Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report - Vol. 3, Issue 40 - 4/21/2008
Let's Call The Whole Thing Off?
You say potayto, and I say potahto. You say tomayto, and I say tomoahto...
One of the mysteries at the Capitol in recent years is this new trick where DFLers and GOPers have widely divergent views of what transpired at important meetings.
Witness how the Star Tribune's Pat Lopez captured the latest round of state budget deficit negotiations: "DFL and GOP leaders failed to agree on even what occurred when they gathered for a closed door meeting with Gov. Tim Pawlenty."
The major point of disagreement was whether to use part of the Health Care Access Fund for deficit reduction. Pawlenty wants to; DFLers do not. GOPers think it's still on the table; DFLers do not.
Here's the question for our more seasoned readers: Has it always been like this? Is your GOP publisher wrong in thinking that disagreement about what was agreed to is a new trick? On Sunday's "At Issue," KSTP's Tom Hauser posed that question. Former DFL Asst. Maj. Leader Ember Reichgott Junge thinks this is the way it's always been.
Please do email your thoughts to sarah@politicsinminnesota.com. Feedback remains anonymous unless agreed to...which is agreement the old fashioned way...agreement.
New Respect For A Czech
Former DFL House Speaker Bob Vanasek has been appointed Honorary Counsel for the Czech Republic for Minnesota, Iowa and North and South Dakota. The job entails coordinating cultural events and official visits of Czech dignitaries traveling to Minnesota. The appointment is a thrill for Vanasek and a reflection of his many years working to maintain a strong working relationship with the Czech Republic. As Speaker in 1990, Vanasek spearheaded the visit of President Alexander Dubcek and helped set up the Dubcek Scholarship Fund at the U of M.
Capitol habitués should be apprised of the proper protocol dictated by Vanasek's new position: One should bow or curtsy as a sign of respect before an Honorary Counsel. We're betting Vanasek better get used to blushing. Also, Vanasek will reportedly be holding regular office hours at the Glockenspiel bar and restaurant on West 7th in St. Paul.
New PIM Feature
Publisher's Note: This week's report is longer than usual in large part because we've added a new feature: A Q&A session with a Minnesota blogger. This week we feature Aaron Brown, who writes at Minnesota Brown. Faithful PIM Morning Report readers will note that we've been linking to Brown's blog frequently the last few months. That means Brown has been hitting PIM's threshold for linking to blog posts. Our blog selections must be well-written and contain new news or insightful analysis relevant to the political conversation.
You'll find PIM's Peter Bartz-Gallagher's interview with Brown at the end of this report. Bartz-Gallagher, by the way, is our point man in winnowing out blog posts and he does an extraordinary job separating the wheat from the chaff. This is no small feat, since the current estimate is that one in ten Americans now writes a blog!
Police Memory Of Mass Mobile Moment Proven Mutable; Bike Protester Videos Defeat City In RNC-Linked Court Battle
Last week, the city of Minneapolis lost its battle with the Critical Mass bike protesters in court. Last August, the Minneapolis police arrested nineteen bike riders near Loring Park, and several riders ultimately faced serious charges. [Two cases are still pending.] Gus Ganley, a U of M student, faced the gross misdemeanors of assaulting a police officer and obstructing legal process with force, and the misdemeanor charge of fleeing an officer. Ganley's defense, provided free by the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and assisted by Communities United Against Police Brutality, ultimately won the day based upon the variety of video clips collected by witnesses on the scene. Minneapolis police officer Craig Williams testified that Ganley tried to strike him, but defense attorney Jordan Kushner showed the videos which proved that Ganley never did. [NLG attorney Carla Magnuson also defended Ganley.] The jury retired for ten minutes, asked to see the video again, and threw out all the charges.
While the incident attracted a lot of media attention last fall, the city's defeat in court has gotten little ink (except from Katrina Plotz at the Daily Planet). The case revealed that the police had convened a task force to monitor the bike ride, and intelligence officers in an unmarked squad car, a State Patrol helicopter and observers from Ramsey County were involved, ostensibly because some protest organizers from the 'RNC Welcoming Committee' were on the ride and supposedly "potential property damage or assaultive behavior" was likely, according to police testimony. As writer and witness Steve Marsh memorably put it, "Last night was a full-on dress rehearsal for the RNC. Both by the cowboys and the Indians." The problem for the cowboys is that the Indians plan to have video cameras, which means the police reports had darn well better reflect reality. If the protest organizers and the city administrations don't get it together and organize protest permits amiably, it's going to get messy this fall.
