Hennepin County has agenda for Legislature

Article by: KEVIN DUCHSCHERE , Star Tribune
Updated: January 26, 2010 - 9:17 PM

The county wants General Assistance Medical Care restored and will lobby against unfunded state mandates.

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When the Legislature convenes next week for the annual slugfest it delicately calls the "session," Hennepin County will be asking for help with health care, infrastructure and state mandates.

The County Board on Tuesday approved a short but pointed legislative agenda for 2010 that in many ways reflects the general difficulties that many Minnesota counties are experiencing this year.

At the top of the list is the restoration of health care services for 35,000 of Minnesota's poorest residents, who are slated to lose General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) on March 1.

The state health care program was eliminated by Gov. Tim Pawlenty to balance the state's budget. Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), the state's largest public hospital, stands to lose $50 million for treating the uninsured unless the Legislature and Pawlenty agree on a stopgap measure.

Whatever solution they devise shouldn't involve shifting costs or reducing funding to the county, the board directed.

In the same vein, the county also wants to protect state funding that pays for services that the state requires the county to provide.

Hennepin County has $33.5 million in bonding projects on its legislative wish list this year. The county will seek $10 million to improve roadway approaches for the new Lowry Avenue Bridge, $8 million for the transportation interchange where commuter and light-rail transit lines meet near Target Field in downtown Minneapolis, and $7 million for planning for the Southwest Corridor light-rail line.

Hennepin also will request $5 million in bonding to cover half the cost for a new hyperbaric chamber at HCMC, and $2 million to help restore Victory Memorial Drive in north Minneapolis.

Kevin Duchschere • 612-673-4455