January 9-11, 2011
Jan 09 12:08 Where's the Proof, Rep. Thissen? Jan 10 13:43 Thissen Singing Same Tired Tune Jan 10 14:59 Liveblogging House GOP Press Conference Jan 11 14:07 Sommerhauser Nails It Jan 11 15:41 Sea Change Questioned Jan 11 00:58 Fulfilling Promises: Hitting the Ground Running Jan 11 01:43 Sertich Retiring...Will GOP Win His Seat? Jan 11 20:33 What a Run!!!
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Sea Change Questioned
Doug Grow's post is insulting to thinking Minnesotans. This is what jumped off the page at me:
Neither of these bills, it should be noted, does anything to deal immediately with the big problem most believe this Legislature is dealing with: a $6.2 billion budget deficit.
If Grow means that neither bill had a list of specific budget cuts, then I'll agree with Grow. If he means that King's bill won't have a major impact on setting budget priorities by making state departments justify their spending, then I couldn't disagree more.
Telling government that they must justify their budgets will certainly impact spending, especially compared to the autopilot spending practices of the Kelliher-Pogemiller-DFL legislature the past 4 years. In fact, it's a night-and-day difference between the two budgetting practices.
The more I read about Minority Leader Thissen's quotes, the more I question his qualifications for the position. Here's another reason why I question his qualifications:
Thissen said the Banian plan is a nice idea but constitutes legislative overkill. Thissen pointed to the Department of Corrections. The state, he said, is not going to do away with prisons, so why should the state make the department justify its existence.
I'm sure Rep. Thissen doesn't think the GOP legislature is attempting to eliminate the Department of Corrections. That means it's the DFL's spin to deflect from the real issue, which is that the DoC doesn't have to justify its existence, just its spending.
Just because they're an important department doesn't mean that their budget isn't worth scrutinizing. With Minnesota facing a big deficit, it's important that everyone's budget is scrutinized.
I wrote yesterday that HF1 and HF2 are part of a sea change in how St. Paul does things. We will see a significant change in how Minnesota's budget is built.
Now the question is whether Gov. Dayton will sign these bills. I'm betting not since SF1 would eliminate alot of the opportunities Paul Aasen's former organization, MCEA, would have to kill jobs.
Posted Tuesday, January 11, 2011 3:41 PM
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Where's the Proof, Rep. Thissen?
I'm glad I went back through the tape of Friday night's interview of the 4 legislative leaders on Almanac because something jumped out at me this time that I didn't notice before.
Host Cathy Wurzer asked Rep. Thissen if it was possible to streamline things in government, to which Rep. Thissen said that it definitely was and that the DFL legislature did that during their time in office.
Now that I've thought about it a bit, I'm curious how a budget that was less than $32,000,000,000 in 2005 could be streamlined if you're now projecting to spend $40,000,000,000.
That's a 25 percent increase in spending in six years. That's not counting the education shift. That's not counting the stimulus money. That's another $6,000,000,000 in spending, meaning that spending increased by 30+ percent over six years.
That doesn't leave alot of room for streamlining. I'll grant Rep. Thissen that some cutting happened but that isn't the same as streamlining. Here's Dictionary.com's definition of streamlining:
to alter in order to make more efficient or simple.
Regulations certainly weren't made more efficient or simple. Permitting certainly has gotten more complicated in that time. DFL legislators tried spending money we didn't have on questionable priorities.
I'm still curious how that's streamlining anything, Rep. Thissen. I'd love hearing your explanation.
Let's remember that the DFL didn't put forth a budget in 2007 or 2009. They "worked off" of Gov. Pawlenty's budget, which meant that they criticized Gov. Pawlenty's bill while not offering a plan to be criticized. It's impossible to streamline things when you don't even offer a budget.
Rep. Thissen's claims that the DFL is into streamlining things is pure political spin. They know that people want government under control. Similarly, they know that they must talk streamlining because that's what the people want. To not talk as if they're proponents of reforms and streamlining would put their candidates and legislators in trouble in 2012.