Oh, we almost forgot. Naturally, some of the videos are on YouTube! (here and here are a couple.)
Abortion And Gestational Carrier Arrangements... "Kind Of A Stretch"
Every session brings a new twist in the ideological war between pro life and pro choice factions. This year it's "gestational carrier and assisted reproduction" legislation.
The Senate passed it (SF 2965/HF 3448) on a 42-25 roll call vote, with Sens. Ann Rest (DFL-New Hope), LeRoy Stumpf (DFL-Plummer), and Jim Vickerman (DFL-Tracey) voting against the bill with the rest of the GOP caucus.
The legislation, carried by Sen. Linda Higgins (DFL-Minneapolis), would reform the state's rules on the contracts surrounding surrogate pregnancies. In 1982, Minnesota codified in vitro fertilization, but the law hasn't kept up with new medical fertility techniques. The bill essentially replaces "artificial insemination" with "assisted reproduction" and generally changes the language of what's now dubbed 'third-party reproduction legislation' to be much more gender-neutral. The new law would firmly establish that surrogates aren't parents, and most importantly prevent surrogates from demanding custody in court. It also would forbid surrogates from using their own eggs, so surrogates won't give birth to genetically related children -- thus preventing the charge of 'baby selling.' Of course, surrogate pregnancies are already happening in Minnesota, but this law simply regulates who the intended parents are to be. Assisted reproduction legislation (SF 2662/HF 3449) was added to the bill by Higgins.
Sen. Chris Gerlach (R-Apple Valley) led floor debate into the context of abortion, moving to insert "A term of gestational carrier contract that requires the gestational carrier to terminate the pregnancy is void and unenforceable."
Higgins responded, "The woman, the gestational carrier, has control over her own body. That's the right that all women have but the intended parents cannot contractually either require or prevent an abortion. You cannot give that constitutional right under Roe v. Wade away." The amendment failed on a 29-35 roll call vote.
Rep. Kathy Tingelstad (R-Andover), author of the companion legislation in the House, said Senators who tried to make gestational carrier legislation an abortion issue during floor debate on Thursday were likely attempting to get roll call votes to use during campaign season. Tingelstad expects the bill to be debated within the next two weeks; Tingelstad's 100% pro life rating from MCCL might encourage fellow caucus members to support her legislation. But Rep. Bud Nornes (R-Fergus Falls), who also has a 100% pro life voting record from MCCL, struck himself from the list of bill authors.
Both caucuses try to find bills that differentiate the ideals of their party, Tingelstad said, and there are few bills this Session that can draw out these ideological roll call votes. "It was kind of a stretch," Tingelstad said, "But Sen. Higgins handled it well, because abortion is outside the scope of this legislation."
Resolve, the National Infertility Association said an unusual split has formed between the two main pro life groups, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) and the Minnesota Family Council (MFC). Evidently, MCCL is fine with this proposal, but MFC doesn't like it. Possibly, conservatives are unhappy that the term 'parent' replaces 'father' in law, which would give further legal footing for gay families to have children via surrogates, without any court entanglements. Currently, MFC's website has a Virginia lesbian couple's custody battle as a breaking story, so it's pretty clear where their avid interest lies.
[A random addendum: Why does the MCCL's PAC site promote with huge headlines the unfortunate withdrawal of Fred Thompson from the GOP presidential race?!]
Vic's Video Vending: DFLers Demonstrate Acumen In Delivering Metro Cable Show
PIM stopped by room G-13 at the State Capitol to find out about "Capitol Conversations," a show supported by the Senate DFL Caucus and produced by Vic Thorstenson. The show is broadcast on Metro Cable Channel 6 on Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. Thorstenson, who used to lay out the original PIM newsletter with his son, back in the day, told us about his classic venture in public access TV called "Twin Cities Tonight," which featured public policy discussion from inside a fishing boat in front of a green screen, with rubber fish periodically chucked through the shot. Notable guests included former DFL House Speaker Dee Long and a pre-gubernatorial Independent Jesse Ventura. Thorstenson went on to serve as committee administrator for Health & Human Services Finance Division under Rep. Lee Greenfield (DFL-Minneapolis) when MinnesotaCare was created.
