Over the past several months I have brought you 30 conversations dealing with our current economic situation.  I invited guests from a variety of backgrounds to come and talk with me about how our economy works, how we ended up in a deep recession and how we might get out of it.  In addition I had guests who described from their perspective what they were experiencing and what was happening at various levels of state and local government to deal with the economic slow down.

I hope you found this series of conversations interesting and useful.  I have enjoyed the opportunity to share with you some of my thoughts and to learn a long with you as my guests enlightened us.  Thanks to Jeff Johnson at KYMN radio for allowing me to purchase the time for the program and for the help of his staff in production.  Although there are many guests I would like to continue this conversation with I have decided to make this my final program in the series for now and rather than inviting another guest I thought I might use this half hour to review some of things I learned and my guests shared with us.  To serve as a kind of index should you want to go back and review.  I will keep the programs archived on my website and if you wish to revisit them or if you haven’t heard one and would like to you can do that by  locating the programs on the Economy Talk page.

I began the series with Dr. E. David Emery, Professor of economics at St. Olaf College.  I had heard a presentation by Dr. Emery explaining what had happened to our economy and what the prospects for recovery were.  He drew upon the work of Hyman Minsky, professor of economics at Washington University in St. Louis and described what has come to be known in many circles as a “Minsky moment. “

He explained that, Minsky proposed theories linking financial market fragility, in the normal life cycle of an economy, with speculative investment bubbles common to financial markets. Minsky claimed that in prosperous times, when corporate cash flow rises beyond what is needed to pay off debt, a speculative euphoria develops, and soon thereafter debts exceed what borrowers can pay off from their incoming revenues, which in turn produces a financial crisis. As a result of such speculative borrowing bubbles, banks and lenders tighten credit availability, even to companies that can afford loans, and the economy subsequently contracts. It all sounded familiar.

This slow movement of the financial system from stability to fragility, followed by crisis, which he described became as known as the “Minsky moment”.

Minsky offered very good insights in the ’60s and ’70s when linkages between the financial markets and the economy were not as well understood as they are now. He showed us that financial markets could move frequently to excess. And he underscored the importance of the Federal Reserve as a lender of last resort.

Disagreeing with many mainstream economists of the day, Minsky argued that these swings, and the booms and busts that can accompany them, are inevitable in a so-called free market economy – unless government steps in to control them, through regulation, central bank action and other tools. Such mechanisms Minsky pointed out did in fact come into existence in response to crises such as the Panic of 1907 and the Great Depression. Minsky strongly opposed the deregulation that characterized the 1980s.

A good explanation of this can also be found in John Cassidy’s book How Markets Fail, but the short version of his theory that Dr. Emery described is that many of us operate under the assumption that markets are stable or can self stabilize if left alone.  Minsky’s idea was that markets are not stable and have a way of creating environments where investors believe they are acting rationally but because they operate in an irrational system little of what they do is rational when seen from a broader perspective.  This creates the potential for financial bubbles or what are for a period economic booms that people assume are the new reality but when the actual reality reveals that this is not so the bubble bursts with a loss of all that was gained.  Dr. Emery explained that this event was a result of years of unregulated banking fraud and wishful thinking related to the housing boom and other investment speculation (which is really money created by computer key stroke).  The result was a chain reaction across the globe of bank failures and pension and investment losses, which will take years to recover from.  The shock of these losses created a Tsunami of job losses across the private sector, which is now spreading across the public sector as lost tax revenues force governments to shrink their budgets.

Policy makers initially responded by bailing out banks and other crucial industries as well as infrastructure spending to stave of some job losses.  At the federal level this increased deficit spending that had begun in the Bush years to cover the cost of two wars and the Bush tax cuts.

In my second and third programs I talked with another St. Olaf professor Steve Soderlund who expressed concern about the knee jerk response of wanting to cut spending to reduce the debts created by the decline in tax revenue.  This means that we abandon the future for our children as we cut school budgets or the programs that support children and families in the early years.  It is very difficult after all to go back and provide what is needed to young people once they have become adults.  We may well end up leaving them not only with a mountain of debt but far fewer resources to earn the income to pay down the debt.  It seems a better plan would be to deal with the slowing economy first and concentrate on the debt once the economy is working again.

