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NEWS FROM
STATE SENATOR BILL INGEBRIGTSEN
SERVING THE COUNTIES OF TODD, DOUGLAS, GRANT, AND STEVENS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JULY 6, 2010
NEW LAWS EFFECTIVE JULY 1ST
Dear Friends:
I hope everyone is having a good summer and enjoying our mild weather.
Although the Legislature has adjourned some of the laws passed during
the last session are just now scheduled to take effect. You may remember
some of these issues from previous updates. While many new laws have
already been implemented, I wanted to address a group that will be going
into effect as of July 1st.
SPECIAL SESSION BUDGET LAW: If you’ll remember, the Legislature ran
out the clock without a budget, but had an agreement which took a short
special session to finalize and pass. Special Session House File 1
balanced the budget and several of those provisions take effect July 1.
If you are a school district with a cash reserve you are winner. A
provision in the law now allows districts to retain higher levels of
cash reserves before being denied payments from the state. The
requirement that the state halt school payments before needing to incur
more debt through short-term borrowing is now also lifted.
If you are a business that was counting on a refund from overpaying
your corporate taxes or had made a capital investment in equipment
relying on the capital equipment refund promised by the state you
suffer. The payments scheduled to reimburse you in 2011 have been pushed
into at least 2012.
Doctors and hospitals will feel the pinch. The state has reduced
payment rates for doctors and professionals services by 7 percent with
the exemption of family planning services, primary care and preventative
medicine. Hospitals operating costs are periodically reassessed for
their payments from the state through a process called rebasing. The
last time rebasing was done for hospital costs was 2002. It has now been
pushed into 2013.
DISABLED VETERANS ELIGIBLE FOR FREE STATE PARK PERMIT: Another law new
this summer expands the ability to receive a state park permit to any
Minnesota veteran with any level of service-connected disability.
Minnesota already provides an annual state park permit to veterans with
total and permanent service-connected disabilities.
So get out there and enjoy all the natural beauty that Minnesota has to
offer, and thank you veterans, for your sacrifice for our freedom.
PREDATORY OFFENDER REGISTRATION: Effective July 1, predatory offenders
will be prohibited from listing homeless shelters as their primary or
secondary address, a practice that has helped some avoid registration
requirements for those who do not have a primary or secondary address.
The law also clarified that an offender’s duty to register is
reactivated when the person returns to the state after living outside
Minnesota if the offender’s registration period has not expired.
DRAWING BLOOD FOR DWI: In an effort to speed up the DWI processing, a
new law will allow more trained medical personnel to take blood for
determining the presence of alcohol, controlled or hazardous substances.
The new law expands the arena of people deemed lawful to extract blood
from DWI suspects.
BODY ART TECHNICIANS REGULATIONS: In an increasing trend to license and
regulate an ever-widening array of professions, the Legislature enacted
a set of regulations and licensing procedures complete with fee
structures, for the regulation of body art technicians and
establishments. Piercing and tattoo parlors will now be subject to a
$1,000 establishment license and each tattoo or body piercing artist
will be tagged for $100 for an individual license. Guest artists may get
a temporary license for $50. Children under the age of 18 may not
receive tattoos regardless of parental consent, although most piercings
are allowed.
BUSINESS SCREENING: Services which provide background check information
on individuals for businesses can now only provide data on “a criminal
record that reflects the complete and accurate record provided by the
source of the data.” Those businesses must update their records
provided within 90 days of their disclosure and within 30 days if they
receive information from a governmental agency.
GUARDIAN AD LITEM BOARD CREATION: The State Guardian Ad Litem Board
will be established to advocate for the best interests of children,
minor parents and incompetent adults in court. This law came about to
remedy a perceived conflict of interest between guardian ad litems which
represent the interests of the child, and the court system which pays
for and appoints the guardian ad litem.
The board will consist of seven members, four appointed by the
governor, three appointed by the Supreme Court, and one who must have
previous guardian ad litem experience. An active judge cannot serve, but
a retired one may. Registered lobbyists cannot be appointed. The
appropriation to the new board will cost just over $12 million and come
from the trial court appropriation for the guardian ad litem program.
GANG STRIKE TASK FORCE: As of July 1 any joint powers entity
established between two counties in the state with populations over
500,000 each is officially dissolved and all governing or advisory
powers are also dissolved. This law is specifically targeting the
Legislative disbanding of the Metro Gang Strike Force which was a law
enforcement entity created in the twin cities metro area which has
recently come under investigation for a myriad of improprieties. Other
parts of this law which more broadly address forfeiture will be
implemented in August of this year.