Hosted by Sen. Tarryl Clark (DFL-St. Cloud), the new show will be produced through the end of this session, and eventually should have an episode with most metro DFL senators. Sen. Ann Rest (DFL-New Hope) finished her episode done Wednesday. Thorstenson said he spent more on lighting than he did on the two cameras, and with "fairly good throughput" can produce a DVD within an hour. The studio is tucked into Capitol room 224, with an appropriately senatorial bookshelf and interchangeable banners for backdrops. While it's a partisan project, nothing about it is campaign-oriented. The Senate GOP caucus has counterpart video gear, but they don't seem too interested in getting programs on public access TV.
Where can you catch the episodes? Thorstenson has a pretty modern outlet: he posts the videos onto Archive.org, the giant Internet archive site. He also has posted various press conferences there, as well. He appreciates the low-channel-number regional public access mandate the Legislature created in 1988, which is something that makes the cable companies quite unhappy. [Comcast is leaning hard to shut down public access in places like Indiana.]
Back on "Twin Cities Tonight," Thorstenson bet his producer that no one was watching out there, and to prove it, he held up a $20 bill and demanded someone call in to win it. No one called, but it was still a "rollicking good time" to have Ventura spar with Wayne Cox over license tab fees. Senatorial TV production might be a bit more decorous, but perhaps they should try chucking in some rubber fish when things get too wonky.
"Bussing, Flushing And Planning": Met Council At A Crossroads
Once again, there's a perennial proposal (HF 2662/SF 2605)
to create staggered Met Council terms (retaining some Council members after the
Governor who appointed them leaves office), and all the functions of the
Council seemed to be on the table at the House floor last Wednesday.
Should its members be elected? Is it a villain, an unelected
bureaucracy with unchecked taxing powers? Is it an instrument of
socialized planning, or a pawn of a right-wing governor? For DFLers, whether or not Pawlenty's
Council can advocate a regional transit system has become the key
question; the Senate still has to confirm some members this
session. The GOP's Council view seems to divide along regional
lines.
PIM talked with several legislators looking critically at the Met Council, especially since what chairman Peter Bell called his "number one" priority, the St. Paul light rail line, got vetoed. Sen. Kathy Saltzman (DFL-Woodbury), Reps. Neil Peterson (R-Bloomington), Sandra Peterson (DFL-New Hope), Mark Buesgens (R-Jordan) and Frank Hornstein (DFL-Minneapolis) each gave PIM quite
a different view about the generally overlooked metro super-agency.
Saltzman and Sandra Peterson are carrying different versions of the
staggered terms bill.
Who supports staggering? We heard support came from metro cities
and counties, but mainly the cities. Saltzman said staggering would
provide "a little independence" to work with
local communities and the region. With more continuity between
governorships, the Council could better focus on developing good
regional policy. Saltzman's
proposal enters effect in 2009, while the current House version starts
after re-apportionment in 2013.
The Central Corridor "is too important to
pawn," and everyone wants to be partners in
getting it on track again, she said. Her proposal has strong
bipartisan support (GOP Sens. Chris Gerlach (R-Apple Valley) and Geoff Michel (R-Edina) have signed on), and it feels like a modest and responsible reform, she said.
The House version might stick in
the gubernatorial craw, a DFLer thought: members would be removed not
at "the pleasure of the governor," and instead only with cause. There's
concern this defeats the Council's purpose: isn't it really an arm of
the governor's office?
Neil Peterson became the Met
Council District 5 member under then-Gov. Arne Carlson; it was his
"exit strategy" from the office of Bloomington mayor. He lost his
spot when Ted Mondale took over, wielding a free hand from then-Gov. Jesse Ventura
to fill the Council with "good people" from all sides, Peterson said.
He supports staggered terms; staff would operate more smoothly. Even as a chair changes, the staff really
doesn't. He said that it's overwhelming to become a new member, and
when everyone's new, what he dubbed the "large operating utility"
suffers. Staggering is "not going to change" the three big functions:
bussing, flushing, and planning.
Peterson said it's "not a
villain"; it's "an easy villain to chase. Everyone loves a villain."
The
Council needs its supposedly "unaccountable" taxing authority in order
to issue AAA bonds and buy
big items like buses. "Woodbury's not complaining" about Council
policies, said Peterson; the
Council is "only a threat to the outlying suburbs." It would be "chaos
without it," bringing disorganized low-density sprawl. Forming a
long-term
development plan is beyond the ability of individual townships to deal
with. "It's like that movie... lions, and tigers, and bears, oh no..."
You don't find out the wizard isn't evil until the end, he joked. Even
though its members are obscure, "Good people are on there... [They]
work as a
team."