Another economist and friend of Dr. Emery’s, Tor Dahl made just that point when he talked about his idea of a growth economy and how for the last twenty to thirty years our economy had been underperforming and we would not be having conversations about taxes and debt if the economy were only growing at a rate similar to Singapore or Brazil.  He believes this has much to do with a focus on short term planning and too much emphasis on quality as opposed to productivity.  Productivity is where growth comes from and he believes you can get quality from focusing on productivity but not the other way around.  He seemed to imply that managers seemed too cautious and not bold or imaginative enough to move the economy forward. It was a fascinating conversation for me and gave me the sense that there was reason to hope for our economic future we those who have the power to move the economy could be bolder and plan more long term. I had Tor on a second time and he shared his research on what kind of political leadership had produced the best conditions for economic growth and hands down his data showed it was liberal or Democratic administrations or legislatures.

An economic summit at St. Olaf gave the chance to interview a friend from my college days Deborah Arnie Arneson who held office in the New Hampshire legislature, ran for governor there and has become a radio personality.  She had emceed the various forums on campus that week and was kind enough to share some of her insights on what was talked about at the forum.  She also shared a touching story about her elderly aunt and our health care system.

I also had the chance to visit with a couple of local businessmen Karl Vohs and Bob Ciernia who talked about their business and how they were fairing and what strategies they were using.

Local Arts Guild director Ann Mosey shared with me work that she and Dean Kjerland had been doing along with a number of others to advance the arts as vehicle for economic growth in our community.  She described the efforts that brought together local farmers and artists to create River Walk Market Fair, which just recently completed its second successful year and is now moving to a year round venue.

I talked with Regi Marroquin-Haslett who started the Mainstreet project assisting local latinos in establishing agripreneurs that is local fariming and food distribution enterprises. Creating new markets and entrepreneurs who successfully contribute to our community.

As the legislative session was in full swing and eventually moved into a government shut down and special session I interviewed several state legislators to get a read on what was happening.  Rep. Rick Hansen, Terry Morrow, Tina Liebling, and Sen.  John Marty all shared their insights on the struggles at the Capitol.

I supplemented their discussions with some floor speeches by Rep. Ann Lenchewski former tax chair and some one who truly understands tax issues at the state and local level.  I followed that up with local CPA and tax consultant Leota Goodney who gave a more local perspective on tax law and policy.

University of Minnesota Economics Prof. Richard Levins talked with me about growing income inequality over the last 30 years and the problems this created for our ability to pull out of the current recession and how it related to the problem.  The change in regulatory policies and the decline of unions were huge factors in the change from the period when it seemed our economy could spread the growth and productivity gains across our society benefiting everyone.  Our current situation has seen those at the top regain their footing and continue to do very well at the same time folks further down the income scale struggle to get by and see their wealth continue to diminish.  Continuing to ignore this growing divide will only slow the recovery and may in the end force us to become more like a banana republic with out a middle class.  I had Dr. Levins on a second time and we talked some about a recent book, “The Spirit Level“, which further described the dangers of an unequal society.  Our economy used to work for everyone what was causing it to fail?  Dr. Levins has written about it in a little book called Getting America Back to Work and mentioned my work on saving the middle class.  To help us move away from the politics we seem to have fallen into where we have a winner take all attitude among some super wealthy players in our economy, who want to regulate and restrict what access most citizens have to their government while they are completely unrestricted in what they can do and take from the system.  Things like the Supreme Court’s “Citizens United Decision“, which money into speech, essentially protecting fraud by insisting that citizens have the right to hear all sides and must be trusted to determine the truth.  Essentially allowing corporations or anyone with massive amounts of money to buy elections and politicians.

