The 2007 Minnesota Legislative session got our state back on the road to becoming the great state it was before it was hijacked by politicians seemingly wanting to turn it back a century and concentrate on issues that turned our people against each another.
Reduction of skyrocketing property taxes, early childhood education, adequate funding for grade schools and high schools without increasing property taxes, halting the soaring college tuition increases, access to adequate and affordable healthcare, expansion of job opportunities and training, requirements for renewable energy and environmental cleanup, consumer protection from unscrupulous businesses, and reinstating our transportation and transit services, were the major goals of the Democrats, who controlled both houses of the legislature for the first time in eight years. We achieved significant success on all of them except property tax reduction, and transit and roads, which the Governor vetoed.
Our Northside is plagued by foreclosed and boarded houses. New laws I chief-authored will cut down on predatory lending and equity skimming. In the past, regulations of mortgage brokers and appraisers could only be enforced by the Commerce Department, which was doing next to nothing. My bill gives homeowners the right to enforce them —and added a new crime. We require brokers to have a fiduciary duty to homeowners and prevent brokers putting homeowners into mortgages they can’t pay. We now have the strongest laws in the country against these rip-offs.
In order to stop the theft of copper and other metals from our homes, a new DFL House member devised a procedure requiring scrap metal dealers to keep records (which will help police); I helped him with criminal provisions.
Our crime committee (I chaired the Public Safety Policy Committee) initiated several anti-crime measures. We strengthened laws against domestic and sexual abuse, expanded the gang strike force and the number of scientists who do evidence analysis for law enforcement, created a new injunctive remedy to keep gangs from hanging out at a location, attacked Internet solicitation and harassment of children, and created initiatives to help ex-prisoners become functioning members of society. My law for an ignition interlock alternative to other DWI penalties should prevent future accidents. The Governor vetoed a bill giving Minneapolis $13 million in Local Government Aid (which could have been used to hire more police). We did get approximately $1 million for cops and $500,000 for cameras and squads.
Lobbying by our city defeated a bill I co-authored to plan funding sources for extension of the neighborhood revitalization program.
The Governor’s budget proposal was projected to increase property taxes by 7.3%. Instead our House Democrat Caucus proposed a substantial property tax reduction, which would have resulted in lower total taxes for 99% of the population by not increasing their income or sales taxes and at the same time reducing their property tax through a greatly expanded Property Tax Refund program and Local Government Aid. (I proposed this expanded Property Tax Refund program a few years ago. The only one to support me then just became the new Chair of the Tax Committee this year.)
The wealthiest 1% (those with husband and wife incomes over $400,000) would have paid more because they presently pay a far lower percent of their income in state and local tax than the rest of us. We pay 12 1/2 % and they pay anywhere from 8 to 11%. The Governor threatened a veto. He vetoed a bill that contained lower property tax reductions without increasing taxes on the top 1%. The Governor also vetoed our attempt to close the foreign operating corporation tax loophole.
We added 8% to early childhood through high school education funding and we did it without raising property taxes (Republicans used increased property taxes to fund education). Our initiatives included making all-day kindergarten eventually available to all children. Minneapolis schools got $16 million over expectations.
Higher education tuition increased 70% during the Governor’s 4-year term. That was unconscionable, especially for many of our Northside youth who couldn’t afford it. It also prevented the working poor from adding to their skills so they could make a livable wage. We put in provisions to limit tuition increases to less than 10%.
$1 million (plus a share of statewide $3.5 million) will go for youth employment in Minneapolis, and I obtained additional funding for the Park Board’s work and education program. We greatly strengthened prevailing wage enforcement (I was lead).
72,000 children are without health care; our reform will give it to 39,000 of them. We also increased nursing home funding 2% each year so they can employ adequate staff. Since almost every extended family is involved with mental illness at some point, we funded various initiatives.
Even better initiatives on these issues were passed by our House Democrats, but the Governor forced the removal of many. The Governor even killed our attempt to penalize your insurance company if it acts in bad faith with respect to you. Hopefully, he won’t be such a roadblock in next year’s session. We need to return Minnesota to its position of leadership.