DATA PRACTICES / PRIVACY LAW: If a private citizen files a data
practices complaint against a state agency it has often meant an
extremely long and drawn out affair over a number of months or years. A
new law will speed up the process but it will still cost the party
initiating the complaint $1,000 in initial filing fee. An administrative
law judge must deliver a judgment within 30 days. If you prove your
case and “substantially” prevail you would be eligible for up to
$5,000 reimbursement of attorney fees and refunded your initial $1,000
filing fee, minus $50.
VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS DAY: After this year, every May 28 will be
recognized as Veterans of Foreign Wars Day in Minnesota. This is the
same day the Veterans of Foreign Wars was founded in 1899. The group
was chartered by Congress on May 28, 1936.
Thanks for taking the time to read my update, and please feel free to
contact me with your questions and comments.
Sincerely,
Bill
State Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen encourages and appreciates constituent
input, and can be reached at 651-297-8063, by mail at 123 State Office
Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155,
or via email at sen.bill.ingebrigtsen@senate.mn.
Bill Ingebrigtsen
State Senator
District 11
Office Phone Number
651-297-8063
NEWS FROM
STATE SENATOR BILL INGEBRIGTSEN
SERVING THE COUNTIES OF TODD, DOUGLAS, GRANT, AND STEVENS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 19, 2010
2010 LEGISLATIVE END OF SESSION REVIEW
Dear Friends:
While Monday, May 17 was the last day the legislature could meet
constitutionally, no legislation can be passed on that day. The
agreement between the Governor and Legislative leaders was close but
took extra time for fiscal staff and the revisor to prepare the bill for
action. Thus, farewell speeches of departing senators were held Sunday
afternoon and all other action completed by midnight. The governor then
called a special session for Monday to finish the final budget work.
The session-ending solution, passed in the brief special session, held
firm to no tax increases, and balanced the budget with about $800
million in total cuts. It enacted the governor’s 2009 unallotments on
a onetime basis to cover this biennium only and to pre-empt further
lawsuits. It also ratified the $1.8 billion K-12 aid payment shift that
was increased by 3% and will require payback beginning in 2011.
As part of the deal, Gov. Pawlenty agreed to approve legislation
authorizing the next governor to have the state apply for an early
expansion of Medicaid enrollment. There is also $10 million in extra
funding for General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) but no surcharge on
health care providers to pay for it. The potential $408 million in
enhanced Medicaid match funds that are anticipated--though the time of
their arrival is uncertain--would be used to bolster the state’s cash
flow. Most lawmakers were pleased that the final legislation also
guarded against cuts to nursing homes and further public safety cuts.
However, the deal didn’t provide any fundamental solutions to the long
term deficit projects and just passed the tough decisions to next
session. For this reason, I was unable to support the final solution.
A largely non-controversial education bill with broad support had a
House provision that would have allowed school boards to renew levies
expiring during the next six years without having to go back to voters.
School boards could have extended the length of the original referendum
levy and for the same dollar amount. This took away the voice and vote
of the people and I, and several members, could not support this bill. A
motion to send the bill back to conference committee was successful in
the Senate, but midnight was too close to make necessary changes to it.
Many of us spent the night in our offices. I was awakened early to work
on the final version of the bill, which was reached and passed
unanimously by the Senate. However, the House fell short of votes to
suspend the rules to allow it to be considered.
Disappointment that significant reforms resisted vigorously by
Education Minnesota were not a part of the package was probably a key
reason that the opposition could not be overcome in the House. A bill
for home school mandate relief that streamlined reporting requirements,
made less work for superintendents and school districts, and saved the
state money (over $400,000 a year)--a win-win for all--was one of the
casualties. Provisions needed by a number of individual school districts
were lost as well.
EDUCATION REFORM
A second round application for Race to the Top federal funding has
become even more unlikely. Lack of legislative commitment to reforms in
teacher and administrator evaluation to improve teacher effectiveness
linked to student achievement, plans for turning around failing schools
and providing alternative pathways to licensure without sacrificing
standards assured that the application would not be competitive.
Many of us, while supporting reforms, are not inclined to look with
favor on the federal government setting almost-impossible-to-meet
timelines and prescriptive actions in an area that is the responsibility
of the states, not the federal government. The commitment to improved
student achievement, closing the achievement gap in many of our schools,
using evidence-based, scientific research to back the policies we pursue
will continue next session.
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Much debate took place during session spurred by the behavior of the
Metro Gang Strike Force. As is often the case, one situation, occurrence
or failure of judgment leads to proposals for far-reaching changes. I
opposed many of the changes that would have severely limited the work of
many rural task forces that are doing an excellent job.