During the legislative debates about cutting spending an interview with local therapist Dan Dimick got me thinking about how and why we provide for those most vulnerable around us and some in our society seem to have lost the social contract that seemed to be a common assumption.  A belief perhaps best summed up by former Sen. Humphrey who argued that we are judged as a civilization for how we provide for those who are in the shadows of life, the poor, the sick and the elderly.  It is through government that we are able to meet their needs and provide comfort by asking those who have done very well to contribute to caring for those who through little fault of their own struggle in our society.

I did two programs dealing with how we might improve our health care system and as a result improve our economy.  In the legislature along with Sen. John Marty I introduced the Minnesota Health Plan, a single payer plan, which would reduce the costs of insurance at the same time making sure every citizen in Minnesota had access to health care.  Joan and Steve Janusz have been working with the Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition to build support for this policy.  They have become very knowledgeable about our health system and talked about how it compares to health care in France where their daughter lives and they recently returned from a visit.

I also, shared with listeners an interview with Dr. William Hsiao, a Harvard expert on the economics of health care and the primary architect of the newly passed Vermont single payer plan.  His research and plan – project great savings and improved access for the citizens of Vermont and an added bonus predicts it will bring jobs and employers to that state.

Nan Madden joined me on the program to share her research on the Minnesota budget process and the effect of spending cuts on Minnesota’s non profits who are often in a position to deliver many of the services the State of Minnesota decides are important for citizens. These services often provide vulnerable Minnesotans with care and comfort they would be unlikely to get elsewhere and is funded through grants and allocations of funds directly to these organizations that are able to deliver the services in efficient and cost effective ways.

Carleton Economist Martha Paas, a macroeconomist who teaches courses in economic history, the history of economic thought, and the economics of the arts.

Shared her thoughts on what is happening to the economy.

She attributes the Causes of our recent deficit spending to Defense spending that has doubled in the last 10 years largely due to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; the Bush tax cuts; and of course The Recession.

She believes shrinking government will not solve the problem. By 2015, half of all government spending will be dedicated to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Social Security is solvent for now, and there is time to make fiscally responsible reforms. Containing health care costs is the real issue.

Prof. Paas says the U.S. is not going broke. It’s not a problem as long as the federal debt, now at $14 trillion, doesn’t grow faster than our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Our debt to GDP ratio is currently 37th in the world.

The philosophy of Trickle down economics has not worked. The income inequality gap is wider than at any time in our nation’s history.  This is not simply a social justice issue. There are sound economic reasons to reverse this trend.

She does not see Inflation as a real danger. The recovery is more important at this point in time than guarding against inflationary forces. She believes investing in infrastructure and clean energy creating jobs not cutting spending will turn things around for the US. Policy decisions must be based on hard evidence and argues that much of what passes for economic thinking is ideology passing for truth and slogans for facts. We should look to the data and our economic history and the path it shows us to take to find our way out of a difficult situation.

Jennifer Labovitz grew up in Northfield and is the daughter of Carleton Economist Bob Will.  She didn’t pursue a career in economics nor in the field of criminal justice but found herself learning a lot about both subjects as chair of the Council on Crime & Justice an organization that works for social justice and to draw attention to concerns and needs of those who make there way through our criminal justice system.  She shared with me a chart that shows that the US is the worlds number one jailer.  We pride ourselves as a nation valuing individual freedom but a combination of no tolerance policies and the tendancy to seek the ultimate punishment for non-violent crimes means that we tend to lock up many of our citizens.

We talked about the economic issues this creates for our society as we spend increasing dollars on keeping non-violent criminals locked up and are forced to cut spending on education and health care.  In addition we touched briefly on the difficulty of individuals who have paid their debt to society and now must support themselves in an economy that is increasingly unfriendly to them.  The increased use of background checks and the competition for jobs with increasing numbers of unemployed workers makes their assimilation back in to society even harder.

I followed that interview with two interviews about school funding as the Northfield School district was forced to ask for additional funds from local tax payers.  Don Hill former teacher and union president has worked for many years to increase spending on k-12 education and to get the state legislature to realize that they can’t just continue to rely on local property tax payers to fund our much needed education system.

