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With an insider’s eye, Hot Dish tracks the tastiest bits of Minnesota’s political scene and keep you up-to-date on those elected to serve you.

Contributors in Minnesota: Jennifer Brooks, Baird Helgeson, Mike Kaszuba, Patricia Lopez, Jim Ragsdale, Brad Schrade and Rachel E. Stassen-Berger. Contributors in D.C.: Kevin Diaz and Corey Mitchell.

Posts about Minnesota legislature

Republican leaders oppose new social studies standards

Posted by: Jim Ragsdale Updated: December 20, 2012 - 5:24 PM

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GOP leaders of the Minnesota House say new proposed social studies academic standards de-emphasize American successes and American patriotism and should be rejected by Gov. Mark Dayton.

"Among the several deficiencies in these proposed standards is the overall de-emphasis on the contributions of the United States and our economic and political ideals," said a letter from Rep. Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, the incoming House Minority Leader, and Rep. Kelby Woodard, R-Belle Plaine, who will be the party's lead on the Education Finance Committee.

The leaders asked Dayton to veto the proposed standards, adding, "We do not believe these reflect what Minnesotans expect our students to learn and comprehend in the subject areas of history, government and economics."

Dayton spokeswoman Katharine Tinucci said it is important to the governor that the standards were developed by and for social studies teachers. "The big question is if social studies teachers support the recommendations -- and they do," she said.

A spokesman for the Department of Education said an administrative law judge heard testimony on the proposed standards Thursday and will allow for both sides to submit critiques and defenses before the judge makes a decision. Dayton will have a final opportunity to review the standards before they take effect.

Daudt's letter said "there is no mention of Osama Bin Laden, the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the global war on terrorism, or even the events of Sept. 11, 2001."

According to the website, the current standards, written in 2004, remain in effect until new standards are approved.

Social Studies Standards

Both sides prepare for marriage battle at Minnesota Capitol

Posted by: Baird Helgeson Updated: December 20, 2012 - 1:59 PM

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The group that defeated the marriage amendment last month is reforming to persuade legislators to legalize same-sex marriage.

“Our intention is to make sure gay and lesbian couples have the freedom to marry after the 2013 legislative session,” said Richard Carlbom, campaign manager for Minnesotans United for All Families.

Minnesotans United, which raised millions of dollars and united tens of thousands of volunteers, is in the early stages of converting from a statewide campaign into a Capitol lobbying effort. The group plans to continue to urge supporters to have conversations around the state about the need to legalize same-sex marriage.

“It’s going to continue to be a massive grassroots campaign,” Carlbom said.

Minnesota for Marriage, the group that unsuccessfully pushed the amendment, plans to work just has hard to persuade legislators to not redefine marriage. They note that a majority of voters in most counties voted to pass the measure, which would have added a same-sex marriage ban into the state Constitution.

Minnesota for Marriage met with supporters this week to plan their effort and have already embarked on a massive fundraising effort.

“We anticipate that the Legislature will move to redefine marriage, most likely this year, which is one principal reason why Minnesota needed a marriage amendment,” said Jason Adkins, executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference.

Adkins and other same-sex marriage opponents warn that new Democratic majorities in the state House and Senate risk alienating Minnesota voters if they press the marriage issue.

“The new DFL majorities will burn enormous political capital ending the conversation and imposing same-sex marriage,” Adkins said. “It could undermine the rest of their legislative goals.”

Democratic legislative leaders have so far not embraced plans to change the definition of marriage this session. They say the focus will be on wiping out a $1.1 billion budget deficit, overhauling the tax system and stabilizing education funding.
 

Rep. Franson offers proposal to limit unionization

Posted by: Baird Helgeson Updated: December 19, 2012 - 8:52 PM

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State Rep. Mary Franson is trying to head off new unionization efforts with a proposal to block groups from forcing independent contractors to join a union.

The Alexandria Republican said DFL Gov. Mark Dayton wants to allow labor leaders to unionize home childcare providers and in-home health assistants as payback for political support.

“Dayton is helping his union allies at the expense of family care providers,” Franson said. “His efforts are nothing but a raw political and financial power grab, and I won’t stand for it.”

The governor does not believe anybody should be forced to unionize, a spokeswoman said.

“Governor Dayton believes it is the right of individuals to vote on whether or not to form a union—holding an election is the American way of resolving differences in a group,” said Katharine Tinucci, a Dayton spokeswoman.

Dayton signed an executive order last year calling for a unionization vote for state-subsidized home childcare providers, which a judge threw out after union opponents filed a lawsuit.

Tinucci noted that even if child care workers had voted to form a union, no individual would have been forced to join.

