Steve Gottwalt's message to MN SD-15...

It’s another event-filled week at your State Capital. Dozens of bills are rushing through committees as the Legislature appears geared to pass legislation quickly and adjourn. My concern is that haste can make waste, and we should be careful about passing huge rafts of legislation during a session intended to focus on state infrastructure bonding.

Today, “Justin’s Bill,” which redefines the requirements for a legal prescription in the State of Minnesota, passed unanimously in the Senate Health, Housing and Family Security Committee. The bill provides important statutory language to help enforcement agencies crack down on the illicit online trafficking of prescription drugs. The bill is named after Justin Pearson who died from abuse of prescription pain killers he was able to purchase easily online without any evidence of medical assessment. Justin’s father, Dan Pearson, brought this issue to me last year and asked for my help in addressing this new and growing threat. Justin’s Bill has now passed the necessary committees in both
houses of the Legislature, and now goes to the floor in the House and Senate for final votes. Governor Pawlenty has already indicated strong support for the bill, and it should become law within the next few weeks.

All Republicans and several DFLers in the House voted against the Tax Bill early Tuesday morning, sending a strong message to the Senate and legislative leaders that new taxes in the bill need to be removed. As a result, the Senate stripped out some of the tax increases, leaving us closer to what Republicans proposed in the first place: A Tax Bill that
accomplishes federal tax conformity (saving Minnesotans millions of dollars) without all the new taxes. Let’s hope that’s how it comes out of conference committee so it can be signed into law.

The House Bonding Bill proposal came out this week. It includes $2 million for the St. Cloud Civic Center, $14.8 million for St. Cloud State University’s Brown Science Hall renovation, nearly $1 million for SCSU’s science and engineering lab design, $200,000 for St. Cloud Technical College’s allied health building (formerly HealthPartners) renovation, and $372,000 for the Rocori Trail project. The bill does not contain any funding for additional land for Quarry Park as I had requested.

The House Bonding proposal also comes with a hefty price tag of $967 million -- well in excess of the state’s $835 million limit based on our most recent state budget forecast. That needs to be pared down to maintain fiscal responsibility, especially as we face a state budget deficit and challenging economic times. With several “pork barrel” projects included in the bill, there are certainly opportunities to trim the “fat” and bring the bill in line with our fiscal limit. The bill is expected to be up for debate on the House floor tomorrow (Thursday).

Minnesota faces a nearly $1 billion budget deficit for the current two-year budget. That deficit is projected to grow to $2 billion in the next biennium unless we make changes now. The tough work of the Legislature is just ahead, as we make difficult decisions to balance our budget. We must resist the urge to cover the balance by dipping too
deeply into state budget reserves. We also need to re-prioritize state spending, trim expenses, and live within our means instead of raising taxes and fees. In doing so, I will continue my commitment to keeping K-12 education Minnesota’s top funding priority.

Health care reform legislation is moving through the Legislature at a lightening pace. While the basic concepts of focusing on prevention and wellness, “medical home,” and reporting quality and cost of care measures to consumers are not new, “the devil's in the details,” and many approaches proposed this session come with more questions than
answers. Many include hidden implementation costs, tax/fee increases, or cost-shifting. Some would drive providers out of the state, or force others to consolidate.

Minnesota has the highest quality of care, overall costs 15% below the national average, and the highest percentage of people with health coverage in the nation. We are consistently ranked the number one or number two healthiest states in the nation. To protect our lead, we need careful, incremental reforms, not sweeping “bold” measures that could do more harm than good.

That’s the news from your State Capital at mid-week. I’ll try to get you another update at the end of the week. As you can tell, things are moving fast – perhaps too fast to be well considered.

As always, it is an honor and privilege to serve as your State Representative. Please keep in touch, and let me know how I can help!

Sincerely in service,



State Rep. Steve Gottwalt
House District 15A