Rick Krueger
Progress in Motion Arrived
[Publisher's Note: Careful readers of Politics in Minnesota will note that the group, Progress in Motion, advertises in PIM
publications. To be clear, that fact does not color this story. The
truth is Progress in Motion has been a little ticked at your publisher.
She has -- repeatedly in PIM and other venues -- predicted that
the "Override Six" Republicans would stick with the Governor. She was
wrong. There was much more about the Override Six in last Friday's PIM Weekly Report.]
The most overlooked group in the Minnesota story of the year so far -- passing a $6.6 billion transportation funding package into law despite GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto -- is the group that made it happen. That group is Progress in Motion. If there was a top ten list of best lobbying efforts in the last few decades, passing the transportation package this year would be near the top of the list.
Progress in Motion formed as an outgrowth of the successful 2006 "Vote Yes" effort that educated voters and got them to approve dedicating all of the sales tax on new and used cars to transportation. The group, a configuration of the Minnesota Transportation Alliance, shepherded the effort in which many other groups participated to override the veto, including the Association of Minnesota Counties, the League of Minnesota Cities, individual highway contractors, transit groups, and eventually the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. Besides these groups, however, were the various individuals around the state who lobbied specific members. These included local elected officials and key local business leaders.
While the Chamber's support was high profile, there was another sector of Minnesota's public affairs world that also deserves the spotlight, and that's agriculture. Both the Minnesota Farm Bureau and the Minnesota Farmers Union worked over legislators, as did many agricultural commodity groups. These groups delivered many of the election squeamish rural members, who know they will be supported in this fall's elections.
Herding cats does not begin to describe how much work was involved in keeping everyone together on the same bus to pass the bill and override the Governor. [Your publisher lobbied for the highway contractors in the mid-1990s and knows that keeping those guys on the same bus was worse than herding cats, even when they agreed on issues.]
Driving the bus was the Transportation Alliance's Rick Krueger. The success of Progress in Motion is a monumental career achievement for Krueger, the former DFL Rep. from Staples, former High Tech Council (now the High Tech Association), publishing and real estate executive. Not surprisingly, once the mission was accomplished, Krueger announced to his members this week that he's taking a new job, creating and heading government affairs for Global Traffic Technologies, a recent spin-off from 3M. Kudos to Krueger on a job well done and congratulations on the job ahead.
A final dynamic at play in delivering that staggering sum of $6.6 billion to state transportation coffers were the long-time relationships of those working the issue at the Capitol.
Call it "That 80s Show."
Krueger served in the House in the 1980s, as did former DFL Rep. and Bauerly Brothers Construction owner Jerry Bauerly, former DFL Rep. now lobbyist Dan Knuth (who represents Fresh Energy), former GOP Rep. Dave Bishop (who, as a citizen, helped greatly with the Rochester crowd), former GOP Rep. and now lobbyist Jim Girard (who represents Central Corridor Partnership, part of the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce) major league transit advocate Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin (DFL), former DFL Rep. and now Mayor of Staples Bruce Nelson, former DFL Rep. and now lobbyist Gerry Schoenfeld (who represents the Minnesota Biodiesel Council, the Minnesota Pork Producers Association and the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association), former GOP Rep. and now lobbyist Bill Schreiber (who represents Hennepin County, the I-494 Corridor Commission, the Metro Transitways Development Board and the Northstar Corridor Development Authority) and the and former DFL House Speaker and now lobbyist former Bob Vanasek (who represents the Minnesota Inter-County Association).
Other players from the 1980s include Ramsey County Commissioner Tony Bennett, former GOP Sen. Minority Leader Duane Benson (for GoMinnesota, which was the predecessor to the Vote Yes campaign, former head of the Citizens League Curt Johnson (for the Itasca Project), former DFL Sen. and now lobbyist Bob Tennessen (I-35W Solutions Alliance) and former DFL House staff and now lobbyist Jim Wafler (Associated General Contractors and the Minnesota Transportation Alliance). Both GOP former Govs. Arne Carlson and Al Quie publicly supported the tax increases in the bill.
