water?Legislature studies river management after series of ‘100 year’ floods

A bridge at Granite Falls during the 1969 flood.

(DFL-Mpls) said she was disappointed thatnon-game wildlife was not mentioned in thebill.

“I drafted this bill specifically for fish andgame habitat, partly because all wildlife willbenefit,” Holsten said. “If we dedicate theserevenues, that would relieve the Environmen-tal Fund and free up a whole lot of money.”

While the fish and game groups were themost vocal in their support, representatives ofparks, trails, and zoos also spoke in favor ofHolsten’s bill.

“Last year we had over 29 million visitorsto metro parks,” said Mary Merrill Anderson,superintendent of the Minneapolis Park andRecreation Board. “We know we have trailsthat are falling apart and shorelines that arecrumbling.

“We need to preserve this park system forour children and grandchildren,” she added.“I urge your support of this bill.”

Judy Erickson of Minnesota Parks and Trailsagreed. “Parks and trails are truly representativeof what is best in Minnesota,” she said.

Victor Camp, director of the Como Zoo,said the zoos of Minnesota also support theproposal. “Wild places and the wild things thatlive in them are continually under pressure,and zoos get that message out to people,”Camp said “If we pass this amendment we willbe a powerful force for saving those wild placesand the wild things that inhabit them.”

Rep. Tom Osthoff (DFL-St. Paul) agreedthat funding for natural resources was an on-going problem but said there were other waysto get the money than a constitutional amend-ment.

“I don’t like constitutional amendments andI hate dedicated funds,” Osthoff said. “Everytime the state dedicates funds, they take moneyaway through the general fund.”

Holsten’s bill addresses that concern with aprovision clarifying that the dedicated fundwould not be a substitute for “traditionalfunding sources” but would be a supplementto them.

“The public is ready for this,” said KevinAuslund, executive director of the Game andFish Coalition. “Its time has come.”

HF1671 was approved and sent to theHouse Rules Committee.

ClarificationA story in the March 30 issue of Session

Weekly about the Faribault state hospitalshould have clarified that the hospital wasclosed in 1998, and the facility now belongsto the state Department of Corrections.

Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society

Every spring, communities alongMinnesota’s rivers await predictions regardingwhether the waters will merely lap along thebanks or overflow them and envelopeverything within the river’s floodplain.

With the high value of property within thefloodplains, leaders 35 years ago were con-cerned that people did not know enough aboutthe risks and costs of flood damage.

When rivers fill the floodplain, hydrologistscall it a “100-year” or “regional” flood becausethey, don’t occur fre-quently. But in the late1960s, studies showedthe recurrence rate ofsuch substantial floodswas less than five years.

The 1965 floods willlong be remembered inMinnesotans’ minds asone of the worst yearsever. That year, urbanflood damage in the statewas estimated at nearly $40 million, however,total damage was just more than $70 million.Add in the damage to roads and transportationfacilities, and the costs exceeded $90 million.

Though cities along the Mississippi Riverbore most of the urban damage — $23.6 mil-lion — the Minnesota River flooding tallied themost overall damage, including agriculturaland rural, of more than $35 million.

Several studies, intended to help better man-age waters and prevent extensive damage causedby floods, followed the 1965 flood. The state andthe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were involved.

In 1969, Gov. Harold LeVander submitted areport on flood damage to the Legislature, ex-pressing concern that no effective solution to theproblem had been proposed. In his letter, he sug-gested legislation should be developed and in-troduced as a result of the findings in the report.

The report encouraged the Legislature to de-velop a flood management plan and find waysto limit development along floodplain land.

Though the report suggested that cooperativemeasures from the standpoint of preventing fu-ture damage and correcting existing problemswould help, it warned flooding will always existalong major rivers.

“Too often the public is unaware that a floodcontrol project, which provides a certain degreeof protection from floods in a limited area, isnot a project which will eliminate floods,” thereport states. “People erroneously feel that a flood

control project will provide unlimited protec-tion from all floods.

“Experience in the United States hasshown that property values increase greatlyin areas of protected flood plain and whenunpredicted floods occur in excess of theflood protection limits of a project, the dam-age and hazards to life and property are of-ten greater than would have occurred if theproject had not been constructed.”

The 1969 report concluded there were sev-eral methods “to keepman away from floodwater.” Among themwere zoning, subdivi-sion regulations, andbuilding codes.

Main suggestionsencouraged govern-ment to acquire prop-erty within thefloodplain through acombination of nego-

tiated purchase, condemnation, or gift.In addition, the report suggested locating

public facilities outside the floodplain todraw private development away.

In response, the 1969 Legislature passed alaw that would encourage local units of gov-ernment to develop flood management plans,working in conjunction with surroundingcommunities and state planning agencies.

Two years later, a 1971 interim report from asubcommittee on flood control claimed the Leg-islature provided the right mechanism with the1969 law, particularly with regard to Minnesotaresidents’ ability to obtain federal flood relief.But the measure required many different local,state, and federal agencies to work together,which was not happening.

“In the judgment of the subcommittee, theflood plain problems of the Minnesota — andother rivers — will not be solved until somedegree of harmony can be brought into rivermanagement planning by all levels of govern-ment with basic direction and policy beingprovided by the state,” the report said.

The report encouraged the state to take amore active role in planning dam systemsand other flood mitigation methods, so lo-cal communities could have an adequate voice.In addition, the state needed to do a better jobeducating the local governments about the fed-eral insurance and other resources available.

(M.KIBIGER)

Session Weekly 5

M A R C H 3 0 - A P R I L 6, 2 0 0 1HIGHLIGHTS★ ★ ★

CONSUMERS★

No chardonnay at the checkoutRep. Barb Sykora (R-Excelsior) withdrew

her bill to allow the sale of wine in grocerystores March 29, an unexpected move after anaggressive lobbying effort. The action effec-tively killed the legislation for this year.

HF1025 had been approved by the LiquorSubcommittee of the House Commerce, Jobs,and Economic Development Policy Commit-tee but was stopped without a vote by the fullcommittee.

After complimenting Sykora on her profes-sionalism, Committee Chair Rep. Greg Davids(R-Preston) drastically changed his tone, say-ing he was disgusted with the way liquor lob-byists had harassed and threatened members.

Davids said he used to be a “no vote” on thebill, but now is “a free market” with regard tothe proposal.

Making final comments on her bill, Sykoracontended that people are stressed for time,and that floral shops, bakeries, and pharma-cies, which exist in many grocery stores, stillflourish in independent shops.

She maintained her bill was “a responsibleproposal.” HF1025 would put tight restrictionson the sale of wine in grocery stores of at least10,000 square feet, including identificationchecks on every purchase, annual compliancechecks, and a theft management program inevery store.

Opponents claimed the legislation would in-crease alcohol availability to youth, would in-crease drinking in society as a whole, and mightharm the business of independent liquor stores.

The bill is technically alive for the bienniumand could be reconsidered sometime during2002.

CRIME★

Felony DWI costsThe House State Government Finance Com-

mittee approved a bill (HF351) authorizing afelony drunken driving penalty April 3 afteramending out the only financial implication tothe committee’s budget.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Rich Stanek (R-Maple Grove), would create a felony drunkendriving penalty for offenders who receive afourth conviction within 10 years. The bill pro-vides a maximum penalty of up to seven years

in prison and up to a $14,000 fine, or both.The bill has now passed through three com-

mittees and will be sent to the House Judi-ciary Finance Committee.

Committee Chair Rep. Philip Krinkie (R-Shoreview) offered the amendment, whichwould distribute a $138,000 annual cost tocounties for appeal services provided by theAttorney General’s office.

The amendment instructs the attorney gen-eral to bill the county in which the offenseoccurred for the cost of its services for felonydrunken driving offenses. Payments would beissued from nearly all counties outside theTwin Cities metropolitan area. The AttorneyGeneral’s office handles felony appeals formost Greater Minnesota counties.

Stanek said he “doesn’t feel one way or an-other” about the amendment.

Rep. Mark Thompson (DFL-New Hope)asked if counties may intentionally “not find”any drunken driving offenses due to a tight bud-get. Paul Skoggin, representing the state CountyAttorney’s Association, said a county wouldprobably keep the appeal quiet rather than sub-mit it to the Attorney General’s office.

Rep. Mike Jaros (DFL-Duluth) said he wasopposed to the amendment even though itwouldn’t affect his district, because it wouldbe shifting the cost from the state to local gov-ernments, therefore increasing the propertytax, he said.

Animal cruelty measureResponding to what one legislator described

as an increase in the number and severity inincidents of unkindness to animals, legislatorsare bringing forward legislation to increasecriminal penalties for those convicted ofanimal cruelty.

Rep. James T. Clark (R-New Ulm) is spon-soring HF1330 to create increased penaltiesfor repeated or especially severe cruelty toanimals. He told an April 3 meeting of theHouse Crime Prevention Committee that cur-rent law provides only for misdemeanor pen-alties for animal cruelty. The committeeapproved the measure and referred it to theHouse Judiciary Finance Committee.

He said 31 other states have created animal

Tessa, a German Shepherd service dog, lies at the feet of her owner, Tom Heinl of the American Councilof the Blind of Minnesota, as he testifies for a bill making it a crime to kill or harm animals trained toassist persons with disabilities. His testimony was during a hearing an April 3 meeting of the HouseCrime Prevention Committee.

“We should try to keep those costs down,”Jaros said.

Jaros also wanted to know if there was a “lessdamaging and less costly way to deal with this.”

“The purpose of the legislation is to say(drunken drivers) have had three chances todeal with (law enforcement) and they con-tinue to drive while intoxicated,” Stanek said.“We’re not looking to lock up people for along, long time. We want them to know thestate of Minnesota is taking this seriously.”

6 April 6, 2001

Second committeedeadline approaches

With about five weeks left in the 2001 legis-lative session, members are facing the secondof three committee deadlines this week.

All bills must be through policy committeesin both the House and Senate by Wednesday,April 11. The Legislature will break for the Eas-ter and Passover holidays from Thursday, April12 through Monday, April 16. House committeeswill not meet until after noon Tuesday, April 17and the House will meet in session at 3 p.m. thatday.

The final deadline, when all omnibus financebills must be approved by committees, isWednesday, April 25.

cruelty felony penalties and seven others aredoing so now.

HF1330 specifies that engaging in torturethat results in “substantial bodily harm” is agross misdemeanor, punishable by up to a yearimprisonment and a fine up to $3,000. A sec-ond violation within five years would be afelony, carrying up to a two-year prison sen-tence and $5,000 fine.

That same penalty would be imposed fortorturing a pet to the point of death or “greatbodily harm,” defined as “creating a high prob-ability of death, or which causes serious per-manent disfigurement, or which causes apermanent or protracted loss or impairmentof the function of any bodily member or or-gan, or other serious bodily harm.”

Acting on an initiative by Rep. Scott Wasiluk(DFL-Maplewood), the committee amendedHF1330 to create especially severe penalties forcruelty to service animals, such as seeing-eyedogs. Torturing, killing, or causing great bodilyharm to a service animal would carry up to afour-year prison term.

Clark said his bill would “direct courts tolook at psychological or behavioral counsel-ing,” especially for cruel juveniles.

Keith Streff, a humane agent for the Ani-mal Humane Society, said current penalties areineffective deterrents. “I clean cats out of mi-crowaves, and people just ask me ‘What’s itgoing to cost me?’” he said.

The Animal Humane Society wrote a letterof support, citing a “well-documented linkbetween animal abuse and violence towardshumans. Early intervention and penalties forviolence against animals can often preventfurther crimes towards people.”

Rep. Dave Bishop (R-Rochester) expresseddoubt that increased penalties can preventundesirable activity. “I have yet to see any evi-dence that increasing penalties decreases in-stances (of crime),” he said.

EDUCATION★

Naly Yang, with the Women’s Association ofHmong and Lao, testifies before the House Judi-ciary Finance Committee April 3 in support of a billthat would provide grants for Asian-American ju-venile crime intervention and prevention.

Grants for crime preventionA bill that would appropriate $1 million in

the 2002-03 biennium for Asian-Americanjuvenile crime intervention and preventiongrants will be considered by the House Judi-ciary Finance Committee for its omnibus bill.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. SheldonJohnson (DFL-St. Paul), was heard by thecommittee April 3.

The intent of the bill, Johnson said, is to al-low agencies providing services to Asian-American youth and their families to continuebridging inter-generational gaps that oftenlead to truancy, gang violence and crime.

Naly Yang from the Women’s Association ofHmong and Lao told the committee that manyof the people she works with are struggling to

be good parents while working long, irregu-lar hours.

Yang said she remembers how strong theinfluence of the gang world and running awayis on young Asian people in the Twin Cities.She said she tries to help her younger cousinswho are going through those same things.

“The issues of crime and violence are veryreal,” she said. “It’s a very, very easy decisionto make.”

Yang’s organization particularly works withparents to help guide them through the schoolsystem and legal system. Sometimes they onlyneed referrals.

David Zander from the Council on AsianPacific Minnesotans emphasized the need forAsian-born social workers in the state to dealwith some of the cultural boundaries. Yangagreed.

“Theories that people apply (as) socialworkers do not always work on our people,”she said.

The state has been providing funding forSoutheast Asian nonprofit organizations formany years. For the upcoming biennium, theDepartment of Public Safety will administerthe grants, and therefore the programs fallunder the jurisdiction of the Judiciary FinanceCommittee.

Assistance for advanced classesAdvanced placement and international bac-

calaureate teachers and students might get alittle help from the Legislature.

Since 1992, the state has assisted with teachertraining and student testing fees for the programsexcept during the current biennium. Rep. AliceSeagren (R-Bloomington), sponsor of HF1862,is hoping to regain $2 million in each year of the2002-03 biennium.

Seagren is chair of the House K-12 Educa-tion Finance Committee, where HF1862 washeard April 4. It will be considered for inclu-sion in the committee’s omnibus bill.

The bill explains the need for both advancedplacement and international baccalaureate pro-grams: “These programs, in addition to provid-ing academic rigor, offer sound curricular design,accountability, comprehensive external assess-ment, feedback to students and teachers, and theopportunity for high school students to com-pete academically on a global level.”

Teacher training for both programs is criti-cal, the bill states. In addition to teachers, thebill has added language to include “other in-terested educators,” which would likely beschool administrators.

Marlys Peters-Melius, director of advancedplacement programs at the Department ofChildren, Families and Learning, said admin-istrators were added to interest principals orsuperintendents in the training so they maybe prepared to better inform students whowant to take advanced placement courses.

Advanced placement and international bac-calaureate teachers, as well as other educatorswanting to receive training, must first enrollat a college offering the program and wouldlater be compensated. Support would be avail-able on a first-come, first-served basis, butPeters-Melius said colleges are instructed tohold spaces for beginning teachers and thenadmit teachers who have already had sometraining in the area.

Session Weekly 7

Special education funding requestedThe House passed a resolution April 2 urg-

ing Congress to fulfill its promise to fund40 percent of the cost of special education.

Rep. Andrew Westerberg (R-Blaine), spon-sor of HF456/SF647*, told House membersthat the lack of funding is “hurting our edu-cation system,” explaining that Minnesota hasto subsidize education funds to afford specialeducation expenses.

“The resolution will go a long way in fillingthose holes in funding education,” he said.

Federal allocations for special educationfunding have averaged 13 percent annually forthe past few years.

The bill reads: “Over 25 years ago, the fed-eral government required states to providechildren with disabilities an appropriate edu-cation, and for 25 years, the government hasfailed to meet its promise to pay 40 percent ofthe cost.”