The proof of what the DFL stands for is what it's done when it had huge majorities in the Minnesota legislature. They could've reformed. Instead, they did everything possible to increase spending when we had a surplus.
In a way, I feel sad for Rep. Thissen. The DFL's special interest allies are pressuring him. Their agenda isn't Main Street Minnesota's agenda. The DFL needs main street's votes as much as they need the special interest allies' campaign contributions.
That's a tightrope act I wouldn't want to attempt.
Posted Sunday, January 9, 2011 12:08 PM
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Thissen Singing Same Tired Tune
If there's anything I've noticed since the new GOP majority took control of the Minnesota legislature, it's that Rep. Thissen is well-trained in repeating the same tired lines time after time. That's what he did in this op-ed in Sunday's St. Cloud Times.
This country was founded on the belief that if you work hard, you can create a better future for yourself and your family, and that anyone can live the American dream.
Unfortunately, the ability of all Minnesotans to live the American dream is increasingly at risk.
As of last month, 208,438 Minnesotans were unemployed and unable to find work.
Rep. Thissen, how much better would Minnesota's economy be if the DFL had the cajones to actually stand up to job-killing militant environmental groups like the MCEA? How many union construction workers would be employed if MCEA hadn't killed Big Stone II? How many union construction workers would be employed if MCEA's lawsuits hadn't tied the PolyMet project up in court?
You talk about how the 'no new taxes crowd' have killed Minnesota's economy. The reality is that the militant environmentalists' lawsuits have hurt Minnesota's economy far more than Gov. Pawlenty did.
By chronically underfunding infrastructure and our growing education system, and by refusing to invest in job creation, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty and his Republican counterparts in the Legislature have kept us in a 'jobless recovery' from this economic recession.
Had the militant environmentalists not hurt Minnesota's economy structurally and deeply, the current tax rates would've supplied more than ample revenues to invest in infrastructure improvements and our education system.
What's ironic is that it appears as though the premise behind Rep. Thissen's argument is that legislatures that spend the state's surplus, who think setting priorities is a novel concept , and who use one-time money to balance the budget are the responsible legislators. Similarly, Rep. Thissen's argument appears to be that legislatures that set priorities, that tell government to live within its means and who want to streamline the permitting process and reform Minnesota's regulatory regime are irresponsible.
We need to develop public-private partnerships to spur job creation and innovation, and create jobs in the high-tech fields of the future, such as bio-tech and energy.
We'd be far better off if government just put in place policies that gave Minnesota's job creators greater flexibility and better opportunities to create prosperity, then have them get out of the way.
We need regulatory reform so militant environmentalists can't tie important projects up in courts for half a decade. Minnesota's workers deserve better than to be held hostage by environmental extremists abusing our court systems.
Will Rep. Thissen speak out against the MCEA and Paul Aasen? Will he vote for the GOP's reforms that will streamline the permit process? Or is Rep. Thissen only willing to support those projects that his supporters agree with?
If Rep. Thissen attempts to stop the MNGOP's reform agenda, Minnesota's voters will take it out on his colleagues in 2012. Unlike the DFL, mainstreet Minnesotans aren't wedded to environmental extremists. They favor creating conditions conducive to creating jobs.
I wrote last month that Gov. Dayton and the DFL will have a difficult time winning the policy fights. I stand by that because the DFL is too wedded to their special interest allies' agenda.
Posted Monday, January 10, 2011 1:43 PM
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Sommerhauser Nails It
Mark Sommerhauser's article on the reforms introduced yesterday totally nails it. This is part of what Sommerhauser reported:
GOP legislative leaders put such a proposal by Banaian, R-St. Cloud, in the spotlight Monday at the Capitol. They featured Banaian's bill as an example of how Republican freshmen will reform state government, after the GOP took control of the Legislature this year.
The other reform bill introduced ( HF1 ) was written by Rep. Dan Fabian, a freshman representing HD-1A.
I've written before that this was the most talented group of candidates recruited in recent history. King understands budgetting better than most legislators, including those who've been there years. After watching Rep. Fabian's presentation yesterday, it's apparent that he understands the permitting process pretty well.