In the end policies and practices that would have greatly curtailed the
work of effective drug task forces such as the one serving our
communities were not approved. Changes that were made to forfeiture laws
and the distribution of the proceeds of sales of forfeited property
taken during drug operation arrests were still preserved. This allows
our local law enforcement agencies running operations a primary means of
funding rather than being captured by the state to relieve its budget
woes.
SOME FINAL WORDS
The pulling back of the majority leadership-developed budget solution
which passed, I believe on Saturday-the last few days have run together
as Saturday’s session ended at 6:45 a.m. on Sunday-rather than send it
to the governor for a veto and the sending back of the education bill to
conference committee, also preventing a veto, allowed this session to
end with less hostility than in other recent sessions.
The Senate majority leader ended the special session by acknowledging
the good work of Senate President Jim Metzen (DFL) and President Pro-Tem
Dennis Frederickson (R) who is retiring this year. He also pledged that
never again would the president be put in the position he was in at the
end of the last session forcing action on a major bill with only a few
minutes remaining in the session and senators calling out to be
recognized. It was pandemonium unbecoming to the institution of the
Senate with members leaving the chamber disheartened and disgusted.
Gratefully, it was not repeated this session, as time was taken for
expressions of gratitude to hardworking staff who have been working
around the clock.
I will be sending out updates on changes to legislative areas
throughout the summer. I believe this will be a better way to
comprehend the changes since it might be information overload.
I hope these updates have been of interest to you. Thank you for your
comments, ideas and questions along the way. Keep them coming!
Sincerely,
Bill
NEWS FROM
STATE SENATOR BILL INGEBRIGTSEN
SERVING THE COUNTIES OF TODD, DOUGLAS, GRANT, AND STEVENS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 17, 2010
Reducing Legislature Gets No Traction
Democratic senators pulled back from floor debate recently a bill
authored by Sen. Gen Olson (R-Minnetrista) that would have reduced the
size of the legislature by 11 senators and 22 representatives and saved
$3 million every year in compensation, fringe benefits and expenses not
paid to legislators and support staff.
Minnesota currently has the largest state Senate in the country and the
fifth largest legislature. It ranks 21st in population. After the
reduction Minnesota would tie for third largest state Senate. The House
of Representatives would rank 14th largest, and the legislature overall
would rank 13th. Each member of the legislature and one staff assistant
costs taxpayers a minimum of $124,333 annually, according to Senate
Research.
The bill would have reduced the size of the legislature from 67 to
Senators to 56. 56 Senators was chosen because it made logical sense.
The number is divisible by 7 or 8. Minnesota has 8 congressional seats
so each congressional seat would have 7 State Senators. If one seat is
lost in the census, each district would have 8.
“The bill was common sense,” said Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen (R-
Alexandria). “We are asking state agencies and local governments
across the state to cut waste and reduce spending. My Democratic
colleagues did not even want to have this debate on the floor to reduce
our own. It is hypocritical, in my opinion, to ask others to cut when
you can’t reduce your own expenses. I believe that this would have
been a perfect opportunity to lead by example.”
Along with cost savings, supporters of the plan cite improved,
simplified, and more efficient communication with constituents due to
new technology such as e-mail and Facebook for a decreasing need for the
current ratio of legislator to citizen.
“Times are tough and Minnesota families and businesses have to do
more with less. There’s no reason the legislature can’t do the same
thing,” said Olson. “I believe we are fully capable of continuing to
provide services to our constituents and to meet our lawmaking
responsibilities with fewer senators.”
Olson’s bill passed successfully through three committees and was
slated for floor debate in the Senate. Democrats, who control the Senate
determine what bills get debated and voted on, pulled the bill with no
explanation.
State Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen encourages and appreciates constituent
input, and can be reached at 651-297-8063, by mail at 123 State Office
Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155,
or via email at sen.bill.ingebrigtsen@senate.mn.
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NEWS FROM
STATE SENATOR BILL INGEBRIGTSEN
SERVING THE COUNTIES OF TODD, DOUGLAS, GRANT, AND STEVENS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 8, 2010
2010 LEGISLATIVE WEEK 13 IN REVIEW
Dear Friends:
This week the state Supreme Court ruled against Gov. Pawlenty’s use
of unallotment budget cuts that occurred last year. The high court did
not rule that unallotment was unconstitutional, but rather that it was
used in a manner that “exceeded the authority granted to the executive
branch” without a signed, balanced budget in place. It should be noted
that it is the Majority party’s responsibility to present the Governor
with a balanced budget.