“Our intent is to call upon Congress to makegood on their promise,” Westerberg said.

The House passed the resolution with a123-1 vote.

Sen. Ann H. Rest (DFL-New Hope) spon-sored the bill in the Senate, where it receiveda 64-0 vote March 5.

The bill now awaits the governor’ssignature.

Levy clarificationRep. Len Biernat (DFL-Mpls) is seeking to

clarify one of the sources of funding forpublic schools.

He says many property taxpayers assume alarge portion of overall levy, called the gen-eral education levy, is set by local school dis-tricts, when it is actually set by the state.

Biernat, the sponsor of HF1907, presented thebill April 2 to the House K-12 Education FinanceCommittee. It was referred to the House TaxesCommittee without recommendation.

He said he wants to change the perceptionof the tax from the “misconception” that localschool boards are changing this property taxwhen the reality is the state sets the levyamounts.

The bill does not raise taxes or change theamount a district can levy, but would createan additional line item on tax forms, indicat-ing the state sets and collects this levy.

On average, the general education levy isabout one-half of a person’s education taxdollars. Other education tax dollars are leviedand collected by districts. References for thegeneral educational levy would be renamedthe statewide school property tax levy.

“It will show that Minnesota has a high per-centage of state education funding,” Biernatsaid.

The way the tax is now set allows the Legis-lature to avoid accountability, he said. “As longas we have school board’s to blame, we don’ttake a close look at our actions.”

Pesticide manager defeatedFinding several problems with a bill that

would create a “school pest management co-ordinator,” the House Education Policy Com-mittee defeated the measure April 3.

Under HF1529, sponsored by Rep. KathyTingelstad (R-Andover), a “point person” ateach school would apply or supervise the ap-plication of nonrestricted pesticides, andwould belong to a registry of coordinatorsmanaged by the commissioner of the Depart-ment of Agriculture. The coordinator wouldreceive information and instructions for pes-ticide use.

The Senate companion awaits action of thefloor of that body.

The committee first found problems withthe bill where it states the school pest man-agement coordinator must be an employee ofthe school. Paul Liemandt of the AgricultureDepartment said 75 percent of schools in aninformal survey reported they had a personto designate for the task.

But Rep. Marty Seifert (R-Marshall) said hehas small schools in his district, including pa-rochial schools, which have few employees. Insome cases, volunteers tend to the school’slawn. He said he knows of two schools thatwould be out of compliance with law becausethey couldn’t afford a pest managementcoordinator.

“I don’t think the bill is as flexible as youwant it to be,” Seifert said.

Liemandt said the coordinator could be aprincipal or someone in charge.

After some discussion, the bill was amendedto only require school districts to have acoordinator, hence excluding nonpublicschools.

Rep. Peggy Leppik (R-Golden Valley) of-fered a successful amendment to delete theregistry from the bill to “get rid of some ex-pensive bureaucratic hassle.”

Members then began questioning the needfor the bill. Rep. Barb Sykora (R-Excelsior)pointed out a law passed last year requiresparent notification when the school usespesticides.

“This would help schools with the legisla-tion we gave last year,” Tingelstad said.

“This is already in law,” said Rep. RobEastlund (R-Isanti) “Why do we need astatute?”

Tinglestad said she carried the bill as a cour-tesy to the department. “My experience withpesticide issues has concluded,” she joked.

Tinglestad said Rep. Mary Jo McGuire(DFL-Falcon Heights), the only committeemember who spoke in favor of the bill, couldcarry it next year.

Reading competencyUsing a successful pilot program as a model,

a bill heard in the House K-12 EducationFinance Committee would replicate the read-ing competency program in schools through-out the state.

Committee Chair Rep. Alice Seagren (R-Bloomington), sponsor of HF1136, said sheis impressed with the statistical findings of aSt. Croix River Education District model thatpresented its results to the committeeMarch 30. Using the model, Taylors FallsElementary School far surpassed its target rateof words correctly read per minute.

“St. Croix wants to spread this training andassessment model to other sites because of thephenomenal success they have had,” Seagrensaid in an e-mail interview.

HF1136 aims to ensure Minnesota’s chil-dren are able to read by the end of the thirdgrade as measured by state testing. It wouldaward $2 million in grants in each year of the2002-03 biennium to three districts that coulddistribute funds to at least 50 sites, a portionof those to have one-fourth of students in kin-dergarten through third grade eligible for freeor reduced-price lunch. The St. Croix districtwould receive one-half the funds each year.

The bill requires clear goals of grant recipi-ents, who “must reach an agreement with asite on the reading results the site will achieveover a three school year period and on the as-sistance with reading competency the grantrecipient will provide.”

Former Department of Children, Familiesand Learning Commissioner Bob Wedl, rep-resenting the Minnesota Consortium for Evi-dence in Education, said what needs to changeis the instruction process between teachers andstudents.

Reading competency needs to be measuredthree times each year, he said, by one-minute“tests” where students read aloud.

Sherryl Johnson, principal of Taylors FallsElementary School, said these practices dowork. The reading competency program mea-sures the same cohort of students instead ofdifferent groups.

“We know exactly where our students are,”said Pat Almos, reading specialist at HinckleyElementary School. She told committee mem-bers she can’t imagine going back to theformer methods and not having the data theyhave now.

HF1136 will be considered for possible in-clusion in the committee’s omnibus bill.

8 April 6, 2001

Special education spendingTwo bills that would appropriate funds for

adult basic education (ABE) special needs aidwere heard April 4 by the House Family andEarly Childhood Education FinanceCommittee.

ABE provides educational opportunities foradults who lack basic academic skills and needspecialized education to help them find andkeep employment.

“Many ABE participants would qualify forspecial education if they were in school,” saidCarlye Peterson, ABE director for the Minne-apolis Public Schools. “These are not supple-mental services, they are essential services.”

HF2188, sponsored by Rep. Peggy Leppik(R-Golden Valley), would appropriate$700,000 per year for ABE supplemental ser-vice grants.

These grants would be available to nonprofitorganizations statewide for services not offeredby a district ABE program, such as the trainingof ABE teachers and volunteers, provision of in-terpreters, and adapted technology.

“Many of the people who serve our learn-ers are volunteers, and to ask them to pay fortheir own training could be burdensome,”Peterson said.

In previous years, these services were fullysupported through federal money. That fund-ing source ended in 2000 and the state pickedup the loss, but the allocation was not includedin the governor’s budget for the comingbiennium.

HF2274, sponsored by Rep. Mary JoMcGuire (DFL-Falcon Heights), includes aprovision that matches Leppik’s bill butMcGuire’s bill goes further to include an ap-propriation for $250,000 per year for ABEspecial needs aid.

It would also extend telecommunicationsaccess grants and provide funding of $180,000per year to pay for 60 percent of the costs ofgeneral equivalency diploma (GED) tests.

The telecommunications grants would goto make information, courses, and degreesavailable to more people across the state,especially in Greater Minnesota where accessto educational resources is more limited.

The GED testing reimbursement programwould make it easier for students to completethe test by paying for a portion of theirtesting fees.

“Some of us go on to post-secondary edu-cation, some even end up in a chair like this,”said Rep. Dale Swapinski (DFL-Duluth), re-ferring to his personal experience of obtain-ing his high school diploma through adultbasic education. “These dollars will be wellspent.”

Boys & Girls Club Board Member WendellButler testifies before the House Judiciary Fi-nance Committee April 5 in support of a billthat would authorize a pilot project grant forgang prevention and intervention.

EMPLOYMENT★

PHOTO BY ANDREW VON BANK

PREVENTING GANG MEMBERSHIP

ENVIRONMENT★

Nontraditional trainingWomen trying to get off welfare face the

problem that most jobs for which they arequalified pay too little to support them andtheir children.

Helping women find opportunities in non-traditional, higher paying careers is a goal ofRep. Joe Mullery (DFL-Mpls), sponsor ofHF23. His bill was approved by the HouseHealth and Human Services Finance Commit-tee April 4 and will be considered for inclu-sion in the committee’s omnibus bill.

HF23 would appropriate $1 million for the2002-03 biennium for grants for nontradi-tional career assistance training programs.

It would also direct the commissioner ofeconomic security to require those employ-ment and training programs that receive statefunds to inform women about careers in thetrades and technical occupations.

“These are jobs that pay very well,” Mullerysaid. “They get people into a livable wage situ-ation in just a few months.”

Ethel Washington went from welfare to be-ing the first African-American woman in thestate to get an electrician’s license. Through asimilar program to that in Mullery’s bill, she

attended Minneapolis Technical College fortwo years, and received an electrical appren-ticeship within one week of graduation.

“I received $621 a month from AFDC,”Washington said. “As an apprentice I tookhome $621 a week after taxes. Now, I takehome close to $900.

“I see a significant difference in my life andthe lives of my children because of mynontraditional job,” she said.

Let sleeping logs lieA law passed last year that allows the com-

mercial removal of sunken logs from Minne-sota lakes has stirred up more than the muckon lake bottoms.

“We have concluded the costs to the publicare much higher than the benefits to either thepublic or the contractor,” said MichelleBeeman of the Department of NaturalResources.

A bill that would impose a moratorium onthe removal of sunken logs was heard April 3by the House Environment and Natural Re-sources Policy Committee.

HF1491, sponsored by Rep. Doug Fuller (R-Bemidji), addresses concerns of the DNR andlake associations that raising century-old logsmay cause environmental damage. The bill wasapproved and sent to the House Environmentand Natural Resources Finance Committee.

The bill would do two things. First, it wouldrequire the department to cancel contracts al-ready made for log removal and refund the ap-plication fee. Second, it would establish a pilotproject, to be conducted by the DNR, to studythe effects of contaminants that might be re-leased from disturbances to the lake bottom.

The bill would appropriate $100,000 for thepilot project. Some of the contaminants un-der study would include mercury, nitrates,PCBs, phosphorous, and blue-green algae. Apeer-reviewed report would be due to the Leg-islature by Jan. 1, 2003.

“We believe the results of the study willprove environmental destruction with long-term negative effects,” said Pat Delmore,speaking for the Lake Plantagenet Association.

Beeman said the department would preferto cut its losses. “Our perspective is to repealand prohibit,” she said.

Craig Waddell, a logging contractor whowould be affected by the moratorium, said histests showed no more turbidity from pullingup a sunken log than from pulling up ananchor.

“I’m astounded that we’re discussing thisagain,” Waddell said. “There’s 10,000 years of

Session Weekly 9

history out there. It’s the last unexplored areaof the state.”

Fuller said the questions that have beenraised need an answer. “Otherwise every timewe go to another lake we’ll have to answerthese questions all over again,” he said.

GOVERNMENT★

Minnesota River State TrailThe House Environment and Natural Re-

sources Policy Committee approved a billMarch 29 that would establish a multi-use trailalong the Minnesota River Valley from BigStone Lake State Park to LeSueur where itwould connect with the Minnesota ValleyTrail.

“This trail has been under discussion sincethe 1930s,” said Geoff Hathaway, from theMinnesota Trails Initiative. “It’s time for thislegislation to move forward.”

HF1073, sponsored by Rep. James T. Clark(R-New Ulm), would appropriate $1.4 millionfrom the general fund to the commissioner ofnatural resources to establish the trail. The billwas approved and sent to the House Environ-ment and Natural Resources FinanceCommittee.

Hathaway said the goal is to connect a se-ries of state parks and wildlife areas along theriver under the auspices of the Departmentof Natural Resources.

The Minnesota Trails Initiative has beenworking on a segment from Montevideo toGranite Falls. Other groups are working toconnect their communities with nearby stateparks. The proposed trail would connect thesesegments.

Work would proceed over a number of yearson a section-by-section basis. The total costsare not known at this time. Funding wouldcome from foundation grants as well as stateand federal funds.

Supporters of the trail include theMcKnight Foundation, the National AudubonSociety, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, andthe Minnesota Horse Council.

A group of property owners opposed to thebill said they were frustrated because they hadnot been involved in the planning process. “Weare not opposed to a bike trail,” said DonnaHalvorson. “We are opposed to the route theywant to take.”

Mark Wegner, comptroller of the Twin Cit-ies and Western Railroad Company inGlencoe, also spoke in opposition to the trail,citing safety and liability concerns.

“I’d be happy to work with the landownersand the railroad,” Clark said. “This should bea positive thing for these communities.”

Census chatterMinnesota’s minority population nearly

doubled during the past decade, but the state’spercentage of minorities is still far below thenational average.

According to the recently released UnitedStates Census data, the share of the state’s mi-nority population grew from 6.3 percent in1990 to 11.8 percent in 2000. Nationally, mi-norities comprise 30.9 percent of thepopulation.

“We’re substantially more diverse than in1990 but substantially less diverse than the restof the country,” State Demographer TomGillaspy told the House Redistricting Com-mittee April 3.

Gillaspy said data from those who listed asingle race on their census forms indicates thatthe state’s Hispanic population grew by166 percent. The number of Asians grew by87 percent, the African-American populationby 81 percent, and the number of AmericanIndians by 8 percent.

This census was the first that allowed peopleto identify themselves as members of multipleraces. Gillaspy said 1.7 percent of census par-ticipants chose the multiple race category, andthe percentage increases for those that selectedthat category are all higher when comparedto the single race category. For example, thenumber of those saying they are part Ameri-can Indian increases to 57 percent.

The fastest growing region of the state wasthe suburban area surrounding Minneapolis

Charlotte Fisher of Sauk Rapids, right, wears a top hat with her hands full of money to portray“big drug companies,” while Lorraine Schreyer of Bloomington wears a pill bottle during anApril 4 rally for affordable prescription drugs in the Capitol Rotunda.

PHOTO BY TOM OLMSCHEID

DRUG DEMONSTRATORS

and St. Paul. Cities such as Eden Prairie, Eaganand Woodbury saw large population increasesduring the 1990s.

Gillaspy said one of the surprises from thecensus was that Minneapolis, St. Paul, andDuluth all saw population increases. He saidmost officials had predicted a drop in thenumber of people in the state’s three largestcities. The increase reversed trends of a half-century when Minneapolis hit its populationpeak in the 1940s, and St. Paul in the 1950s.

Rochester is now the state’s fourth largestcity, but Gillaspy said part of that growth canbe attributed to annexation activity that oc-curred in the 1990s.

Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Eden Prairie), thecommittee chair, said he expects the commit-tee will develop the principles and standardsthat will be used in drafting the redistrictingbill later this month.

Contract changesThe House Governmental Operations and

Veterans Affairs Policy Committee approveda bill April 2 that would clarify what consti-tutes a conflict of interest in state purchasingcontracts.

The bill now goes to the House floor.HF1379, sponsored by Rep. Philip Krinkie

(R-Shoreview), would define an “organiza-tional conflict of interest” when a vendor isunable, or potentially unable, to render im-partial assistance or advice to the state becauseof existing or planned activities or because ofexisting relationships.

10 April 6, 2001

HEALTH★

The new definition further clarifies that aconflict would exist when the vendor’s objec-tivity in performing the contract work mightotherwise be impaired or when a vendor hasan unfair advantage over others vying for thecontract.

Kent Allin, an assistant commissioner with theDepartment of Administration, said the bill par-tially addresses an issue that arose last fall whenthe Federal Transit Administration required theMetropolitan Council to re-bid a contract in-volving the Minneapolis light-rail project. In thatcase, the selected vendor worked as an interimproject manager and may have had an unfaircompetitive advantage.

