Sen. Claire Robling Email Update 4/30/07

Last week’s activities:

Conference Committees Dominate Legislative Schedule The 2007 Session began the hectic home stretch as ten conference committees convened to begin the process of wading through major budget bills in search of finding agreement between the Senate and House.
Committees were formed for bills covering agriculture and veterans issues, E-12 education, economic development, environment and energy, health and human services, higher education, public safety, state government, transportation and taxes. I am a member of the Higher Education Conference Committee. These committees have been spending a lot of time meeting, which cut down on other floor action in the Senate last week. A similar schedule is expected this week until conference committee work is concluded.
While the conference process is a necessary step to adopting a budget for the next two years, a number of hurdles remain. It’s been reported that nearly all bills passed by the Senate and House contain provisions that would likely prompt a veto by Governor Pawlenty. It’s unclear if the bills will progress through conference committees with those controversial provisions intact, or if final action will wait for a global agreement between the Governor, and Senate and House DFL majorities. Another point of contention is the issue of taxes. Both Senate and House DFL budget plans depend on new revenue generated by controversial tax increases that have already been promised a veto. The success in finding an acceptable agreement on these issues over the next three weeks will determine whether the session will conclude by May 21st as required by the state constitution.
Bonding Bill Conference Committee Agreement Heads to the Floor The Capital Investment Conference Committee was the first major committee to complete an agreement between the Senate and House.
The Conference Committee funding for the bonding bill totals $334 million. The breakdown includes a General Fund (cash) appropriation of $164 million, highway bond funding totaling $33 million, bond proceeds of $135 million and general obligation user financed funds of $1.2 million. Coming into conference, the original Senate proposal was $320 million, while the House totaled $290 million. In an unusual twist, the negotiated agreement provided funding higher than either of the two original bills. The fact that the bill grew in size and is using a significant amount of one-time money that will then be unavailable for final negotiations in other areas not yet resolved (such as education and health care) resulted in a negative vote by most Republicans, myself included.
The Governor has expressed concerns on both the size and timing of the bonding bill. Debt service for bonding is currently over $1 billion in the biennium. This is not a major bonding year, and both the Senate and House bills are large for a non-bonding year. It’s unclear what action the Governor will take since the bonding bill will now reach his desk before concluding other major budget negotiations.

Dedicated Funding Bill Stalls in Tax Committee The long battle over using sales tax proceeds for constitutionally dedicated funding hit a roadblock in the Senate Tax Committee this week.
Senate File 6 sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller was rejected on a committee vote that would have moved the bill closer to the floor for action by the full Senate. The plan calls for a constitutional amendment increasing the sales and use tax rate by 3/8 of one percent on taxable sales for 25 years beginning on July 1, 2009. 33 percent of the receipts would be deposited in the Heritage Enhancement Fund and may be spent only to preserve, enhance, or protect the state's fish, wildlife, habitat, and land resources. Forty-three percent of the receipts would be deposited in the Great Outdoors Minnesota Fund and may be spent only on protection and restoration of the state's lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, groundwater, parks, trails, natural areas, and historic sites. Finally, 24 percent of the receipts would be deposited in the Cultural Legacy Fund and may be spent only on arts, arts education, and arts access.
Opposition came from both Democrats and Republicans. Some cited a concern over raising the state sales tax, while others had concerns over using the state constitution as a mechanism to provide funding, as well as expanding the original proposal that was limited to funding outdoors priorities. The bill remains in the tax committee and could be revisited before the conclusion of the legislative session.

Stem Cell Research Proposal Prompts Strong Debate A controversial bill concerning the emotional issue of stem cell research passed the Senate after significant debate on the floor this week. Senate File 100, sponsored by Sen. Richard Cohen (DFL – St Paul) would allow the University of Minnesota to use state funds to perform stem cell research. In part, the proposal establishes a statewide policy for stem cell research, which permits research involving the derivation and use of embryonic stem cells, human embryonic germ cells and adult stem cells from any source. The research would be reviewed and approved by an institutional review board. The companion bill, House File 34, has been sent to the House floor and is awaiting action by the full House. A vote could be scheduled within the next couple of weeks. I supported efforts to remove from the Senate bill approval of embryonic stem cell research which results in killing the embryo, but the amendment failed.
Largely because of that provision remaining in the bill, I voted against it.

Ditch Legislation Passes Senate This past week, Senate File 642 passed the Senate and now awaits action in the House. This bill related to natural resources provides clarification to how a drainage authority determines where the point of beginning is, where a buffer strip is required, and how the required width is determined.
Impediments and disincentives are removed to the use of federal and state conservation programs, such as Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) adjacent to public drainage ditches by making it clear that the drainage authority is responsible to restore the conservation practice that is damaged as the result of a repair, improvement, or construction, of a public drainage ditch.
This bill enhances the ability of a drainage authority to implement buffers where needed for maintaining the efficiency of the ditch or for water quality, by providing for a modified procedure, which will reduce costs to the drainage system. Support for the bill includes all of the major state wide farm organizations, environmental organizations, conservation organizations, and the state’s drainage authorities.

Saving Mom and Pop Resorts Another proposal on the Senate floor pending further action is Senate File 961 which would provide consistent state-wide policy regarding maintenance, rebuilding and ownership of small resorts throughout the state. The intent of this bi-partisan legislation is to support survival of the small, family owned, resorts. Thousands of Minnesota residents and tourists enjoy our natural resources through local resorts. This tourism activity has a dramatic economic and employment impact in Minnesota. The legislation is a response to Minnesota having lost thousands of these vacation properties to private development and rising lakeshore values.
The legislation would apply statewide and preempt inconsistent local ordinances, though a county or a municipality may by ordinance impose upon resorts reasonable regulations to prevent and abate nuisances and to protect the public health, welfare, safety, and environment.

Claire Robling
State Senator
District 35
100 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
143 State Office Building
Saint Paul, MN 55155
651.296.4123