March 21-24, 2016
Mar 21 01:28 SCSU's budget cuts? Mar 21 02:29 When will the Range change? Mar 21 08:54 DFL's Marty in charge of environment Mar 21 11:45 OLA report, DFL & Meyer Associates Mar 23 12:48 Liberals' definition of moderate Mar 23 14:37 DFL activists: Government is racist Mar 24 08:59 IRRRB: Revamping vs. scrapping
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
SCSU's budget cuts?
Cuts in Athletics at SCSU - Will it Really Save Money?
by Silence Dogood
With a $6,000,000 "structural deficit" and the need to "rebuild reserves by at least $3 million," SCSU has a $9,000,000 hole in its' FY17 budget. It doesn't take a Noble Prize in economics to figure out that reductions in expenditures (i.e., cuts) are going to be made at SCSU. On the Wednesday before Spring Break, SCSU President Dr. Earl H. Potter sent an email to the campus community announcing cuts to the athletic programs (a portion of which is reproduced below):
In the University's press release about the reductions, it states further:
A few of the athletes in the 'minor' sports programs being eliminated are on athletic scholarships. However, most are not. As a result of the sports program eliminations and reductions, it is likely that between 60 and 70 student athletes will be looking for a new place to continue their intercollegiate athletic careers. Each of these students not on an athletic scholarship was paying tuition to attend SCSU. With tuition at approximately 7,000 per year would result in a potential loss of between $420,00 to $490,000 in tuition revenue. Additionally, these students will no longer be generating credits at the university resulting in a loss of approximately 65 FYE contributing to a potential decrease in MnSCU's allocation to SCSU of approximately $500,000. Combined, the loss could total as much as $990,000. It is very hard to see how a loss of nearly one million dollars in revenue is going to save $250,000. Unless of course, the costs for the six minor sports being eliminated was over $1,250,000. Since the costs of each of these programs and the resulting estimated savings was not made public, one is left to wonder.
What is a certainty is that the 2017 freshman class will not include any student athletes who intended to participate in the intercollegiate sports no long played at SCSU. Without knowing the precise number of the typical freshman class size for the programs cut, it is necessary to estimate that number to determine a projected loss in tuition and allocation that will result from the program eliminations. If the freshman class of student athletes from the eliminated programs is estimated at 20, the loss of revenue from tuition
A few of the athletes in the 'minor' sports programs being eliminated are on athletic scholarships. However, most are not. As a result of the sports program eliminations and reductions, it is likely that between 60 and 70 student athletes will be looking for a new place to continue their intercollegiate athletic careers. Each of these students not on an athletic scholarship was paying tuition to attend SCSU. With tuition at approximately 7,000 per year would result in a potential loss of between $420,00 to $490,000 in tuition revenue. Additionally, these students will no longer be generating credits at the university resulting in a loss of approximately 65 FYE contributing to a potential decrease in MnSCU's allocation to SCSU of approximately $500,000. Combined, the loss could total as much as $990,000. It is very hard to see how a loss of nearly one million dollars in revenue is going to save $250,000. Unless of course, the costs for the six minor sports being eliminated was over $1,250,000. Since the costs of each of these programs and the resulting estimated savings was not made public, one is left to wonder.
What is a certainty is that the 2017 freshman class will not include any student athletes who intended to participate in the intercollegiate sports no long played at SCSU. Without knowing the precise number of the typical freshman class size for the programs cut, it is necessary to estimate that number to determine a projected loss in tuition and allocation that will result from the program eliminations. If the freshman class of student athletes from the eliminated programs is estimated at 20, the loss of revenue from tuition and state appropriation due to the loss of FYE credits will total $240,000 in FY17.
According to the press release, the cuts to the athletic programs were estimated to save money:
Since $250,000 represents, according to the press release, "about five percent of the athletics general fund allocation," that means the total cost of the athletics program is about $5,000,0000. It is not surprising to believe that the vast majority of the athletic department's budget goes to men's and women's hockey, football, men's and women's basketball and women's soccer. Given the University's history of a lack of transparency, pardon me for not accepting the University's numbers on blind faith.