The bill would make other changes to thestate’s purchasing laws, including increasingthe threshold amount from $25,000 to $50,000for instances when a state agency is requiredto go through the formal contracting process.The bill also would increase from $10,000 to$75,000 the value of a contract that requires aperformance and payment bond from thecontractor.

Allin said that 328 out of 2,300 professionaltechnical contracts in 2000 went through theformal bidding process and they would fallunder the threshold proposed in the bill. Hesaid likewise 2,015 commodity contracts outof 424,000 would have fallen beneath the$50,000 amount proposed in the bill.

Rep. Len Biernat (DFL-Mpls) said he wasconcerned that by allowing more informalcontracts to be executed between state agen-cies and vendors, there was potential forincreased instances of conflicts of interest.

Allin said there was a “slight increase” in thechances of misuse of the process but stateagencies are currently having a difficult timefinding qualified contractors, especially in theinformation technology sector.

HIGHER EDUCATION★

Limiting family planning servicesThe House Health and Human Services

Policy Committee voted March 29 to approvea major health measure that will be consid-ered for inclusion in the committee’somnibus bill.

HF1581, sponsored by Committee ChairRep. Kevin Goodno (R-Moorhead), includesan array of health-care programs and appro-priations that legislators have considered thissession.

But at this meeting, testifiers and commit-tee members focused on two related provi-sions: the prohibition of state funding fornon-profit organizations that provide familyplanning, and the exclusion of medical or

contraceptive services from the governor’s$10 million-a-year teenage pregnancy preven-tion program.

According to the state Department ofHealth, 32 percent of family planning grantsnow go to non-profit community clinics.HF1581 would redirect that funding to localgovernments.

“This takes money away from programs thatwork and gives it to cities and counties, manyof which have no experience in this area,” saidRep. Thomas Huntley (DFL-Duluth). “I don’tsee why we would want to do this.”

Arguing his intent was to narrow the focus,Goodno said the original bill had a “shotgunapproach,” and he preferred to “specificallytarget certain areas.”

Sections of the bill are aimed at health caredisparities by making block grants availableto community organizations. Money for fam-ily planning is specifically excluded.

Rep. Neva Walker (DFL-Mpls) protestedthese exclusions. “Let the people in the com-munity decide for themselves where to put thismoney,” she said.

“Family planning clinics prevent a largenumber of teen pregnancies,” said MichaelResnick, director of the National Teen Preg-nancy Prevention Research Center at the Uni-versity of Minnesota. “Availability ofcontraceptives and clinic services do not in-crease the number of sexual partners or causean earlier age of first sex.”

“I want to know that the values I teach as aparent aren’t going to be undermined whensome clinic sets up down the street,” saidRep. Tim Wilkin (R-Eagan).

“Clinics make every effort to connect youngpeople back with their parents,” Resnick said.“If that isn’t possible, they connect them withanother responsible adult.”

“We will pay now or we will pay later,” hesaid. “If we pay later, we will pay much, muchmore.”

Aid for gradesStudents willing to take challenging courses

in high school may be entitled to more finan-cial aid for college, under a plan heard by theHouse Higher Education Finance CommitteeApril 4.

Rep Alice Seagren (R-Bloomington) issponsoring HF2226 as a way to encouragehigh school students who take advanced place-ment and international baccalaureate classesto attend a post-secondary institution in Min-nesota. It will be considered for inclusion inthe committee’s omnibus bill.

Her bill creates a new post-secondary grantprogram that will be funded with a 1 percentallocation of the appropriations for the stategrant program. A grant “may be made for amaximum of four years or until the studentreceives a baccalaureate degree,” the bill states.

To be eligible for the funding, a studentmust attend a four-year college or universityfollowing high school graduation. They mustalso achieve a score of three or higher on fiveor more advanced placement exams for full-year courses or achieve a score of four orhigher on five or more internationalbaccalaureate exams for full-year courses.

Rep. Lyndon Carlson (DFL-Crystal), aformer teacher, said sometimes his top stu-dents would attend a two-year college initiallyafter high school. He asked if this could beexpanded to include those institutions.Seagren said she is open to the idea.

Marlys Peters-Melius, director of advancedplacement and international baccalaureateprograms at the Department of Children,Families and Learning, said approximately 210high schools in Minnesota offer advancedplacement programs and 11 have internationalbaccalaureate programs, with four or fivemore expressing an interest. The advancedplacement numbers represent about one-halfof the state’s high schools. She said 7-10 newschools have been added during the past fewyears, but more students are taking advancedclasses.

“Students want this type of rigorous aca-demic experience,” said Stu Lade, advancedplacement coordinator at Brainerd HighSchool.

Seagren said the bill would help theworkforce situation in Minnesota. She saidWisconsin offers a similar program becauseofficials believe students attending college inthat state will remain after graduation. She saidofficials with the Minnesota State Colleges andUniversities report that 84 percent of theirgraduates stay in the state.

Peters said about 80 percent of internationalbaccalaureate students and 60 percent of stu-dents taking advanced placement classes stayin Minnesota for college.

No cost was given, as appropriations are yetto be made, but Peters said giving each quali-fying student $1,000 would cost about$230,000 in year one, increasing to $1 millionannually by year four.

Math helpOfficials with the Minnesota Talented Youth

Math Program are used to working with num-bers. Now they seek more money from thestate.

HF428, sponsored by Rep. Bob Gunther

Session Weekly 11

INDUSTRY★

If you have Internet access, visit theLegislature’s web page at:

http://www.leg.state.mn.us

(R-Fairmont), was held over April 4 for con-sideration in the House Higher EducationFinance Committee’s omnibus bill.

Funded by $40,000 from Minnesota StateUniversity, Mankato, the program allows stu-dents in south central Minnesota to take mathclasses at an accelerated rate. The programbegan in 1983.

The 60 students now in the program spendtwo hours per week in class and then do fiveto 10 hours of homework each week. Startingin grade six, students take full Algebra I and IIclasses in one year, followed by geometry inthe second year, and advanced algebra andprecalculus in year three. In years four, five,and six students take Calculus I, II, and III foruniversity credit. Less than 1 percent of thestudent population qualifies for this program.

Program Director Quintin Pettigrew said aclassroom of students meet with an instruc-tor in Mankato with interactive televisionclasses set up in Fairmont, Madelia, BlueEarth, or Owatonna, depending on the class.

“We’d like to see the program available inall of rural Minnesota,” Pettigrew said. “Wewant this available to students in Pipestoneand International Falls, as well as the TwinCities and Rochester.” Larger metropolitanareas have a similar program funded throughthe University of Minnesota.

Expansion plans call for interactive televi-sion links at 21 sites, which would allow stu-dents in more than 100 school districts theopportunity to take part. Districts included inthat number are within one hour of theinteractive television site.

The bill requests $250,000 in fiscal year 2002and $318,000 in fiscal year 2003 to expand theprogram statewide. Pettigrew expects 350 to400 participants once the program is fullyimplemented.

Richard Rush, president of Minnesota StateUniversity, Mankato, said the university willbe unable to fund the program in coming yearsdue to its own budget constraints.

Jon Ostrem, deputy to the chancellor forlegislation and policy of the Minnesota StateColleges and Universities, said their board hasnot taken a position on the bill.

“This program would help with workforcedevelopment,” Gunther said, noting many newjobs in the state will require “lots of mathmastery.”

Taconite plant loan fundA request for a $100 million revolving loan

fund for taconite plant capital improvementsmight sound shockingly high. The same couldbe said for the industry’s expenses: $2 millionfor a dump truck; $4 million for hydraulic shovel;and $6 million to $7 million for a conveyer.

Rep. Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook) is sponsoringa bill to ease some of the financial strain onMinnesota mining companies. Under HF1736,presented to the House Jobs and EconomicDevelopment Finance Committee April 2,mining companies would submit proposalsfor capital improvements to the Departmentof Trade and Economic Development. Themaximum duration of the loan would be 30years.

“Banks are not very friendly to people in ourindustry right now,” said Charles William, vicepresident of Forbes-based EVTAC Mining.

William was referring to the nearly 1,400steel worker layoffs within the past year, mostlyfrom LTV Steel Mining Co. in Hoyt Lakes,which declared bankruptcy. The entire UnitedStates steel industry is under stress, however,due to other countries illegally selling steel inthe U.S. below cost, he said.

“A bill of this type sends a strong messageto our bankers or lenders that the state of Min-nesota is supportive of this industry andwilling to take a chance on it,” William said.

During 2000, mining companies on the IronRange spent $68.5 million on capital products,Bakk noted. Now, parent companies arestrapped for cash and can’t invest in improve-ments necessary to provide a good product.

Under the original bill, the loan was inter-est free. However, Committee Chair Rep. DanMcElroy (R-Burnsville) offered an amend-ment to charge interest on the loan “at a rateset by the commissioner.” McElroy reasonedother business loans managed by the depart-ment charge interest, usually at a rate belowmarket. The amendment was approved.

Rep. Dale Walz (R-Brainerd) asked whatchanges would be needed to make Minnesota’ssteel companies more competitive with othercountries.

The real solution to today’s problems, Bakkreplied, can only be solved in Washington D.C.

Gov. Jesse Ventura recently signed a resolu-tion to send an official message to PresidentGeorge W. Bush requesting that his adminis-tration immediately investigate the illegal saleof steel products in the country.

Bakk hopes the Bush administration willheed the resolution ”to make sure we’re on alevel playing field with the rest of the world.”

The bill will be considered for possible in-clusion in the committee’s omnibus bill.

Radio requests heardPublic radio stations took their turn testi-

fying about HF218, a bill which proposes tocompletely cut funding.

Sponsored by Rep. Phil Krinkie (R-Shoreview), chair of the House State Govern-ment Finance Committee, HF218 proposes tocut more than $100 million from thegovernor’s total recommendations for stateagencies.

Minnesota’s two public radio groups — theAssociation of Minnesota Public EducationalRadio Stations (AMPERS) and MinnesotaPublic Radio (MPR) — testified to the com-mittee March 29. Both received a recommen-dation for their base allocation from Gov. JesseVentura.

Krinkie asked AMPERS representativeswhat would happen if they receive none oftheir $640,000 base funding request for the2002-03 biennium. Barry Tilley, a lobbyist forAMPERS, said he doesn’t know if some of theassociation’s 13 stations would go off the air,but it would put additional strain on all sta-tions, including some that are already stressed.

All stations, ranging from jazz to classicalto college rock, are community-based, non-commercial radio stations. Rep. Jim Rhodes(R-St. Louis Park) said it is the only place tohear some types of music. “It serves a need,”he said.

Ventura did not recommend funding theAMPERS request of a $150,000 biennial in-crease in their base primarily to cover expensesrelated to the conversion from analog to digi-tal broadcasting. The association’s request for$174,000 in equipment grants would also con-tribute to the conversion.

“It’s a process of becoming digital, becausewhen the system becomes digital we’ll have tobe ready,” said Maggie Montgomery, presidentof AMPERS.

Minnesota Public Radio broadcasts newsand information that reaches 98 percent ofstate. Their request to the state only pays forcapital expenses; MPR covers operating ex-penses through donations from approximately90,000 members.

The $814,000 base request includes$614,000 for a generator in St. Paul and$200,000 for a new tower in Bemidji.

The generator, explained Don Heppelmann,co-chair of the Minnesota State EmergencyCommunications Committee, is needed foremergency messages for local, national, or in-ternational emergencies. There is a federalmandate to receive the signal, he said.

The committee has taken no action on thebill.

12 April 6, 2001

Permit measure heads to floorA bill that would change the way concealed

weapons permits are issued and require hold-ers to be certified has made its way to theHouse floor.

HF1360, sponsored by Rep. LyndaBoudreau (R-Faribault), was approved by theHouse Judiciary Finance Committee March 29and by the House Ways and Means Commit-tee April 2.

The bill would require sheriffs in Minne-sota to issue a concealed weapon permit topeople within 15 days of application as longas they do not fail a background check. In ad-dition, it would require that each permitholder be trained in firearms safety and re-ceive re-certification upon each renewal.

Existing law gives sheriffs and police chiefsdiscretion regarding whether the applicantactually needs to carry a concealed weaponpublicly. Sheriffs would be the sole grantingauthority for permits under the bill.

The bill also creates a statewide system thatkeeps track of all the people legally permittedto carry a concealed weapon.

HF1360 provides a $45 fee for new permitapplications, $35 of which would go to thestate. Permits would have to be renewed ev-ery three years at a cost of $15, $3 of whichwould go to the state.

Those costs are higher than reflected in theoriginal bill.

In addition, the bill has been amended tograndfather in existing permit holders. Theymust still re-apply when their permits expire,but Boudreau said they would come in gradu-ally over the course of the first year rather thanall at once.

Boudreau said officials anticipate 50,000permit applications the first year and 20,000each subsequent year. She said fees wouldcover the costs of administering the bill,though an up-front appropriation of $1.6million is required to begin.

In the Ways and Means hearing, Commit-tee Chair Rep. Dave Bishop (R-Rochester)asked whether sheriffs will be able to conductaccurate background checks, given that thereare several thousand criminal records in sus-pense that do not register in the state system.

“I find that troubling,” Boudreau said, “aproblem I’m hopeful that we can find a wayto correct.”

Rep. Margaret Anderson Kelliher (DFL-Mpls) expressed concern whether the bill’s feeswill cover costs, especially given the fees forother state permits and licenses.

“We ask people to pay more for a fishinglicense than we are for obtaining a gun

LAW★

RECREATION★

permit,” she said. “I’m not sure I’m comfort-able going in that direction.”

Mike Kelly, left, executive vice president of the Min-nesota Vikings, testifies April 4 before the HouseGovernmental Operations and Veterans AffairsPolicy Committee for a bill that would establish apanel to review proposals and make recommen-dations for new sports facilities. RichardPfutzenreuter, associate vice-president of the Uni-versity of Minnesota’s Office of Budget andFinance, sits to his right.

Skol VikingsThe House Governmental Operations and

Veterans Affairs Policy Committee approveda bill April 4 that would establish a task forceto study issues relating to a new football sta-dium for the Minnesota Vikings and Univer-sity of Minnesota.

The bill that was approved by a 13-5 votenow goes to the House floor.

HF2241, sponsored by Rep. Doug Stang (R-Cold Spring), would create a 17-member taskforce composed of six legislators, five mem-bers appointed by the governor, two membersappointed by the University of MinnesotaBoard of Regents, two representatives of busi-ness interests and two representatives of la-bor interests.

There would be no state money involved infunding the task force. The task force wouldissue its report by Oct. 31, 2001 after studyingissues related to proposals to construct a newfacility.

The committee adopted an amendment of-fered by Rep. Eric Lipman (R-Lake Elmo) that

would require at least one member of the taskforce represent views of those who oppose ei-ther a direct state appropriation or tax incen-tives for a new stadium.

Stang said it was important for the Legisla-ture to be involved from the beginning of theprocess since ultimately lawmakers are goingto have to decide if public money will be spenton a new stadium.

Mike Kelly, executive vice president of theVikings, said the goal is for the new facility tobe flexible enough to accommodate otherevents such as soccer, high school athleticevents, and a national tournament like theNCAA Final Four men’s basketball event.

Rep. Philip Krinkie (R-Shoreview) said anew study was not needed because a studycommissioned by former Gov. Arne Carlsonwas done five years ago and every city thateventually has funded a sports stadium beganits process with a study.

Krinkie said the study was just the first stepin finding a way to come up with public fund-ing for the stadium.

“We all know this study could be conductedby the Vikings without legislative involvement,”he said. “This is not just the camel’s nose underthe tent. This is the camel in the tent.”