And Rep. Mindy Greiling, former chair of the MN House education finance committee shared with me her insights about the current legislative impasse and her efforts to put  in place a more equitable funding system for education.  She also cleared up some misinformation being spread across the state by the current education chair.

I have been doing a lot of reading about the economy and how we got into this mess and often made references to some of my readings in the interviews.  But I was struck by one writer who had expressed concerns about our economic and political system that really rang true to me and predicted the collapse several years before it happened.  John Ralston Saul is a Canadian whose book the Unconscious Civilizationcompelled me to call him and see if he would be willing to talk about some of his ideas and what is happening with the Occupy Wall street movement.  When I contacted him I did not realize all of Saul’s background.  He is President of the International PEN association, the organization that attempts to protect freedom of speech and writers who are harassed by oppressive governments. His wife is the former Governor General of Canada.  He has won awards for his novels and acclaim for his books commenting on current political and economic events in the world, US and Canada.

Mr. Saul shared with me his ideas about the corrosive effect of corporatism and its attack on democracy.  He sees the Citizen’s United decision by the US Supreme court establishing Corporations as citizens as part of rational extension from Mussolini who was a 20^th century advocate of corporatism.  He also linked the progression of Corporatist thinking to Globalization, which has little regard for citizens and national governments.  He said he was impressed with the efforts of the Occupy movement to try to reawaken citizen activism and indicated felt they were doing a good job of pointing out the problem of corporate influence on political and economic institutions.  Mr. Saul is able to avoid many of the right left and or Republcian Democratic arguments by bringing a very different perspective to the recent economic and political events.  He echoed some of what economist Tor Dahl had said in our current corporate system ruled by managers anxious to protect what they have in privelege and advantage are unable to provide the economic growth we truly need.  I highly recommend his series of books which also advocate for a more balanced view of how function as individuals in society. He believes strongly that government is the one way individuals can express themselves in the political sphere and they have an obligation to do so.  He also believes that protection of the public space and public institutions are crucial for preserving our democracy and corporatism and privatization are bent on destroying both.

My friends from the Minnesota Jobs Now Coalition Kris Jacobs and Kevin Ristau shared with me their most recent research on the job situation in Minnesota.  They have long advocated that an increase in the minimum wage would go along way in improving the demand side of our economic equation, an important concept when the economy is in slow down mode.  If we want to be able to get people working we have to get money into more people’s pockets.  It reminded me of what Utah banker, Mariner Eccles said before a Senate committee when trying to help them develop policies to help America find its way through the depression.   “Contrary to what you have been hearing cutting government spending would only make matters worse.  We have a situation where there is too much money in too few hands and the only way to correct the situation is for the government to step up and put people to work any way it can.”  I also asked Jacobs and Ristau about a recent proposal by Georgia Professor William Darity to revive and expand the civilian conservation corps and attempt to get us back to full employment.  They made it clear that without a clear jobs program putting people back to work it would be even harder to solve the debt problem our nation has.  We have two problems they said the debt and jobs It matters which we one we solve first because it will assist in the other.  We must create jobs and put people back to work.

Finally, I was joined by Carleton student Rebekah Frumkin who talked with me about her play “Security’ about the Enron scandal as Greek tragedy and also about her involvement with both the Occupy Chicago and Occupy Minnesota movements.  It was refreshing to get her perspective on the economy and our future.  You can listen to all of these programs archived on the KYMN Radio website on the Economy Talk page or you can visit the Economy talk page on this website to listen to interviews in an mp3 format.

This is my final program for the time being I expect to be spending time finishing up my book on how to save the middle class and will be busy promoting it.  It should be published soon as an e-book. I also will soon be hitting the campaign trail to run for the newly reapportioned Mn House district in hopes of once again representing Northfield and surrounding townships in the state legislature.  If you have questions about any of the programs in the series or my future pursuits you can contact me via e-mail at david@davidbly.com  It has been a pleasure sharing this time with you and I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have.