USA Today even picked up on the announced cuts in the March 4, 2016 edition:
Additionally, all of the major Minnesota papers carried more in-depth articles announcing the cuts - it even was reported in the St. Cloud Times. However, even if the cuts were to actually result in a net cost savings, is it really worth it? A savings of $250,000 out of a budget over $200,000,000 represents a savings of less than 0.125%!
The press coverage surrounding prior announcements of the elimination of Homecoming, the potential elimination of the football program, and the university's 'reorganization' that eliminated "32 major programs" resulted in such negative press that enrollments at SCSU dropped significantly (from FY10 to FY16, FYE enrollment at SCSU has dropped by 21.8%). As a result, it is not unreasonable to believe that history will repeat itself and the decline in enrollment will be greater than the "approximately 80 students-athletes will be impacted."
When the aviation program was cut, one administrator stated that the closure of the aviation program would result in the loss of only 49 majors. When the final number of aviation students needing a teachout was finally determined - there were 188 students in the aviation program. Since the person who stated that there were 188 students affected by the closure of the aviation program was the person who was handling the teachout plans for these students, I think it is safe to say that the administration originally significantly underestimated the impact closure of aviation would have on enrollment at SCSU.
Will the publicity from the elimination of six 'minor' sports programs hurt St. Cloud State's image? Will it actually save any money? Only time will tell. However, what is certain is that SCSU has challenges ahead that are greater than getting permission to sell beer at hockey events to improve the "student experience" at SCSU.
Posted Monday, March 21, 2016 1:28 AM
Comment 1 by Patrick-M at 21-Mar-16 09:21 AM
That's the same math the Admin was blind toe when calculating the "savings" from closing Aviation. The Aviation degrees http://bit.ly/1UJb41c were only about 40-50 credits specific to the department and the rest were distributed over various campus departments. 188 students X $7,000 = $1,316,000 per year in lost tuition with about half to two-thirds of that affecting other departments. just saying.
When will the Range change?
If this LTE , written by Joe Begich, the former mayor of Eveleth and former state representative, doesn't give Ken Martin, the DFL State Party Chairman some heartburn, it should. One of the things Rep. Begich said was "Governor, as I travel in our area, I can't believe the solid Democrats who are saying they are voting Republican. Will this be your legacy?"
The reason I mention this is to highlight the fact that today's DFL isn't the DFL of 50-75 years ago. During the Humphrey era, then the Perpich era, the DFL cared about blue collar workers of the Range. Today's DFL is run by environmentalists from the Twin Cities who despise the blue collar workers of the Range. Today's DFL likes Iron Rangers one day every two years -- Election Day. After that, the DFL has told the Iron Range to shut up and accept a few table scraps while the Metrocrats make double what blue collar workers make on the Range.
Dayton is too gutless to do this:
I also wonder if you have the authority to bypass the Executive Council. If you do have that authority, at least have a vote of the council so we can see who supports us or the Twin Cities people that seem to hate the Iron Range. We want to get ready for the next election.
During eight years of Obama and six years of Dayton, they've sided with the environmentalists every time a major project is proposed. Check out President Obama's decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline and Gov. Dayton's decisions on the Sandpiper Pipeline project and the Twin Metals mining project. In each instance, they've sided with the environmental activists that are ruining the economy and standing in the way of important infrastructure projects.
This paragraph highlights what's really happening:
I also am told you are opposed to PolyMet and are using the smoke screen of financial assurance to be put in escrow. Why don't you do the same for everyone who is polluting the water in southern Minnesota and the metro area?
If the DFL was consistent, they'd use the same rules throughout the state. The DFL is consistent in one sense. It consistently treats the Iron Range like trash. The DFL consistently treats the Metrocrats like royalty.
Governor, I care deeply about the Iron Range. I was born here and lived here for my entire 86 years, except for the years I spent in the U.S. Army. Let me die as a proud Iron Range DFLer. Reverse your decision on Twin Metals.
Rep. Begich, there's lots of room for you in the Republican Party. We love seeing blue collar workers making a good living for their families. We love seeing parents breathe a sigh of relief when they make enough money to put a roof over their heads, food in their families' stomachs and save for retirement and for their kids' education. There's an honor to living life that way.
