Commentary; Posted: 8/10/05
Opinions on who won and who lost during legislative session
Ray Vandeveer
Michele Bachmann
Guest Columnists
The Minnesota legislature is modeled after the federal government, except that the U.S. Congress is in session continuously for most of the year, while the Minnesota legislature can only meet for a specified number of days each year.
In order for Minnesota to pass a budget it must be agreed on by the House and the Senate. In addition, the Governor could veto what the legislature passes, meaning approval from that office is also important.
In 2005, the House and Senate budgets reflected very different approaches to funding state government. These approaches were not reconciled before the deadline prescribed in our state Constitution so the ìjob didnít get doneî on time.
The major differences between the DFL-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House were their approaches not only to balancing the budget, but included other important policy questions such as how additional funding for education would be allocated.
The Senate plan was to increase state income taxes 20 percent, and business taxes 15 percent so state spending on government programs such as welfare, health care and education could be increased, but without reform in any of these areas.
The Republican House also proposed increased spending for education but attempted to more evenly allocate this money throughout the state.
In its original budget, the House decided not to raise taxes and to hold the line on most other government spending.
The House also attempted to reform Minnesotaís requirements to qualify for government assistance. The goal was to bring Minnesotaís public assistance programs more in line with the rest of the country, especially surrounding states.
The answer to the question of which side won and thus which policies will prevail over the next two years is a mixed bag.
Generally speaking, however, the Senate DFL prevailed. They refused to negotiate seriously until after the fourth of July.
When the public began to get restless, the Governor, along with House Republican leadership gave in on virtually every issue, including raising taxes and any effort to bring more equity in K-12 funding, thus bringing the session to a close. The DFL Senate even insisted on cutting the Governorís proposed K-12 funding increase in order to fund the expansion of Minnesotaís Health Care/Welfare programs.
In addition, the resulting unfair distribution of the new revenue to schools will mean the loss of millions of dollars to Forest Lake, dollars that will need to be made up for in higher property taxes or more teacher layoffs.
The end result of ìgetting it doneî was a huge tax increase targeting a single group of Minnesotanís behavior, no significant reform in Minnesotaís healthcare/welfare programs and Minneapolis schools getting about 30 percent more per student in new revenue than Forest Lake or Centennial (*Source: Minnesota Department of Education District by District Runs).
The people of this district sent us to the legislature with clearly stated goals of lower taxes (since most of the people we represent spend nearly half of every year working to pay them), reducing crime and improving public education.
Going ìinto extra inningsî to fight for more jobs, safer streets and better schools cannot always be avoided if progress is to be made.
One important thing to carefully consider is whether itís just about ìgetting it done,î or more about what is actually accomplished.
Ray Vandeveer (R-Forest Lake) is State Representative for District 52A which includes Forest Lake, Centerville, part of Lino Lakes and Hugo, Columbus, Linwood and Scandia. He can be reached at rep.ray.vandeveer@house.mn or 651-296-4124 (Office), (651) 464-7904. Michele Bachmann (R-Stillwater) is State Senator for District 52 and can be reached at Sen.michele.bachmann@senate.mn or (651) 296-4351.
Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
Fax 651-464-4605