If elected, it would be as polarized as the House, he said. Minneapolis would send three DFLers, he predicted, and they
would "serve for life!" Peterson figured he could win his old seat exclusively
with Bloomington votes. It might become parochial because "you dance
with who brought you." His old seat
is vacant: with low pay and no benefits, no one wants to work his
old job!
Frank Hornstein, who Gov.
Ventura appointed to the Council in 2000, supports the staggered terms
proposal, and proposed direct elections last year. Staggering is "better than the status quo, marginally" but it's still
an "unaccountable system." A council of governments or direct elections (like Portland's Metro, motto: "People places. Open spaces.")
would be much better. Having an entirely gubernatorial group without
policy differences doesn't work: it's too diverse an agency to be
exclusively "under a thumb of a governor."
Hornstein wants to have hearings about the Council along with Sen. Scott Dibble (DFL-Minneapolis) on the Legislative Commission on Metropolitan Government
next year. Through the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability,
which Hornstein co-founded, the "closest thing to a Met Council
watchdog" has been able to pull a few votes around through organizing.
"Why would obscurity be a good thing?" he asks. He
thinks that members are not accountable enough to their districts, with
"little constituent service," partly because "no one knows who they
are." Having Annette Meeks
represent an inner-city Minneapolis district is "in itself a case
study" of why the Council is "dysfunctional." Needing a new joint
powers board for the metro sales tax is an
"indictment of the current structure," and involved Council conflict.
The Central Corridor rebuff is an "earthquake," Hornstein said, proof
positive
it's not working; it "casts a
pall over the reputation of the Met Council" as a truly independent
agency, bringing demands for accountability.
The Council has to unite the region -- the alternative
is "more competing fiefdoms," he said. The DFL's new transportation plan could build a
regional rail system in place in 12 years, but now that's in jeopardy
if the Council can't implement the policy, Hornstein concluded.
Mark Buesgens comes from an
exurban sector which seems most interested in being left alone by the St. Paul agency. His frustrations started when
he was on the Jordan City Council and had to obtain go-aheads from the Council. It's an "unnecessary
layer" which the Legislature uses to "shield themselves" from tough
decisions, he says. The Council's functions seem redundant: transit
should be handled by MnDOT and the Legislature's committees; likewise parks should be handled by the DNR and committees.
Local governments can plan and cooperate among themselves,
and the Council isn't needed to settle disputes. He's
concerned about the staggered terms, since members are supposed to be
beholden to an elected official. He also doesn't like restricting their dismissal to
"for cause." With staggering, you'll likely get "a partisan body" where
the vote count matters, not a "harmonious" Council.
Sandra Peterson said that the Council needs
more attention and staggered terms. "There are too many silos
in the legislative process" and state agencies like DNR to operate without the Council. "We're here five months" and there's not
enough time for it, she said. While staggering might create a little
partisanship, the staff always facilitates policy work. "We need both voices,"
and it should be possible to reach consensus relatively easily.
Peterson learned a legislative lesson: the
first time, her bill got shot down on in
committee, and she had to go around to the Senate to get things going
again. Also, changing the staggering date to start after
reapportionment made people more comfortable.
Peterson had three conclusions: Not enough people pay attention to the
Council; some people don't think it's necessary at all, which surprised
her; a lot of people want a direct election process. Peterson felt
that a bipartisan task force should evaluate the Council, and recommend what should be done,
including perhaps expanding it.
Bits & Pieces
Big rallies at the Capitol have been few and far between this year, which made last week's rally by those supporting long-term senior care funding notable. The Rotunda event happened under the aegis of 'The Long-Term Care Imperative,' which is 'a legislative collaboration between Care Providers of Minnesota and the Minnesota Health & Housing Alliance.' Looking on, we saw former PIM co-publisher Blois Olson from Tunheim Partners, which is running public relations for the Imperative. With so many supporters, we agreed with Blois that the rally was quite a success.
Judge Pamela Alexander has been named president of the Council on Crime and Justice. Alexander, a University of Minnesota Law School graduate, was appointed to the Hennepin County District Court in 1983, the youngest judge ever appointed in Minnesota. The Council on Crime and Justice is a non-profit organization committed to addresses the causes and consequences of crime and violence.