I won't promise that we'll agree with you 100% of the time. I will promise, though, that we'll understand the importance of finding the raw materials that are used in making so many things that we take for granted. That's a promise you can depend on.
Posted Monday, March 21, 2016 2:29 AM
No comments.
DFL's Marty in charge of environment
The Senate DFL held out against the Metrocrats longer than I'd expected. Unfortunately, Sen. Bakk caved to the environmental activist wing of the DFL when they put John Marty in charge of "environment, water and energy issues." It's a dark day for Minnesotans living in exurban and rural Minnesota.
Sen. Marty is one of the most out-of-touch environmental activists in the state. I wrote about Sen. Marty's environmental extremism in this post . During the special session last summer, Sen. Marty tried sabotaging a deal made by Sen. Bakk and Speaker Daudt. That deal included getting rid of the so-called Citizens Board, which is part of the MPCA, aka the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
The Citizens Board was anything but what its name implied. One of the seats on the Board was reserved specifically for someone from a union. I questioned this at the time because I don't see what expertise a union member brings to the table of a board that had the authority to shut down projects that had received the proper permits from the MPCA. I wrote then that "lots of businesses have followed the law and gotten their MPCA permits, only to have the Citizens Board reject the approved permit."
The impact of the so-called Citizens Board was significant and negative:
They're most famous for sabotaging 2 major dairy farm projects. Thanks to the anything-but-Citizens-Board, those farms are now located outside of Minnesota. Though these were the highest profile cases of environmental sabotage, they weren't the only cases.
There's a solution to Sen. Marty's environmental fanaticism but it won't happen during this session. The solution is to install a Republican majority in the Senate and to take away Chairman Marty's gavel.
In exurban and rural Minnesota, the truth is that voting for a DFL state senator is a vote for John Marty's environmental extremism. Talk with farmers and other rural businesses. They'll tell you whether they miss the Citizens Board of the MPCA. I'm betting that the overwhelming majority of rural Minnesota businesses wish that it would've happened sooner.
This isn't Hubert Humphrey's DFL anymore. Today's DFL is dominated by environmental activists that've tried shutting down mining in northern Minnesota and who've stopped major farming projects that had gotten their MPCA permits. It's one thing to be a good steward of Minnesota's resources. That isn't what's happening with Sen. Marty and his activist allies.
They're attempting to shut down major industries in the state. That's unacceptable.
Posted Monday, March 21, 2016 8:54 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 23-Mar-16 08:59 AM
John Marty has more brains, honesty, and character than Bakk; who in turn trumps the likes of Lucero or Drazkowski on all three measures, (faint praise that it is).
Speaking of brains, honesty, and character, what do readers think of the Jeb! being for the Cruz?
Of a feather . . .
Expensive but empty suits.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 23-Mar-16 10:19 AM
John Marty isn't a man of integrity. Period. Sen. Marty hates mining because that's part of his political beliefs. Evidence that contradicts his theories are rejected. The truth doesn't matter to Sen. Marty. I've presented the evidence that Sen. Marty wants to stop mining and agriculture. That's proven fact.
As for Jeb's endorsement of Sen. Cruz, the message behind it is simple: Stop Trump at all costs. Trump knows his way around trade deals & negotiating. Those skills are worthless when dealing with terrorists who want to bring on the Apocalypse.
OLA report, DFL & Meyer Associates
According to this article , the OLA report mentioned the loans the IRRRB made to Meyer and Associates. I'm not surprised. I wrote about Meyer in this post , which I titled "Crony capitalism & the IRRRB" and in this post , which I titled "Will the DFL repay taxpayers"?
In Crony capitalism & the IRRRB, I quoted an article that said "Meyer Teleservices in Progress Park has closed its doors on the Iron Range, leaving 104 people unemployed. The St. Cloud-based company also leaves behind a debt of about $250,000 to the Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board, which had issued two loans totaling $650,000 to the business for its Eveleth facility." Later in the article, it noted that "Meyer Teleservices also on Monday shuttered its other Minnesota offices in St. Cloud and Little Falls."