Krinkie also was critical of the universitybeing involved in the proposal since it has10 years left on its Metrodome lease.

Rep. Mike Osskopp (R-Lake City) said he hasopposed public funding for stadiums in the pastbut the study would ensure that the Legislaturebe involved in “every inch of this thing.”

“If the bill was proposing even 10 cents oftaxpayer funds I’d be leading the chargeagainst it,” Osskopp said.

Mississippi Whitewater TrailAn urban whitewater trail created by the

Legislature in 1998 is ready for the next stageof development.

A bill that would provide pre-constructionfunding for the Mississippi Whitewater Trail washeard by the House Environment and NaturalResources Finance Committee April 2.

HF1269, sponsored by Rep. Phyllis Kahn(DFL-Mpls), would appropriate $683,000 —about one-half of which would be earmarkedto secure federal funding of $1 million. Thebill will be considered for inclusion in thecommittee’s omnibus finance bill.

The trail, to be built below the Stone ArchBridge in Minneapolis in the lower St. An-thony Falls area, will run through a river chan-nel bordered by a newly created island acrossfrom the University of Minnesota steam plant.This channel will be 2,000 feet long and40 feet wide with a vertical drop of 25 feet.

Session Weekly 13

The re-creation of a rapids below St. AnthonyFalls will be controlled by a headgate so waterlevels can be adjusted for different activities andlevels of skill. The trail will accommodatewhitewater rafting, canoeing, and kayaking forpeople of all skill levels. Plans include the cre-ation of a green space along the trail with walk-ways, picnic areas, and a fishing pier.

A feasibility study projected an economicimpact of $2 million to $2.5 million annually.

The overall cost of the trail and surround-ing park is estimated to be about $15 million.Federal funding of $10 million has alreadybeen authorized for the design and construc-tion of the trail under the Water ResourcesDevelopment Act of 2000.

“This is both a recreational project and ariver restoration project,” said Bill Tilton, chairof the Mississippi Whitewater Park Develop-ment Corporation, a nonprofit organizationthat has spearheaded the project. “It gives us achance to get back to the falls.”

The park and trail would be managed bythe Department of Natural Resources. “Thisis a new kind of venture for us,” said DennisAsmundson, of the DNR Trails and WaterwaysDivision, speaking in support of the bill.

Bill Tilton of the Mississippi Whitewater Park Development Corporation uses a drawing April 2 to showmembers of the House Environment and Natural Resource Finance Committee where the 2,000-footlong, 40-foot wide whitewater channel along the east side of the Mississippi River would be locatedbelow the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis.

TAXES★

Check againBecause the topic is taxes it might be tempt-

ing to throw material received in the mail fromthe Department of Revenue into a drawer. Butsometimes that doesn’t pay off.

Rep. Dan McElroy (R-Burnsville) said he issponsoring HF1357 on behalf of a develop-

High school savingsIn the past few weeks, thousands of fans

have made their way to St. Paul to watch themany high school athletic tournaments thattake place in March. Some might have beensurprised at the cost of tickets.

The House Taxes Committee Sales and In-come Tax Division heard two bills March 29that would exempt events sponsored by theMinnesota State High School League fromsales tax.

HF960, sponsored by Rep. Bob Milbert(DFL-South St. Paul), and HF1686, sponsoredby Rep. William Kuisle (R-Rochester), wouldexpand a current sales tax exemption on regu-lar season games to regional and state tour-nament athletic and academic competitions.

According to information provided by thehigh school league, $491,645 was the amountof sales taxes collected between July 1999 andJuly 2000. Attendance at those events duringthe same time period was more than 500,000people.

Milbert said there was no good reason fordiffering treatment in current law that ex-empts regular season games but taxes tourna-ment games.

“This is a very significant and unexpectedexpense for a family. It is very reasonable ofus to remove the discrimination,” he said.

Kuisle said he talked with his brother, whois a high school athletic director in Rochester,and said the sales tax exemption would gen-erate enough savings to allow the school tohire an assistant coach.

“The cost is getting almost prohibitive ingoing to these events,” he said.

Although both bills were similar, the De-partment of Revenue preferred the languageof HF1686; therefore, Rep. Elaine Harder (R-Jackson) said it would be considered furtherfor possible inclusion in the omnibus tax bill.

mentally disadvantaged constituent who re-ceived a $193 property tax refund check fromthe department and promptly filed it awayonly to rediscover the check three years later.

Under current law the right to the propertytax refund lapses if the check is not cashedwithin two years after it is issued.

McElroy told the House Taxes CommitteeSales and Income Tax Division March 29 thathis bill would allow the department to re-issuetax refunds to an individual taxpayer who dem-onstrates there is reasonable cause to do so.

The bill also would require the departmentto report to the Department of Commerce anytax refund checks more than one year old thathave not been cashed so they can be listed asunclaimed property.

According to the Department of Revenue,1998 property tax refund checks totaling$549,000 have yet to be cashed and have thuslapsed. For the 1999 sales tax rebate, checks wortha total of $458,000 have not been cashed.

Rep. Andy Dawkins (DFL-St. Paul) askedthe likelihood of uncashed checks of largeamounts still being out there, making the pos-sible cost of the bill unexpectedly expensive.

McElroy said the bill is limited to personalrefund checks and does not apply to businesses.

The committee adopted an amendmentclarifying the “reasonable cause” standard thatwould allow the department to re-issue acheck. In the original bill, the criteria werebased upon “the disability or diminished ca-pacity of the taxpayer, extreme hardship, orother good cause.”

The committee took no further action onthe bill, but Rep. Elaine Harder (R-Jackson),the division chair, said it would be consideredfor possible inclusion in the omnibus tax bill.

Preferred rateExisting state tax law provides that the value

of land is based on its “highest and best” use.The House Taxes Committee heard a bill

April 3 that would establish the “MinnesotaEnvironmental Preservation Property Law”that would allow certain property owners toapply for preferential valuation of their land.

Rep. Roxann Daggett (R-Frazee), the spon-sor of HF2121, said the bill’s provisions werepatterned after the state’s current Green Acrestax program.

That program allows owners of certain ag-ricultural land to pay property taxes on theland based on agricultural use rather than thecommonly higher market value.

Daggett said several property owners in

14 April 6, 2001

Otter Tail County received a letter from thecounty assessor informing them that in de-termining the value of their property contain-ing lakeshore or river frontage, the influenceof that water frontage had to be taken intoaccount.

Previously that frontage had not been con-sidered due to the size and use of theproperty.

Daggett said the lakeshore involved wasmore of a slough or swamp and that the bodyof water could not be used for recreationalpurposes.

In order to qualify for the lower valuationprovided in the bill, the land would have to behomesteaded by the owner, his or her spouse,or a child of the owner. The bill also requiresthat the property owner has owned the landfor at least seven years prior to the applica-tion for benefits.

Land that qualifies for the program wouldhave to consist of forestland, woodland, mead-owland, slough, or a wasteland. The revenuesderived from the property in the previous yearcould not exceed $5 per acre and would haveto continue to be less than $5 per acre in eachyear that the property is enrolled in theprogram.

Jenny Engh, an assistant commissioner withthe Department of Revenue, said the depart-ment is concerned about equity issues thatcould occur because the taxes would be shiftedonto other properties within the jurisdiction.

Keith Carlson, a lobbyist for the Metropoli-tan Inter-County Association, spoke againstthe bill saying it would provide tax reductionsto individuals who own an asset that is rap-idly appreciating.

The committee took no action on the bill,but Rep. Ron Abrams (R-Minnetonka), thecommittee chair, said it would be consideredfor possible inclusion in the omnibus tax bill.

Randall Callies of Stillwater tells the HouseCommerce, Jobs, and Economic DevelopmentPolicy Committee April 3 how he donated akidney and strongly urges them to pass a billrequiring employers to give paid leave fororgan donation.

PHOTO BY TOM OLMSCHEID

TRANSPORTATION★

LIVING DONOR

‘Modernizing’ waterwaysThe full House adopted a non-binding

resolution urging Congress to authorize fed-eral funding “for the modernization of water-ways” during the April 4 floor session.

Rep. Tom Workman (R-Chanhassen) spon-sored the resolution, which neither appropriatesmoney, nor changes state law. It does encourageCongress to spend millions of dollars updatingthe “Upper Mississippi River System.”

Workman emphasized that HF208 has re-ceived the support of U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar(DFL-Chisholm). “(He) believes this shouldbe distributed and passed in all states aroundthe Mississippi River.”

Workman explained that one barge cancarry the same load as 58 trucks, and that wa-terway improvements could therefore removetraffic from more expensive highways.

Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL-Mpls) offered anamendment that would have included lan-guage encouraging Congress to appropriatefunds only after “a thorough and completedreview of the scientific and economic data re-garding the lock and dam system.”

Countering assertions by proponents thatthe matter had been sufficiently studied, Kahnsaid doubt had been cast upon a U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers’ study promoting water-way expansion. She said a member of theCorps had been fired after publicly denounc-ing the study’s methodology and that severalindependent analyses concluded waterwaycompanies had unduly influenced the results.“We want Congress to consider accurate in-formation,” she said.

Workman, who chairs the House Transpor-tation Policy Committee, and Rep. DennisOzment (R-Rosemount), chair of the HouseEnvironment and Natural Resources PolicyCommittee, each denied having studied alter-native strategies for increasing river trafficvolume, the ultimate goal of additionalexpenditure.

Kahn suggested Congress examine the us-ing better equipment and scheduling as waysthe shipping industry could improve its effi-ciency without requiring increased spending.

Workman accused opponents of trying toforestall waterway expenditure indefinitelywith disingenuous calls for study. “I’m not themost fiscally conservative member in thebody,” retorted Kahn. “But this is like throw-ing money into the river to see if the problemgoes away.”

In the Senate, the bill awaits a hearing inthe Environment and Natural ResourcesCommittee.

Railroad quiet zonesCities and towns may soon have the option

of creating railroad “quiet zones” within whichlocomotives would be forbidden to blowwhistles. Rep. Dennis Ozment (R-Rosemount)is sponsoring HF595 to “try to make it clearthat local communities can make quiet zones.”

He told a March 30 meeting of the HouseTransportation Policy Committee meetingthat some local jurisdictions declined to cre-ate such zones out of concern that doing sowould violate the law. The committee ap-proved the bill and referred it to the HouseTransportation Finance Committee.

Also of concern is that quiet zones mightrequire the construction of expensive trafficbarriers at railroad intersections with streets.The bill would permit local governments tospend county state-aid and municipal state-aid funds to buy, construct, and install gradecrossing signals and barriers on county state-aid highways and municipal state-aid streets.

Brian Sweeney of the Burlington Northernand Santa Fe Railroad endorsed the bill. Heexplained that forthcoming federal ruleswould soon require locomotives to sound theirhorns at every public intersection other thanthose designated “quiet zones.”

Ozment said that decisions about railroadquiet zones under his bill should and wouldbe “between local communities, railroads, andthe federal government.”

Lifetime trailer registrationA plan to limit the number of times a per-

son must pay for registering a trailer with thestate will be considered for possible inclusionin the House Transportation FinanceCommittee’s omnibus bill.

At the April 2 meeting, committee mem-bers evaluated a proposal that would allowowners of trailers weighing 3,000 pounds orless to register them for the life of the vehicle.Currently those trailers must be registered

Session Weekly 15

with the state every two years with the feebased on total gross weight.

Rep. Mary Liz Holberg (R-Lakeville) issponsoring HF1281, which would provide fora one-time registration tax of $55 for trailerswhen registered in the state for the first time.

The bill provides that the tax for a currentlyregistered trailer is $25 if the owner wishes toregister it for the remaining life of the trailer.

If an owner does not want permanent regis-tration, the first biennial tax is $10 through June30, 2003. After that, trailers must be issued per-manent registration at the first opportunity, at acost of $20, according to the bill.

For owners of trailers whose registrationdoes not need to be renewed until after July 1,2003, the tax would be $20 and permanentregistration must be issued.

The state Department of Transportationestimates that income from trailer registrationwould exceed $20 million in the upcomingbiennium, more than double the figure thatwould be collected if lifetime registration werenot adopted. Projected revenue under the pro-posed change would remain greater than rev-enue under the current system untilapproximately 2020. In that year, the twotrailer registration plans are forecast to gen-erate the same revenue.

Driver and Vehicle Services, a subdivisionof the Department of Public Safety, released astatement explaining official support for thebill. “The change will simplify the registrationprocess for owners, provide a more efficientsystem for collecting taxes, as well as reducestaff time needed to process registrations,” itsaid.

Rep. Henry Kalis (DFL-Wells) predictedthat permitting one-time registration couldjeopardize long-term registration revenue.“Some states did it, and are sorry,” he said.

Shifting leftDrivers on roads with more than one lane

in the same direction might soon be requiredto move left when passing an emergency ve-hicle parked on the right shoulder.

Rep. William Kuisle (R-Rochester) is spon-soring legislation in memory of MinnesotaState Patrol Cpl. Ted Foss, who was killed dur-ing a routine traffic stop on Interstate 90 nearLewiston in August 2000. Foss was speakingwith the occupants of a minivan he had justpulled over when a semi-tractor trailerslammed into him and the minivan.

At the April 3 meeting of the House Trans-portation Policy Committee, Kuisle describedHF801 as “an attempt to look at a serious situ-ation.” The bill was approved and now movesto the House floor.

The bill would also permit drivers on two-lane roads to move into the left lane whilepassing stopped emergency vehicles. Underexisting law, drivers may operate vehicles onthe left side of a road only to pass or to avoida road closure.

“As vehicles get bigger and bigger, it getsharder and harder to see officers along the sideof the road,” Kuisle said. He added that policeofficers are especially concerned about driv-ers unable to see officers around large trucksand sport utility vehicles.

Failing to move over into available laneswould be a petty misdemeanor, punishable bya fine up to $300. If the same offense

endangers people or property, it would be amisdemeanor punishable by 90 days in jail andup to a $1,000 fine.

Committee Chair Rep. Carol Molnau (R-Chaska) reassured Kalis, saying the Legislaturecould raise registration fees on approximately800,000 such trailers in Minnesota.

PHOTO BY TOM OLMSCHEID

A device that electronically monitors alcohollevels is displayed before the House CrimePrevention Committee April 5 as StephenSimon, director of the DWI Task Force, testi-fies for a bill that would fund a study of elec-tronic alcohol monitoring recidivism andconditional release violation rates.

ALCOHOL MONITORING

Minnesota’s U.S. SenatorsU.S. SenatorsSenatorMark Dayton (DFL)818A Hart Senate Office BuildingWashington, D.C. 20510(202) 224-3244Fax: (202) 228-2186

Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building1 Federal Drive, Suite 298St. Paul, MN 55111(612) 727-5220Fax: (612) 727-5223Web site: http://www.senate.gov/~dayton

SenatorPaul Wellstone (DFL)136 Hart Senate Office BuildingWashington, D.C. 20510(202) 224-5641Fax: (202) 224-8438

Suite 100 North2550 University Ave. W.St. Paul, MN 55114(651) 645-0323Fax: (651) 645-07041-800-642-6041

417 W. Litchfield Ave.Willmar, MN 56201(320) 231-0001Fax: (320) 231-0006

P.O. Box 281105 S. Second Ave.Virginia, MN 55792(218) 741-1074Fax: (218) 741-8544E-mail:senator@wellstone.senate.govWeb site: http://www.senate.gov/~wellstone

16 April 6, 2001

AT ISSUE: CRIME★ ★ ★

BY MICHELLE KIBIGER

When a 12-year-old girl stumbled upona portable methamphetamine lab inthe woods near Baxter a couple sum-

mers ago, Rep. Dale Walz (R-Brainerd), thepolice officer the girl’s father called, was thank-ful that it hadn’t been a young child who foundit.