The Independence Party of Minnesota has endorsed David Dillon in his run for Congress in Minnesota's 3rd District. The political newcomer hopes the 3rd district's changing political atmosphere will mean a victory for a third-party candidate.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced the appointments of Christopher Georgacas and Mark Mishek to the Board of Directors of ClearWay Minnesota. Georgacas is currently president and CEO of Goff & Howard, Inc. and Mishek has served as president of United Hospital since 2003. ClearWay Minnesota, formed after the historic $6.1 billion tobacco settlement, is an independent, non-profit organization which looks to reduce the human and economic harms of tobacco use. The Governor also appointed three new members to the Governor's Residence Council, the organization responsible for restoration of the Governor's Mansion. The thee appointees are Mary Shafer, a design project manager with Target, Susan Larson, a doctoral degree candidate at UC Berkely, and Cindy Werner, a White Bear realtor who is also certified by the National Trust for Historical Preservation. The four year terms will expire in January 2012. In other appointments; Dr. Robert Daschner and Dr. Howard Fidler were named to the Board of Chiropractic Examiners. Daschner of Waseca, the owner of Waseca Family Chiropractic Center and Fidler, of St. Louis, who served on U.S. Rep Jim Ramstad's (R-MN) and Sen. Norm Coleman's (R-MN) Health Care Advisory Committees, will serve four-year terms expiring in January 2012.
The Minneapolis/St. Paul 2008 Host Committee launched another feature on their website, the "Who Knew?" section featuring Minnesota trivia. The site is designed to help those who have never been to the Twin Cities discover what we have to offer. Behind New York, Chicago, and L.A., what city has the most active jazz scene? Minneapolis/St. Paul! Who knew?
2010 is still a couple of election cycles out but that isn't stopping Bloomington City Council member Steve Elkins. Elkins has already thrown his name in to challenge incumbent Geoff Michel (R-Edina). Elkins plans to seek the DFL endorsement for his run against Michel. A formal announcement is forthcoming.
Looking for a way to stay sharp this summer? Try attending or even teaching a free class through the Experimental College of the Twin Cities. Classes start June 16th, and can be taught on anything, anywhere in the Twin Cities. To learn more about starting or attending a class visit excotc.org or call 651-212-0727.
PIM Blogger Q&A With Aaron Brown Of Minnesota Brown
by Peter Bartz-Gallagher
Politics in Minnesota: Your blog presents the Iron Range as a place of particular pride and nobility - how would you say the character of the Range defines its political motivations? How politically involved is the average citizen?
Aaron Brown: The Iron Range culture grew under a set of unique circumstances – geographic isolation, vast mineral and timber wealth extracted by distant owners, resulting labor unrest and widespread immigration just two or three generations ago. The result has been a very resilient, opinionated people who remain difficult to categorize. You’ll find plenty of Iron Rangers who love guns and unlimited state funding for K-12 education with equal fervor, which is very much a modern political rarity. Of course, that unusual political mix is much easier to achieve in a place where the median income is below the state average and society is rather distrustful of material wealth (thus, less concerned about the top tier of the income tax than other areas).
The average Iron Ranger votes much more regularly than in other areas. Our voter turnout percentage ranges from 80 to 90 percent in most local towns. However, I see fewer candidates for small town and county elections and an absolute drop off in civic club participation. Those days as we knew them might be fading. I do the blog as a way of trying to keep the Iron Range tradition alive in the Internet age. I think my generation of Iron Rangers will one day feel the fire in the belly to reverse some of these trends, but probably not the same way their parents and grandparents perceived civic engagement.
PIM: Your piece on the aesthetics of the Iron Range was great. I love the idea of the landscape of an area as a metaphor for its personality. You say that 'junk defines the Range, and that's not all bad.' Could you describe how the landscape of the Range differs from other places in rural America?
AB: I left the Range at age 18 to go to college in eastern Iowa. I loved the river bluffs of eastern Iowa and how the small towns seemed to shimmer on the horizon. But after a few months I found myself telling pretty girls about the taconite process and the IRRRB, I suppose to impress them...to little avail, and I missed the hard edges of my homeland. Our red landscape was carved in its entirety by people working for laborers' wages and you still see haul trucks crossing the sunrise in the eastern sky. It's not traditionally pretty but it is deeply striking and, to me, inspiring. I think people are supposed to connect with a land.
PIM: How would you characterize the relationship between the Range and urban Minnesota, particularly as related to politics at the Capitol? What are your feelings about the political representation of the Range in St. Paul?