In "Will the DFL repay taxpayers", I quoted Kevin Allenspach's article that said "It was a company with direct ties and allegiance to the Democratic Party. After Republican President Richard Nixon's resignation over the Watergate scandal the business created an '...innovative small donor fundraising program called the Dollars for Democrats program,' according to the Meyer Teleservices website." The IRRRB was foolish in granting those loans. Then again, they didn't care because this company was helping Democrats raise money and because they weren't loaning their money. They likely wouldn't have made the loan if they had 'skin in the game'.
That's the problem with this situation. You don't need to have a PhD in Business Finance to understand that the number of reckless loans increases when it isn't your money. This paragraph should highlight how foolish the IRRRB was with other people's money:
But the business model proved too outdated in recent years for today's mobile phone society. Land lines are decreasing eight to twelve percent per year.
According to the article, Meyer Teleservices "launched on the Range in Eveleth in 2007." It isn't like we couldn't see the end of the line for telemarketing companies. In 2003-04, Howard Dean used the internet to raise tens of millions of dollars for his presidential campaigns. In 2007-08, then-candidate Obama was using the internet to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for his presidential campaign.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out that these loans were made because they benefited Democrats. The motivation for these loans was to keep the company going through the 2014 election cycle.
The IRRRB has failed the people of the Iron Range. They've done nothing to diversify or strengthen the Iron Range's economy. I wrote here that the statewide MHI (Median Household Income) is $60,828 and the statewide poverty rate is 11.5%. Compare that with the MHI for Hibbing, which is $38,112, and the MHI for Virginia, which is $33,143.The poverty rate in Hibbing is 20.6% while the poverty rate in Virginia is a disgusting 26.5%.
It's time to make the IRRRB as extinct as the Passenger Pigeon. It's failed its mission to the hard-working people of the Iron Range.
Posted Monday, March 21, 2016 11:45 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 23-Mar-16 09:04 AM
Are you saying the IRRRB being crooked is news?
It's not. However, cutting them some slack, there's an argument that can be made for dumb as dirt, vs crooked.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 23-Mar-16 10:24 AM
It isn't news that the IRRRB is corrupt. What's worth noting is that they've failed to help the people of the Iron Range. When a city like Virginia has poverty rate of 26.5% (that's one in 4 people!), that's failure. We don't need IRRRB reform. It's imperative that we shut the IRRRB down. As for dumb vs. crooked, I don't care. They've failed miserably. They've been failing for 75 years. They've got to go. Period.
Liberals' definition of moderate
Dennis Prager's latest Townhall article interrupts the Democrats' narrative that Merrick Garland, President Obama's nominee to replace Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, is a moderate.
For instance, for the first time in the NFIB's history, they will be taking a position against a Supreme Court nominee. In fact, it's the first time in their history that they've taken any position, positive or negative, on a Supreme Court nominee.
Juanita Duggan, President and CEO of the NFIB, said they're making their position known because "in 16 major labor decisions of Judge Garland's that we examined, he ruled 16-0 in favor of the NLRB." It's apparent that Judge Garland's mind was made up long ago. It's clear that he'll consistently favor Big Labor over the Constitution.
The term moderate isn't relevant when talking about judges. You either interpret laws based on the plain language of the Constitution or you don't. My thought is that moderate judges don't exist except in newspapers like the NY Times, the Washington Post or the LA Times. Then there's this:
"If the late Justice Antonin Scalia, a staunch conservative, is replaced by a moderate-to-liberal Justice Garland, the court would tip to the left on several key issues, like abortion, affirmative action, the death penalty, gun control, campaign spending, immigration and environmental protection."
In other words, the very same author who describes Garland as a centrist believes that Garland votes left on essentially every major issue confronting the nation and the Supreme Court.
Based on this information and the Times' description of Judge Garland, we should assume that centrist/moderate judges agree with liberals on "abortion, affirmative action, the death penalty, gun control, campaign spending, immigration and environmental protection." I can't wait to hear how that's dramatically different than liberal justices like Sotomayor or Ginsberg.
Republicans should reject Garland. They shouldn't give him a hearing. They shouldn't give him a vote on the Senate floor. They give him a Reid-like pocket veto while explaining why Garland is a creature of the left and while highlighting how dishonest the Democrats are in calling Garland a centrist.
