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| Date: | January 31, 2011 | | Contact Name: | Peter D. Winiecki | | Contact Phone: | 651-297-8077 | | Contact Email: | peter.winiecki@senate.mn | | For Immediate Release | |
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| First Month in Review |
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I wanted to take this opportunity to provide you with this legislative update, now that we have the month of January behind us. We have been very busy attending committee hearings, mainly dominated by department heads and state agency officials explaining how their budgets are allocated and spent.
Make no mistake, the economy, budget and jobs are the fundamental issues during the 2011 Legislative Session and it is clear that we have our work cut out for us.
I am currently working on the following legislation.
Reforming the “Green Acres” tax laws (Senate File 101)
“Green acres” was originally passed in 1967 to prevent the premature development of farmland through tax deferment benefits. Instead, some property owners have experienced significant increases in their property taxes and have been forced to take drastic changes to avoid unexpected increases and penalties. I am currently working with other Senators to reform the Rural Preserve Program, providing relief to landowners and to set the stage for making the law more consistent nationwide.
Ending the Ban on new Nuclear Power Plants (Senate File 4)
Senate File 4 is an effort to lift the 17-year ban on permitting new nuclear power plants. Minnesota needs to be open to the possibility of new nuclear power plants. Lifting the moratorium allows us to begin a discussion about the role of nuclear power in Minnesota. Energy reform is truly part of a jobs agenda. Businesses, particularly manufacturing businesses, rely on reasonably priced energy to maintain jobs and plan for growth. Over the next few years, Minnesota will face critical issues such as an increasing need for energy production, and the current artificial ban on the permitting and construction of new nuclear power plants in Minnesota is a major hurdle to clean, inexpensive energy. Much of the opposition to nuclear power relies upon action from the federal government concerning the storage of nuclear waste.
Welfare Card Use Limitations (Senate File 75)
The idea behind this bill is to create in-state use and photo ID requirements for electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card recipients, and prohibit purchases of alcohol, tobacco and lottery tickets, or use at ATMs or receiving cash back from vendors. Recent investigations have shown widespread misuse of the cards in all 50 states and outside the country. We need enhanced restrictions on what can be purchased and where the cards can be used to ensure the program is meeting its intended purposes – providing food and necessities to families in need - while doing what is right by the taxpayers who pay for those benefits.
Equitable School Funding
Many of you know that our schools receive a disproportionate level of per-pupil funding. In fact, students in our area school districts receive about $8,000 per pupil, as opposed to students in the Minneapolis district that receive over $14,000 per pupil. The funding inequity debate is nothing new to the halls of the State Capitol, going back as far as the 1990’s when the State of Minnesota was sued for letting local referendum revenue differences between school districts become too great due to varying property tax bases. It is my sincere desire to address the way that school funding formulas are calculated so that all of our children continue to receive a world-class education, no matter where they live.
School District Employee Wage Freeze and Mandate Relief (Senate File 56)
This bill is engineered to help schools eliminate financial and bureaucratic burdens. The measure eliminates three mandates for schools and taxpayers, including protected counseling and social work staff budgets, reserved staff development funds, and contract settlement deadlines with fines. In addition, the bill freezes ALL employee compensation for two years in order to keep class sizes down and retain important curricula and programs. Also, The Minnesota Association of School Administrators estimates that to freeze $80 million over two years and would allow districts to retain about 1,000 teaching jobs statewide! The measure has been endorsed by the Minnesota School Boards Association, the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, many individual administrators and superintendents, and the editorial boards of both the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press.
With the first month of the legislative session behind us, I can assure you that the schedule and pace at the Capitol will only get faster. There are several challenges in front of us and I will remain committed to standing up for the issues that are important to you and your family.
Feel free to contact me if you have questions or concerns about any legislative issues, or if I can be of service to you in any way.