It took 20 years to pass a transportation funding increase package, so don't look for all these players to go away just because they won (note that Progress in Motion is still advertising in PIM). Expect some type of continuing effort so that when the time comes for more gas tax and sales tax increases, the group won't have to reinvent the wheel.
The most overlooked group in the Minnesota story of the year so far -- passing a $6.6 billion transportation funding package into law despite GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto -- is the group that made it happen. That group is Progress in Motion. If there was a top ten list of best lobbying efforts in the last few decades, passing the transportation package this year would be near the top of the list.
Progress in Motion formed as an outgrowth of the successful 2006 "Vote Yes" effort that educated voters and got them to approve dedicating all of the sales tax on new and used cars to transportation. The group, a configuration of the Minnesota Transportation Alliance, shepherded the effort in which many other groups participated to override the veto, including the Association of Minnesota Counties, the League of Minnesota Cities, individual highway contractors, transit groups, and eventually the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. Besides these groups, however, were the various individuals around the state who lobbied specific members. These included local elected officials and key local business leaders.
While the Chamber's support was high profile, there was another sector of Minnesota's public affairs world that also deserves the spotlight, and that's agriculture. Both the Minnesota Farm Bureau and the Minnesota Farmers Union worked over legislators, as did many agricultural commodity groups. These groups delivered many of the election squeamish rural members, who know they will be supported in this fall's elections.
Herding cats does not begin to describe how much work was involved in keeping everyone together on the same bus to pass the bill and override the Governor. [Your publisher lobbied for the highway contractors in the mid-1990s and knows that keeping those guys on the same bus was worse than herding cats, even when they agreed on issues.]
Driving the bus was the Transportation Alliance's Rick Krueger. The success of Progress in Motion is a monumental career achievement for Krueger, the former DFL Rep. from Staples, former High Tech Council (now the High Tech Association), publishing and real estate executive. Not surprisingly, once the mission was accomplished, Krueger announced to his members this week that he's taking a new job, creating and heading government affairs for Global Traffic Technologies, a recent spin-off from 3M. Kudos to Krueger on a job well done and congratulations on the job ahead.
A final dynamic at play in delivering that staggering sum of $6.6 billion to state transportation coffers were the long-time relationships of those working the issue at the Capitol.
Call it "That 80s Show."
Krueger served in the House in the 1980s, as did former DFL Rep. and Bauerly Brothers Construction owner Jerry Bauerly, former DFL Rep. now lobbyist Dan Knuth (who represents Fresh Energy), former GOP Rep. Dave Bishop (who, as a citizen, helped greatly with the Rochester crowd), former GOP Rep. and now lobbyist Jim Girard (who represents Central Corridor Partnership, part of the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce) major league transit advocate Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin (DFL), former DFL Rep. and now Mayor of Staples Bruce Nelson, former DFL Rep. and now lobbyist Gerry Schoenfeld (who represents the Minnesota Biodiesel Council, the Minnesota Pork Producers Association and the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association), former GOP Rep. and now lobbyist Bill Schreiber (who represents Hennepin County, the I-494 Corridor Commission, the Metro Transitways Development Board and the Northstar Corridor Development Authority) and the and former DFL House Speaker and now lobbyist former Bob Vanasek (who represents the Minnesota Inter-County Association).
Other players from the 1980s include Ramsey County Commissioner Tony Bennett, former GOP Sen. Minority Leader Duane Benson (for GoMinnesota, which was the predecessor to the Vote Yes campaign, former head of the Citizens League Curt Johnson (for the Itasca Project), former DFL Sen. and now lobbyist Bob Tennessen (I-35W Solutions Alliance) and former DFL House staff and now lobbyist Jim Wafler (Associated General Contractors and the Minnesota Transportation Alliance). Both GOP former Govs. Arne Carlson and Al Quie publicly supported the tax increases in the bill.
It took 20 years to pass a transportation funding increase package, so don't look for all these players to go away just because they won (note that Progress in Motion is still advertising in PIM). Expect some type of continuing effort so that when the time comes for more gas tax and sales tax increases, the group won't have to reinvent the wheel.
Morning Reports
