SFA’s Annual Conference
Feb 24, 2010 Agriculture, News
The Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota held its 19th annual conference at St. Olaf College on Saturday, February 20th. SFA’s mission is to support the development and enhancement of sustainable farming systems through innovation, demonstration, education, and farmer-to-farmer networking. Mark Richie, Minnesota Secretary of State gave the keynote address “Farming 2020, A Sustainable Vision.” The conference theme was Sustainable Farming 2020: What does it look like? How do we get there? I participated in the panel discussion entitled “Ten Years On: Climate Change, Peak Oil and the Sustainable Farm.”
MN Renewable Energy Society Event
On Friday I attended the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society 30th Anniversary Gala and Fundraiser at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in St. Paul. The event Master of Ceremonies was Don Shelby from WCCO 4 News, music was provided by acoustic folk and jazzy reggae artist Michael Monroe and the food was locally grown. The keynote speaker was Paul Hawken, environmentalist and author. One of Paul’s books, Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, co-authored with Amory Lovins, was named one of the five most important books in the world by Bill Clinton. 
The purpose of the evening was to celebrate the past 30 years of accomplishments and to create progressive dialogue about the challenges we will be facing for the next thirty years. Mr. Hawken’s message centers on the ongoing movement to partner with a diversity of organizations to work together towards a sustainable, energy-secure society. An enlightening video of one of his speeches can be viewed online at FORAtv’s website.
What is a bonding bill?
Today chair of the Capital Investment committee, Rep. Alice Hausman presented the House Bonding Bill and I have been receiving e-mails about my coming vote on the bill. Most of them use a draft provided by the group Minnesota Majority. These drafts seem to confuse bonding and general fund expenditures.
I came upon a good explanation of the difference from Rep. Paul Gardner and thought I would share it with you:
A blurb about the bonding bill
Mid-February will see passage by the Minnesota House of the capital investment or “bonding” bill. I’m already getting a lot of e-mail (generated–I think–by a GOP or conservative group action alert) about the bill, so I thought it would be a good time to review what the bonding bill is.
Every two years the Legislature and Governor work on this bill to provide funding for publicly owned buildings, property, and land. In particular, state agencies have buildings or property that are in need of repair, renovation, or replacement. . . (read more)
Many writers also want to compare the state budget to their own family household budget and I found this editorial from the Winona paper really helpful in understanding the difference:
Darrell Ehrlick: State budget isn’t anything like my family’s
By Darrell Ehrlick / Winona Daily News | Posted: Sunday, February 7, 2010 12:20 am
“So, son, did you build a road today?” That’s a question Ward Cleaver never asked the Beav.
But it’s a question politicians are beginning to ask as an election year begins.
It seems that many politicians love the analogy of government’s revenue and spending plans being like a family budget.
And my response is: Government is nothing like a family budget.
Excuse me. I should say, there is a similarity: They both take money.
After that, the analogy ends. . . (read more)
Legislature considering amending law which allowed school district payments to be withheld
Work is being done on repealing the Governor’s authority to delay payments to school districts. Bills sent to the K-12 Education Finance Committee (HF 2645 and HF 2783) would preclude future governors from using a 1986 law to borrow from school districts. So far the state has used the law to borrow over $400 million from schools as an interest free loan so the state could pay its bills.
According to a February 2, 2010, article in MinnPost.com, the National Conference of State Legislatures ranked Minnesota number two in states (behind Alaska) that relied most heavily on one-time solutions for budget gaps for 2010. MinnPost reported that the loan
“was a high-stakes bet on recovery from the recession, a strategy for buying time until revenues rebounded. Now it looks like a losing bet. The revenue nightmare persists in state after state along with stubbornly high unemployment. Indeed, rather than turning around as the recession ends, the revenue plunge continues in Minnesota and most other states.”
New 2010 Constituent Survey
Feb 6, 2010 News
Please see the page called “Survey” in the sidebar to the immediate right. We’ve added a new survey. As always, Representative David Bly is glad to hear from constituents.
For your convenience, here’s the survey information:
Just print, fill in, and mail this NEW 2010 Top Issues Survey which asks for your opinion about important issues.
Tags: 2010, David Bly, Minnesota Representative, survey
$1 Billion Bonding Proposal Could Create 10,000 Jobs
Feb 6, 2010 Economy, Jobs, News
The Capital Investment Bill introduced on Thursday focuses on job creation, funding for Minnesota State colleges and universities and additional monies for buses and light rail. The HF2700 Bonding Bill Spreadsheet_1 presents a list of projects and proposed funding levels being considered. You can follow the progress of the Bill on the Minnesota House of Representatives’ website.
A Heartfelt Thanks
Feb 4, 2010 News
Thank you to everyone who attended or contributed to the fundraising event at Butler’s Steak and Ale on Saturday. It was a great success.
A stream cannot rise larger than its source.
Theodore Roosevelt
Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund Grants
Feb 3, 2010 News
Twenty-seven organizations from 12 Minnesota counties received $1,462,500 in grants for historic and cultural projects of enduring value. The Minnesota Historical Society is helping to grant wishes to dozens of historic and cultural organizations across the state. The Society announced the first 27 recipients of Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Mid-Size and Large Grants for fiscal year 2010. Each Historical and Cultural Grant project will preserve and enhance Minnesota’s cultural and historical resources. The list of the 27 projects includes $10,900 in repairs to Sigurd Olson’s cabin at Listening Point, which has been named to the National Registry.
Hunting, Fishing and Outdoor Activity Licenses Information
Feb 3, 2010 Environment, News
Information about obtaining licenses & vehicle registrations for hunting, fishing, skiing & other outdoor activities & vehicle registrations is available at the DNR’s website. Information on trends of license sales in recent years can be found near the bottom of the menu on the left.