Due to the original fiscal irresponsibility of the majority leadership
in both legislative bodies, Governor Pawlenty was forced to use drastic
measures to balance the budget last session. Ironically, the ones who
pushed for the lawsuit, the Democrats, are now the ones responsible for
crafting a budget solution to solve a deficit three times as large as it
was before the court’s ruling. It was easy for them to attack the
Governor on his cuts, but now it is their turn to make some tough
decisions. Negotiations are continuing on a solution, and I will update
you as they progress.
Here is an update of the legislative action at the Capitol this week.
STATE PENSIONS
The Senate passed its omnibus pensions bill this week amid much debate
focused on the general overall sustainability of the structure of the
state’s closed pension funds. In the end, roughly $137.6 million per
year in additional pension obligations will become the responsibility of
Minnesota taxpayers.
Republicans offered an amendment that would place employees hired after
July 1 in defined contribution plans. Employees and the state would
contribute to the pensions, but the state wouldn’t be obligated to
cover the retirees’ pension benefits. This is how the private sector
works today and the attempt was to bring the state up to current
realities and practices of pension structure. The amendment did see
bipartisan support before being defeated largely along party lines.
FORFEITURE LAWS
Updates were made to the state’s forfeiture laws used by law
enforcement around the state in the fight against illegal drugs. The
changes make it more difficult for law enforcement agencies to
confiscate property from those involved in drug and related criminal
activity by increasing the threshold of value of drugs found to allow
forfeiture.
For instance the previous law allowed forfeiture of property if the
value of the drugs confiscated was $25. The new threshold would raise
the threshold of value of the drugs to $100 in order for law enforcement
to confiscate an article of property. The value of drugs must now be
$400 for the confiscation of a vehicle.
Law enforcement agencies, including the Minnesota Sheriffs Association,
the Minnesota Chiefs of Police, and the Minnesota Police & Peace
Officers Association (MPPOA) generally did not support the bill. I
opposed this bill and believe this bill is an overreaction to the
problems that occurred in the Metro Gang Strike Force. A few bad apples
that were breaking the law in the Metro area should not be able to take
away all the great work all our other law enforcement communities,
especially in rural Minnesota, are doing to protect and serve
Minnesotans.
STADIUM STRUGGLES
On Monday, a bi-partisan group of legislators from greater Minnesota
unveiled a plan to finance and build a new Vikings stadium. The initial
plan carried a $527 million price tag, funded with a 1.5% surtax on area
hotels, a tax on jersey purchases, a sports-themed scratch-off game, and
an expanded tax on rental cars.
Currently, a dramatically-altered bill has been passed by the State
Government Operations and Oversight Committee after adding a
seat-licensing provision. Under the provision, fans would pay an average
of $8,000 for permanent rights to seats, with some choice spots costing
$20,000. In the House, the bill is not dead, but was defeated 10-9 by
the House state and local government operations committee.
Thanks for taking the time to read my update, and please feel free to
contact me with your questions and comments.
Sincerely,
Bill
State Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen encourages and appreciates constituent
input, and can be reached at 651-297-8063, by mail at 123 State Office
Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155,
or via email at sen.bill.ingebrigtsen@senate.mn.
NEWS FROM
STATE SENATOR BILL INGEBRIGTSEN
SERVING THE COUNTIES OF TODD, DOUGLAS, GRANT, AND STEVENS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 30, 2010
2010 LEGISLATIVE WEEK 12 IN REVIEW
Dear Friends:
Once again we had a shortened legislative week due to the state
political conventions now falling within the time allotted for
legislative action. This week the Republicans are having their
convention in Minneapolis where they will decide who will be running for
the statewide political offices.
While the week was short, we did have some important legislation. Here
is an update of the legislative action at the Capitol this week.
TRANSPORTATION
The Senate passed its omnibus transportation bill this week. Some
notable points in the bill include a provision requiring the
Commissioner of Transportation to implement a “complete streets”
policy that incorporate pedestrian and bicycle lanes for any new or
updated streets and road project receiving state funding. Also included
in the bill is the addition of a MnDOT concept called "greenification."
Designed to influence future department policy by making issues such as
climate change, and greenhouse gas emissions a consideration, it is also
likely a step in the direction of a mandate to reduce the vehicle miles
traveled, presumably through some tax or fee structure in the future.
Referred to as “don’t block the box,” another provision of the
bill would make it a ticketable offense to enter an intersection on a
green light with the intent to turn before actually being able to make
the turn because of oncoming traffic. Opponents say that in many
instances this is the only way in which motorists can complete a left
turn in extremely congested intersections.
