Posted: 2/12/03

Budget, road needs are legislative breakfast topics at FL Chamber gathering

Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Roads and the state budget predicament were two of the topics on the minds of guests at Fridayís Forest Lake Area Chamber of Commerce legislative breakfast.

The Friday session came on the dawn of failed attempts in St. Paul by Republican and DFL negotiators to reach agreement on a budget-cutting process to right the books in the current fiscal year. With failure to reach a deal on ways to erase the $356 million shortfall this fiscal year, Gov. Tim Pawlenty commenced the process the same day to make cuts under a process called unallotment.

The failure to reach some agreement drew criticism last week from the four legislative guests, all of whom are Republicans.

District 17 Sen. Sean Nienow of Cambridge said the ìsurgeryî that would have been possible through a negotiated deal would now have to revert to ìhatchetî work at the hands of the Republican governor.

Nienow said it was imperative permanent spending cuts be made this fiscal year to help the long-range budget dilemma.

ìWe are at a crossroads," said District 52A Rep. Ray Vandeveer of Forest Lake. With the state taking in less income than it is spending, Vandeveer said the budget situation has to be addressed but not through tax increases of any kind.

The time is at hand for hard decisions, he said. ìWe put off the hard decisions (last session) and used up all of our reserves," he said.

ìWe had the opportunity ó the vehicle ó through the legislative process,î said District 17B Rep. Pete Nelson of Lindstrom.

District 52 Sen. Michelle Bachmann of Stillwater also spoke against tax increases as a means to solve the budget woes. She pointed to statistics that she said indicate Minnesota has the highest per capita number of working women and two-household income sources in the country. Lowering taxes will ease the burden, she said.

ìWe canít work any more than we're working unless we send our kids out,î Bachmann said.

Bachmann said she looked at the $4.5 billion projected budget shortfall over the 2004 and 2005 fiscal years as an opportunity, not a problem. Now is the time to adjust state priorities and remove government functions from areas where it competes with the private sector, she said.

ìNot everything government does is necessary,î she said.

Transportation

The four elected officials also identified roads and transportation issues as important topics for the current session.

Vandeveer endorsed a state-bonding plan for roadwork but not a gasoline tax increase. Although the gas tax increase had the support of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce last session, Vandeveer said he believes the Minnesota Department of Transportation is not capable to produce the roads the state needs. ìWe need some reform there,î he said of MnDOT.

The Forest Lake Republican said Gov. Pawlenty supports a plan to raise $1 billion over four years by bonding. ìThe governor is on board,î he said of the transportation plan.

Rep. Nelson said the plan to bond for $250 million a year over four years was a start. He said the state has needs that could climb to $2 billion and county state-aid highways need another $1 billion.

Couple that projected cost with a budget shortfall that tops $4 billion and the problem is staggering, he said.

ìItís a tough job,î Nelson said looking at the revenue needs and the budget fact of life. ìYou do the math,î he said to the audience.

A crowd of about 50 business owners and citizens attended the legislative breakfast at Famous Daveís in Forest Lake. The breakfast is an annual event of the Chamber of Commerce.

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