A smaller child, Walz testified at the April 3hearing of the House Judiciary Finance Com-mittee, might have tasted the volatile chemi-cals, which can kill if ingested.

Walz says that because methamphetaminecan be so easily made, labs are popping upacross the state and the problem is getting outof hand for law enforcement. He proposed abill (HF1777) intended to buffer some of thecosts local governments incur when they haveto take down a meth lab, investigate the case,and prosecute the perpetrator.

“Law enforcement has to get on top of it,”Walz said. “The only thing we can do is con-trol it, and the only thing I can think to do isappropriate money to local governments tocontrol it.”

However, other members are concernedthat by appropriating money for local law en-forcement to complete specific types of inves-tigations, such as gang strike forces, narcoticsenforcement, and others, the state is merelysetting up a series of specialized police forces.

“I guess it’s old fashioned to think that thesheriff would have enough money to do alllaw enforcement,” said Rep. Dave Bishop (R-Rochester).

Walz’s bill would appropriate $1.096 millionduring the 2002-03 biennium in the form ofgrants to local law enforcement for the purposeof paying costs related to clandestine metham-phetamine labs. The money could be used forincreased law enforcement or investigation costsand training courses, materials or public aware-ness campaigns.

According to the bill, the money could notbe used to clean up a lab site or dispose of thechemicals seized. In addition, it could not sup-plant local spending related to labs.

Stopping traffickingLegislators propose grants for local law enforcement to curb thegrowth of clandestine methamphetamine labs in Minnesota

Duluth Police Chief Scott Lyons testifies before theHouse Judiciary Finance Committee April 3 in sup-port of a bill that would provide methamphet-amine lab law enforcement grants.

PHOTO BY ANDREW VON BANK

The bill provides that grants be distributedin a balanced manner among rural, suburban,and urban drug task force agencies. Most ofthe state’s counties participate in the statewidenarcotics task force.

Statistics show that nationally, law enforce-ment seized eight times as many labs in 1999as they did in 1995. In Minnesota, agenciesseized 13 labs in 1995, compared to 134 in2000.

Tim O’Malley, special agent with the Min-nesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, tes-tified that through March 26, agencies in thestate had seized 62 labs, placing them on atrack to seize as many as 300 statewide thisyear.

O’Malley said methamphetamine manufac-turing has progressed gradually fromCalifornia to the Midwest in recent years. Itsettled first in Missouri and spread quickly toKansas, Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois.

It’s now spreading north to Minnesota,O’Malley said, because Iowa officials have beensuccessfully curbing behavior with publicawareness campaigns and enforcementmethods.

As a result, meth “cookers” are movingnorth.

Recipes are relatively easy to obtain. In fact,step-by-step instructions are available on theInternet. In addition, those who make the drugsuccessfully tend to share their success withothers.

Duluth Police Chief Scott Lyons testifiedthat an important part of the bill allows forthe money to pay for public awareness cam-paigns. He said law enforcement needs to in-form discount and hardware stores, wheremany of the ingredients for methamphet-amine manufacturing are available, to watchout for people buying large quantities ofcertain materials.

In addition, law enforcement agencies needto educate the public about what goes into themanufacturing process, in case they stumbleupon a lab, like the girl in Walz’s district did.

Lyons said there are so many methods —both hot and cold — that a lab can literallypop up anywhere.

“It’s like a hotdish,” he said. “There isn’t onespecific way to make methamphetamine.”

The costs associated with taking down aclandestine lab are difficult to determine,O’Malley said, because of the variables thatexist. He said the clean up alone can cost be-tween $5,000 and $6,000 per lab. However,each case requires different levels of investi-gation, prosecution, and involvement ofdifferent government agencies.

Each lab bust requires 40 trained law en-forcement officers, O’Malley said. Sometimesthey obtain the help of a chemical assessmentteam from the state to determine what is inthe lab, and the damage associated with it. Firecrews often stand by in case of fire orexplosion.

If children are involved, the Department ofHuman Services comes along.

If the lab is self-contained and has not

Continued on page 22

Session Weekly 17

AT ISSUE: EDUCATION★ ★ ★

BY THERESA STAHL

After a few years of teaching, RoxanneGlawe considered leaving the St. Paulschool system — maybe even teaching

altogether.Many of her students needed intensive read-

ing instruction, a high level of consistency inthe way they were taught, and teachers whowere empathetic and didn’t come and go eachyear. It was a demanding environment thatcaused many teachers, including Glawe, toburn out.

Then Glawe decided to participate in theCenter for Excellence in Urban Teaching, a 20-credit series of classes at Hamline Universitythat aims to increase the number of new mi-nority teachers and help teachers of any back-ground succeed in urban or urban-like classrooms.

Completing the certificate program helpedGlawe understand poverty, diverse ethnicgroups, and how to make diversity a benefitrather than a problem. She emphasizes thatshe has higher expectations for her studentsnow, and as a result they perform at a higherlevel.

Glawe said all teachers who work in an ur-ban environment need some type of trainingsimilar to what the center offers.

“It’s so frustrating to watch teachers treatkids in ways they shouldn’t,” she said. “It’syoung teachers without much experience whoget hired in urban settings. We need to makethem positive influences and get them to stayin the profession.”

Hamline’s program, which started in 1998,offers graduate-level courses to new and vet-eran teachers to help them, like Glawe, becomemore effective in urban-like settings. Twoother programs at colleges in the Twin Citiesmetropolitan area have similar missions, oneat Concordia University-St. Paul and the otherat the University of St. Thomas.

A bill (HF1890), sponsored by Rep. AliceSeagren (R-Bloomington), would distribute$2.7 million to the programs in the 2002-03biennium: $500,000 each year for Concordia,

Educating teachersLicensure programs at three colleges recruit minorities toteach minorities

A bill being considered by the House K-12 Education Finance Committee, would support teaching pro-grams to help new teachers better understand cultural and social differences in urban school settings,like this third-grade classroom at John A. Johnson Achievement Plus Elementary School in St. Paul,being taught by See P. Vang.

PHOTO BY ANDREW VON BANK

Continued on page 22

$450,000 each year for St. Thomas, and$400,000 each year for Hamline.

“The need for teachers like these is growingall around us,” said William Staley, director ofConcordia’s program. Staley testified April 2 tothe House K-12 Education Finance Committee.

Concordia’s Southeast Asian Teacher Licen-sure program, with enrollment at 37 people,has surpassed expectations of its founders,according to preliminary analysis. Ten to 15graduates are expected each year, and the firstseven graduates are teaching in metro-areaschools.

Irene Jelacic, principal of Parkway Elemen-tary School in St. Paul, wrote a letter to Seagrenin support of the legislation. Nearly50 percent of Parkway’s students are South-east Asian children, she said. Jelacic hired threenew Hmong teachers from Concordia’s pro-gram in 2000.

“The Concordia students come to us

well-prepared academically, and they are ex-ceptional teaching candidates,” she wrote.“They are also wonderful role models for ourstudents.”

St. Thomas’ Collaborative Urban Educatorprogram places people of color in urban orurban-like public elementary or middleschools, and offers specialized programs inscience and math education licensure. Nearlytwo-thirds of program participants are Afri-can-American, one in five is Asian, and one innine is Hispanic. The program has licensedalmost 200 people from under-representedpopulations.

Marcus Moten is currently student teach-ing as an intern from the St. Thomas programat Washington Middle School in St. Paul. AnAfrican-American man, he said he has beeneducated in both an all minority, or black,classroom and a predominantly white setting.

“Now with me being in the classroom, I cansee that I am having a really different impacton a lot of the students,” he wrote to Seagren.“I have noticed that some of the kids who arelabeled as ‘problems’ are following thedirections that I am giving them without

18 April 6, 2001

AT ISSUE: LAW★ ★ ★

BY JONAS M. WALKER

Acting on one of the most contentious and long-standing, yet leastcommonly understood legal issues, the full House adopted a tortreform measure March 29 by a 68 to 62 vote.

HF369, sponsored by Rep. Dave Bishop (R-Rochester), would modify thesystem of joint and several liability, which permits courts to hold defen-dants in civil actions responsible for a greater share of a plaintiff ’s cost thanthe proportion of damage for which they are responsible.

Tort reformLegislators seek to amend civil case law that some say isunfair to defendants

being ordered to pay more than $300,000 perperson or $1 million per incident. Joint andseveral liability is upheld for persons commit-ting intentional wrongs.

Ideally, courts would only order compen-sation proportional to the amount of eachdefendant’s fault. But given that many defen-dants are unable to adequately meet the finan-cial demands on their own, for example dueto inadequate insurance, courts sometimes

Legislators have struggled to balance theneed to reasonably compensate victims withthe desire to not unduly burden defendantswho may only be marginally at fault.

In Bishop’s original version, defendantsfound less than 50 percent responsible couldbe held liable for no more than their propor-tion. Those more than one-half at fault couldhave been required to pay for all damages.

Rep. Joe Opatz (DFL-St. Cloud) proposedamending that figure to 40 percent duringfloor debate. He summarized the tension ex-pressed by many legislators. “Do we err on theside of the victim and make a new victim, ordo we err on the side of the defendant and failto make the victim whole?”

Bishop sponsored the same amendment onan identical bill two years ago. He later ex-plained he supports the amendment becausehe wants to ensure the bill’s success. Last year,the House approved the measure but the Sen-ate declined to follow suit.

This year, Sen. John Hottinger (DFL-Mankato) is sponsoring the Senate version,SF629. It has been referred to the Senate Judi-ciary Committee, which as of April 4 had nottaken any action on the matter.

Bills such as HF369 are known as “tort re-form” because they amend the civil law sys-tem used to compensate those injured by theactions of others. A tort is defined as “a pri-vate or civil wrong, other than a breach ofcontract, for which the court will provide aremedy in the form of an action for damages.”

Under the House bill, defendants found li-able for 40 percent or less of the damages in acivil case would be responsible for only thepercentage of the plaintiff ’s damage that theycaused. Current law sets that proportion at15 percent.

The following scenario demonstrates howthe changes in HF369 would affect a civil case.

Three defendants are found 55, 35, and10 percent at fault, respectively, in damaginga plaintiff.

Current law would allow the court to orderboth defendants one and two to compensate theplaintiff for up to 100 percent of the damages.Because the third defendant is less than15 percent at fault, he or she could be held ac-countable for up to four times their actual li-ability. In this case, defendant three could beordered to pay up to 40 percent of damages.

Courts would do this generally when defen-dants one or two were unable to pay or hadinadequate insurance coverage. No more than100 percent compensation of a plaintiff ’s ac-tual damage can be awarded. However, plain-tiffs are still eligible for additional fundsawarded to punish defendants or compensateplaintiffs for pain or emotional distress.

The bill maintains existing law regardingenvironmental torts, but eliminates a provi-sion preventing government entities from

“Do we err on the side of the victim and make a new victim, or do weerr on the side of the defendant and fail to make the victim whole?”

—Rep. Joe Opatz

order other defendants to compensate victimsbeyond their own proportional fault. This isto prevent injured people from having to payexpenses unfairly incurred to them because ofothers’ negligence.

Critics of joint and several liability point outthe unfairness that defendants can be held li-able for more than their share of a tort.

Regarding that point, the American TortReform Association wrote that “modern jointand several liability can be inequitable becausea defendant with only a small percentage offault can be liable for 100 percent of theplaintiff ’s damages. Joint and several liabilityleads to a search for ‘deep pockets’ and hadmade governments, large corporations, andother insured entities bear the greatest bur-dens of liability when their involvement in aninjury is minimal.”

Bishop’s bill has been a target for criticismin part because of the difficulty in predictingits economic impact. He said the Departmentof Finance was unable to forecast the impactto Minnesota because doing so would requireforecasting the number of lawsuits.

Some representatives objected to the bill’sfailure to be reviewed by any finance commit-tee, arguing that state and local governmentscould be required to cover costs, which wouldno longer be born by defendants.

However, the chair of the committee mostlikely to have an interest, Rep. Kevin Goodno(R-Moorhead) of the House Health and Hu-man Services Finance Committee, opposedboth the bill and two attempts to refer it tohis committee. “This is bad public policy, butI see no fiscal impact,” he said.

Session Weekly 19

AT ISSUE: TAXES★ ★ ★

BY DAVID MAEDA

Some consider 1971 as the year of the“Minnesota Miracle” in which a majorreform to the state’s tax system was passed

into law.At the heart of the change was a reduction

in the reliance on local property taxes with acorresponding increase in sales and incometaxes and increased state funding for educa-tion. As a result, the state became the primaryrevenue collector and local units of govern-ment became more reliant on state aid to meettheir needs.

Now some lawmakers are revisiting issuesof local control and accountability as the stateonce again considers changes to its tax system.

The House Taxes Committee heard a billApril 4 that would attempt to provide moreaccountability to local spending decisions byallowing voters to have a direct mechanism tovote down property tax increases.

HF2160, sponsored by Rep. Bob Milbert(DFL-South St. Paul), would allow voters torequest a reverse referendum when a countyor city adopts a property tax levy that has in-creased over the certified levy amount for theprevious year.

If the referendum were to pass, the previousyear’s levy would be certified for the current year.

The bill only applies to counties or cities witha population greater than 500, and requires apetition be signed by a number equal to 5 per-cent of the votes cast at the previous general elec-tion before a referendum would take place.

The bill would also eliminate the require-ment for cities and counties with populationsless than 500 from holding Truth-in-Taxationhearings and exempt those with populationsgreater than 500 from holding a hearing if theproperty tax levy has not increased over itsprevious year’s levy.

The committee took no action on the bill,but it will be considered for inclusion in theomnibus tax bill.

Information provided that was compiled fromstate auditor reports shows a 90.8 percent growthin city expenditures from 1985 to 1996. During

Tax transformationLegislators are considering a plan that would allow voters tohave a mechanism to vote down property tax increases

that same period, total state aid to cities increasedby 62.5 percent and property taxes grew by29 percent. The rate of inflation was 39 percent.

County expenditures from 1985 to 1996increased 68.8 percent, while state aids tocounties increased 48.9 percent and propertytaxes grew by 56.2 percent.

Milbert said that with the removal of levylimits last year local spending increased evenmore on top of city imposed fees that he saidhave grown at an alarming rate.

An owner of a water device business,Milbert said inspection fees are disproportion-ate with the cost of installation. The cost ofinstalling devices such as water heaters andsofteners is usually between $50 to $115 for acouple hours of work. A residential plumbingpermit application from the city of Eaganshows a $50 permit cost, a 1,000 percent in-

crease from the $5 it cost 10 years ago.He said the cost of inspection fees are

“grossly unfair” considering it isn’t unusual forthe inspections to last a matter of minutes andthere is no guarantee to the inspection.

He said municipal fees are one reason thatthere is a shortage of building of affordablehousing in the state.

“The public sector is doing a terrific job ofdriving up housing costs,” he said.

Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Virginia) said itwasn’t fair to blame local government for spend-ing increases. He said the state too often man-dates local spending such as increasing penaltiesfor crimes without weighing costs of the legisla-tion and without providing any more funding.

“We’re part of the problem. A lot of our lawsare way too extreme and we’re not being hon-est about costs,” Rukavina said.

Keith Carlson, representing the Metropoli-tan Inter-County Association, said the currentsystem already ensures accountability, becausecounty commissioners must answer to voters.

