Pubdate: Sat, 12 Apr 2014
Source: Forum, The  (Fargo, ND)
Copyright: 2014 Forum Communications Co.
Contact:  http://www.in-forum.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/991
Author: Don Davis, Forum News Service
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - U.S.)

MINNESOTA LEGISLATURE TAKES A BREAK WITH MUCH DONE, MUCH LEFT

ST. PAUL - The looks on Minnesota legislators' faces before they 
began a holiday break told the story: They are tired.

The 201 legislators put in long hours the past couple of weeks 
debating and initially passing pretty much every major bill of the 
2014 session, often going well after dark just as spring presents 
Minnesotans with longer days.

When asked about what would happen after the Legislature returns on 
April 22 following an Easter-Passover break, Rep. Dan Schoen, D-St. 
Paul Park, showed the exhaustion common to many as the House was 
adjourning Thursday night.

"My mind is not even there," Schoen said. "My mind is so tired, I 
can't even think straight."

After pausing, he came up with a few issues he thinks need to pass, 
then added that some bills lawmakers already passed may need to be 
revisited because "in our tired, weary minds, we may have missed 
something that should be fixed."

It is a different type of year for the Legislature. It came into 
session Feb. 25, later than most years, and lawmakers are trying to 
cram in more work than often occurs the year after a state budget is produced.

Lawmakers will have less than four weeks after the holiday break to 
finish their work before the constitutional deadline of May 19.

Days after the session began, lawmakers passed a bill providing 
financial aid to Minnesotans with problems paying for heat during the 
intense winter. They also approved $443 million of tax breaks.

Two other major issues are set to take effect. One requires local 
school districts to write policies to prevent bullying or the state 
will force them to follow one it prepares. The other issue that has 
been decided is a higher minimum wage, which in three years will be 
$9.50 an hour for big businesses and $7.75 for smaller ones.

Otherwise, the House and Senate have passed differing versions of the 
major bills, such as one tweaking a $39 billion, two-year budget 
passed last year. Lawmakers dumped nearly all spending bills, and 
some that do not involve money, into the one massive bill.

Like most other remaining issues, the budget bills the House and 
Senate passed are different. Negotiators from both houses will sit 
down after the break and begin reconciling them, then sending them 
back for final votes.

One significant bill has passed the House, but not the Senate: a plan 
to move women toward equality within the workplace.

Two hot-topic bills remain short of House and Senate votes.

Generally getting the spotlight in even-year sessions has been a bill 
funding public works projects around the state. In the House this 
year, it is a nearly $1 billion bill, funded both by borrowing money 
with state bond sales and some cash. It is close to a full House 
vote, but the Senate measure will not be unveiled until soon after 
the break ends.

Legislative leaders already agreed to spend $850 million, but many 
Democrats say they want to go higher. If so, they need Republican 
votes because Democrats alone do not have enough members to pass a 
bonding bill. Republicans are not eager to accept a higher figure.

The other big issue awaiting a decision is whether to allow 
marijuana, or an extract from the plant, to be made available to 
seriously ill Minnesotans, such as children suffering from seizures 
and cancer patients in great pain.

"We are trying to find ways to come to a solution," said House 
Speaker Paul Thissen, D-Minneapolis, but a compromise is needed with 
police and medical groups opposed to the medical marijuana plan.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, D-Cook, gave the issue a kick ahead 
when he ordered a committee hearing on the bill, similar to one 
stalled in a House committee. There was no vote, but supporters say 
that if leaders allow the bill to proceed after returning to St. 
Paul, there are enough votes to pass it.

The question then would be if Gov. Mark Dayton would sign a bill that 
does not meet his main requirement: support from law enforcement and 
medical communities.

[sidebar]

List of Unresolved Issues Legislators Face After Break

ST. PAUL - The 2014 Minnesota Legislature is on an Easter-Passover 
recess, due to return April 22 to take up a number of unresolved issues.

