Remember, Remember: “Earth Hour” – March 28, 2009 – 8:30 – 9:30 PM
Mar 26, 2009 News
Just to remind everyone reading this blog about the upcoming “Earth Hour:”
Dawn Radabaugh, a concerned citizen from Northfield, passed along that on March 28, 2009, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., millions of people around the globe will be turning off the lights for one hour –“Earth Hour” – to make a bold statement about climate change. More than 50 million people switched off their lights for Earth Hour 2008. Lights went out in the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Coliseum in Rome and the Sydney Opera House. Even Google’s home page went dark for the day. Hundreds of cities have already agreed to participate in Earth Hour 2009, including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Sydney and Hong Kong.
By turning off your lights for Earth Hour, you will be symbolically:
*Urging the U.S. administration to lead the global effort to secure a strong new climate change treaty.
*Supporting global efforts to curb deforestation, the cause of nearly 20 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions worldwide.
*Supporting legislation to establish a cap-and-trade program to lower domestic greenhouse gas emissions and promote the creation of a low carbon economy through renewable energy sources and improved energy efficiency standards.
*Encouraging the development of a preparedness strategy to assess and cope with the impacts of climate change on people, regions, ecosystems and agriculture in the United States.
I am asking all the citizens of Minnesota to join Dawn and me in this ecologically friendly effort and turn off the lights for one hour. I also want to thank Dawn for bringing this to my attention and encourage all of you to take the opportunity, if you haven’t done it already, to switch to the eco-friendly fluorescent bulbs available at all your hardware stores.
Bigger than the big sky.
Mar 15, 2009 News
I first met Bill Holm in spring of 1976 when I drove 60 miles from the Molden Farm near Milan to Minneota with my friend Alan Kittelson to attend a class in Modern Scandinavian Literature.
We were a little early and Bill’s cousin Daren answered the door, and a little bashful as we entered the little white house and sat in the living room. Bill filled the room and sat on the piano bench. It wasn’t long before the other students arrived and we quickly began a discussion of Icelandic novelist Halldor Laxness.
Bill was generous funny and engaging and I experienced one of the best discussions about literature I had ever participated in with a small group of all ages interested in learning more about a remote group of writers. Now that may on the surface not seem like much but I’ve talked literature with Oxford Dons, poets, and scholars from some of our best graduate and undergraduate institutions. Bill believed passionately in the power of good literature but also believed in the intelligence of the common folk. Probably something that explains why Iceland is one of the most literate nations. It also reminds me of what another Scandinavian American I admire once said. Thorstein Veblen once said the smartest man he ever met was his father and that he learned more from him about economics and the way the world works than anyone else he had encountered.
This is I believe Bill’s unshakable belief in democracy and that when people stay close to the earth and to their understandings of how the world works locally and day to day, things go better. It’s when these slick schemers come into our communities with promises of how to get rich quick or promises that if only we gave them all kinds of breaks allowing them to move jobs elsewhere and exempt them from having to pay their share gold would rain down on us from above.
Bill wrote about the wisdom of his neighbors that came from years of working close to the earth and from using practical ways to solve problems together. Bill celebrated the everyday life of the people around him understanding their rare genius for living in harsh conditions and surviving. For the two years I taught in Milan I would wander over to Appleton Sunday mornings for church services at Gethsemane Episcopal, where Carol Bly attended regularly. Occasionally she would bring Robert along and from time to time Bill would come and play organ or harpsichord and sing the hymns from memory. This was before Bill published the “Music of Failure” to be followed by “Coming Home Crazy” and “The Heart Can be Filled Anywhere on Earth.”
Bill had an uncanny way of transforming the world around him into the world of his imagination, that is, this larger than life person was able to see those around him in that same larger than life way. It wasn’t clear as his hands skated over the black and white keys of the harpsichord that this metaphysical transformation was taking place but it was.
