The Omnibus natural resources policy bill 2010 Chapter 390 HF3124 / SF2900 of which this was part ,was then vetoed on Tuesday by Governor Pawlenty in part because of Senator Satveer Chaudhary’s requested addition.

Senator Chaudhary attended the DFL Senate District 50 meeting last night and faced the heat of the DFL local unit committee members and constituents. Some of the 100+ people in attendance wanted to rescind the endorsement of Chaudhary for the upcoming election but other were still in support of him.

Reports say Bill Krueger plans to hold a meeting in June to decide whether or not the local DFL unit wll stand behind their endorsement of Sen. Chaudhary. The puzzling item there is that the filing deadline for state offices is June 1st and Sen Chaudhary and Gina Bauman are the only ones that have filed going into Memorial Day weekend. It seems late in the game to switch candidates with no other obvious alternative waiting in the wings.

Calls to Bill Krueger and Sen Satveer Chaudhary were not returned by the time this article was published.

For a live well of articles covering this subject…

• Chaudhary grilled over ethics controversy | Politics in Minnesota
• Chaudhary takes heat for ‘screw up’ at meeting with constituents | MPR by Tim Pugmire
• Chaudhary faces voters miffed over fishy move | Star Tribune by Mike Kaszuba
• Republicans reportedly ousted from Chaudhary meeting | Politics in Minnesota by Betsy Sundquist
• ‘Fishgate’ lesson: All of us wish we had such power | Star tribune by James Lileks
• Are They Getting the Cutlery Out in SD50? | Mr. Dilettante’s Neighborhood by Mark Heuring
• Pawlenty veto puts brakes on fish, game changes | Star Tribune by Doug Smith
• State Senate Republicans call ethics review on DFLer | Pioneer Press By Dennis Lien
• Senator: “I screwed up” | Northland’s News Center by Boua Xiong

Senator John Marty SD54 voted for the amendment which changed the Senate stadium bill to be privately funded, but was one of  the three votes voting against the stadium bill on the final roll call.

“I think Senator Olseen’s amendment made the bill much better in terms of the fact that its largely a privately financed facility which is I think is what Carolina and Los Angeles and others are doing as well and I think we ought to be doing the same thing, so I think it is a big step forward,” said Senator Marty. “I think Senator Olseen’s comments at the beginning were true that the team could do this without the legislation, and it does have at least the government operations bonding subsity and the sales tax subsidy among other things in it. I think the bill was moved in the right direction but I am not sure that we, I think the nine to three vote on it suggests there is a lot of interest in helping figure out some way to address this issue but with private financing, and I think that is the direction we ought to go and I would encourage people not to support this bill because we can do without the bill. But it is clearly a message Senator Olseen that I think you saw when you offered something that was going to be private financing people are happy to support it.”

The House File # 3825 was defeated in the State and Local Government Operations Reform, Technology and Elections Committee by a 10 – 9 vote and did not seem to have much steam behind it. Coupled with the bait and switch results of the Senate today the Vikings can not be happy with their chances this year. A seat licensing revenue source is not likely to be one the Vikings and Vikings fan will like.

Rep. Bev Scalze HD54B is chief author of  a bill which would prohibit the use of coal tar products on asphalt, concrete, or other pavement in Minnesota. The bill will be heard for the first time today by the Environment Policy and Oversight Committee to at a 9:00 am scheduled meeting this morning.

The bill was first introduced by Rep Scalze March 8, 2010.

The bill was first introduced by Rep Gardner May 18, 2009.

State Sen. Sandy Rummel and State Rep. Paul Gardner authored this legislation after an anonymous e-mailer sent a threatening message to three White Bear Lake candidates attempting to get them to withdraw from the election. The law change would make clear that it is unlawful to coerce a candidate in order to deter them from running for public office.

“We are preserving the integrity of our election system by making it crystal clear that coercing or threatening public officials or candidates is against the law,” said Rummel.

Rep. Paul Gardner added, “Just as we consider it offensive when an individual ‘fixes’ a game such as basketball through bribery or threats, it is offensive to consider this could occur in a public elections.”

The bill now heads to the Governor for his final signature before becoming law.

This bills were referred to the Committees on Transportation.

The information published must include a description of the actions, if any, taken by the manufacturer to do the following:

• provide for the safe collection and proper disposal of sharps
• educate consumers about safe management and collection opportunities
• support efforts by retailers, pharmaceutical distributors, local governments, health care organizations, public health officers, solid waste service providers, organizations representing patients who use sharps, and other groups with interest in protecting public health and safety through the sale, collection, and proper disposal of sharps.

“Sharps” is defined as:

1. discarded items that can induce subdermal inoculation of infectious agents, including needles, lancets, scalpel blades, pipettes, and other items derived from human or animal patient care, blood banks, laboratories, mortuaries, research facilities, and industrial operations
2. discarded glass or rigid plastic vials containing infectious agents.

After years of hard work at the state and local levels, long-overdue funding for reconstruction of the Rice Street Bridge over Highway 36 was finally signed into law this week. This year’s bonding bill (HF2700) dedicated $5 million to complete funding for the project to improve safety, ease traffic jams, and encourage local business growth – particularly at St. Jude Medical.

