Steve Gottwalt Says "NO" to irresponsible spending

From his May 14 newsletter:

Dear Neighbor,

We are into the final days of the 2008 Legislative Session, and are spending many hours on the House Floor debating final passage of bills as they come back from conference committees. Meanwhile, budget balancing negotiations between the governor and the Democrats who control the Legislature have broken down. I hope we will see a compromise budget agreement before Monday's deadline to adjourn.

Tuesday, I voted against the Omnibus K-12 Finance Bill (HF6). The bill was pure "gottcha" politics. I voted against it because it offered false choices, gutting important QComp education reforms to give one-time money to our schools. The bill also eliminated "Get Ready Get Credit" and the College Level Exam Program (CLEP), designed to help our students prepare for post-secondary success. The Democrats have squandered numerous opportunities to provide real student funding increases without gutting education reform. Last year, with a $2.2 billion state budget surplus, and a 10 percent increase in state spending, they boosted welfare spending 17 percent, but managed only a paltry 3 percent for our K-12 students. They rejected the Republicans' proposal for an 8-percent increase in K-12 funding. Democrats have put politics ahead of real opportunities to boost student achievement for the 21st century, and they need to be held accountable for their failure.

Local taxpayers are not fooled by such political gimmicks.

Monday night, I voted against a health care bill that would spend lots of tax dollars, but do little to reduce the actual cost of health care for Minnesotans. HF3391 was intended to provide significant health care reforms, reducing health care costs and increasing access to quality, affordable care. But it failed of its promise, and the Governor vetoed the bill Tuesday. The bill would have dramatically expanded public health care programs and government spending. It would spend Minnesota's Health Care Access Fund at a rate that would bankrupt the fund in 2012, at which time state law would force us to kick people off of public health care coverage (MinnesotaCare). Such public programs also pay doctors and other health care providers less than their costs, so by pushing more people onto MinnesotaCare, physicians and clinics are forced to charge more to others - those on private or employer-based health care coverage. That raises the cost of health care coverage for most Minnesotans.

As I've said before, we need to improve health care by focusing more on health and wellness, and less on volume of procedures and treatment. We need to improve cost, quality and access of care. But this bill does not get us there. I serve on the Health and Human Services committees in the House, and have worked as a member of the Health Care Access Commission and Minnesota's Rural Health Advisory Committee.

Frankly, this is a disappointing result to all those efforts. Again, Minnesota is the healthiest state in the nation, with overall health care costs 15 percent below the national average, and outstanding health care outcomes. We have the highest percentage of people with health care coverage (93 percent), and the vast majority of those not covered (7 percent) are already eligible for public health care coverage programs, or have chosen not to get health care coverage. We need to build on Minnesota's successes with consumer-driven, market-based solutions, and I will continue working with others to enact real, sustainable health care reform.

I hope negotiators can reach a budget balancing agreement, but we are running out of time. Governor Pawlenty has the ultimate authority to trim the budget himself (unallotment), or call a special session, but let's hope those measures are not necessary. Just so you know, I will not accept any state pay or reimbursement during a special session if one is called.

I will continue providing you with updates as we wrap up the 2008 Legislative Session. Thanks, as always, for your input and feedback. It is an honor and privilege to serve as your State Representative!

Sincerely,
Steve Gottwalt
State Representative - District 15A