I think Bill mostly enjoyed the opportunity to perform and offer the occasional troublesome question. He frequently reminded me that the reason the Icelander Eric the Red had left Norway was to get away from the Christians. Again he reminded me of Veblen in his irreverence. In a 1925 translation of the Laxdala Saga Veblen describes the results of the descent of the Holy Church on to the Scandinavian peoples. Describing the shift from the Viking age he said, “Indeed the gospel of Sin and Redemption was accepted by them with alacrity and abandon would argue that they had already been bent into a suitable frame of mind . . . the fortunes of that people, from the advent of Christianity onward, swiftly tapered off into a twilight-zone of squalor, malice, and servility, with benefit of clergy.”
In his other writing just like Bill, Veblen celebrated the true heroism of the common folk who created an economy out of their toil and holding to common beliefs of the importance of community, curiosity and a tendency always to make things better.
Bill’s passion for a world that understood fairness and the common good as bulwarks against cruelty, predation and meanness of spirit; where one could enjoy good food, good literature and good music in the company of good friends will long inspire me.
In 2008 Bill was awarded the prestigious McKnight Distinguished Artist Award. You can download the booklet honoring him here.
March 7th I took the 3 and half hour drive with a couple of friends to Minneota to say goodbye to Bill. Daren was there ushering people in, it was a fitting tribute to a man with strong loyalties to his hometown and the people who live there. Bill was fond of identifying them not as Republicans or Democrats, or Lutherans or Catholics but as Icelanders. But this was also a tribute to a man of letters and a man of the world with a far reaching gaze. Someone who knew we have more to gain from accounting are likenesses than arguing about our differences. The world is a little emptier without Bill in it, but his expansive spirit is still with us in his writing and we are the richer for it. If you haven’t read him you should.
Week in Review ending March 12
Mar 15, 2009 News
AGRICULTURE AND VETERANS
The Policy committee passed veterans bills giving preferences to veteran-owned small businesses. It also passed ag bills dealing with pesticide application along railroads, classification of ag research data, and changing loan program terms.
COMMERCE & LABOR
The committee passed a bill this week (HF 866-Hosch) to create a health insurance program for all school district employees in the state.
The Labor Division passed a bill (HF 1214-Davnie) that seeks to crack down on abuses in contracts for deed and rent-to-own arrangements and it also passed a bill (HF 612-Lesch) that would require all employers in the state to offer paid sick leave to their employees. In addition is also passed a bill (HF 528-Davnie) that reforms Minnesota’s law on reverse mortgages.
EDUCATION — EARLY CHILDHOOD
The Early Childhood Committee heard the Department of Education’s policy and finance bills related to early childhood. (H.F. 1026/Slawik and H.F. 1411 (Downey).
EDUCATION — K-12 POLICY & OVERSIGHT
Under state law, in order to graduate, public high school students in the class of 2010 must score as proficient on the MCA II assessments or they must pass the GRAD exams (a subset of questions on the MCA II assessments in reading and math). There is concern that many high school students may not pass the math test and would not receive their diploma.
EDUCATION — K-12 EDUCATION FINANCE
Charter Schools — On Tuesday, the committee acted on HF 935 (Slocum). The bill represents the culmination of the House Charter School Work Group’s response to the 2008 Legislative Auditor report on charter schools.
HF 680 (Kalin, Federal stimulus funding allocated for energy programs) received a hearing and was moved to the Energy Finance Committee. The committee also heard HF 1227 (Rukavina), a bill that makes the necessary changes to Minnesota law in order to receive federal stimulus money.
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES POLICY & OVERSIGHT
On Tuesday, the Committee passed a bill (HF 42 – Thissen) to provide 145 days of Temporary MinnesotaCare coverage to involuntarily unemployed persons. People would be eligible if they had 18 months of consecutive work history, are not eligible for COBRA, have income below 275% of poverty, and do not have access to coverage through a spouse.
PENSIONS AND RETIREMENT COMMISSION
The committee heard a proposal that would merge the Minneapolis Employee Retirement Fund (a fund that is closed to new members) with the Public Employees Retirement Association.
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS, REFORM, TECHNOLOGY AND ELECTIONS
Government Operations passed the Early Voting Bill (HF 1113-Morgan) that would allow voters to cast an official ballot in person, without an excuse, up to 15 days before the election. The bill is an improvement on Minnesota’s current complex in-person, excuse required, absentee voting system.