Most importantly, it's apparent that he's seen the negative effects the current system has had on Minnesota's economy. During the presentation, Rep. Fabian said that he'd talked to CEOs of companies who had "expanded outside the state." The uncertainty in the permitting process was cited as a major reason why they expanded elsewhere.
I'm betting that other companies left because the budgetting process was out of control under the DFL's 'leadership'. The DFL's reckless spending habits had companies constantly worried about new tax increases. Thanks to King's legislation, companies and families won't have to worry about St. Paul's reckless spending habits and their refusal to set sensible spending habits.
I find Minority Leader Thissen's comments on the reforms interesting:
House Minority Leader Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, spoke Monday about Banaian's proposal, along with another bill introduced by House Republicans that would streamline environmental permitting.
Thissen said the proposals deserve consideration, and may make sense in the long term. But they won't solve the state's immediate budget deficit, or create jobs this year for unemployed Minnesotans, Thissen added.
TRANSLATION: This doesn't comply with the DFL's jobs bill.
REALITY: The DFL's bonding bill economy hasn't worked. We've had bonding bill after bonding bill signed, each exceeding $700,000,000, going back to 2006. The state's economy never got hitting on all eight cyclinders.
REALITY II: A bonding bill is nothing more than the state version of a stimulus bill. Recently, those don't have a history of actually working. Obama's stimulus wasn't effective, was it?
The DFL's main complaint this campaign has been that Minnesota must raise taxes because Minnesota has a structural deficit. They're right that there's a structural deficit. They aren't right about raising taxes. They're right about the structural deficit because they've used one-time money to pay for their reckless spending habits.
Thanks to King's legislation, the DFL's reckless spending days are history for the near future. We can't afford the DFL's reckless spending sprees.
More importantly, it's time that minnesota's taxpayers and job creators had an assurance that their taxes were being used wisely.
Posted Tuesday, January 11, 2011 2:07 PM
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Liveblogging House GOP Press Conference
2:01-- Press conference starts. Speaker Zellers talking about regulatory reform.
2:02-- Dan Fabian introducing environmental permitting bill. Too many jobs leave my district for North Dakota. 150 day limit from application to completion.
2:06-- Matt Dean now speaking. Introducing King Banaian as the Wayne Gretzky of the freshman class. King will be introducing his bill.
2:08-- King says I don't skate. I'm terrible at it. "Economics comes from two Greek words that mean 'House management'". Priority-based budgeting, sunset provisions for commissions. "In some cases, people can't remember how commissions or regulations got there."
2:11-- Speaker Zellers "We're competing with our neighboring states." "We'll be moving this pretty aggressively" to send a message to both businesses and Mainstreet Minnesotans.
2:15-- Zellers saying that we need to find out if things that were promised are things that were delivered.
2:17-- Q: What's the reason for freshmen carrying bills? Zellers: Because they're way smarter than us.
2:20-- Q: Can you explain how regulations reform translates into job growth? Fabian answer: I won't speak for the companies but I've talked with businesses who've "expanded outside the state" and that's what they've told me.
2:23-- Q: Will priority-based budgeting cause the OLA to expand? King's Answer: There's no doubt that it'll increase OLA's workload. King said that it's incumbent on the legislature to guarantee that the taxpayer is getting the best bang for the buck.
UPDATE: Here's the link to the House GOP's post on HF1 and HF2.
Posted Monday, January 10, 2011 3:03 PM
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Fulfilling Promises: Hitting the Ground Running
Earlier this afternoon, the House GOP leadership unveiled HF1 and HF2 as their top priorities for this session to jumpstart Minnesota's economy. Here's the official statement issued by Speaker Zellers and Majority Leader Dean:
House Republicans Unveil Job Creation and Budget Initiatives
Zellers: 'We will fulfill our commitment to Minnesotans.'
SAINT PAUL, MN - (January 10, 2011) - Keeping their commitment to Minnesotans, Minnesota House Republicans today unveiled two bills designed to encourage job creation and reform how state government sets its budget.
