She’s been called “feisty,” “scrappy,” a rabble-rouser, a renegade and a fair number of expletives. Best known for her opposition to smoking bans, eminent domain abuses, tax increment financing and a 2006 primary challenge against Governor Pawlenty, Sue Jeffers has been a frequent fill-in host for Dan Conry on KTLK 100.3. Somebody at the FM news talk station, possibly working with a concussion, signed a contract and gave the intractable Sue Jeffers a permanent microphone.

 

Sue’s program will air Saturdays from 5-7 beginning this weekend.  Sue’s inaugural broadcast will take place during the Republican state convention. She says she’ll be covering the event with live updates from Rochester. 

Jeffers hasn’t been one to mince words and “politically correct” doesn’t seem to be in her lexicon. Listeners can probably expect a weekly dose of irreverent common sense that will raise the blood pressure of politicians and political insiders. But, those folks aren’t her audience. No doubt, they’ll listen but she’s probably not talking directly to them. During her gubernatorial campaign, her slogan was “People Before Politics.” Her radio show will more likely engage the “grassroots” and regular working people on the issues that impact everyday lives.

Sue Jeffers has contributed articles and research to Minnesota Majority and occasionally writes for True North.

Minnesota Majority recently launched a new member referral drive, and randomly selected 10 new members to receive a Target or Wal-Mart gift card. The person referring a selected new member will also receive a gift card as a thank you for helping Minnesota Majority grow.

 

Congratulations to John and Paul from Apple Valley, Sharon from Fergus Falls, Deborah from Detroit Lakes, Stephanie from Cottage Grove, Gary and Abby from Waconia, Laurel from Owatonna, Bill from St. Cloud and Liz from Woodbury. 

Working late into the night, Governor Pawlenty and legislative leaders cut a deal that gave the  health care bill Pawlenty vetoed last week a second chance at life with some minor tweaks and a shiny new bill number: SF3780.

 

Not much has changed. A few provisions have been removed or modified, a couple others have been expanded. Some “fluff” language has been added that alludes to meaningful changes without actually enacting them.

 

The eligibility requirement for public subsidy to families with children has been reduced from 400% of federal poverty guidelines to 275% while the income cap has been raised to $57,000 per year for parents.

 

A health savings account provision has been tacked on for state employee health plans.

 

Notwithstanding a few cosmetic changes, the bill is essentially the same as HF3391, which the governor vetoed last week. The ultimate goal of the bill still appears to be to expand the number of people dependent on the state for their medical care.  The bill provides bounties paid to organizations and individuals that recruit new enrollees in the state’s medical welfare programs. Schools will be asked to single-out students who receive free or reduced-rate school lunch as targets for recruitment activities.  If a school is successful in enrolling a student’s family, they will earn a $25 bounty. To entice potential new enrollees, the bill suggests that organizations should "provide an applicant a gift certificate or other incentive upon enrollment." The latest version of this incentive program now includes licensed insurance producers as eligible for the bounty.

Employers will still be required to offer 125 plans, meaning that small businesses who don’t offer health insurance benefits will be required to deduct insurance premiums from an employees payroll and transfer those withholdings to an insurance company of the employees choosing. This provision forces employers to become bill collectors for insurance companies, but it now provides a one-time grant of $350 to employers who apply and qualify for it.

State-sponsored behavior modification also remains. The commissioner of health is directed to award grants to organizations that implement strategies to reduce the percentage of Minnesotans who are overweight or use tobacco. These organizations are to “address behavior change at the individual, community and systems levels; occur in community, school, worksite, and health care settings; and be focused on policy, systems, and environmental changes that support healthy behaviors.” Directly targeting alcohol use has been removed from the provision in this incarnation of the bill.

The governor spoke of tax credits for individuals and families who purchase their own private medical insurance. Such a plan would give people a tax break equivalent to that which employers receive. This plan didn’t materialize in the bill. The section dealing with tax credits merely directs the commissioner of health to develop a tax credits proposal, and submit a report and recommendations by 2009.