TAXES
The Department of Revenue presented findings from the 2009 Tax Incidence Study to the Tax Committee which found that the tax system became even more regressive from 2004 to 2006, meaning that higher-income earners paid lower effective tax rates compared with lower-income earners. Tom Stinson underlined for the Tax Committee the historic nature of the drop in revenues that Minnesota has seen over the last 9 months. He stated that the $4.5 billion (or 13%) drop in revenue from the end of session to February is probably the largest in magnitude that Minnesota has ever seen.
For more information you can refer to the House website or click on the-pdf-file1
Thank You
Mar 14, 2009 News
Dear Friends,
I want to thank everyone who took the time to attend and participate in one of the town hall meetings I held in February in Northfield, Belle Plaine, Montgomery and New Prague. Hearing your views and ideas helps me represent our communities at the Capitol and it is rewarding to represent such active communities. For those of you who weren’t able to attend and have ideas, input or legislative questions or concerns, please contact me anytime. If you are ever in St. Paul, please call my office and stop by. It always makes for a better day at the Capitol when people from the District stop by.
Best Regards,
David Bly
Southern MN Initiative Foundation (SMIF)
Mar 14, 2009 News
Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) is seeking two communities that want to learn how to capitalize on the assets of new immigrants and minority populations to increase their local economies. As part of the grant, SMIF will provide up to $15,000 for community projects along with training and coaching.
SMIF’s grant uses an asset-affirming approach, called the Town Meeting Initiative (TMI), which puts a strong spotlight on collaboration, local assets, and creativity that generates long-term change. “Through TMI, we encourage communities and organizations to draw on their own assets to create change rather than looking to ‘outside experts’ for answers and assistance,” states Tim Penny, SMIF President & CEO.
SMIF believes that in order to achieve an entrepreneurial culture, we need the assets and involvement of these new populations within our region. The TMI grant provides an opportunity for communities to explore, leverage and align their existing assets to support immigrant workforce efforts and minority-owned businesses.
SMIF is looking for applications that are focused on one of the following two areas and outcomes:
New Immigrants in the Workforce – Build a collaborative community that supports full workforce involvement of new immigrants through training and employment opportunities.
Minority Entrepreneurs – Grow and/or strengthen minority-owned businesses through community based collaborative efforts.
An informational meeting about this Town Meeting Initiative grant will be held at the SMIF offices on March 19. Please register by e-mailing Teri Steckelberg at teri@smifoundation.org. After that, communities are invited to send a letter of intent by March 27 (email preferred) to Elise Davis (elised@smifoundation.org) noting the focus area(s) and reason for their interest. The Town Meeting Initiative applications are
due by April 24, 2009; selected communities will be notified by May 22, 2009.
For more information or to obtain a Town Meeting Initiative application, contact Elise Davis at 507-455-3215, or visit our website at www.smifoundation.org. Click on “Events & RFPs.”
Snapshots – Week in Review ending March 6, 2009
Mar 10, 2009 News
The Snapshot is a weekly edition to the blog. It is intended to provide constituents with a glimpse of major pieces of legislation or legislative activity that was discussed in committee(s) during the previous week. For those of you that would like more in-depth coverage of information you can refer to the House website, or read the-pdf-file-for-week-in-review-ending-mar-6-2009
Commerce & Labor Committee:
The committee passed a bill this week (HF 813 - Johnson) to address the problem in the courier and trucking industry of employees being misclassified as independent contractors. It also passed a bill (HF 819 - Atkins) that was inspired by reports of Ticketmaster taking advantage of individuals who tried to buy tickets on-line to the upcoming Bruce Springsteen concert.
The Labor & Consumer Protection Division passed a bill (HF 250 - Knuth) designed to protect children from toxic chemicals.
The Labor & Consumer Protection Division also passed a bill (HF 914 - Davnie) to crack down on abuses by payday lenders. Payday loans are small, short-term loans that, with fees and interest, have an effective APR of 300% to 400%.