House File 1, authored by Rep. Dan Fabian (R-Roseau), will streamline the permitting and environmental review process. House File 2, authored by Rep. King Banaian (R-St. Cloud), will implement priority-based budgeting for state government.
'Our priorities as a state are clear, job creation and a state government that doesn't spend more than it can afford,' said Speaker of the House Kurt Zellers. 'House File 1 and 2 will make those priorities a reality. This has been our commitment to Minnesotans, and we will fulfill that commitment.'
Rep. Dan Fabian, who is a teacher and small business owner serving his first term, said business owners and farmers in his northwest Minnesota district have long struggled with the complex, cumbersome and uncertain permitting process. House File 1 is comprised of six initiatives designed to shorten the amount of time it takes to get a permit. The bill will:
- Establish a 150 day goal for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to issue permits and require a report on applications not meeting that goal.
- Eliminate district court review of environmental review decisions and send all appeals directly to the Court of Appeals.
- Allow a project proposer the option to prepare the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), rather than a responsible government unit such as a state agency or local government.
- Require that final decisions on permits be made within 30 days, rather than 90 days, of the final approval of an EIS.
- Repeal MPCA rule prohibiting construction before permit issuance for projects requiring National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) water permits.
- Require MPCA rulemaking for air, water and hazardous waste that adopts standards more stringent than any similar federal standard to include documentation that the federal standard does not provide adequate protection for public health and the environment as well as a comparison of the proposed standard with standards in border states and the states within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5.
'Industries throughout the state need a clear and certain process for permitting and environmental review. We cannot afford to lose businesses to our border states because of the length of time and uncertainty involved in the state's current permitting process,' said Fabian. 'Several of these ideas have received bipartisan support. I look forward to working with House Republicans and Democrats on supporting these common sense initiatives that will encourage job creation while continuing to protect Minnesota's natural resources.' House Majority Leader Matt Dean said priority-based budgeting is the foundation of the House Republican Caucus agenda. 'We need to govern for results,' said Dean. 'Minnesota has a $30 billion state budget with nearly $1.5 billion in additional new revenue available for the FY12-13 budget. Before we start allocating taxpayer dollars, we owe taxpayers an explanation of how their existing money is being spent.' Rep. King Banaian, an economist serving his first-term, brings expert insight to a budgeting process that can confuse even the most seasoned analyst. The legislation will:
- Enact a priority-based biennial budget for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 that aligns state's available revenues to core state services.
- Require a 10-year planned review, beginning in 2013, by the Office of the Legislative Auditor on the sunset of all state agencies, advisory committees, policy boards and agency functions to determine whether a public need exists for continuation.
'Priority-based budgeting aligns spending to performance. It focuses on service level and results, not solely on individual agency or activity,' Banaian said. 'We will budget for the state like Minnesota families do. Know our income, set priorities and spend accordingly rather than spending and then seeking more money to cover it.' Zellers said all House Republican finance committees will begin using priority-based budgeting this session. 'We will build the budget from zero up. No one should assume it will be the same as it was last biennium with a little extra,' Zellers said. 'State agencies need to show us the need and the results and not assume we will fund the status quo of programs or services that aren't priorities or fail to achieve results.'
Minnesota's families want to know that their taxes are being spent wisely. Minnesota's job creators need to know that Minnesota's permitting process isn't dictated by special interest groups's lawsuits. Minnesota's job creators need to know that the permitting process isn't litigation-prone. HF1 and HF2 will make Minnesota more business-friendly and more responsible with the taxpayers' money. Minnesota's business community and independents will like what they see. The results will impress. The reality is that there's a sea change starting in St. Paul. Mark Dayton is the governor but the GOP is already leading. For those pundits who said that the GOP's biggest challenge was governing, I'd argue that their biggest challenge is getting Gov. Dayton's signature on their bills. Already, it's apparent that the GOP legislature isn't the "Party of No." It's apparent that they've got a substantive, appealing agenda. Already, it's apparent that this freshman class is one of the strongest classes in legislative history. Obviously, I'm biased because King Banaian represents me and he was impressive at the press conference. Still, my assessment isn't just based on King representing me. This was a great recruiting class. The results at the end of this session will be apparent.