Posted Wednesday, March 23, 2016 12:48 PM
Comment 1 by Chad Q at 24-Mar-16 09:25 AM
Liberals are always revising the definitions to words so it makes sense that a person such as Garland is seen as a moderate and a person such as Cruz is labeled a radical extremist for wanting to adhere to the constitution.
If Garland is such a good candidate, why was he not nominated by Obama over Sotomayor or Kagan?
DFL activists: Government is racist
Yesterday, DFL activists stopped a meeting of the Public Safety, Crime Prevention Policy and Finance Committee that was debating HF3223 , a bill that would give Tom Roy, currently the commissioner of the Department of Corrections, the authority to negotiate a lease with a company called Corrections Corporations of America. This article contains nothing but spin.
For instance, the article says that "African American mothers, young people and pastors" compared the prison system with "modern-day slavery." They used this argument to talk "about the evils of CCA, and racial disparities in sentencing and incarceration."
This type of spin is dishonest to its core. The CCA facility in Appleton, MN, has been empty since 2010. CCA doesn't operate prisons in Minnesota at this time. That means that the protesters' complaint against a prison system that these activists criticized while shutting down the hearing are publicly owned and operated prison systems.
Here's the heart of these activists' complaint about HF3223:
(j) The commissioner, in order to address bed capacity shortfalls, shall enter into a contract to lease and operate an existing prison facility with a capacity of at least 1,500 beds located in Appleton, Minnesota.
It can't get much more straightforward than this. Tom Roy, Gov. Dayton's commissioner of the Department of Corrections, shall sign a lease with CCA, then fill that empty facility with prisoners. Since the Department of Corrections has a contract with AFSCME, it's assumed that Commissioner Roy will staff that prison with guards who are members of AFSCME.
Saying that these misguided activists' arguments were incoherent is understatement:
Minneapolis NAACP head Nekima Levy-Pounds and other testifiers who opposed the bill said it didn't matter that the state would operate the facility - it was still doing business with a private prison vendor. "Who we do business with is just as important as the business we do,' Levy-Pounds said. 'Doing business with the CCA is like doing business with the devil, because their practices are diabolical."
"You cannot put my kids, my grandkids, in jail to save 350 Caucasian jobs in Appleton," Darnella Wade shouted, adding lawmakers should instead invest in daycare, education and other measures that improve quality of life rather than giving millions to a private prison corporation. "This is abuse."
"When you open a prison, you're going to fill it, and it's going to be filled with black and brown bodies," testified the Rev. Brian Herron of Zion Baptist Church. "Why are we having discussions about building an economy on the backs of black and brown lives?"
Rev. Herron, the reason why the legislature is debating this is because prisons are filling up. If a higher percentage of people stopped breaking the law, there wouldn't be an overcrowding problem. Further, it's insulting to think that the legislature is considering this bill because they want to build "an economy on the backs of black and brown lives?" Then there's the somewhat more sane side of this argument:
"We vehemently oppose the opening of the prison in Appleton,' testified Stillwater Corrections Officer Joe Broge, a member of AFSCME Local 600. "We simply do not have the logistical support to operate another facility that's four hours away." He said correctional officers are already understaffed and stretched too thin, without adding another prison to the mix.
Question to the protesters: Is your chief complaint that Minnesota's legal system is broken? Is it that prisons are understaffed? Or is it that it's both?
Simply put, yesterday's DFL protest showed how incoherent their thoughts on this issue are.
Posted Wednesday, March 23, 2016 2:37 PM
Comment 1 by Chad Q at 24-Mar-16 09:13 AM
A. Stop committing crimes and you won't be put in jail, simple as that.
B. Why should even more money be spent on daycare, education, quality of life improvements, etc., when the trillions that has been spent already has not been shown to reduce incarceration rates? Two parent families that actually care about their children and are involved in their children's lives are far better at reducing incarceration rates than any social engineering program.
C. There's not going to be a coherent message from these groups. Their goal is to disrupt and get meetings with the Gov. and others in political power. Sadly, the Gov. and others are more than willing to accommodate them.
