Posted: 12/21/04
Local legislators predict action in 2005
(Editorís note: This is the first of a two part article on an interview conducted on December 18 with area legislators Bob Kierlin, Greg Davids, and Gene Pelowski.)
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
People want results.
Those simple words may produce positive things in the upcoming Minnesota legislative session, according to three local lawmakers.
District 31 Senator Bob Kierlin, and Representatives Gene Pelowski and Greg Davids of Districts 31A and 31B spoke with five newspaper editors in Rushford on December 18.
They discussed subjects both general and specific during two hours at the newspaper office of the Tri-County Record.
Their opinions did not always mesh, especially between Republican Davids of Preston and DFLer Pelowski, who lives in Winona. But they all felt that voters had sent a message in the November election when they elected many new members to the House of Representatives.
ìWe have to get results, we have to work together,î Davids said. ìWe disagree with things and not accomplish things at our peril.î
Bonding projects like a proposed nanotechnology research and development center in Rushford need to get passed, Davids said. He felt that he and Pelowski could work together on them.
Pelowski noted that it is easy to communicate to lawmakers now through e-mail, and he thought he would be hearing from his electorate, especially after last yearís ìdo-nothingî legislature. People will ask what legislators are doing and why they are doing it, Pelowski said.
The three men also had some similar priority. Kierlin, who lives in Winona, said containment of health care costs is important, something both Davids and Pelowski echoed later.
Davids said he wants to set up a statewide health insurance pool for teachers. A heart transplant in the Kingsland School District, for example, could raise the insurance rates for that districtís employees for 10 years, because of the small group of teachers, he said.
All the lawmakers talked about the difficulties of balancing the budget given the governorís pledge of no new taxes. Pelowski, who teaches history at Winona Senior High School, voiced the most frustration, at times drawing a challenge from Davids.
ìItís not just local units of government, itís higher education,î Pelowski said, referring to things hurt by the no-new-taxes pledge.
Not as many nurses are able to enter nursing schools, he said, and an inadequate number of nurses and doctors translates into higher health care costs. The state has no plan for long term health care, he added.
ìI wasnít aware we were shutting down the University medical school,î Davids responded.
Davids said the state will have a budget of $29 billion this year, $2 billion more than the 2004 budget. But shortfalls can be deceiving, he said. He gave an example of an agency that had a $10 million budget two years ago asking for an increase to $15 million. If the state only gives them $13 million, thatís a $3 million shortfall.
Minnesota is shifting its tax burdens to local units of government, Pelowski reiterated. School funding in particular will continue to suffer until a one-time shift can be done to correct it.
He said Governor Pawlenty took an issue from a small group, the Taxpayersí League, and made it state policy.
Davids admitted that the governorís pledge took a dynamic off the table. ìThat kind of flipped the whole thing on its head,î he said.
But people want local control, he added, and when voters defeat things like school referendums, they are exercising that control.
Pelowski said he would like to see local units of government be able to enact a local sales taxes aimed at specific projects. But he wondered if the governor would allow it, given his no-tax pledge.
ìA tax is a tax, a feeís a fee,î Pelowski said, referring to things like tuition increases and rising health care costs. ìWeíre increasing them.î
Kierlin said a bonding bill should pass if the total figure can be kept at about $800 million. He hoped that each body could pass a bill that would pass a joint committee.
Local involvement is important when it come to local road and construction projects, he said later. State funding in general needs local input, he said.
He also mentioned several ways that revenues could be increased through things like continuation of a nine percent sales tax on alcohol, fixing the foreign operation corporation law, and stopping the leakage of taxes from people buying on line or from catalogs.
As for a gas tax, Davids said he would support a five cent increase, provided that the 1958 distribution formula stays the same. Pelowski said he supports the proposal of a 10 cent gas increase over two years recommended recently by the Association of Minnesota Counties. But he would like to see how the tax would affect local counties first.
The three men concluded the meeting by discussing K-12 education and agriculture. Those subjects will be the focus of next weekís article.
How to reach them:
Here are the addresses for three local legislators.
ï Bob Kierlin: Capitol address: 127 State Office Building, St. Paul, MN 55155. Capitol phone: (651) 296-5649. E-mail: sen.bob.kierlin@senate.mn. Home phone: (507) 454-5241. Business phone: (507) 453-8765
ï Gregory Davids: (R) 31B, 379 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155. (651) 296-9278 . E-mail: rep.greg.davids@house.mn
ï Gene Pelowski: (DFL) 31A , 295 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155. (651) 296-8637, 1-888-681-8226. E-mail: rep.gene.pelowski@house.mn.
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