1. New Show David Emery                                     2. Economy Talk Steve Soderlund 

3. Economy Talk Steve Soderlund2                  4. Economy Talk Tor Dahl1

5. Economy Talk Reginaldo Haslett-Maroquin   6. Economy Talk Arnie Arneson

7. Economy Talk Karl Vohs                                  8. Economy Talk Ann Mosey

9. Economy Talk Rep. Lenczewski                  10. Economy Talk Leota Goodney

11. Economy Talk Rick Hansen                         12. Economy Talk Terry Morrow

13. Economy Talk Dick Levins1                         14. Economy Talk John Marty

15. Economy Talk DanDimick                           16. Economy Talk Bob Ciernia

17.Economy Talk Joan-Steve-Janusz            18. Economy Talk Nan Madden

19. Economy Talk RepTinaLiebling                20. Economy Talk  Martha Paas

21. Economy Talk Jennifer Labovitz              22. Economy Talk DonHill

23. William Hsiao                                                    24. Economy Talk Tor Dahl2

25. Economy Talk Levins2                                   26. Economy Talk Rukavina

27. Mindy Greiling                                                   28. John Ralston Saul

29. Kris Jacobs and Kevin Ristau                   30. Rebekah Frumkin  

Program Summary

My guest for this coming Wednesday’s installment of Economy Talk is Dr. Richard A. Levins, author, lecturer and Emeritus Professor of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota.  Dr. Levins has been doing a lot of thinking about the middle class and he is working with me on a re-write of my book, The Middle Class Amendment (If you haven’t read the first booklet click on the title.  You can check out Levins publishing here and read some of his commentaries.  We talk about the prospects for the middle class and size up what’s happening with the Occupy Wall Street movement.  If you have suggestions or comments for either Dr. Levins or myself contact me.  So e-mail me at david@davidbly.com and tune in Wed. October 12th at 6pm for an interesting discussion on KYMN radio 1080AM or listen on line here.  The archive is posted here.  You can join the movement to call for a Middle Class Amendment by joining my facebook page here.

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.

Those of you interested in some coverage of the proceedings of the Special Session might find these comments by Rep. Rick Hansen interesting:

It is 3:10 pm and we have convened into special session.  124 members are present.   The Majority has moved a recess to the call of the chair.  The following bills have been posted as of convening.

We are in recess.

The pension bill has now been posted.

$20 MILLION IN BONDING FOR TRANSIT

Just learned the details:  ”

“To the Metropolitan Council or for the Council to grant to Anoka County Regional Railroad Authority, Dakota County, Dakota County Regional Railroad Authority, Hennepin County, Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority, Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority or Washington County Regional Railroad Authority to perform environmental studies, preliminary engineering, acquire property or an interest in property, design or construct transitway facilities and infrastructure, including roadways, for the following transitway projects: Northstar Ramsey station, Gateway (I-94 East) corridor, Minneapolis Interchange facility, Red Rock corridor Newport park and ride and station, Rush Line corridor, Robert Street corridor, 35W South Bus Rapid Transit and Cedar Avenue Bus Rapid Transit.”

It is 5:30 pm and we have not reconvened.  Rumors are there are not the votes in the majority to pass the bill in the Senate.

EXAMPLE OF POLICY IN ENV BILL

Sec. 31. COORDINATION OF MINNESOTA AND WISCONSIN PHOSPHORUS

89.8STANDARD; LAKE PEPIN.

89.9The commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency shall coordinate with the

89.10Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in establishing a phosphorus standard for

89.11Lake Pepin and shall advocate implementation of a phosphorus standard that considers

89.12nutrient impacts on algal growth applicable during the June to September growing season

89.13only. If necessary, the commissioner may engage in a conference with the Wisconsin

89.14Department of Natural Resources according to section 103 of the Clean Water Act, United

89.15States Code, title 33, section 1253, to resolve any discrepancies in the states’ respective

89.16standards.

The Environment Finance bill is 132 pages long.  There is a lot of policy that was added to it.  Here is a link to the bill.