Franson called the unionization effort a “money laundering scheme” to divert taxpayer money through at-home daycares and home healthcare providers back to unions, which typically support Democrats.

The children, the sick and the elderly “don’t deserve to be caught up in a money laundering scheme,” Franson said.

Union leaders said legislators like Franson have spent years cutting their wages and making it harder for them to make a fair living.

“We need to join together as a union to protect ourselves from politicians like Mary Franson," said Lisa Thompson, president of Child Care Providers Together/AFSCME. "They’ve cut our pay. They’ve eliminated quality improvement grants for our profession. And they’ve ignored the 7,000 parents who are waiting for child care so they can go to work.”

To see the proposal or sign a petition supporting the idea, check here.

Franson’s proposal is not likely to get far in the Legislature. Starting in January, Democrats take over control the House and Senate and are not expected to embrace proposals to limit unions. It's also not clear whether Franson's proposal has broader support among GOP members.

 

Rep. Terry Morrow of St. Peter will step down to take new job

Posted by: Jim Ragsdale Updated: December 19, 2012 - 4:44 PM

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He was just re-elected without opposition, but Rep. Terry Morrow, DFL-St. Peter, announced Wednesday that he will be leaving the Legislature instead of serving a fourth term.

Morrow announced that he has decided to take a job in Chicago with the Uniform Law Commission, a nonpartisan organization that works with states and foreign nations in drafting uniform statutes. Morrow said the opportunity arose after he was re-elected on Nov. 6.

He said he plans to step down at the end of his current term in early January.  A special election will have to be called by Gov. Mark Dayton to choose a successor.

"It's been a fantastic six years," Morrow said. "Getting to know the people in my district, people from all political persuasions, getting work done together. These six years have not only restored but confirmed my faith that Americans can govern, and can govern themselves, despite what we may sometimes see in the media."

Morrow said Republican Rep. Morrie Lanning of Moorhead was among his closest friends. The two worked together to help pass a Vikings stadium bill last session. He said he is also proud of working to improve Highway 14 in his district.

Morrow is a lawyer and professor who teaches at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, where he directed the college's pre-law program.

He said the Uniform Law Commission works to develop uniform statutes among states and nations in such areas as wills, trusts and estates, and developed the uniform commercial code to standardize sales and transactions. The commission also works with nations on such issues as human trafficking.
 

 

Arming teachers is gun-rights legislator's goal

Posted by: Jim Ragsdale Updated: December 17, 2012 - 7:46 PM

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The Legislature's leading gun-rights activist may not be in the majority next year, but he plans on making waves.

Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, said Monday he will propose arming teachers so they can stop school assaults like that in Newtown, Conn., on Friday. He knows his idea won't get far in next year's DFL-controlled Legislature, but he wants his point of view discussed.

"They can talk about all the gun control laws they want to, but nothing really in the laws that have been passed will stop a guy like this," Cornish said. "The only thing that will stop it is a bullet."

Cornish said he would allow teachers to volunteer to carry loaded weapons in their school rooms, after undergoing stepped-up training on how to deal with Connecticut-style assaults.

His idea follows the gun-rights concept of fighting gun-violence with freer access to guns. He said in these cases, the damage has already been done before the police get there, even when they arrive instantly, as was the case in Newtown.

"What I'm proposing is somebody that's already there," he said.

He added that the Connecticut assailant knew the school was a "gun-free zone" and there would be "nothing meeting him in the form of resistance." He added, "If he would have thought that the teachers would be armed ... this person would have been very wary of being shot. He probably would not even think about it."

Heather Martens, head of Protect Minnesota, a gun-control organization, said Cornish's idea is "nuts." She said it is based on a "fantasy" of gun-rights activists that such carnage can be stopped by having more guns on the scene.

She noted that the assailant's mother herself accumulated weaponry under the theory of self-protection, and then became the first victim of her son's rampage.

"She was an accomplished shooter and gun collector," Martens said of the mother, Nancy Lanza of Newtown."She was at home where all of her guns were ... She was the first person shot to death.... If the theory works at all, you would think it would work for her."

She added, "It doesn't work. There's no instance of that kind of saving-the-day happening in a mass shooting."

Martens said in such instances, a teacher's job is to lock the door and protect the children, not to go out in search of the shooter. And she said in this case, the teachers would have had to have assault rifles to match the shooter's firepower.

She said her group would propose changes that would make it harder for people with mental health issues to obtain weapons permits, and would close the loopholes in private gun sales.

"The difference between our solutions and those kinds of solutions," she said, referring to Cornish, "is we believe in preventing the dangerous person from getting the gun in the first place."

 

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