Posted Tuesday, January 11, 2011 12:58 AM
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Sertich Retiring...Will GOP Win His Seat?
According to MPR, Tony Sertich is retiring from the House to become the commissioner of the IRRRB:
Gov. Dayton has appointed DFL Rep. Tony Sertich to be the next commissioner of Iron Range Resources according to a person with knowledge of the hire. Sertich will meet with the media in Chisholm to discuss the hire on Tuesday. He could not be reached for comment tonight but told MPR News earlier today that he applied for the job.
Sertich will be tasked with crafting a vision to help revitalize northeastern Minnesota. The Board gives business financing, low interest business loans and economic development grants to businesses.
Sertich is the first state lawmaker to be appointed to a position within the Dayton Administration. He was in line to be Minnesota Speaker of the House but lost that position when Republicans won control of the House.
This appointment had been rumored since the DFL lost control of the legislature. Now it appears that it's going from rumor to reality.
MPR's Tom Scheck is reporting that "the tentative plan for a special election will be a primary on February 1st and the general election on February 15th." I don't know how deep the DFL bench is in Sertich's district but I've heard positive things about Sertich's opponent. Depending on who the DFL candidate is, I could see the GOP flipping this seat.
That isn't a prediction. Instead, it's saying that this is a GOP year and the GOP has another quality candidate.
As IRRRB commissioner, Sertich's responsibilities change dramatically. His accepting this position seems to eliminate him from challenging Chip Cravaack for the CD-8 seat, though I'm not willing to rule Sertich's running for the seat.
It's no secret that Sertich has seen himself as the heir apparent to Rep. Oberstar for some time.
Whatever happens, it's bound to be an interesting next month and an interesting next couple years.
Posted Tuesday, January 11, 2011 1:43 AM
Comment 1 by james at 11-Jan-11 10:31 AM
Why would this rule out Rep. Sertich from running against Rep. Cravaack? Wouldn't expand his influence beyond just his house district to all of the range? Seems to me that would help him in the CD 8 race. Why do you think otherwise?
Also, HD 5B is just one small part of CD 8. The results in CD 8 can't really predict what will happen in one part of it. I am not sure on the demographics, but is HD 5B similar to CD 8 in a way that one could predict the other?
What a Run!!!
It is with mixed emotions that I write this post. This afternoon, King announced that he's shutting down SCSUScholars soon:
As has been evident to most of you still checking this blog (readership down 75% the last six months), my life has moved to another place over the last year. Much of this has been the direct result of ideas formed in my by interacting with you here. But I cannot take the time to write here anymore and hold down what will be now two jobs, one full-time in name , the other full-time in fact , and still have time to spend with family and friends.
After notifying Janet, I have decided to close this blog. It will be rendered inaccessible to the public over the next seven days, so if there's something you want to save, do so now or write to me later. I will back it up on a hard drive during the next week.
The good news for me is that this isn't the end of my 'education' at King's hands. (He's still my representative in the state legislature.) Nor is it, thankfully, the end of my friendship with him.
That friendship started in November, 2004, when I heard that 'another' St. Cloud blogger was writing about the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine. I didn't know that King had worked there as a consultant at the time but it became apparent through a couple email 'conversations' that King knew far more about the Ukraine than I did.
Still, those conversations about the Orange Revolution caused me to change the name of my blog, which was on Blogger at the time, from Common Sense Conservative to Let Freedom Ring.
I knew then that we were living in historic times. The Ukraine was fighting to sever its ties with Russia. The first election in ages had just taken place in the post-Taliban Afghanistan. (I still remember that sense of irony that the first ballot cast in post-Taliban Afghanistan was cast by an elderly woman from the hill country. I can still picture bin Laden clenching his fist when he heard that news.)
The vote in Iraq was still 2 months into the future & the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon hadn't started yet.
Late in 2005, I started thinking that alot of the bloggers I was reading (Powerline's Scott Johnson and John Hinderaker, Hugh, Glenn Reynolds and King) were perfectly capable of holding their own against the politicians in DC and St. Paul.