The following are some of the policy provisions that may be of concern:

LAKE PEPIN

Sec. 31. COORDINATION OF MINNESOTA AND WISCONSIN PHOSPHORUS

89.8STANDARD; LAKE PEPIN.

89.9The commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency shall coordinate with the

89.10Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in establishing a phosphorus standard for

89.11Lake Pepin and shall advocate implementation of a phosphorus standard that considers

89.12nutrient impacts on algal growth applicable during the June to September growing season

89.13only. If necessary, the commissioner may engage in a conference with the Wisconsin

89.14Department of Natural Resources according to section 103 of the Clean Water Act, United

89.15States Code, title 33, section 1253, to resolve any discrepancies in the states’ respective

89.16standards.

WOLVES

Sec. 51. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 97B.645, subdivision 9, is amended to read:

114.10    Subd. 9. Open season. There shall be no open season for gray wolves for five years

114.11until after the gray wolf is delisted under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973.

114.12After that time, the commissioner may prescribe open seasons and restrictions for taking

114.13gray wolves but must provide opportunity for public comment.

FEEDLOTS

Sec. 21. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 116.07, subdivision 7c, is amended to read:

81.28    Subd. 7c. NPDES feedlot permitting requirements. (a) The agency must issue

81.29national pollutant discharge elimination system permits for feedlots with 1,000 animal

81.30units or more and that meet the definition of a “concentrated animal feeding operation” in

81.31Code of Federal Regulations, title 40, section 122.23, only as required by federal law. The

81.32issuance of national pollutant discharge elimination system permits for feedlots must be

81.33based on the following:

82.1(1) a permit for a newly constructed or expanded animal feedlot that is identified as a

82.2priority by the commissioner, using criteria established under paragraph (d) in effect on

82.3January 1, 2010, must be issued as an individual permit;

82.4(2) after January 1, 2001, an existing feedlot that is identified as a priority by the

82.5commissioner, using criteria established under paragraph (e) in effect on January 1, 2010,

82.6must be issued as an individual permit; and

82.7(3) the agency must issue a general national pollutant discharge elimination system

82.8permit, if required, for animal feedlots that are not identified under clause (1) or (2).

82.9(b) Prior to the issuance of a general national pollutant discharge elimination system

82.10permit for a category of animal feedlot facility permittees, the agency must hold at least

82.11one public hearing on the permit issuance.

82.12(c) To the extent practicable, the agency must include a public notice and comment

82.13period for an individual national pollutant discharge elimination system permit concurrent

82.14with any public notice and comment for:

82.15(1) the purpose of environmental review of the same facility under chapter 116D; or

82.16(2) the purpose of obtaining a conditional use permit from a local unit of government

82.17where the local government unit is the responsible governmental unit for purposes of

82.18environmental review under chapter 116D.

82.19(d) The commissioner, in consultation with the Feedlot and Manure Management

82.20Advisory Committee, created under section 17.136, and other interested parties must

82.21develop criteria for determining whether an individual national pollutant discharge

82.22elimination system permit is required under paragraph (a), clause (1). The criteria must

82.23be based on proximity to waters of the state, facility design, and other site-specific

82.24environmental factors.

82.25(e) The commissioner, in consultation with the Feedlot and Manure Management

82.26Advisory Committee, created under section 17.136, and other interested parties must

82.27develop criteria for determining whether an individual national pollutant discharge

82.28elimination system permit is required for an existing animal feedlot, under paragraph

82.29(a), clause (2). The criteria must be based on violations and other compliance problems

82.30at the facility.

82.31(f) The commissioner, in consultation with the Feedlot and Manure Management

82.32Advisory Committee, created under section 17.136, and other interested parties must

82.33develop criteria for determining when an individual national pollutant discharge

82.34elimination system permit is transferred from individual to general permit status.

82.35(g) Notwithstanding the provisions in paragraph (a), until January 1, 2001, the

82.36commissioner may issue an individual national pollutant discharge elimination system

83.1permit for an animal feedlot. After the general permit is issued and the criteria under

83.2paragraphs (d) and (e) are developed, individual permits issued pursuant to this paragraph

83.3that do not fit the criteria for an individual permit under the applicable provisions of

83.4paragraph (d) or (e) must be transferred to general permit status.