Many of the major issues have passed at least one house of the 
Legislature, some have passed both houses in differing forms so 
negotiations will continue and a few are yet to be considered.

Bonding

Gov. Mark Dayton proposed spending about $1 billion on new 
construction and repair work, money mostly obtained by the state 
selling bonds. The House and Senate are looking at borrowing about 
$850 million, with additional cash from a state budget surplus. The 
House has a bill in play and senators likely will introduce their 
bonding bill soon after returning to St. Paul.

Budget

Minnesota lawmakers and Dayton last year approved a $39 billion, 
two-year budget. The House and Senate have passed differing versions 
of a bill to tweak the budget and negotiators will work out 
differences after the recess.

Bullying

Legislative Democrats passed, with a few Republican votes, a bill 
that Dayton signed just before the recess to require school districts 
to adopt strong anti-bullying policies. If a district does not 
comply, it will have to follow a state policy.

Constitutional amendments

No constitutional amendments have made much progress so far this 
year, but Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, D-Cook, wants one that 
would require a super majority of legislators to approve putting an 
amendment in front of voters. Now, a simple majority is needed.

Construction zones

Provisions have been folded into larger bills to outlaw mobile 
telephone use and increase speeding fines in highway construction 
zones. They have yet to receive final approval.

Elections

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie established an online voter 
registration process last year, but many legislators say he does not 
have that authority. Bills approving online registration are progressing.

Gender equality

Ways to improve women's pay and other aspects of their lives are 
being considered. The House passed its version, with the Senate 
expected to take it up after break. The fact that women earn less 
than men in the same jobs is a prime topic.

Home health

The House and Senate passed budget bills that include increasing home 
health care funding 5 percent.

Legislative offices

Committees provided final approval for a new Senate office building 
across the street north of the Capitol, so construction could begin 
this summer. However, a lawsuit against the building remains to be settled.

Medical marijuana

Allowing some Minnesota patients to use marijuana to relieve extreme 
pain has been debated, but stalled in a House committee after the 
governor expressed misgivings because law enforcement and medical 
groups oppose it. A Senate committee heard testimony on it just 
before the break, but will not vote until after legislators return to St. Paul.

Minimum wage

Legislative leaders negotiated a compromise to raise the state 
minimum wage to $9.50 an hour in three years for large businesses and 
$7.75 for small ones, then allow it to rise automatically up to 2.5 
percent a year to stay abreast with inflation. It will be law in time 
for the first step of the raise to begin in August.

Payday loans

Religious and other groups want to clamp down on payday lenders that 
they say charge high interest rates and take advantage of poor 
Minnesotans. The issue has been debated in committees, but not in the 
full House and Senate.

Propane

Right out of the chute, lawmakers approved increased funding to aid 
homeowners with problems paying for propane to heat their homes after 
a shortage brought on high prices. However, long-term solutions to 
propane price volatility have not moved forward.

Sex offenders

A federal judge says the Legislature must change the state's sex 
offender program. If not, he could take control of it. Legislators 
have made little progress toward agreeing on how to deal with the situation.

Synthetic drugs

Bills making synthetic drugs, items such as bath salts, more 
difficult to buy and to educate Minnesotans about their dangers have 
progressed and the House approved its bill. A Senate bill awaits a vote.

Taxes

Legislators approved two tax-cut bills, with the second portion 
awaiting negotiations after the break. The bills cut income taxes and 
property taxes and overturn some sales taxes enacted a year ago.

Transportation funding

A move to raise gasoline taxes appears to have failed, but some money 
was found for pothole repair and highway work in the state budget surplus.

Transportation safety

A series of transportation accidents and spills of crude oil, mostly 
from western North Dakota, prompted House and Senate transportation 
finance committee chairmen to propose a fee on oil transportation to 
fund improved training and better equipment for emergency personnel. 
The plans are included in an overall budget bill that remains to be negotiated.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom