I believe in a society where we all have the opportunity to reach our full potential.  We may not all reach it but we should strive to create a society where such a thing is possible.  This means excepting the reality that a democracy, that economic fairness and potential don’t happen by accident.

We learned that it was possible to create such an economy when under Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration a New Deal was created for Americans.  We also know what happens when some American citizens get left behind.  Policies like Social Security, 30 year mortgage guarantee, the National Labor Relations Act and the GI Bill, made it possible for citizens to survive old age in reasonable comfort, buy a home, form a union and get a fair wage, and attend college to improve their status.

These policies helped create a middle class for thousands of Americans and a ladder up for thousands of others who wanted to make a better life for their children. In other words they created a society where opportunity was possible.

Unfortunately, it left behind domestic and agricultural workers leaving women and people of color on the wrong side of the door to opportunity.  The omission has left pockets of poverty through out our society.

The last thirty years we have seen a steady dismantling of the new deal. Protections put in place to secure opportunity for all have gradually been taken away and with them the rungs of the ladder up to the middle class have been cut for many citizens.

The American Dream is something through out our history we have strived for – some of us got there with the help of an economy that created opportunity.  Through out our history policies have been put in place to make achieving that opportunity more certain. John Adams who helped write the Massachusetts state constitution added a provision establishing a system of public education. Over the years different communities have invested in public hospitals and public health systems.

Cities, counties and states and now even the federal government have invested in roads and systems for transportation.  The Tennessee Valley Authority established a system for the production of electricity making it possible for commerce and consumption of goods to grow improving the lives of millions of ordinary citizens.

Not every country is so fortunate.  Some societies develop an economy where only a few people can realize their dreams.  They protect that opportunity with armed guards making sure masses of people beyond their gates have little or nothing.  Living in squalor and poverty they never have the chance to discover what they might accomplish given the chance.  This waste of human potential is lost to every one.

If we want to secure the ladder of opportunity for our children and grandchildren I believe there are five things we must invest in:

• Quality education for everyone
• Good Health secured by equal access to a quality health care system
• A world class transportation system available to all
• A sustainable, affordable and safe energy system
• Living wages for all working people

Education and health assure that citizens can secure and maintain their potential for success and opportunity.

Transportation and energy are the engines of the economy making sure the wheels of production continue to turn creating jobs, moving products and workers where they are needed.

Living wages represent the contract that secures the benefits of a vibrant economy are shared with all and make sure that those who want to participate in our society can reach their full potential.

This new law is a victory for individual property rights and for all Minnesotans. Fairness and respect for property owners put in extremely difficult situations has prevailed.

Previously, “public service corporations” (PSC) were exempted from Minnesota regulations and restrictions designed to protect landowners in eminent domain disputes.  This exemption has created a paradox in state law that is unfair to Minnesota property owners.

If a non-profit entity like the state government wants to use your land for a public park, you have far more protections than if a for-profit utility company wants to run a high-voltage power line through your property. In the interest of fairness to Minnesota’s property owners, we are simply holding these specific utility companies to the same standard we hold our own government.

The new law ensures that utility companies involving high-voltage transmission lines and natural gas and petroleum pipelines must pay for the attorney fees of prevailing landowners if the final award for damages in an eminent domain proceeding exceeds the last offer made by the acquiring authority by 40 percent or more.

Several other new protections include:

• Appraisal and negotiation requirements: Acquiring authority must obtain one or more appraisals before commencing an eminent domain proceeding and furnish copies to the property owner when an offer is made. Inform the property owner of the property owner’s right to obtain an appraisal, paid for by the acquiring authority, up to a maximum amount. Make a good faith attempt to negotiate personally with the property owner to acquire the property through direct purchase. Give advance notice to the property owner of its intent to use an appraisal or documentation related to loss of going concern at a condemnation commissioners’ hearing.
• Contents of notice of petition for taking: Specifies that an eminent domain notice given by an acquiring authority to a property owner must state that the taking may be challenged in person at the court hearing or by appeal within 60 days and that a court order is final unless appealed within 60 days of service of the order.
• Compensation for loss of going concern: Requires an owner of a business or trade destroyed by a taking to be compensated for loss and allows a party to appeal the amount awarded.
• Minimum compensation: Specifies that an owner forced to relocate must receive minimum damages that allow the owner to purchase a comparable property in the community.
• Limitations on condemning authority’s actions: Prohibits the acquiring authority from requiring the owner to accept as part of the compensation any substitute or replacement property, or to accept the return of any portion of the acquired property.
• Limit on relocation benefits: Provides that relocation benefits to a displaced business shall be in accord with federal regulations, but establishes a maximum of $50,000 that those regulations do not contain.
• Relocation assistance determined by administrative law judge: Allows a person rejecting the acquiring authority’s offer of relocation benefits to initiate a contested case hearing before an administrative law judge, whose decision is final.

This legislation is a direct response to the proposed CapX 2020 line that is moving forward that will affect many regions of the state. The CapX 2020 line will go from Brookings to Hampton affecting Minnesotans in Lincoln County in the west through, Scott, Rice, Dakota and Goodhue counties and points south toward the Wisconsin border.

The CapX 2020 power lines are moving forward as we speak and it’s critical we ensure that the rights of Minnesota property owners are protected.

Thanks to my constituents and all Minnesotans who spoke up about their concerns about this issue.

We never would have built the bipartisan coalition needed to pass this new law had it not been the citizens across the state who spoke up and contacted their legislators. This is a great example of our democracy in action.

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.

The Minnesota Renewable Energy Society (MRES) is a member-run non-profit organization created to promote the use of, and to engage in advocacy for, renewable energies in Minnesota through education and through the demonstration of practical applications. MRES is involved in education, awareness, and advocacy efforts for all forms of renewable energy, with a particular emphasis on solar technologies. Upcoming events can be found in their newsletter.