Education K-12-Policy and Oversight:
The Committee passed two bills that may be of interest to members. The first (HF 935-Slocum) represents an effort to reform charter school law, in response to a 2008 Legislative Auditor’s report.
The second bill (HF 920-Tillberry) was the culmination of the efforts of the House Mandate Reductions Work Group, chaired by Rep. Tom Tillberry.
Education – K-12 Finance:
The committee heard the Governor’s K-12 Finance Bill (HF 1172-Garofalo), and also heard several bills relating to transportation issues (HF 331-Nornes), HF 875 (Hortman), HF 896 (Hortman), and HF 1256 (Mullery). In addition, the committee heard (HF 116-Ward, which modifies the Type III school bus driver qualifications), HF 314 (Mariani), which increases the compulsory dropout age from 16 to 18.
Environmental Policy and Oversight:
The Minnesota Clean Car Act (HF 690) was heard, with testimony very similar to that previously heard by the Transportation & Transit Policy & Oversight Committee.
Building Sensible Communities (HF 898). The Committee heard Rep. Hornstein’s bill, which brings together a number of unanimous recommendations from the Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group (MCCAG), all with the same goal of achieving the state’s policy of reducing greenhouse gasses by the deadlines the Legislature established in 2007.
Finance and Ways and Means:
The two committees held a joint hearing to take testimony on the February forecast. The new figures indicate the state will face a $4.6 billion shortfall for the upcoming FY 10-11 biennium. Although the economy (both the state and national) has deteriorated since the November forecast of a $4.8 billion deficit, the infusion of federal stimulus dollars actually reduced the shortfall from that forecast. However, the federal stimulus couldn’t save the FY 12-13 forecast that grew to a $5.1 billion deficit, not counting inflation (which is estimated at $1.4 billion). The federal stimulus did help the forecast for the current 08-09 biennium, which went from a $426 million shortfall to a $236 million positive balance. The 08-09 surplus also accounts for the Governor’s unallotment actions and will carry forward to the 10-11 budget.
Health and Human Services Policy and Oversight:
The Committee passed a bill (HF 419 – Davnie) to require follow-up testing for any child or another child in the residence who tests positive for elevated blood lead levels of five micrograms per deciliter or higher. It also passed another bill (HF 326 – Clark) to ban manufacturers from selling children’s products if they contain Bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical known to have hormone-disrupting effects. The Committee passed a bill (HF 286 – Clark) that would require health insurers to reimburse licensed acupuncture practitioners if the insurance policy covers acupuncture services.
The Committee also passed a bill (HF 705 – Loeffler) to require that high deductible health plans cover all preventive care without a deductible, co-payment, or other patient cost-sharing if such a health plan is to be combined with a pre-tax health savings account.
Health Care and Human Services Finance:
The Committee heard testimony from non-partisan staff about the federal stimulus bill. Staff explained that 100 percent of the federal Medicaid dollars in the stimulus package would only come to Minnesota if we were to make zero cuts to the Medicaid program – a very difficult task during this deficit. This means we will likely not receive all $1.8 billion in new federal Medicaid dollars projected in the February forecast.
Housing and Public Health:
The Committee heard a bill to appropriate $20M in nonprofit bonds to finance the rehabilitation of public housing for low-income households. It also heard a bill to appropriate $500,000 for FY 2010/11 to the heart disease and stroke prevention programs (H.F. 499, Murphy, E.). The Legislature appropriated $200,000 for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention in 2007 (H.F. 678, Murphy, E.). The funding was vetoed by the Governor, who explained in his veto message that he thought federal dollars might be available for this purpose.
Public Safety and Oversight:
The Committee heard HF 818 (Hilstrom), a bill to make it easier to discover, investigate and prosecute financial exploitation of vulnerable adults. It also heard HF 622 (Welti), a bill to create a Lifesaver Grant Program in Minnesota. The Lifesaver Program is a search and rescue program that electronically tracks participants who have autism, Down Syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease or similar disabilities that may lead to wandering.
Taxes:
The committee heard the bill that clarifies the standards used for determining whether a non-profit is eligible for a property tax exemption (HF 872, Marquart).