The Rice Street Bridge is 75 years old and is structurally deficient. Two years ago a concrete piece of the bridge fell onto Hwy 36, leaving a hole in the deck. Ramsey County made short-term repairs to the bridge to keep it drivable, but long-term repairs are urgently needed.

St. Jude Medical has a campus on both sides of the Rice Street/Hwy 36 intersection. They recently opened a new building for 600 employees, and have announced plans for future expansion which will mean more high-paying jobs in our area.

I am glad Governor Pawlenty worked with me to make the Rice Street Bridge a top priority this year. The local economic cost and the risk to area commuters of waiting another year were simply too high. This is exactly the kind of common sense progress we can make by working together at the state Capitol.

Please contact me with your questions, concerns, and suggestions. Your input helps me represent our community better. As always, I look forward to hearing from you.

Spring has also brought welcome news about our state’s economy. In January, for the first time since 2005, we added jobs to our economy in nearly every sector. We also learned the state budget shortfall improved slightly, dropping from $1.2 billion to $994 million. While still a significant sum, every little bit helps, especially since forecasts show a deficit of several billion dollars in the next biennium.

To keep the positive momentum going, I have been working with fellow legislators on a jobs-focused agenda that aims to address many of the serious economic challenges facing Minnesota. In an unusually fast-paced session, we have already passed legislation that will put thousands of Minnesotans back to work improving infrastructure, reinstate basic health care for 85,000 poor Minnesotans, help create a better small business climate and make Minnesota’s election system even better.

With work complete on so many of our major agenda items our attention is focused even more on addressing the state’s budget shortfall. Although our short-term budget outlook has improved slightly, a daunting deficit of more than $5 billion is looming on the horizon. The work we do this year is extremely important in laying the groundwork for Minnesota’s return to financial stability.

We have already resolved one-third of this year’s deficit by trimming more than $300 million from various state government agencies. This bill is the first of three budget measures that will come before the House this session. Coming on the heels of $3 billion in budget reductions last year, these decisions were not easy to make. However, making these reductions now is part of setting responsible priorities that don’t push our problems down the road.

Excluded from the first round of budget balancing bills are the areas of Health and Human Services and K-12 Education. Federal health care legislation signed into law by President Obama this week contains significant federal funding for both Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements – funding which stands to help offset some of our budget challenges. We are currently trying to determine just how that funding will impact our total budget picture before making final decisions about health care cuts.

We are also making decisions about how to protect schools from budget cuts that could harm students and disrupt our efforts at long-term recovery. A well-educated and highly-skilled workforce has been a key component of Minnesota’s economic success. Our state’s strong commitment to early childhood, K-12 and higher education has fueled previous Minnesota recoveries, and keeping that commitment will lay the foundation for this recovery. We must protect the single thing economists, business leaders, parents and policy-makers know is the best investment we can make in our future.

I’m very pleased with the work we’ve accomplished so far, most of which has been on a bipartisan basis. The same sort of cooperation that has carried us through the first months of the legislative session will be needed in the weeks ahead and in the years to come. Budget shortfalls loom even as our economy begins to recover. An aging population will pose greater challenges to our health care system than ever before. Our school kids will need to compete with kids from across the nation and around the globe. We must remember the decisions made now will set the course not only for the next few years, but for decades.

As always, the most important input I receive comes directly from you. While much has been accomplished, there is still plenty of time for you to weigh in with your ideas about setting priorities and protecting the things we value at a price we can afford. Please contact me via email at rep.kate.knuth@house.mn or by calling 651-296-0141. I always appreciate hearing from you.

“All too often unused prescription drugs end up in the wrong place or the wrong hands,” said Gardner. “This common sense legislation aims to keep prescription drugs out of our lakes and streams and away from teenagers or young adults who may abuse the drugs.”

Billions of dollars of prescription drugs are prescribed and paid for in this country and never used. Not only are those expensive drugs not used for their intended purpose, they often end up in the hands of teens or are flushed down the drain and eventually harm aquatic life.

To begin addressing these concerns, the Safe Drug Disposal Act defines the proper protocol for disposal of unused pharmaceutical drugs and spells out how counties can implement these procedures. Gardner said these standards will provide guidance to state and local officials so they can accept unused prescription drugs from the public and dispose of them safely.

“We are setting up a uniform system that will allow all of us to clear our unused prescription drugs out of our medicine cabinet and have them disposed the correct way,” said Gardner. “Some counties have already taken the lead and this will allow more Minnesotans to take advantage of a cost-free system to get rid of their unused prescription drugs.”

Chisago County has implemented a successful prescription drug turn-in program for the past two years in which they have disposed of 1,400 pounds of drugs at a cost of only $5,000.

While this is bill is an excellent step in the right direction, Gardner said more work is needed to reduce pharmaceutical waste for both environmental and fiscal reasons.

“Unused prescriptions cost Minnesotans millions of dollars. We need to explore strategies to reduce that waste and its cost to Minnesotans,” said Gardner.