 

Lawmakers are selling this bill as meaningful health care reform. It isn’t. The bulk of the bill deals with expanding the number of enrollees to Minnesota Care, and state employee health plans.

 

What’s in it for the rest of us? Yet more nanny-state busybodies born of state-sponsored behavior modification.

Minnesota’s legislature called it quits after a final day of negotiations that ran into the night. Agreed on by all sides in their hasty departure from the Capitol were a retouched version of the vetoed health care reform bill, a property tax juggling act, restored funding for the Central Corridor light rail line (and, coincidently funding for the Vermillion State Park, a pet project of the governor’s), increased Local Government Aid, and money for new polar bear cages at Como.

 

A couple vetoes by Governor Pawlenty earlier in the session were reversed on Sunday, after some deals were brokered. DFLers wanted $70 million for the Central Corridor light rail project. The governor said the LRT was too expensive, needed more study and he line-item vetoed it out of the bonding bill. It looks like what the train really needed was more grease. The governor got his $20 million for the Vermillion State Park, and Central Corridor is back on track – sans study.

 

Health care reform vetoed last week was resurrected with a bit of fat trimmed and a shiny new number pasted over the beat-up bill. HF3391 became SF3780, enrollment and budget increases were scaled back some, but it’s essentially the same bill the governor vetoed before. Property tax maneuvering and a compromise on use of the Health Access fund seemed to be the necessary lubricant to dislodge this bill from it’s deserved grave.

 

Some last-minute spending includes $300,000 for a new polar bear exhibit at Como Park, and $60 million in increased Local Government Aid (LGA). It may come as a relief to taxpayers to know that the legislature won’t reconvene until January of 2009 (unless the governor calls a special session), because Minnesota’s 85^th Legislative Session was a doozy. This legislature passed one of the largest tax increases in state history, took a $2 billion budget surplus, turned it into a billion-dollar deficit and spent another billion on credit. No doubt, Minnesota could not afford a fulltime legislature.  

By a vote of 4-3, the California Supreme Court overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriages. The law forbidding municipalities from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples was the product of citizens’ initiative in referendum. That means the voters, not the legislators enacted the bill through a statewide ballot measure. It was adopted by a wide margin, too.

 

The court decided that there is a fundamental constitutional right to same-sex marriage, and that creating civil unions as an alternative for same-sex couples amounted to a violation of equal protection, even though California’s current civil unions are 100% equivalent in rights and privileges to marriage.

 

Perhaps the states should never have gotten into the marriage business in the first place. Now, the very definition of words is subject to legislative and judicial process. The states are involved, however. Neck-deep. The people of California decided the issue for themselves only to have their traditional definitions overthrown by four activist judges on the California Supreme Court.

 

This leaves the people of California one final recourse: Amend the Constitution to explicitly define marriage. The day may come when the definitions of other words may have to be codified in the state and national constitutions. What a sad state our society has reached when we need to define words by amendment.

 

The effort to amend California’s constitution is well under way. Over a million Californians have signed a petition to get the amendment on the ballot for this coming November. If the ballot measure that outlawed same-sex marriage back in 2000 (Propisition 22) is any indication, the amendment’s prospects look good.

Perhaps it’s time to take a look at Minnesota’s constitution with an eye on clarifying some definitions.

Update: California's Supreme Court has been asked to delay it's marriage decision. Meanwhile, right at the end of the session, Representative Kahn introduced a bill to redefine marriage in Minnesota.

Take Action: Sign the Marriage Protection Petition. 

All aboard the big gay bus, students. It’s time to go to Gender Deidentification Class.

A curriculum called “Welcoming Schools,” promoted as an anti-bullying program, is being piloted in some metro-area schools. The curriculum, developed by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest gay and lesbian organization, has less to do with bullying and far more to do with dismantling gender roles and promoting homosexuality to grade-school students.