AB: Well, the Iron Range has elected DFLers reliably since the end of the 'nonpartisan' legislature and it's been a very long time since a Republican-aligned candidate has won in the central Mesabi (it was during the Eisenhower administration, to the best of my knowledge). The wider chasm has been, and remains, between the suburbs and the Iron Range. Fundamentally, that comes down to the vastly different roles that government plays in suburban and Range societies. The primary philosophy of the Pawlenty administration and suburban conservatives has been that the state should do as little as possible on education funding and LGA, relying on property taxes to pay for what the state doesn’t. The idea is that local citizens can keep better tabs on their city councils and school boards than the state legislature. Not a bad idea on paper, but in practice it fails to recognize the vastly different property values that exist across the state. As I pointed out in a recent post, the Iron Range operates off of taconite taxes as a vast portion of our local government funding. This isn't extra money. The mines don't pay property taxes because doing so would put them out of business during lean years. Meantime, houses here are worth half their equivalent in desirable metro communities.
On our legislative representation, well, I have my biases. I have been involved with local DFL politics on and off since I was 16. Freshman Rep. Tom Anzelc has become a close friend and I ran his 2006 campaign. I served on Tony Sertich's first campaign in 2000 and believe he’ll be moving up in DFL politics. He and I are still usually the youngest people at some meetings up north. And I know all the rest to varying degrees. As a delegation, they have both great strengths and weaknesses. The strengths include their incredible ability to marshal seniority, unity and passion into legislative action. The weaknesses are more related to how things 'have always been done' on the Iron Range than to specific failings of the delegation. There is a sense on the Range that we are always in perpetual battle with outside forces, which makes for some tough-skinned, sharp tongued politicians. But so long as we're always street fighting it’s hard to step back and look at the big picture – how investing our public dollars differently could yield better results in the long run. I don’t mean to use a broad brush, but that's just my observation having been both inside and well outside 'the room.'
PIM: Speaking of legislators, what's your take on the Governor's bonding bill vetoes and back-and-forth with Rep. Sertich--is there a rift between urban MN projects and rural interests?
AB: Any rift is very old and built into the complex demography of our state; the needs of these respective areas are just so different. The Range actually did better in the bonding bill than I thought we would. We got the money to do the infrastructure for Minnesota Steel near Nashwauk – which is a huge, historic project – and to mitigate flood dangers at a mine pit near Bovey. Several community projects, especially those in Tony Sertich's district, got nipped though and I don’t doubt there was a political motivation. But that’s not surprising. Bonding bills send state money to legislative districts. That's like flypaper for politics. What’s really unfortunate about the governor's dust-up with Tony Sertich is that Tony is probably the most reasonable negotiator on the Iron Range bench. For the governor to single him out for attack sent the message that there would be no good faith negotiation. I think that's a real shame and completely contrary to how governors like Arne Carlson and the great Rudy Perpich did business, especially on bonding projects. But hey, that’s politics. We'll get 'em next time. [Ed. note, MPR reports a Friday morning update to the dust-up]
PIM: Another Range project--mesothelioma research. Some of the funding debate turned on the idea that money from the general workers' comp fund wouldn't be well spent on such a narrow project benefiting a small region. Would you say Iron Range interests relate to Minnesota at large? Do they fit in to a more holistic ideal of Minnesota public affairs or is the Range a different animal than the rest of the state?
AB: Well, I just heard that they cut a deal on the mesothelioma research Thursday that has the state paying for it but not out of the workers’ comp fund. And that's a deal that favors the Iron Range. The reason lawmakers were eying the workers’ comp fund at all was solely because time was a factor in getting the study started and that was, for a time, the only revenue available. This is a big win for the Range and a credit to the governor, who was facing a real firestorm up here if he hadn’t agreed to negotiate something.
To get to your point, however, the Iron Range has always been an important and often misunderstood component of Minnesota's economy. Our mining revenue has not only funded our local communities and schools, but it's built Duluth as a major port city and solidified the financial sectors of the Twin Cities back in the early twentieth Century. We are still generating massive amounts of iron and forest products, might soon produce steel and other mineral products, and continue to produce educated professionals in key industrial, technical and medical fields. We’re becoming increasingly tied to the global economy because of our natural resources, both mineral and renewable. As the cultural isolation that held us back continues to fade because of better media and transportation the Iron Range and northern Minnesota is going to become an even more important part of the state’s consciousness. The transition is happening right now and it is both rough and exciting.
Lobbyist Watch
From the Minnesota Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure Board:
Morning Reports
