Terri Bonoff

Hearing from Constituents
It was a lively week at the Capitol, as many organizations held their annual “days on the hill” to provide their members and supporters a chance to visit the Capitol and share with legislators their priorities for the 2009 legislative session. I was glad to have the opportunity to visit with members of the Service Employees International Union and hear their comments on the Shared Services initiative being forwarded by myself and Governor Pawlenty to increase efficiencies in our schools and drive more dollars into the classroom. Their comments underscored the importance of reaching out to those serving in the districts, learning from their years of experience. I appreciated hearing from them. We also had visits from bankers, bikers, doctors and advocates for the disabled this week, all here to make their voices heard in state government.

In that same vein, The Senate Finance Committee is working with the House Ways and Means and Finance Committees to put together hearings around the state to present the Governor's budget and solicit feedback from the public. The Senate District 43 meeting will be held on February 26th, 6:30 p.m., at Plymouth City Hall, 3400 Plymouth Blvd.

Legislative Auditor’s Report on QComp Inconclusive
A Legislative Auditor’s report released on Feb. 3 indicated insufficient data to determine if QComp was directly enhancing student achievement, recommending that the Minnesota Department of Education establish a better application and review process for the program. The report, requested by the Legislative Audit Commission, was presented in the Senate’s E-12 Budget Division. The report also noted that large school districts, such as those I represent, were the dominant participants in the four-year-old program, and that small districts struggled to set up the teacher pay/staff development initiative. Given how early we are in the process of implementing QComp, the inconclusive findings of the report highlight the need for accurate indicators of student growth that will allow us to determine the efficacy of the QComp program.

Transportation Committee Advances Child Safety Legislation
This week, the Transportation Committee passed a bill which would require appropriate child passenger restraints for children traveling in motor vehicles in Minnesota who are both under the age of eight and less than four foot nine inches tall.  Current law only requires passenger restraints for children under the age of four.  Research has shown that adult seat belts do not properly fit and protect children under the age of eight.  Minnesota is one of only six states in the nation that has not upgraded their laws to reflect this knowledge.

Child passenger restraints reduce the risk of injury in automobile crashes by 59%.  The risk of death is reduced by 28% if a child is properly restrained.  In most cases, an appropriate child passenger restraint for these children would be a booster seat, which retails for under $20.  There are also programs available to assist low-income families obtain these seats.

The family of Brynn Duncan, an eight-year-old girl who was paralyzed last summer in an automobile accident, testified before the committee.  They encouraged that this bill be passed, for if such a law would have been on the books, they would have ensured Brynn would have had a booster seat available for riding in her grandmother’s car.  They do not want other children to suffer from these preventable injuries or other families to experience such tragedies.

Law enforcement also spoke in favor of this bill.  They said parents turn to the law for safety guidance.  In this case, Minnesota law does not reflect best safety practices and should be updated to better educate the public.  They also said that this law would not be punitive, as anyone ticketed for a violation could have the citation dismissed if they purchased a child passenger restraint within 14 days.

Recognizing the lives that could be saved and the injuries that could be prevented, the Transportation Committee passed this bill on a unanimous vote.  It will next be considered by the Finance Committee.

Healthy Children’s Products
On Monday, the Healthy Children’s Products Bill was heard by a joint committee of the Senate Health, Housing and Family Security and the Environment committees.  The bill seeks to prohibit Bisphenol-A from children’s products, such as sippy cups, infant formula cans, baby bottles, toys, and scented baby products.  Bisphenol-A is a chemical that is used to harden plastics and has been shown in animal laboratory tests to act as a hormone disruptor that mimics estrogen and can result in abnormalities of the male reproductive tract, heart disease, prostate cancer, miscarriages, and diabetes.

This bill passed the Senate last year, but was vetoed by Gov. Pawlenty.  One change from last year’s bill is a phase-out, with the first phase-out for children’s products by Jan. 1, 2010, and the second phase-out for infant formula cans by Jan. 1, 2013.  The bill is controversial because BPA is one of the most studied chemicals on the market today.  It has been phased-out of children’s products in Japan and Canada.  Wal-Mart and Toys R Us no longer carry BPA products.  The FDA recently issued a statement that products containing BPA do NOT pose a risk to human health, however their scientific advisor admonished them for not doing a thorough review of the available research.  Dr. John Peterson Myers, founder and CEO of Environmental Health Sciences, said that of all the government-funded studies, 93% show harm from BPA, while of the industry-funded studies, none have shown harm.

Joint Transportation Committee Reviews Report on Mn/DOT Efficiency
The joint House and Senate Transportation committees met this week to hear a report from Mn/DOT’s Strategic Operations and Management Task Force.  This bi-partisan, bi-cameral task force was established in the 2008 Transportation Funding Bill to determine how the department could most effectively and efficiently use its taxpayer resources.  Legislators, along with representatives from labor, business, academia, Mn/DOT, and the Metropolitan Council served on this task force.

The task force developed several recommendations on how to improve efficiency in the department and improve project management, recommending a formal structural improvement process in the area of cost accounting. The task force also recommended that Mn/DOT identify the best practices of the design-build process and determine when they could be used in other projects, implementing pilot projects for innovative project execution. Representatives from Mn/DOT stated their commitment to implementing these recommendations as well as other improvements.

Thank you to those who participated last night in the Plymouth Town Hall Meeting. Representative Anderson and I appreciated the opportunity to speak with you and hear your concerns and suggestions. They are vital as we determine our future path.

Have a great weekend,