Terri Bonoff

Senate Budget Plan to Focus on Fairness and Saving Jobs

Senate leaders introduced their plan to fix the state’s $6.4 billion budget deficit this week. The plan includes 7%, across-the-board cuts to state spending and is balanced through 2013. The balance is primarily achieved by the $5.1 billion in cuts over the next four years. The proposal is an “umbrella” for the committees to work under as they fashion their budgets. This proposal represents shared sacrifices and is an attempt to be as fair as possible to the people who will be affected by these cuts. One should also note that not all federal recovery dollars are taken into account in the targets.

In addition to cuts, the plan from Senate leadership calls for $2 billion in new revenue in 2010-2011. Senate leaders did not specify streams of revenue; however, they indicated that they were hopeful that the Governor would provide workable revenue ideas in his supplemental budget. It is my belief that any attempt to increase revenue must be made with the recognition that many Minnesotans are struggling and unable to shoulder the load of greater taxation; moreover, we need to create an environment where our job creators are not hampered in their efforts to move our economy forward and get more Minnesotans working again.

Jobs the Focus of 2009 Bonding Bill

In the face of job losses that are crippling economic recovery efforts in Minnesota, the State Senate this week took a huge step toward reversing that trend. A job-creation package worth more than $360 million will be voted upon by the full Senate within days. The legislation creates thousands of jobs and kick-starts progress on many shovel-ready projects.

State Economist Tom Stinson, testifying before the Senate Capital Investment Committee, said that Minnesota will need more than the federal stimulus to get real economic recovery underway and get people working again. He said funding for projects that can begin almost immediately, such as repair and renovation of existing facilities, would be a positive step, and added that delaying construction for a year or two will simply delay the problem.

The legislation calls for a total of $367 million invested in projects throughout the state. Of that, $329 million will come from the state in the form of general obligation bonds, and the rest will be user-financed. The lion’s share of funding – nearly $150 million – will go for asset preservation and other improvements to higher education facilities within the University of Minnesota system and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. The bill contains several worthy projects that were passed by the Legislature in 2008 but vetoed by the Governor.

Experts estimate that this legislation will mean the creation of more than 3,600 jobs in the construction phase of these projects, and more ongoing jobs once renovations and facilities are completed. In addition, with the construction business suffering through the same slowdown plaguing the overall economy, and the prices of building materials dropping to levels not seen in many years, these projects can be completed at significant savings to Minnesota taxpayers.

Shared Services/Cooperative Purchasing

With recent figures indicating a larger-than-expected budget deficit, the need to increase efficiencies in our state operations has become all the more urgent. It was with this in mind that I introduced the Shared Services Bill(Senate File 10) for education earlier this session. The bill passed out of the Senate Finance committee on Wednesday and is headed to the floor on Monday for a vote by the full Senate.

In that same vein, I have partnered with Governor Pawlenty on another cooperative purchasing initiative, this one for local governments. This legislation(Senate File 1459) would direct cities and counties to make their purchases, when practicable and cost-effective, through the state’s cooperative purchasing venture, increasing economies of scale and reducing costs not only for local governments but for all entities that make purchases through the cooperative program.

Our state faces a daunting budget deficit, and there is no single solution to the problem. We must take this opportunity to reevaluate our operations and find opportunities to reduce costs and increase efficiencies wherever possible.

Legislative Mandate Bill Moves Forward

As the Legislature struggles with a $4.6 billion budget deficit over the next biennium, a bill to reduce mandates on counties and human services organizations was heard in the Health, Housing and Family Security Committee on March 9. The bill was the result of a working group that met last fall and into the beginning of the legislative session. The intent of the bill is to identify legislative mandates and onerous agency rules that make the work human service agencies do more difficult and less effective, thus making the delivery of such services easier and reducing costs in the long term. One such mandate reduction would relieve school districts and charter schools of the responsibility to provide health care information and assistance to students and families and instead allow the information to be provided on the school website.

Photo Cop Moves Forward

The Transportation Committee advanced legislation this week that would allow local jurisdictions to implement automated traffic enforcement systems (photo cop) at traffic signals. In 2005, Minneapolis had the photo cop system in place for nine months, resulting in a 31% decrease in traffic accidents at the monitored intersections. A lawsuit was filed and the Supreme Court ruled that photo cop was illegal because city ordinances are pre-empted by state law, which requires uniformity in traffic laws. State law holds that the driver, not the vehicle owner, must be cited for traffic offenses, unless specified otherwise. The court ruled that the city would need specification in statute that they could ticket the vehicle owner in order to legally use the photo cop system. This bill provides the statutory authority for cities to implement photo cop. Some changes have been made to the legislation to address concerns over the vehicle owner receiving the citation.

Before a citation can be issued, all images must be inspected and certified by a police officer. Citations must be issued via mail and postmarked within 21 days and include a copy of the photo image taken by the device. The vehicle owner is guilty of a petty misdemeanor unless they can provide: a police report showing that the vehicle was stolen; a lease agreement with the name/address of lessee; documentation of a title transfer; or the vehicle was an emergency vehicle. The committee also added an amendment providing that a vehicle owner may use the photo images sent to them as evidence that they were not driving the vehicle at the time of the violation. Because the committee felt that improvements were made that will help hold the actual signal violator responsible, and the photo cop system will positively affect driving behavior, the bill was re-referred to the Judiciary Committee.

Have a great weekend!

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