He said a reverse referendum would com-plicate and delay an already lengthy process.Currently, the county budget and levy adop-tion process takes place from August throughDecember. A successful petition to force a ref-erendum would stretch the process throughJanuary, Carlson said.

He said county auditors already struggle tomeet the March 31 deadline to mail tax state-ments and late mailings can affect the cash flowof local governments.

Kevin Corbid from the Association of Min-nesota Counties said that property taxes areused to pay for too many things. He said Min-nesota counties are responsible for the costsfor child welfare programs and out-of-homehealth care costs more than any other state.

Corbid said that last year 80 new county com-missioners were elected and that fewer are run-ning unopposed — a sign that voters are payingmore attention to local spending decisions.

Milbert said the trend towards city councilterms being increased from two-year terms tostaggered four-year terms, along with the in-creasing reliance on professional city manage-ment staff has also contributed to lessaccountability when it comes to the costs oflocal government.

“What do we have to fear about lettingpeople who have to pay taxes the right to voteon increases?” he asked.

Rep. Bob Milbert, sponsor of HF2160, presents thebill that would allow voters to have a direct mecha-nism to vote down property tax increases. The billwas heard in the House Taxes Committee April 4.

PHOTO BY TOM OLMSCHEID

20 February 4, 2000

HF VetoedSignedDescriptionCH SF

Tracking new laws, vetoes

GOVERNOR’S DESK★ ★ ★

*The legislative bill marked with an asterisk denotes the file submitted to the governor.

J A N U A R Y 3 - A P R I L 5 , 2 0 0 1CHAPTERS 1 - 12

Once a bill has passed both the House andSenate in identical form, it’s ready to be sentto the governor for consideration. The gover-nor, who has several options when consider-ing a bill, can:• sign the bill and it will become law;• veto the bill;• line-item veto individual items within an ap-propriations bill;• or do nothing, which can have two differenteffects. The timing of these actions is as im-portant as the actions themselves.

In the first year of the biennium, the im-portant thing to remember is that the gover-nor has three days from the time of“presentment” to veto a bill. If the governor

doesn’t sign the bill within this time frame, itwill become law with or without his signature.(Sundays are not counted in the three-daytime limit, but holidays are.)

Only on appropriations bills can the gover-nor exercise the line-item veto authority. Thisoption allows the governor to eliminate theappropriation items to which he or she ob-jects. As with all vetoes the governor must in-clude a statement listing the reasons for theveto with the returned bill. Here, too, the time-table is within three days after the governorreceives the bill.

A two-thirds vote of the members in eachhouse is needed to override a veto. But becauseonly the governor can call a special session of

the Legislature, anything vetoed after the Leg-islature adjourns is history — at least until thenext year.

The governor’s veto authority is outlined inthe Minnesota Constitution (Article IV, Sec-tion 23).

This information is also available on thegovernor’s Web site (www.governor.state.mn.us).Select the “Legislative Initiatives” link, then click on“Legislative Log 2001.”

Key:CH=Chapter; HF=House File; SF=Senate File

Res.1 219 258* Resolution requesting a ban on the importation of certain steel products. 3/15/01

1 34 28* Teacher licensing under current licensure rules. 1/16/01

2 421* 460 Energy assistance program federal fund expenditure authorized. 2/2/01

3 213 201* Physicians assistants infection control continuing education requirements repeal. 2/15/01

4 181 43* Adult foster care license capacity age requirement and maximum admissions variances. 2/28/01

5 817 376* City contract limit increases. 3/2/01

6 106* 47 Minnesota agricultural education leadership council replacement members authorized 3/8/01

7 656* 231 Revisor’s Bill. 3/15/01

8 80* 79 Coon Lake water level control. 3/16/01

9 393* 155 Ramsey County and St. Paul employees allowed equal competition for county jobs in city-county departments. 3/16/01

10 357 289* Alcohol and drug counselors licensing requirements modified. 3/16/01

11 487 433 Townships health, social, and recreational services contracts amounts increases. 3/21/01

12 320* 399 Property casualty insurance agents surplus lines insurance procurement authority. 3/29/01

GovernorJesse Ventura130 State Capitol75 Constitution Ave.St. Paul 55155 ................ (651) 296-3391

Lieutenant GovernorMae Schunk130 State Capitol75 Constitution Ave.St. Paul 55155 ................ (651) 296-3391

Attorney GeneralMike Hatch102 State Capitol75 Constitution Ave.St. Paul 55155 ................ (651) 296-6196

Secretary of StateMary Kiffmeyer180 State Office Building100 Constitution Ave.St. Paul 55155 ................ (651) 296-2803

Constitutional OfficersState AuditorJudith H. DutcherSuite 400525 Park St.St. Paul 55103 ................ (651) 296-2551

State TreasurerCarol Johnson303 Administration Building50 Sherburne Ave.St. Paul 55155 ................ (651) 296-7091

Session Weekly 21

A P R I L 2 - 5 , 2 0 0 1HOUSE FILES 2354 - 2419BILL INTRODUCTIONS

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Monday, April 2

HF2354—Olson (R)Education PolicyTeacher contract qualified economicoffer labor requirements provided.

HF2355—Hausman (DFL)Health & Human Services PolicySt. Anthony Park nursing facilitymoratorium exception provided.

HF2356—Bakk (DFL)Higher Education FinanceCompetitive bidding and promptpayment requirements extended toUniversity of Minnesota.

HF2357—Mariani (DFL)Higher Education FinanceUnited family medicine residencyprogram grant provided and moneyappropriated.

HF2358—Nornes (R)Transportation PolicyVehicle registration 60-day exemp-tion for new residents “residence”definition modified.

HF2359—Stang (R)State Government FinanceState government finance, budget,and highway bond provisions modi-fied, and property tax reform accountrepealed.

HF2360—Wasiluk (DFL)Governmental Operations &Veterans Affairs PolicyPublic Employees Retirement Planexclusion provided specified tradesemployees.

HF2361—Kubly (DFL)K-12 Education FinanceIndependent School District No.2190, Yellow Medicine, lease levyauthorized.

HF2362—Davids (R)Commerce, Jobs &Economic DevelopmentResolution memorializing Congressto pass legislation requiring cigarettesthat are less likely to start fires.

HF2363—Gunther (R)Transportation FinancePrevious local bridge replacement andrehabilitation funding usageexpanded.

HF2364—Mulder (R)Education PolicySchool start prior to Labor Day au-thorized for certain school districts.

HF2365—McElroy (R)TaxesHigh technology business investmentcapital gains tax exemption provided,research and development activitiescredit refund provided, and moneyappropriated.

HF2366—Harder (R)Jobs & EconomicDevelopment FinanceConnected communities grants pro-vided and money appropriated.

HF2367—Ness (R)Agriculture & RuralDevelopment FinanceAgricultural products and produc-tion certification program establishedas permanent program, fees and li-censing provisions modified, penal-ties imposed, and moneyappropriated.

HF2368—Kuisle (R)Environment &Natural Resources FinanceOlmsted and Dodge counties solidwaste recovery facility grant providedand money appropriated.

HF2369—Kuisle (R)Environment &Natural Resources FinanceOlmsted and Dodge counties solid wasterecovery facility grant provided, bondsissued, and money appropriated.

HF2370—Wenzel (DFL)K-12 Education FinanceIndependent School District No. 482,Little Falls, state aid repayment pe-riod extended.

HF2371—Nornes (R)Higher Education FinanceIndependent School District No. 544,Fergus Falls, and Fergus Falls Commu-nity College joint grant provided for atech center, and money appropriated.

HF2372—Juhnke (DFL)Crime PreventionFeasibility of placing felony DWI of-fenders at existing surplus state facili-ties determined and cost-benefitanalysis required.

HF2373—Hausman (DFL)Health & Human Services FinanceRamsey County nursing facility rateincrease provided.

HF2374—Rhodes (R)Judiciary FinanceClergy compensation provided forimparting religious rites or instruc-tion at correctional facilities.

HF2375—Erhardt (R)TaxesDeed taxes definition of considerationclarified.

HF2376—Carlson (DFL)K-12 Education FinanceTruancy reduction activities fundingprovided.

HF2377—Pawlenty (R)Higher Education FinanceUniversity of Minnesota ExcellenceCommission established, report re-quired, and appointments provided.

Wednesday, April 4,

HF2378—Paulsen (R)Regulated IndustriesTelecommunications access to mul-tiple-resident dwellings provisionsclarified.

HF2379—Kielkucki (R)Environment &Natural Resources PolicyProperty owners reimbursed for dam-age caused by snowmobiles.

HF2380—Sykora (R)K-12 Education FinanceReading program grants provided forschool district Internet-deliveredreading courses.

HF2381—Stang (R)Higher Education FinanceMedical education funding and en-dowments increased.

HF2382—McElroy (R)K-12 Education FinanceBuilding lease levy use expanded.

HF2383—Seifert (R)TaxesSchool districts required to reportlobbying and other expenditures usedto support or oppose government-proposed initiatives.

HF2384—Kalis (DFL)Judiciary FinanceTown road maintenance revolvingloan fund established and money appropriated.

HF2385—Westrom (R)Agriculture &Rural Development FinanceFeedlots; hog feedlots environmentalissues study provided and moneyappropriated.

HF2386—Solberg (DFL)Health & Human Services PolicyGenealogy researchers authorized to ob-tain certified copies of birth certificates forspecified deceased individuals.

HF2387—Daggett (R)TaxesSebeka Fire Hall construction mate-rials and equipment sales tax exemp-tion provided.

HF2388—Tuma (R)Health & Human Services PolicyNorthfield nursing home moratoriumexception provided and moneyappropriated.

HF2389—Finseth (R)Agriculture &Rural Development FinanceAgricultural processing revolving loanaccount established, germ and fiberrecovery process funding provided atan existing ethanol facility, bondsauthorized, and money appropriated.

HF2390—Goodno (R)Health & Human Services PolicyTargeted case management services medi-cal assistance coverage provided for ser-vices for vulnerable adults and personswith developmental disabilities.

HF2391—Westrom (R)Environment &Natural Resources PolicyGrant County Church Lake exemptedfrom public access while in use foraquaculture.

HF2392—Huntley (DFL)Commerce, Jobs &Economic DevelopmentInternet access catalyst grants pro-vided and money appropriated.

22 April 6, 2001

HF2393—Finseth (R)Environment &Natural Resources FinanceLottery ticket in lieu tax dispositionmodified, state forest land additionsprovided, land exchanges specified,and Roseau County consolidated con-servation land sale authorized.

HF2394—Winter (DFL)Health & Human Services FinanceWorthington nursing facility rate in-creases provided.

HF2395—Hilty (DFL)Local Government &Metropolitan AffairsCromwell emergency medical servicesspecial taxing district authorized forCarlton and Aitkin counties, andproperty tax levies provided.

HF2396—Skoglund (DFL)Civil LawJudicial system obsolete referencesupdated and repealed.

HF2397—Daggett (R)TaxesMaple syrup added to definition ofagricultural products relating to prop-erty taxation.

HF2398—Seifert (R)TaxesYellow Medicine County redevelop-ment tax increment financing districtextension authorized.

HF2399—Wenzel (DFL)K-12 Education FinancePupil transportation categorical aidrestored and money appropriated.

HF2400—Rhodes (R)Local Government &Metropolitan AffairsAffordable housing county and mu-nicipal requirements provided andmoney appropriated.

Thursday, April 5

HF2401—Davids (R)TaxesOstrander wastewater treatment sys-tem construction materials and equip-ment sales tax exemption provided.

HF2402—Pugh (DFL)Governmental Operations &Veterans Affairs PolicyState primary election moved fromSeptember to June.

HF2403—Fuller (R)Local Government &Metropolitan AffairsAlcoholic beverages sales tax paid tocounties, revenues dedicated to alco-hol abuse-related costs of local gov-ernments, and money appropriated.

HF2404—Abeler (R)K-12 Education FinanceEarly graduation and half-time schoolattendance provided for 12th gradestudents completing all standards, andgeneral education revenue reallocatedto all-day kindergarten.

HF2405—Hilty (DFL)TaxesBanning Junction area wastewatercollection system construction mate-rials and supplies sales tax exemptionprovided.

HF2406—Kubly (DFL)TaxesHomestead property tax classificationprovisions expanded relating tofamily farms.

HF2407—Ness (R)K-12 Education FinanceEquity revenue definition modifiedto include small schools factor andmoney appropriated.

HF2408—Johnson, R. (DFL)TaxesNicollet County courthouse construc-tion materials and equipment salestax exemption provided and moneyappropriated.

HF2409—Krinkie (R)TaxesAd valorem taxes on real and per-sonal property prohibited and con-stitutional amendment proposed.

HF2410—Dempsey (R)Health & Human Services FinanceHastings Veterans Home tunnel reno-vation funding provided, bonds is-sued, and money appropriated.

HF2411—Kuisle (R)Transportation FinanceSoutheastern Minnesota public safetyradio system construction fundingprovided and money appropriated.

HF2412—Solberg (DFL)Judiciary FinanceAitkin County homicide trials andinvestigations expenses reimbursedand money appropriated.

HF2413—Boudreau (R)Health & Human Services PolicyGroup residential housing monthlyrates provided.

HF2414—Otremba (DFL)Local Government &Metropolitan AffairsUnited States Department of Agri-culture financing program for cities,counties, and towns fund uses up-dated to include child care facilities.

HF2415—Dorman (R)TaxesGeneral education tax rate reduced,property tax class rates reduced, mar-ket value homestead credit provided,and education homestead credit andeducation agricultural crediteliminated.

HF2416—Kalis (DFL)Transportation FinanceMinnesota Safety Council traffic safetytraining and education funding pro-vided and money appropriated.

HF2417—Abeler (R)Health & Human Services FinanceMinnesota commission serving deafand hard of hearing people fundingprovided and money appropriated.

HF2418—Entenza (DFL)Health & Human Services PolicyCemetery registration required withhealth commissioner and moneyappropriated.

HF2419—Davnie (DFL)Commerce, Jobs &Economic DevelopmentHousing program funding provided fornew and existing programs, programscreated, and money appropriated.

Continued from page 16

contaminated the surrounding area, environ-mental impact might be relatively minor.However, if chemicals have been dumpeddown the drain or on land somewhere, or haveotherwise escaped, the Pollution ControlAgency gets involved.

In addition, the Department of Healthmight be required to determine whether thehome where the lab was can be inhabited orrequires further cleanup.

The state expects to get about $2.6 millionduring the 2002-03 biennium in federal grantsfor drug task forces, as well.

Walz’s bill will be considered for inclusionin the committee’s omnibus bill.

much argument. They are also doing the workthat is being assigned and they seem to enjoyhaving me around to answer their questions.

“I believe just my presence at the school ishelping the kids to realize that there is hopefor them in the future to reach their goals as aprofessional.”

John Dunham, an English teacher at South-west High School in Minneapolis, wrote toLillian Baker-Kent, executive director ofHamline’s program, about what he learned ina class through a licensure program.

“‘The Real World, Social and EnvironmentalIssues Affecting Urban Learners’ (course) gaveme useful insight into the backgrounds, poten-

Continued from page 17 tials, and needs of many of the high school stu-dents I teach in Minneapolis,” he said.

Hamline’s program offers courses such as:Framework for Teaching: Changing Para-digms to a New Way of Thinking, Seeing, andDoing; Literacy and Learning for Urban Stu-dents; The Roots of Violence; Linking the Ur-ban Community to the Classroom.