83.5(h) The commissioner, in consultation with the Feedlot and Manure Management

83.6Advisory Committee, created under section 17.136, and other interested parties must

83.7develop criteria for determining which feedlots are required to apply for and obtain a

83.8national pollutant discharge elimination system permit and which feedlots are required

83.9to apply for and obtain a state disposal system permit based upon the actual or potential

83.10to discharge A feedlot owner may choose to apply for a national pollutant discharge

83.11elimination system permit even if the feedlot is not required by federal law to have a

83.12national pollutant discharge elimination system permit.

At 6:34 pm we reconvened.  An urgency was declared and we are bringing up the Transportation bill.

HF 2 TRANSPORTATION BILL

It was debated for about 8 minutes.  Beard, then Hornstein and Morrow spoke.  Passed 71 – 56.  I voted no.

HF 4  HIGHER EDUCATION

An urgency declared on voice vote.  Rep. Nornes is explaining the bill.  Then Morrow rebuts.  Passed 71 – 57.  I voted no at about 6:56 pm

SF 1 PUBLIC SAFETY JUDICIARY

An urgency declared on voice vote.  Rep. Cornish is explaining the bill.  Smith follows up on Judiciary portion.  Mullery rebuts.  Rep. Sheldon Johnson follows.  Passed 77 – 51.  I voted no.

SF 3  ENVIRONMENT

An urgency declared on voice vote.  Rep. McNamara is explaining the bill.  Rep. Wagenius follows.  I followed describing the bill being 126 pages plus repealers.  I encouraged members to pick-up a copy of this bill (and others).  The policy starts on pages 66.  Sixty pages of policy.  Nineteen days of shutdown and 22,000 folks out of work and the last few days have been spent debating policy in this and other bills.  The wrong priorities.  I encouraged a no vote.  Passed 71 – 57.  I voted no.

The TAX BILL was just posted on-line at 7:11 PM:  http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/ss2011/11-3671.htm  The summary is not available.

SF 2 JOBS & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

An urgency declared on a voice vote.  Rep. Gunther presents the bill.  Rep. Anzelc’s responded.  Rep. Clark and Rep. Mary Murphy followed.  Passed 76 – 50. I voted no.

Rep. Deans move a recess until 8:45 PM.  Rules committee will meet and there will be caucuses.

8:45 pm.  We have just been informed via email that session will reconvene at 9:30 pm.  Several bills have yet to be posted.

The bonding bill has now been posted: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/ss2011/11-3675.htm

Education and Human Services have yet to be posted and they will be hundreds of pages.

9:35 pm.  We have reconvened.

HF 20  TAX BILL

An urgency was declared on a voice vote.  The bill has been public a little over two hours.  I voted no.  Rep. Davids is presenting the bill.  This bill includes the tobacco securitization for operating funds.  Rep. Thissen gave a response highlighting the problems.  Rep. Davids and Loon have responded.  It looks like there will be extensive debate.  Rep. Marquardt is highlighting the debt in this bill and the property tax increases.  More debate  highlighting that this is the bill that provides the funding for the other bills.  Rep. Lenczewski indicates the Speaker wants her to stop debate.  She does and we move to the vote.  I vote no.  Passed 71 – 57.

Rep. Dean indicates we are going to sit and wait because the next bill is not ready.  I wonder why then they wanted to end debate on the Tax bill?

10:40 PM  We start again.

SF 6 LEGACY

An urgency declared by voice vote.  Rep. Urdahl  presents the bill.  Rep. Wagenius responds and I also speak against the bill.  The reasons are supplanting in the Clean Water fund and accountability in Outdoor Heritage.  Passed 98 – 30.

Rep. Mack introduces her husband and new baby.

Rep. Holberg indicated we will wait another 5-10 minutes until the next bill is ready.

11: 25 pm.  Rep. Dean moves to meet past midnight.  Passed on voice vote.