Also, if you want a specialty license plate, this bill may have
something of interest. There are provisions for specialty license
plates recognizing retired firefighters, Armed Forces Expeditionary
Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Bronze Star, and Silver Star medal
recipients, the Red Cross, “Proud to be a Veteran,” and remembering
the victims of impaired drivers. Motorcyclists will be allowed to
display their license plate vertically with an additional $100 for a
special vertical motorcycle plate.
The Senate bill will be paired with the House version in a conference
committee to work out differences before being sent to the Governor.
CHARTER SCHOOLS
Currently charter schools are prohibited from owning their own
facilities so the mechanism many use to construct their buildings is to
finance them through a nonprofit entity called an “affiliated business
corporation” or ABCs. Legislation passed in the Senate this week puts
an end to ABCs and tightens up eligibility for lease aid from ends
start-up aid from the state. The MN Association of Charter Schools
objects to the withdrawal of the state aid in start-ups as well as the
end to the grandfather provision in current lease aid. I voted against
this measure because I believe it is too drastic and needs more work so
all stakeholders can come to a compromise.
CHILD MALTREATMENT REPORTING
Under a new law, parents or legal guardians are now required to be
notified within ten days when a child is the subject of a report of
alleged maltreatment by a teacher or employee in a school facility.
Previously only local police departments, county sheriffs, or the local
welfare agency had been required to be notified when a report was filed
or being investigated.
TEENAGERS’ AUTO INSURANCE
A new law allows minors who legally own a vehicle to now enter into a
legally binding contract to buy insurance for the vehicle. The contract
is fully binding on the minor on the same basis as if the minor were an
adult.
Thanks for taking the time to read my update, and please feel free to
contact me with your questions and comments.
Sincerely,
Bill
State Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen encourages and appreciates constituent
input, and can be reached at 651-297-8063, by mail at 123 State Office
Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155,
or via email at sen.bill.ingebrigtsen@senate.mn.
NEWS FROM
STATE SENATOR BILL INGEBRIGTSEN
SERVING THE COUNTIES OF TODD, DOUGLAS, GRANT, AND STEVENS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 23, 2010
2010 LEGISLATIVE WEEK 11 IN REVIEW
Dear Friends:
As a result of the law passed in February to move up the date of
Minnesota’s political primaries from September to August, filing dates
and all other related election filing deadlines have also been moved up
in accordance.
The state political conventions now fall within the time allotted for
legislative action. The Democratic convention is currently underway in
Duluth so we had a shortened week of work to accommodate. Next week,
the Republicans are having their convention in Minneapolis. In the
spirit of bipartisanship, we will only be in session part of next week
as well.
Here is an update of the legislative action at the Capitol this week.
GUARDIAN AD LITEMS
The Senate passed a bill that establishes a board to oversee the
operation of the guardian ad litem program in Minnesota. A guardian ad
litem is a person who has the legal authority to care for another person
that is incapable of caring for themselves. However, I had an issue
with the bill when it came to the floor because it did not require at
least one guardian ad litem to be a member of the board. I believe that
having people with first hand experience in the field is important to
have on a board that oversees the given profession. It is hard to make
decisions if you cannot relate or at least get the perspective of what
it is like on the job.
I was able to successfully add an amendment that requires at least one
current guardian ad litem to be placed on the board. This strengthens
the bill and I supported it after this change. It should be noted that
the formation of this board will not cost the taxpayers any additional
money. The funding will be shifted from the Supreme Court Budget that
currently oversees it.
INVERTED BLOCK GRANTS
The Senate passed another bill that would give further discounted
energy rates to low-income customers for the first 400 kilowatt-hours
consumed in a billing period. Currently they receive power at half the
cost for the first 300 kilowatt-hours per month.
This would be paid for by other customers on a progressively increasing
scale. Inverted block rates would act as a tax on businesses and job
creators. If a business or industry were to expand and use more energy,
it would pay significantly higher prices. This would work as a
disincentive for business growth and further discourage small business
from adding new jobs.
The intent of inverted block rates is to encourage conservation.
However, the same time this bill would also give qualifying customers a
50 percent electric rate discount on the first 400 kilowatts consumed in
a billing period, up from 300 kilowatts, effectively encouraging more
use. This is yet another shifting of cost onto our job creators, and I
oppose it.
Thanks for taking the time to read my update, and please feel free to
contact me with your questions and comments.
Sincerely,
Bill
State Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen encourages and appreciates constituent
input, and can be reached at 651-297-8063, by mail at 123 State Office
Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155,
or via email at sen.bill.ingebrigtsen@senate.mn.
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