The Minnesota Health Act
Mar 5, 2009 Health Care, News
On Thursday March 5th I will be giving a presentation on The Minnesota Health Act. This is a single-payer health plan for all Minnesotans that I have introduced in the Legislature. We have one of the most expensive health care systems in the world and yet many people are just not able to receive the benefits of it.
Please come to this presentation to learn more about this plan and how you and your family will be affected.
The Minnesota Health Act – Presented by Rep. David Bly, Co-sponsor
Thursday, March 5th at 7:30pm
St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN
Holland Hall, Room 501
Snapshots – Week ending Feb 27, 2009
Mar 3, 2009 News
Commerce and Labor
A bill to crack down on “debt settlement providers” was passed this week by the Committee. This bill (HF 549 – Davnie) requires debt settlement providers to be certified by the Department of Commerce. It was referred to the Commerce Committee. (HF 359 – Norton) also passed that would require health plans in the state to cover treatment for autism in their insurance policies.
Civil Justice
The Committee passed two bills (HF 103 and HF 417 – Atkins).
Education – K-12 Policy and Oversight
The committee began reviewing the delete-all amendment (DE5) to (HF 935 – Slocum), which represents the culmination of the Charter School Work Group’s response to the 2008 Legislative Auditor report on charter schools.
Education Finance
The committee heard the bill (HF 195 – Norton), which would allow a school district to start before Labor Day for the next two school years. The bill passed on a voice vote and was referred to the Finance Committee.
Energy
The Energy Committee passed a bill (HF 357- Falk) to bolster the development of C-BED (Community-Based Energy Development) in the state. It also passed a bill (HF 894 – Atkins) that seeks to put pressure on the federal government to finally start accepting nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
Environment Policy and Oversight
The Committee heard Rep. Faust’s Green Acres bill, (HF 217), focusing on its environmental implications. The bill’s next stop will be the Environmental and Natural Resources Finance Committee, which will hold an informational hearing next week.
Health and Human Services
The Committee heard, but did not vote on, a bill (HF 135 – Bly) to create a single payer health care system in Minnesota. Known as the Minnesota Health Act, the bill would shift all health coverage into a single payer, public-utility style Minnesota Health Plan, funded through an equitable and affordable premium. The Minnesota Health Plan would provide comprehensive medically-necessary benefits to every resident.
The Committee passed a bill (HF 936 – Thissen) to allow the Minnesota Board on Aging to work with DEED to develop standards for a “communities for a lifetime” designation for cities and counties.
The Committee passed a bill (HF 444 – Thissen) to modify Minnesota’s state suicide prevention plan to focus more on suicide prevention among college students. Other bills passed (HF 934-Loeffler) and (HF 985 – Hayden) and (HF 448 and 449 – Mullery) also passed.
Health Care and Human Services Finance
The Committee completed its review of the Governor’s budget proposals and heard public testimony on his ideas. The Committee heard two-minute criticisms of the Governor’s health and human services ideas. To see the organizations that opposed the cuts view week-in-review-feb-23-27-2009.
Public Safety
The Committee passed the child passenger restraint bill (HF 267 – Hortman) onto the Finance Committee. This bill requires a child who is both under the age of 8 and shorter than 4 feet 9 inches tall to be fastened in a child restraint system while a passenger in a motor vehicle. It also passed (HF 755 – Simon) that addresses organized theft rings targeted at retail establishments.
The committee heard a bill that would delay the implementation of the 2008 Green Acres changes for one year. The bill passed and was sent to the Tax Committee.
Taxes
Approximately 500 people attended the Tax Committee hearing at Bloomington City Hall on Tuesday evening to share their ideas about the budget deficit. One family, especially, provided moving testimony about their son’s reliance on the SILs (Semi-Independent Living program), which the Governor proposes to cut. The parents testified that they are afraid of what will happen to their developmentally disabled, middle-aged adult son when they are gone or are no longer able to care for him. The SILs program gives them hope that he will continue to contribute to society and live with dignity. They pleaded with members to ensure that our most vulnerable citizens are protected.