“Because of this class,” Dunham said, “myexposure to real life experiences of differentcultural groups (in my case, African-Ameri-can, Latino-Hispanic, and Tibetan students)has proved invaluable.”

HF1890 will be considered for inclusion inthe committee’s omnibus bill.

Session Weekly 23

A P R I L 9 - 2 1 , 2 0 0 1COMMITTEE SCHEDULE★ ★ ★

Schedule is subject to change.For information updates, call House Callsat (651) 296-9283.All meetings are open to the public.Sign language interpreter services:(651) 224-6548 v/tty.To have the House committee scheduledelivered to your e-mail address, send ane-mail message tojoin-houseschedule@ww3.house.leg.state.mn.usor direct your Web browser to http://ww3.house.leg.state.mn.us/scripts/lyris.pl?join=houseschedule and fillout the subscription form on theLegislature’s Web site.

MONDAY, April 9

7:30 a.m.

HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES FINANCE10 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Kevin GoodnoAgenda: HF1053 (Abrams) Private health carecoverage regulations revised, specified regulatorycontrols transferred, and managed care planrequirements established.HF1581 (Goodno) Healthy kids learnendowment fund established, health departmentprovisions and programs modified, and moneyappropriated.HF1123 (Mulder) Nonmetropolitan countyprepaid medical assistance program capitationrates increased.HF2373 (Hausman) Ramsey County nursingfacility rate increase provided.HF2394 (Winter) Worthington nursing facilityrate increases provided.HF1658 (Bradley) Long-term care revolving fundand loan forgiveness program created, nursingagency registration required and moneyappropriated.Note: Meeting will continue after session in 10State Office Building at the call of the chair.

8:15 a.m.

CIVIL LAW500N State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Steve SmithAgenda: HF1898 (Holberg) Edvest, human rightsintake, and automobile insurance financial dataclassified as nonpublic.HF1704 (Larson) Bureau of CriminalApprehension dissemination of certain juveniledata authorized.HF1100 (Smith) Government Data Practices Actexpanded to include metropolitan area towns.HF490 (Kuisle) County economic developmentassistance application data designated nonpublic

until approved.HF830 (Slawik) Ramsey and Washingtoncounties property owner personal informationdisclosure notice continued.HF440 (Knoblach) Probate; backgroundinvestigations provided on guardians andconservators, access to data on maltreatment ofvulnerable adults authorized, and courtprocedures and requirement authorized.

GOVERNMENTAL OPERATIONS &VETERANS AFFAIRS POLICYBasement Hearing RoomState Office BuildingChr. Rep. Jim RhodesAgenda: HF1019 (Workman) State contractprocedures modified, highway construction andmaintenance bids and records postedelectronically or over the Internet, seasonalhighway weight limitations modified, andclarifying changes provided.HF1938 (Kahn) Administration Departmentprovisions modified.HF2201 (Kahn) Bicycle commuting by stateagency employees promoted.

JOBS & ECONOMICDEVELOPMENT FINANCE200 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Dan McElroyAgenda: Morning Hearing (8:15-10 a.m.) in Room200 State Office BuildingHF846 (Clark, K.) HIV/AIDS general educationin the workplace funding provided and moneyappropriated.HF182 (Paymar) Neighborhood DevelopmentCenter, Inc., entrepreneur training, operation, andstaffing grant provided, and money appropriated.HF1631 (Mullery) Hennepin County SoutheastAsian collaborative transitional employmenttraining project funded and money appropriated.HF1632 (Mullery) Blind; job assistance trainingprovided for counselors for the blind, and moneyappropriated.HF1726 (Sertich) Metropolitan economicdevelopment association grants provided andmoney appropriated.HF2366 (Harder) Connected communitiesgrants provided and money appropriated.Note: Morning hearing will recess and reconvenein 400N State Office Building at 7 p.m.Evening Hearing (7-10 p.m.) in Room 400N StateOffice BuildingHF1311 (McElroy) Minnesota MoneyTransmitters Act established.HF1859 (McElroy) Department of Economic andWorkforce Development created; certain duties ofthe Departments of Trade and EconomicDevelopment, Economic Security, and Labor andIndustry transferred, and money appropriated.HF1293 (Davids) Public service commissioner’s

remaining duties transferred to commissioner ofcommerce, light capacity scales inspection provided,unfair cigarette sales act administration transferredto commerce, and money appropriated.HF1955 (Davids) Insurance producer licensureprocedures and qualifications provided andcriminal penalty prescribed.HF1007 (Davids) Gas sales below cost prohibitedand enforcement authority provided.HF2258 (Lindner) Housing finance anddevelopment programs consolidated, loanforgiveness time period lengthened, tenantincome limits eliminated, project-based rentalassistance authorized, aggregation of earningsauthorized, and technical changes provided.HF1589 (Howes) Bid and performance bondthresholds modified for economic developmentprojects.HF2225 (Nornes) Workers’ compensationtechnical provisions modified, specialcompensation fund interest revenue depositedin fund, pilot program extended, and penaltiespaid to Department of Labor and Industry.HF422 (Seagren) Loan repayment programestablished to improve recruitment of excellentteachers in science, math, industrial technology,special education and in rural areas, and moneyappropriated.HF1259 (Erickson) Fingerhut, Inc., of Moraemployees provided extra unemploymentbenefits.HF564 (Rhodes) Neighborhood homeimprovement loan pilot project established andmoney appropriated.

TRANSPORTATION FINANCE5 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Carol MolnauAgenda: HF1365 (Dorman) Clean fuel userequired in state vehicles, grants provided motorfuel retailers who install pumps to dispensecleaner fuel, and money appropriated.HF51 (Goodno) DWI; maximum blood alcohollevel lowered for impairment offenses involvingdriving motor vehicles, recreational vehicles orwatercraft, hunting, handling explosives, oroperating military vehicles.HF1921 (Workman) Bus transit study authorizedand bus transit way within part of the southwestlight rail transit corridor prohibited.HF595 (Ozment) Railroads; local governmentsauthorized to establish quiet zones regulating orprohibiting locomotive warning devices.HF2309 (Kuisle) Trunk highway projectconstruction considerations clarified.HF429 (Bakk) State agencies authorized to allowcommercial wireless equipment on state-ownedproperty, and money appropriated.

24 April 6, 2001

10:15 a.m.

ENVIRONMENT & NATURALRESOURCES FINANCE10 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Mark HolstenAgenda: HF1761 (Holsten) Stream protectionand improvement loan program grant fundingprovided and money appropriated.HF1073 (Clark, J.) Minnesota river trailestablished and money appropriated.HF691 (Hackbarth) Motor vehicle transfer feeeliminated.HF2191 (Ozment) Local road wetlandreplacement funding provided and moneyappropriated.HF1612 (Kelliher) Water appropriation permitprovisions modified and fees established.

HIGHER EDUCATION FINANCE300S State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Peggy LeppikAgenda: HF2377 (Pawlenty) University ofMinnesota excellence commission established,report required, and appointments provided.HF2371 (Nornes) Independent School DistrictNo. 544, Fergus Falls, and Fergus FallsCommunity College joint grant provided for atech center, and money appropriated.HF2290 (Opatz) MnSCU facilities acquisitionprovisions and prior St. Cloud State Universitycapital improvements funding source modified.Witnesses: Laura King, Chief Financial Officer,MnSCU; Roy Saigo, President, St. Cloud StateUniversity; Kurt Kalm, Chair, St. Cloud StateFoundation Board.

K-12 EDUCATION FINANCE5 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Alice SeagrenAgenda: HF2376 (Carlson) Relating to educationfinance; promoting school success throughenhanced pupil attendance; providing fundingfor truancy reduction activities.HF1887 (Abeler) Relating to special education;establishing regional centers on autism-relateddisorders.HF2041 (Cassell) Relating to education;appropriating money for the commission onnational and community service for the servicelearning program.HF2382 (McElroy) Relating to education;expanding the use of the building lease levy.HF2235 (Bakk) Relating to education;appropriating money for Independent SchoolDistrict No. 696, Ely, for a transitionaltransportation grant.HF2361 (Kubly) Relating to education;authorizing a lease levy for Independent SchoolDistrict No. 2190, Yellow Medicine East.HF731 (Pugh) Relating to education finance;increasing the funding for debt serviceequalization aid; lowering the property tax levyfor new school buildings; appropriating money.HF2012 (Bernardy) Relating to education finance;increasing the state commitment to the debt serviceequalization aid program; lowering the initial locallevy; fixing the equalizing factor to the average

statewide tax base; appropriating money.HF1079 (Slawik) Relating to education finance;providing for a grant to school district No. 6067,Tri-District; authorizing state bonds;appropriating money.HF951 (Slawik) Relating to education; increasingequity revenue.

Property Tax Division/TAXES200 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Ron ErhardtAgenda: HF1402 (Erhardt) Homestead,agricultural, and seasonal recreational propertyexempted from general education tax; propertytax class rates reduced; homestead credit programestablished, school district levy computationmodified, and money appropriated.HF2330 (Howes) Property tax payment bycommissioner of natural resources required incounties having a reduced tax base due to acreagein state ownership.HF2295 (Mullery) Tax court jurisdictionprovided in specified Hennepin County propertytax cases.HF2397 (Daggett) Maple syrup added todefinition of agricultural products relating toproperty taxation.

Sales and Income Tax Division/TAXES500N State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Elaine HarderAgenda: HF2237 (Bernardy) Expands thedependent care credit on individual income taxes.HF377 (Harder) Extends credit for taxes paid toother states to taxes of German Lander.HF2308 (Kuisle) Exempts purchases for certainroad projects from sales and use taxes.HF2346 (Daggett) Provides an individual incometax subtraction for health insurance premiums.HF2261 (Daggett) Exempts certain sales tobenefit certain charitable organizations from thesales and use tax; provides that certain employerdistributions to persons who have made payrollor retirement deductions for combinedcharitable organizations are not lotteries.HF2387 (Daggett) Exempts the purchase ofconstruction materials and equipment used inconstructing a fire hall in the city of Sebeka fromsales and use taxes.HF2176 (Milbert) Clarifies the taxation of certainnonmixed municipal solid waste disposed of ina landfill.HF2234 (Erhardt) Increases the maximum long-term care insurance credit, reduces the lifetimebenefit requirement, and extends the credit toemployers.

12:30 p.m.

FAMILY & EARLY CHILDHOODEDUCATION FINANCE5 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Barb SykoraAgenda: New Life Academy student presentation.HF680 (Rhodes) Relating to appropriations;Children, Families and Learning; appropriatingmoney for a grant to provide transitional housingservices.

HF2336 (Harder) Relating to family and earlychildhood education; modifying child careassistance employment eligibility.HF2229 (Bernardy) Relating to education; earlychildhood; modifying the definition of child;establishing a pool of up to 2 percent of theannual appropriation to provide assistance tochildren age 14.HF206 (Opatz) Relating to education;appropriating money for an after-schooleducational enhancement pilot program for low-income youth in the St. Cloud area.HF2265 (Skoe) Relating to libraries; providing agrant for the Fosston Public Library accessibilityproject; appropriating money.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT &METROPOLITAN AFFAIRS200 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Jerry DempseyAgenda: Not in final agenda order.HF2214 (Mares) Major league professionalbaseball stadium financed, private fundingrequired, interest-free loans and temporary tax-free zone provided, site selection commissioncreated, disposition of the Metrodome provided,and money appropriated.HF1952 (Rhodes) Affordable housingrequirements authorized in subdivisionregulations, regulatory relief required to housingdevelopers who voluntarily meet affordabilitythresholds, and money appropriated.HF1146 (Ozment) Salt distribution stockpilesdesign, construction, and use requirementsestablished.HF2403 (Fuller) Alcoholic beverages sales taxpaid to counties, revenues dedicated to alcoholabuse-related costs of local governments, andmoney appropriated.Other business.Note: The committee may hear other bills onMonday; watch electronic and paper bulletins. Ifthere are bills not heard by 2:15 p.m., the meetingwill recess and reconvene in 500N State OfficeBuilding after session, at the call of the chair.

REGULATED INDUSTRIES10 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Ken WolfAgenda: HF1817 (Workman) Utility facilitiesregulation modified in railroad rights-of-way.HFXXXX (Paulsen) Multiple dwelling unitcomplexes television services providers accessrights clarification.And other bills to be announced.

After Local Government meeting, at the callof the chair

Subcommittee on Metropolitan Counciland Agencies/LOCAL GOVERNMENT &METROPOLITAN AFFAIRS500N State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Mark BuesgensAgenda: To be announced.

Session Weekly 25

3 p.m.

THE HOUSE MEETS IN SESSION.

TUESDAY, April 10

8 a.m.

***NOTE TIME AND ROOM***TRANSPORTATION POLICY10 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Tom WorkmanAgenda: HF1054 (Johnson); SF257 (Day)I-394 “sane lanes” use by single-occupant vehiclesstudy and report required, and moneyappropriated.HF852 (Howes) Motor vehicle filing feesmodified and clarifying changes provided.HF1728 (Workman); SF1986 (Kelly, R.C.)Transit assistance fund expenditures restriction;motor vehicle sales tax revenues allocationmodification, constitutional amendment.HF362 (Westrom); SF326 (Vickerman) Dieselfuel minimum biodiesel fuel content specified.

8:15 a.m.

EDUCATION POLICY200 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Harry MaresAgenda: HF1015 (Mares) Family, earlychildhood, and K-12 education programsadministrative and funding provisionmodifications.

HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES POLICY***NOTE ROOM***5 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Fran BradleyAgenda: HF702 (Goodno) Local interventiongrants for self-sufficiency formula modified.HF918 (Otremba) Alzheimer’s Disease carefacilities patient disclosures required, and moneyappropriated.HF919 (Dawkins) Civil commitment definitionsand procedures modified, patient rights specified,coverage and cost of care provided, voluntaryconsent procedures expanded, and court recordssealed.HF2345 (Abeler) Oral language interpreterservices coverage required of health plans.More bills may be added.Note: If necessary, this meeting will continuepast the normal meeting time of 10 a.m. and gono later than 12 noon.

JUDICIARY FINANCEBasement Hearing RoomState Office BuildingChr. Rep. Rich StanekAgenda: HF351 (Stanek) DWI; felony leveldriving while impaired offense established.

10:15 a.m.

CRIME PREVENTIONBasement Hearing RoomState Office BuildingChr. Rep. John TumaAgenda: HF2122/SF1711 (Leppik) Crime ofcounterfeit drivers license and identificationcards and materials.HF1289/SF1274 (Dawkins) Prostitution crimesaggressive initiative ; increased criminal penalties;money appropriated.HF1908/SF1297 (McGuire) Gunshot woundreporting requirement modified.HF2291/SF1727 (Skoglund) Implementing anautomated crime victim notification system.Note: Additional bills may be added.

ENVIRONMENT & NATURALRESOURCES POLICY10 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Dennis OzmentAgenda: HF110 (Wagenius) Water qualitystandards risk evaluation and report required.HF2306 (Jennings) Wastewater and drinkingwater funding requests coordinated andrulemaking authorized.SF266/HF371 (Workman) Aggregate resourceprotection and development included in localgovernment land use comprehensive plans.HF877 (Bakk) Specified solid waste transferstation project repayment obligations waived.HF1782 (Otremba) Long Prairie River declareda canoe and boating route.