Students enrolled in kindergarten through third grade will study words like “gay and lesbian” subsequent grades will be taught words like “dyke,” and “bisexual.”

HRC states the mission of the “anti-bullying” program is “creating LGBT-inclusive elementary schools that support and include all children.” LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. Bisexual and transgender grade-schoolers?

At the center of HRC’s curriculum is the Welcoming Schools guide which, according to their website, offers teaching tools, resources and lessons on family diversity and gender stereotyping. “Pressure to conform to traditional gender roles can limit students' social and academic development,” states HRC’s promotional material.

Children in kindergarten through second grade will participate in excercises that require them to close their eyes, imagine that they are the opposite sex, and decide what things they would or would not still like and what new things they might like if they were a different gender. Teachers are encouraged to stop addressing students as either boys or girls. Suggested course books for this age-group include Oliver Button is a Sissy (about a boy who likes to play dress-up and tap-dances), a Fire Engine for Ruthie (about a girl who wants a firetruck instead of dolls by the author of The Boy Who Cried Fabulous), Sissy Duckling (a story about a male duckling who prefers dress-up and baking to baseball and likes to wear pink and flower prints) and The Different Dragon (a bedtime story about the imagined adventures of a child with two moms).

Older kids will be treated to King and King (a book about a prince who proposes to and marries another prince), and a rigged excersize wherein students are given a set of pictures of kids and adults and told to arrange them into seven familes. The trick is, it’s impossible to arrange all the photos into traditional familes. Because of the pictures provided, some of the familes will have to wind up with two adults of the same gender.

Students will be evaluated on their views after lessons. Part of that evaluation is fill-in the blank exercise, “I used to think… But now I know…” Indoctrination complete.

Katherine Kersten has an excellent article on Welcoming Schools at Star Tribune.  You can also click the following button to listen to Bob Davis' interview with Katherine Kersten on KSTP AM1500:  

TAKE ACTION:  Click here to tell school administrators not to indoctrinate children. 

Take Action: Sign the Immigration Enforcement Petition and instantly contact your legislators about this issue.

For comparison, Japanese corporations are taxed 39.5%, German corporations pay 38.9% and Canadian corporations pay 36.1%. 

Just looking at state income taxes, most US states collect higher corporate rates than their peers abroad, but a national comparison of state corporate tax rates sets Minnesota 6^th highest in the country at 9.8%.

A study produced by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) titled “Rich States, Poor States” ranked Minnesota 35^th in national economic outlook and estimates an average of 5,242 residents migrate out of the state each year. The trend of negative population growth has been steady since 2002. By contrast, neighboring South Dakota, which has no state corporate income tax, is ranked 3^rd in the nation in economic outlook and has seen steady population growth for the last five years.

Businesses are leaving Minnesota too. Northwest is one of the state’s largest employers. With the pending Northwest-Delta merger, state legislators asked Delta officials what kind of deal they could swing to keep the headquarters in Minnesota. Delta officials told legislators that nothing could keep the headquarters here. Perhaps that is because Georgia (where Delta is headquartered) has the 8^th best economic outlook, nationally and has a top corporate income tax rate of 6% as opposed to Minnesota’s 9.8%.

Despite the obvious negative impact high taxes have on Minnesota’s economy, and the state’s already high tax burden, the legislature has been on a tear to raise taxes. The recent override of the governor’s transportation tax veto raised the gas tax when fuel prices are already at an all time high and will snag $6.6 billion dollars in new tax revenue over the next ten years. The omnibus tax bill just passed by the House will raise property taxes for 69% of Minnesota homeowners and slash corporate tax breaks. Sales taxes have been boosted for most metro-area counties, new “wheelage” and vehicle excise taxes have been imposed already, and another sales tax increase will be on the ballot to fund “the arts and outdoors” this November. All this and more from just this one legislative session. Hang onto your wallets. The legislature is still in St. Paul for two more weeks.

Take action against high taxes: Sign the Tax Cut Petition now and send a message to your elected officials.

Read more about the ALEC study at Finance and Commerce.

Twila Brase and Rep. Tom Emmer (R - Delano) explain SF3138 in a CCHC press conference on May 1.	Senator Betsy Wergin (R - Princeton) offering an informed consent amendment to SF3138, which was defeated.

Unbeknownst to most parents, the Minnesota Department of Health has been surreptitiously collecting, warehousing and experimenting with the DNA of newborns since 1997. 

Minnesota’s genetic privacy law (MN Statute 144.125) requires the informed consent of parents before health officials can collect, store or disseminate the genetic material. It specifies that an individual’s genetic specimen may only be used for purposes for which the individual has given consent, may only be stored for an amount of time authorized by the individual and may not be disseminated without the affirmative consent of the individual. 

The Minnesota Department of Health ignored the law though and continued its practice of collecting, storing and researching newborn DNA with an assumption of implied consent, and without parental notification.

Prompted by a 2007 lawsuit advanced by Citizen's Council on Health Care, administrative law judge Barbara Neilson ordered a stop to MDH’s practice of collecting newborn DNA without parental notification and consent. The judge’s ruling required that parents of newborns be given a Tennessen notice, which is required for most data collection by government agencies. It would fully inform parents of state government's involvement in the testing program, the parent's right to refuse government collection of DNA, how the material would be used and who could access it if parents permitted their child to be tested for possible genetic conditions.

The judge also required explicit opt-in parental consent for the retention of newborn blood and DNA, and for dissemination of blood and genetic information to genetic researchers.

Countering MDH's ten-year-old executive decision to retain and disseminate newborn blood without parental knowledge or consent, Judge Neilsen concluded that Minnesota law does not authorize such retention and dissemination, and that such activities specifically violate the genetic privacy law. 

After losing an appeal of the judgment, then Commissioner of Health Dianne Mandernach convinced the  legislature to pass a bill (SF3138) exempting all elements of the MDH’s newborn testing program from informed consent provisions of the genetic privacy law.

While the bill does strengthen language requiring that parents be informed of genetic testing and storage, it simultaneously weakens the privacy law through tricky language that will have the effect of removing a requirement for written consent.

To date, the state has collected and claimed ownership of the DNA of 780,000 children born in Minnesota, without ever obtaining permission to do so, or even informing parents that it was taking place. Undeterred by legal judgment, MDH retains its warehouse of unlawfully collected DNA and has convinced the legislature to sanction 10 years of illegal practices and allow the continued harvest of newborn blood samples without explicit parental permission. 

Read CCHC President Twila Brase's piece, Genetic Information Deserves Protection in the Star Tribune.

Parents who wish to have their children's blood samples destroyed can complete a Directive to Destroy Newborn Blood Samples and submit this form to the Minnesota Department of Health.

Action Alert: Tell Governor Pawlenty to protect our genetic privacy.

The popular notion of energy independence for the United States continues to gain ground in hearts and minds, yet nearly every legislative action being taken on energy policy moves us further from that objective.

Reacting to high gas prices, President Bush finally came out swinging at legislative actions that got us where we are today, calling for Congress to remove roadblocks to expanding domestic energy production and to drop plans to increase taxes on energy.

Nuclear power is inexpensive, clean and efficient, yet due to actions by the federal and state governments, a new nuclear power plant has not been constructed in the US in over 30 years. The US has been called the Saudi Arabia of coal, because of the tremendous abundance of the fuel present within our borders, yet states are enacting moratoriums on the construction of new clean coal-fired plants. A 2,000 acre plot of land in the 19 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) holds the potential to increase domestic oil production by 20%. That’s the equivalent of 27 million gallons of gasoline and diesel per day, and would rival Saudi Arabia’s exports, but Congress has forbidden drilling for oil in ANWR. Increased domestic oil-drilling and construction of new oil refineries would undoubtedly drive gas prices down, but thanks to irrational policies, we’re paying $3.50 a gallon or more at the pump and the price is expected to continue rising.

Bio-fuels not only spectacularly fail to move us closer to energy independence; they simultaneously threaten our food supply and exponentially increase prices. Even if every acre of farmland in the US was converted to bio-fuel production, we would not achieve energy independence through bio-fuels and we would produce no food. Because of intense lobbying by big agricultural interests looking for short-term payoffs, a significant portion of national and state energy policies rely on these fuel sources even though it is becoming increasingly apparent that bio-fuels don’t live up to their promise.

The move away from coal-fired power generation in favor of wind and solar power is a major contributor to escalating energy costs. Xcel Energy estimates that Minnesota’s renewable energy mandates will lead to an average household electric bill increase of $300 to $400 per year.

Further exacerbating the cost problem is an increasing reliance on natural gas to generate electricity because of its perceived environmental benefits. Use of natural gas to fire Minnesota power plants has increased nearly 7-fold since 1997. Xcel Energy’s two new gas-fired power plants will increase natural gas consumption even more dramatically in the next year. The two new plants, which will generate about 1,000 megawatts between them, will consume more natural gas than is now used to heat every home in Minneapolis and St. Paul combined.

The trend pits electricity production against heating in competition for the same resource, driving up the cost of both. Natural gas price increases have already had a significant impact on Minnesota families and businesses. Center Point Energy reported 208,000 gas bill delinquencies in 2007 and Minnesota’s Home Energy Assistance expenditures rose 33% between 2005 and 2007.

Although the US has increased domestic output of natural gas in recent years, we import 16% of our natural gas supply. Increasing reliance on natural gas will mean more imports, and therefore less energy independence.

MN House debate on the Hackbarth amendment to lift the nuclear power plant moratorium.

Legislators, who by and large profess a desire to foster energy independence, are moving us farther and farther away from that vision by falling in with socialism veiled in pseudo-environmentalism, giant agricultural financial interests and irrational fears of nuclear power.

We are witnessing examples of this even within state-level policy proposals.  Debating an energy bill (SF3337) in the Minnesota House on April 23rd, Representative Tom Hackbarth (R – Cedar) introduced an amendment that would remove Minnesota’s long-standing moratorium on new nuclear power plants. Predictably, the amendment was defeated, continuing the cycle of calling for energy independence while simultaneously working against it.

It’s no real wonder that rural economies are sluggish and good paying outstate jobs can be difficult to find in Minnesota. Businesses in lower-population areas of the state are overburdened with taxes.

 

The Minnesota Taxpayer’s Association conducted a 50-state study comparing state to state property taxes and found that Minnesota’s rural commercial property is taxed at the third highest levels in the nation. A typical $25 million commercial property pays nearly $1 million in property taxes, compared with a national average of just over $500,000.

 

Smaller properties, in the $100,000 and $1 million ranges fare slightly better, ranking 9^th and 4^th highest taxed nationally. Any way you slice it, Minnesota’s rural commercial property owners are in the top ten most taxed, a dubious distinction.

Four state legislators explain flaws in health care bill

A health care 'reform' bill will be landing on Governor Pawlenty's desk within the next several days that would dramatically expand the government's role in Minnesota's health care system.  The bill creates new layers of government bureaucracy, adds thousands of people to taxpayer-subsidized health plans, grants government access to our private medical records, co-opts schools into monitoring the weight of our children and allows Katrina-style bureaucrats to decide which treatment options will be available to you and your family.

 

The bill that ultimately emerges from conference committee will be an amalgam of House File 3391 and Senate File 3099 each of which were passed within their respective bodies.

 

The costs of complying with the new regulations imposed by this bill will especially threaten rural hospitals and clinics. Medical facilities in greater Minnesota may be forced to cut back services or close down entirely.