HF 23 CAPITAL INVESTMENT

An urgency is declared by voice vote.  Rep. Howes presents the bill.  I have requested to be added to the bill as a co-author.  Rep. Howes agreed for me to be a co-author.  Rep. Hausman rose to speak in favor of the bill.  I vote yes.  Passed 112 – 17.

HF 14 PENSION BILL

An urgency is declared by a voice vote.  Rep. Lanning presents the bill.

Attached is a summary of the pension bill.  Rep. Morrow followed.  I vote yes.  Passed 115 -12.

We are now waiting again.

The Human Services bill has been pulled off the web site because of an error.  It is no longer posted.

12:25 pm.  HF 25  HEALTH  & HUMAN SERVICES

An urgency is declared by a voice vote.  Rep. Abeler presents the bill.  It is now posted again.  The summary is attached.   It is 1:00 AM.  Passed 71 – 57.  I voted no.

The two remaining bills; State Government Finance and E-12 Education have not yet even been posted for the public to see.

1:20 AM  E – 12 is now posted.

Here is a patch story on the Special session.

2:06 AM  State Govt Finance posted

2:22 AM  HF 26 E – 12 EDUCATION

An urgency is declared on a voice vote.  Rep. Garafalo presents the bill.  Rep. Greiling responds.  Only one other state in our country that uses the school shift model…California…however, we are borrowing more than California from our schools.  It took 15 years to pay off the 1987 shift of 80/20.  This bill has a 60/40 shift.  Rep. Greiling and Rep. Erickson also spoke as did others.

2:46 AM  I vote no.  Passed 71 – 56.

3:05 AM  It appears the last bill has just come over from the Senate …  SF 12 STATE GOVERNMENT FINANCE.  An urgency is declared on a voice vote.  Rep. Lanning rises to thank staff for their work and present the bill.  Rep. Kahn supports the bill.  Other speakers urge a no vote…any funds that have lessened the cuts are coming from the tobacco securitization and the school borrowing.  I voted no.  Passed 81 -47.

3:23 AM  we have to wait until the Senate is done before adjourning.

3:37 AM  we are moving to inform the Senate and the Governor that we are about to adjourn the special session.  Approved.

Motion to provide for corrections by the Clerk.

Majority Dean moves to adjourn the Special Session sine die at 3:38 AM

State Representative Rick Hansen

247 State Office Building

(651) 296-6828

On the Senate side there was an interesting debate about the tax bill, which on a 37 to 27 vote, the Senate passed. HF 20, the omnibus tax bill includes the sale of $700 million dollars worth of bonds from expected tobacco settlement revenue. Sen. Bakk’s speech starting at 29:20 about the huge flaws with tobacco bonds and how the GOP budget is creating a $4 billion deficit two years from now.

Here is the link:  Senate media

The Northstar Commuter Rail Project and Metro Transit have announced an  opportunity for you to take part in Minnesota history – a chance to be one of the first Minnesotans to ride the Northstar Line.

On Saturday, Nov. 14, public events will be held at each Northstar station from Big Lake to downtown Minneapolis to mark Northstar’s grand opening. Each event will include a program, transit information, family-friendly activities and a chance to ride a Northstar train at the suburban stations. However, space is limited on the first trains.

Enter your name in a drawing for a chance to receive advanced tickets for Northstar’s grand opening rides at suburban stations on Nov. 14.  You must enter by 5 p.m. CST on Oct. 9.

I attended a presentation by the new Commissioner of Transportation, Thomas K. Sorel
and District 6 staff of the transportation plans for coming years. They explained that the moneys allocated by the legislature would primarily be used for bridge repair and that although their would be some forward movement on pending projects it would be difficult to move many of them up. I have heard from many constituents that they are concerned about many of the roads in my district and although they are pleased to see bridges addressed along the highway 3 corridor they want improvements to highway 19, 246 and 21 to go forward. I have received word form MnDOT that they do have a plan for resurfacing and striping on highway 19 which should address some of the safety concerns and that things are in negotiation with the contractor on highway 21 but things should move forward soon.