It's more than ironic that this bittersweet post is the direct result of this past November's elections proving me right. I remember sitting in the St. Cloud Holiday Inn watching the results pour in on Election Night. When the final totals came in, King led by 28 votes. Those still left in the room breathed a deep sigh of relief. For a moment. Then we knew that an automatic recount was heading King's direction.
When the final ballots were recounted, King's lead sat at 13 votes.
Imagine the pride I felt Monday when King joined Speaker Zellers, Majority Leader Matt Dean and fellow freshman Rep. Dan Fabian at a press conference announcing HF2, a bill which will stop Minnesota's autopilot budgetting process and change it to a priority-based budgeting system for state government.
What I and others suspected back then became reality last Tuesday when King was sworn in.
We'll miss King's posts on SCSUScholars but we'll still be able to catch his thoughts on his facebook page and his Tumblr blog for his radio program.
Meanwhile, I'll keep track of King in his new role as MY representative in the state legislature, a place where he's sure to make a significant impact.
Befor I finish this post, though, it just wouldn't be complete if I didn't include some of my favorite memories from King's glory days. This post will always be one of my favorites:
You don't celebrate getting out of Weight Watchers by going over to the all-you-can-eat buffet. So our message to the Legislature is: ' Push away from the table. Put your fork down .'
Still, my favorite post is the posted transcript of King's speech at our 9/12 TEA Party in 2009:
Thank you all for coming today. Thank you to the Central Minnesota Conservative Coalition for the opportunity to speak.
Today is a reminder to those we send to St. Paul and City Hall, and to those in Congress and the White House, that we feel forgotten.
'Forgotten' you ask.
The economist William Graham Sumner wrote a century ago about the way in which we are forgotten by those who would help others in the name of humanitarianism but not with their own money.
A and B put their heads together to decide what C shall be made to do for D. The radical vice of all these schemes is that C is not allowed a voice in the matter, and his position, character, and interests, as well as the ultimate effects on society through C's interests, are entirely overlooked. I call C the Forgotten Man.
Look around you and say hi to Mr. C and Mrs. C.
What Sumner understood was that in order to produce the good they want to distribute, they must draw on the energy that you create. Your labor, your savings, your creativity, your humanity. Sumner noted "that the State cannot get a cent for any man without taking it from some other man, and this latter must be a man who has produced and saved it. This latter is the Forgotten Man."
That's you.
And when government takes the produce and savings of the forgotten man, his choices are two. One: You can shrink. My friend and radio host Dennis Prager said it well this week: "When government gets larger, citizens get smaller." People forget to take care of themselves, they rely on government, they don't feel like working when they can't keep what they earn and besides government will give it to them.
If you're that kind of person, you're at the wrong party.
Your other choice is to stand on your feet. And shout "forgotten no more."
You have important work to do here today. If you do not want to be forgotten, you must remember why we are here. You cannot hold up a sign that says "Taxed Enough Already" if you don't know what your government is supposed to tax you for. The other speakers here today are going to tell you that. They will tell you how to stop shrinking, stop being forgotten.
Because we have forgotten, as Alexander Solzhenitsyn said, what our "unifying purpose" is. "All we had forgotten," he said, "was the human soul." We live in a great country in an unbelievably prosperous time. Life is great in 21st Century America, if we just would understand why. All we have, Solzhenitsyn said, is "a delicate trial of our free will."
You are on trial. If you fail, you will be forgotten. You will shrink to insignificance.
But I know many of you, and I know you will succeed. You will hear the words that remind us of our great purpose as a nation. And our country will succeed when we can say as one "Forgotten no more."
God bless each of you today, and God bless our great country. Thank you.
This captures King's attitude to a T: the first post displays his famous sense of humor, the next post shows King's deep trust in We the People.
King, We're grateful for what you've already tought us. More importantly, we're thankful that this friendship has just changed shape because you're moving into a role of influencing more people's lives.
Thank you for blessing my life and God bless you, Mrs. Scholar and Littlest Scholar as you transition into the next phase of your life.
Posted Tuesday, January 11, 2011 8:33 PM
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