  

Excerpts from the House floor debate

Governor Pawlenty has been eager to improve access and affordability of health care in Minnesota.  He has tried to work with the legislature to craft a bill that respects market demands and protects patient rights.  But the bill that has emerged from the legislative process fails to deliver on these objectives.

During the course of a marathon 10-hour floor session in the DFL-controlled House, Republican legislators introduced numerous amendments to incorporate increased competition and fiscal responsibility into the legislation.  But none of these ideas were adopted into the bill that emerged (see video at right).

Real health care reform will only happen by getting government out of the health care business and putting the patient back in charge of making their own health care decisions.  True health care reform measures must incorporate free market principles that will allow competition to drive down costs and improve quality.  Today, Minnesota is on the cusp of taking our health care policy in exactly the opposite direction.

Action Alert: Contact Governor Pawlenty and urge him to veto the health care 'reform' bill.

 UPDATE: Read this recent editorial from the Rochester Post-Bulletin:  Latest DFL Health Plan Reckless

Minnesota legislators concerned with reducing automotive emissions of greenhouse gasses have devised a drastic plan. Evidently, state lawmakers don’t trust themselves to establish pollution standards for Minnesota, because the bill they’ve crafted abdicates that authority to the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

 

CARB is a division of the California Environmental Protection Agency and consists of 11 members appointed by California’s governor (Arnold Schwarzenegger). They set emission standards for vehicles sold in California that are twice as ambitious as federal guidelines, requiring 30% lower emissions in less than eight years.

 

Representative Hortman (DFL – Brooklyn Park) wants to permanently entrust the 11-member California panel with regulatory authority over Minnesota. The bill she introduced (HF863) directs the Minnesota’s Pollution Control Agency to adopt rules that “must be identical to and must incorporate by reference the California low emission vehicle regulations adopted by the California Air Resources Board under the California Code of Regulations, title 13.”

 

Not only does Representative Hortman intend to adopt current known California regulations, but she intends to do so in perpetuity, giving appointed California bureaucrats the power to enact unknown future regulations for the state of Minnesota.

 

The bill states that MPCA’s rules “must be amended as necessary in a timely fashion to minimize the time during which Minnesota's rules are not identical with California's regulations, as required under United States Code, title 42, section 7507. Amendments under this clause must be made under section 14.388, subdivision 1, clause (3). Any portion of California's regulations requiring a federal waiver under the Clean Air Act in order to become effective may not be enforced in Minnesota unless and until California receives the requisite federal waiver.”

 

In their rush to “save the planet,” they forgot to save Minnesota’s sovereignty. A UCLA student would have more influence over Minnesota’s vehicle regulations than any voter or politician in Minnesota would!

 

"We're talking about an 11-member panel in California, that's going to be regulating the state of Minnesota,” said Representative Tom Hackbarth (R – Cedar), “That's not the way to operate in our state. I don't think our legislature wants to give away that kind of authority."

 

Auto makers say the California emissions standards (which aren’t even in force in California, since they contradict federal regulations) would sharply increase the cost of automobiles, and limit the number of SUVs and trucks that could be sold in a state where they were implemented.

 

According to the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association, Minnesotans buy more trucks than cars, which poses a problem with California Standards. Higher demand SUVs and trucks would have to be rationed. Ford Dealers would have to sell a certain number of Focuses before they could sell an F-150, for example. 

Congratulations to Levi Strand of Anoka, Minnesota who took the time to sign the Tax Cut Petition and was entered in a drawing sponsored by Minnesota Majority to win a brand new 4GB iPod Nano.

"That's awesome. I never win anything," said Strand.

The drawing was conducted on April 15^th by generating a random number to correspond with a record number on the petition. Over 1,200 people had signed the petition, calling on lawmakers to refrain from introducing any new tax, and instead work toward reducing and capping taxes.

Signing the petition automatically identifies and faxes one’s state senator, house representative and sends a copy to the governor.