STATE GOVERNMENT FINANCE300N State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Philip KrinkieAgenda: HF218 (Krinkie) State GovernmentFinance Bill. Section 12, Subd. 8, proposed budgetfor Department of Administration’s Office ofTechnology.HF260 (Stanek) Criminal justice informationsystem improvements provided includingfingerprinting, collection of aliases, and suspensefile reporting, and money appropriated.Additional bills may be added.Note: Additional meetings may be scheduledoutside of the committee’s regularly scheduledmeeting time.

TAXES200 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Ron AbramsAgenda: HF2127 (Pawlenty) Creates theBiomedical Innovation and CommercializationInitiative; provides a tax credit.HF192 (Goodno) Authorizes special taxingdistricts for emergency medical services.HF1806 (Knoblach) Allows St. Cloud, Sartell,Sauk Rapids, Waite Park, St. Joseph, and St.Augusta to impose a local sales and use tax tofund certain projects.*HF1451 (Larson) Minneapolis-St. PaulInternational Airport expansion impactprovided, airport mitigation planning authorizedand airport impact zones established, mitigationfund created, and money appropriated.

*This bill will be heard for informationalpurposes only.Note: If the agenda is not completed, it will becontinued at 3 p.m. in 200 State Office Building.

12:30 p.m.

AGRICULTURE & RURALDEVELOPMENT FINANCE10 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Bob NessAgenda: To be announced.

CAPITAL INVESTMENT5 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Jim KnoblachAgenda: To be announced.

COMMERCE, JOBS &ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT200 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Greg DavidsAgenda: HF1821 (Kuisle) Relating to commerce;allowing licensing exemption for certain sales ofhorse trailers and temporary sales of recreationalvehicles.HF322 (Rhodes) Relating to health; modifyingthe Minnesota Utilization Review Act.HF1953 (Rhodes) Relating to housing; streamliningthe residential development process; authorizingthe state building official to have final interpretiveauthority of the State Building Code; authorizingthe construction codes advisory council to establisha technical advisory group; requiring a report;establishing the State Building Code as the buildingstandard for the state of Minnesota; authorizingmunicipalities to require developers to includeaffordable housing; modifying the requirementsfor adoption or amendment of zoning ordinances.HF2362 (Davids) A resolution memorializingCongress to pass legislation requiring cigarettesthat are less likely to start fires.Other bills may be added.

2:30 p.m.

REDISTRICTING500S State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Erik PaulsenAgenda: Testimony on the Minneapolis andSt. Paul Latino community.

Salary and Budget Subcommittee/Legislative Coordinating Commission400N State Office BuildingChr. Sen. Roger MoeAgenda: Review/approve recommendationsregarding compensation evaluation. Review/approve biennial budget proposal. Otherbusiness as approved by the chair.

Immediately following the Salary and BudgetSubcommittee meeting (approximately

3:15 p.m.)

26 April 6, 2001

Legislative Coordinating Commission400N State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Steve SviggumAgenda: Report from the Subcommittee onSalary and Budget regarding adoption ofcompensation evaluation recommendations.Report from the Subcommittee on Salary andBudget regarding biennial budget proposal.Other business as approved by the chair.

3 p.m.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT &METROPOLITAN AFFAIRS500S State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Jerry DempseyAgenda: To be announced.

After Local Government meeting, at the callof the chair

Subcommittee on Metropolitan Counciland Agencies/LOCAL GOVERNMENT &METROPOLITAN AFFAIRS500S State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Mark BuesgensAgenda: To be announced.

4 p.m.

***NOTE TIME AND LOCATION***JOBS & ECONOMICDEVELOPMENT FINANCE5 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Dan McElroyAgenda: HF2298 (Clark, K.) Opportunitiesindustrialization center programs fundingprovided and money appropriated.HF2320 (Knoblach) Job training program grantsmade available to employers who hire qualifiedlow-income graduates of nonprofit job trainingprograms.HF739 (Osskopp) Grand Excursion 2004planning and promotion funded, and moneyappropriated.HF675 (Swenson) West Newton reimbursed forcosts of St. George community wastewatertreatment system, and money appropriated.HF932 (Swenson) Regional sludge managementdemonstration project appropriated money.HF700 (Lieder) Ada 1997 flood recovery workbond interest reimbursement grant providedand money appropriated.HF721 (Larson) Richfield redevelopment grantsprovided and money appropriated.HF2011 (Dawkins) Urban Indian housingprogram funding provided and moneyappropriated.HF2306 (Jennings) Wastewater and drinkingwater funding requests coordinated andrulemaking authorized.HF2338 (Osthoff) St. Paul Port Authoritycustomized job training funding provided andmoney appropriated.HF1930 (Rukavina) Northeast Minnesotaeconomic protection trust expenditures limited.

WEDNESDAY, April 11

7:30 a.m.

HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES FINANCE10 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Kevin GoodnoAgenda: HF1303 (Boudreau) Commissioner ofHuman Services authorized to collect drugrebates, medical assistance provisions modified,demonstration project for family servicesestablished, and MinnesotaCare coverageextended to Indian health service facilities.HF812 (Bradley) Suicide prevention goals,programs, duties and studies required; mentalillness transition plans established; providerpayment adjusted; mental health services andtreatment coverage requirements provided; andmoney appropriated.HF1531 (Bradley) Young adult transitionalservices provided, community-based mentalhealth services for adults increased, and adultrehabilitative and crisis stabilization providerqualifications and established.

8:15 a.m.

GOVERNMENTAL OPERATIONS &VETERANS AFFAIRS POLICYBasement Hearing RoomState Office BuildingChr. Rep. Jim RhodesAgenda: To be announced.

JOBS & ECONOMICDEVELOPMENT FINANCE200 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Dan McElroyAgenda: HF1725 (Gunther) WomenVenturebusiness development programming grantsprovided and money appropriated.HF1270 (Entenza) Currency exchanges, realestate brokers, real property appraisers,residential contractors, and collection agenciescontinuing education, fees, costs, duties, rightsand recovery fund amounts regulated.HF1789 (Lindner) Employment support servicesfor persons with mental illness grants providedand money appropriated.HF1799 (Sertich) Centers for independent livinggrants provided and money appropriated.HF1872 (Marquart) Vocational rehabilitation facilitiesgrant procedures technical changes provided.HF1834 (Marquart) Breckenridge and EastGrand Forks grants provided to reimbursetemporary financing in anticipation of FEMAfinancing for 1997 flood recovery projects andmoney appropriated.

TRANSPORTATION FINANCE5 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Carol MolnauAgenda: HF1306 (Howes) MinnesotaConservation Corps program and decorativeforest products provisions modified, sustainableforest resources provisions repeal delayed, studyrequired, civil penalties imposed, and moneyappropriated.

HF9 (Ruth) Motor vehicle sales tax revenuededicated to highway user tax distribution fund,and constitutional amendment proposed.HF1286 (Ruth) Traffic flow improvementsfunded to eliminate bottlenecks in metro area,at-risk interregional corridors outside metro areaimproved, annual reports required, and moneyappropriated.HF1965 (Vandeveer) Greater Minnesotainterregional corridor improvements,metropolitan area bottlenecks, and transitadvantages funding provided, and moneyappropriated.HF1944 (Holberg) Light rail; special taxingdistricts created to finance operating costs oflight rail transit.HF1498 (Larson) Minneapolis and RichfieldHighway No. 62 construction and reconstructiondelayed and report required.

10:15 a.m.

CIVIL LAWBasement Hearing RoomState Office BuildingChr. Rep. Steve SmithAgenda: HF1169 (Dorman) Employer safetycommittee requirements modified and penaltylimits for violations increased.HF205 (Nornes) Gas theft from motor fuel retailbusiness civil remedies provided.HF1145 (Boudreau) Veterinary medicine ceaseand desist orders authorized.HF661 (Stang) Accountancy act of 2001established, rulemaking authorized, and penaltiesimposed.HF2244 (Abrams) State funding of trial courtsprovided in unfunded judicial districts.HF1256 (Holberg) Best interests of the childfactors clarified relating to custody proceedings.Note: Any unfinished business will be conductedat 5 p.m. in 500S State Office Building.

ENVIRONMENT & NATURALRESOURCES FINANCE10 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Mark HolstenAgenda: HF94 (Haas) Fish and game law grossoverlimit violations criminal penaltiesestablished, and restitution values determined.HF1591(Ozment) Aquatic restoration grantsauthorized, administrative penalty ordersprovided for commercial aquatic activity, decoyregulations and turtle licensing modified,conservation law enforcement provided, andpenalties prescribed.Note: If agenda is not completed, the committeewill reconvene after session in the BasementHearing Room, State Office Building.

HIGHER EDUCATION FINANCE300S State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Peggy LeppikAgenda: HF2241 (Stang) Stadium reviewcommission established to evaluate sportsstadium construction proposals.

Session Weekly 27

The art of teaching is too often taken forgranted. If not for teachers like Socrates,Plato, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Leonardoda Vinci, the creation of ideas and impart-ing them would still be in the Dark Agesof disbelief.

Of the 134 legislators in the House, 20list their occupation as teacher or educa-tor. While all become “teachers” to the gen-eral public by the end of session, lawmakersbegin as students who must learn as theydebate and decide what should becomelaw.

Laws are the outcome of what lawmak-ers have learned through instruction,study, and commitments to voters. Not un-usual are many leg-islators who onoccasion initiate“teaching the class”during a Housesession to educateor clarify issues fortheir peers. Amongthem are: Reps.Alice Seagren (R-B l o o m i n g t o n ) ,Carlos Mariani(DFL-St. Paul),Dave Bishop (R-Rochester), and Mary Murphy(DFL-Hermantown).

Others include Reps. Harry Mares (R-White Bear Lake), Peggy Leppik (R-GoldenValley), Lyndon Carlson (DFL-Crystal),and Leslie Schumacher (DFL-Princeton).

Teachers — whether by profession orduty — are the very core and foundationof all society. Good teachers are passion-ate, caring, objective, fair, dedicated, andcommitted to imparting true and univer-sal knowledge — not the propaganda ofwhat they think truth should be.

Most teachers are unique idealists whoare strongly dedicated to sharing and im-proving the knowledge of others. For ex-ample, New York teacher Ruth Morgan,through her own stamina and drive, gotan entire senior class of near dropoutsfrom the inner city to attend college.

Another example is House page RobertCook’s professor of culture and mythologywho had such a manic demeanor and pas-sion for his job that he garnered strongwriting skills and a love for the writtenword from most of the 22 students and afew slackers in the class.

Page coordinator Andrew Padula, whospeaks Japanese, dedicated time in Japanto teaching English and grammar. Mean-while, Susan Moore, reading coordinatorat Rosemount Middle School, gets seventhand eighth-graders committed to notewor-thy topics of importance to a larger worldaround them. Likewise, Kate North at BlackHawk Middle School in Eagan is devoted

to energizing cre-ativity in her artstudents andothers.

One ofMinnesota’s firstteachers, HarrietBishop, came fromVermont in 1847to educate KaposiaIndian youth andothers in SouthSt. Paul.

A long-timeteacher of note, retired 83-year-old RuthBethel of Miami, Fla., nurtured thousandsof wary students to lead fruitful lives.

Furthermore, today, Joyce Burnham ofPelican Rapids High School, gives speechstudents opportunities to learn more aboutlesser known women of Minnesota.

Many teachers are volunteers — likeHouse staff members Edward Burdick andPatrick Duffy Murphy who teach the leg-islative process to new members and in-terns, or the father of a House staffer whotaught his daughter to play golf, and an-other who gives free piano lessons.

Good and honest teachers are noble.They are to be held in high esteem andcommended for their devotion and dedi-cation to society.

—LECLAIR GRIER LAMBERT

A group of teachers poses for the camera circa1900.

Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society

K-12 EDUCATION FINANCE5 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Alice SeagrenAgenda: To be announced.

TAXES200 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Ron AbramsAgenda:HF2158 (Abrams) Met Council Transitfunding.HFXXXX (McElroy) Abolishes the property taxlevy for transit.HF697 (Holsten) Provides a class rate reductionfor certain property bordering public waters.HF2339 (McElroy) Exempts current value of utilitygeneration personal property from the generaleducation levy; reduces the class rate on utilitygeneration personal property; exempts certain newincreased capacity and increased efficiency utilitypersonal property from property tax; requires thePUC to adjust utility rates for reduced utilityproperty taxes; establishes an electric utilitygeneration attached machinery personal propertytax replacement trust fund; provides for a rebate ifan electric generation facility shuts down; authorizesissuance of bonds; provides a state guarantee oncertain local bonds; appropriates money.HFXXXX (McElroy) Provides that certainpersonal property of an electric utility is exemptfrom taxation; provides state aid payments toreplace the revenue loss by local governments;provides a state guarantee for certain bonds;appropriates money.

12:30 p.m.

AGRICULTURE POLICY10 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Tim FinsethAgenda: HF1763 (Olson) Relating to drainageby transferring a public drainage system to apublic water management authority.

FAMILY & EARLY CHILDHOODEDUCATION FINANCE5 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Barb SykoraAgenda: To be announced.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT &METROPOLITAN AFFAIRS200 State Office BuildingChr. Rep. Jerry DempseyAgenda: To be announced.Note: The committee will reconvene in 200 StateOffice Building after session at the call of the chair.

3 p.m.

THE HOUSE MEETS IN SESSION.

THURSDAY, April 12

No committee hearings scheduled.

FRIDAY, April 13

House offices closed.

MINNESOTA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESPUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE

175 STATE OFFICE BUILDING

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA 55155-1298

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: STEVE SVIGGUMMAJORITY LEADER: TIM PAWLENTY

MINORITY LEADER: THOMAS W. PUGH

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Local government lobbyist expendituresAmount of dollars spent in 1999 by local governments in direct and

indirect lobbying, ............................................................................................................ 4,101,192Increase over 1998, as percent .............................................................................................. 13.9Dollars spent in 1998, in millions .......................................................................................... $3.6

Number of cities that directly employed staff and/or contracted withprofessional lobbyists, in 1999 ..................................................................................................28Amount they spent ......................................................................................................$1,038,130Largest amount (Minneapolis) .................................................................................... $213,501Second largest (Richfield) ............................................................................................. $191,919

Number of counties that directly employed staff and/or contracted withprofessional lobbyists, 1999 .......................................................................................................12Amount they spent ......................................................................................................... $907,960Largest amount (Hennepin) ......................................................................................... $324,728

Number of school districts that directly employed staff and/or contractedwith professional lobbyists, 1999 .............................................................................................10Amount they spent ......................................................................................................... $372,697

Number of metropolitan agencies that directly employed staff and/orcontract with professional lobbyists, 1999 ............................................................................. 4Amount they spent ......................................................................................................... $320,548Largest amount (Metropolitan Airports Commission) ....................................... $148,573

Amount paid in 1999 by local governments to associations that representedtheir interests ..................................................................................................................$6,015,709Numbers in 1998 respectively ..................................................................................$5,488,216Portion of the 1999 dollars spent on lobbying activities, as percent .......................... 24In 1998 ................................................................................................................................................24

Number of local units of government who relied entirely on their employees torepresent them at the Legislature .................................................................................................. 7

Number that relied on contract lobbyists .............................................................................41Number that had both ................................................................................................................... 6

Amount spent in 1999 on lobbying expenditures by associationsrepresenting local governments, in millions .................................................................... $1.8Percent funded through dues of association members .............................................. 77.8

Most dollars spent by a local government organization lobbying in 1999(League of Minnesota Cities) ....................................................................................... $216,599Second (Metropolitan Inter-County Association) ................................................ $160,482Third (Minnesota School Boards Association) ....................................................... $145,247

Source: 1999 Local Government Lobbying Expenditures report, Office of the State Auditor,March 2001.

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