IRRRB: Revamping vs. scrapping
The Star Tribune published Sandy Layman's op-ed about the IRRRB. Ms. Layman is the Republican candidate for HD-5B and the former commissioner of the IRRRB. In her op-ed, Ms. Layman makes a powerful argument to change the IRRRB's structure, saying "People elected to one branch of government (in this case, the Legislature) cannot properly also exercise powers in another branch (neither the judicial nor executive branches of government)."
Ms. Layman also notes that "authored and passed the legislation adding the three citizen members to the board. Those citizen positions were later removed by DFLers when they regained complete control of state government in 2013. Presently, the board is made up of nine legislators."
Ms. Layman is right. It's unconstitutional to have members of the legislature sitting on the board of a state agency that's part of the executive branch. It's unconstitutional because no "other commissioner must go before the Legislature for budget approval and then appear again before a smaller group of legislators back at the agency who determine how and when that budget is spent."
I wrote this article to state the obvious and to urge a total rethinking of the IRRRB. First, here are some statistics that should disgust people:
According to Census Bureau statistics , Hibbing's Median Household Income is $38,112. Hibbing's poverty rate is 20.6%. Meanwhile, Virginia's Median Household Income is a paltry $33,143 while their poverty rate is a disgusting 26.5% . By comparison, Minnesota's poverty rate is 11.5% while statewide Median Household Income is $60,828.
It's shameful that the Iron Range's MHI is roughly half that of the statewide average. It's disgusting that 1 in 4 Virginians and 1 in 5 Hibbing residents live in poverty. Statewide, 1 in 9 people live in poverty.
It's clear that the IRRRB executive board is unconstitutional. It's even more clear that the IRRRB has an effectiveness problem. The IRRRB isn't effective because too many people have incomes that are paltry and because there isn't a middle class on the Range. The IRRRB has existed since 1941. To put that in proper context, it was started before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
It's collected tens of millions of dollars in taconite taxes. According to Ms. Layman, there's another problem that can't be ignored:
Dysfunction at the agency increases when the commissioner is appointed by a Republican governor, because Iron Range legislators, who sit on the board and approve all spending, are all members of the DFL Party.
Strengthening and diversifying the Iron Range's economy shouldn't be a partisan issue. It should be about doing what's right to build an economy that isn't totally reliant on the mining industry.
Iron Rangers will remember the famous chopsticks factory that the IRRRB issued a loan to:
When the Iron Range Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation Board announced Tuesday it had sold the former "chopsticks" building to TEMCO Properties for $375,000, it was the end of more than a decade of hopes, dreams and failure for the facility. Manufacturing chopsticks and selling them in the Japanese market was the vision of Canadian entrepreneur Ian Ward. Chopsticks, as the savior of Hibbing, was the dream of former Gov. Rudy Perpich.
In my estimation, the IRRRB has made too many questionable decisions to warrant its continuation. It's time to scrap the IRRRB.
Posted Thursday, March 24, 2016 8:59 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 25-Mar-16 09:40 AM
Gary and readers: Help. There is Met Council, and IRRRB, each a special board and/or jurisdiction apart from county, city, township structure.
1. Any others?
2. Is each by appointment vs by election?
3. Are there designated spots in either for county or other sub-jurisdictions?
4. Met Council has regions, and appointees for each. Is IRRRB similarly structured, or one big pool for cronyism?
5. Any good links on the history and structure and current situations faced by each, IRRRB and Met Council? (Apart from what Gary has already linked and reported)
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 25-Mar-16 10:27 AM
Eric, The Met Council's members are appointed by the governor at the start of each term. They aren't subject to the legislature's approval, either. The IRRRB's Board is staffed by the legislators that represent the Iron Range. That's part of the statutes that were created when they passed the bill in 1941. When Steve Swiggum was speaker, he passed a bill that added 3 citizens to the board. When the DFL controlled the House & Senate in 2013, they passed a bill that eliminated the citizen positions on the board.
A3. Yes. FYI- Republicans have submitted a bill that would require the Met Council members to be elected, not appointed. In my estimation, that should be noncontroversial and attract bipartisan support.
A4. See above.
A5. Not that I've found, though the IRRRB's website contains some interesting information. I hope this information helps. Happy Easter.
