Legislators field questions from local officials

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

SLEEPY EYE--A game of 'Twenty Questions' ensued at the Brown County REA as area legislators made the trip from St. Paul for their annual meeting with city, county and school district officials.

State Sen. Dennis Frederickson and State Rep. Brad Finstad, both Republicans from New Ulm, sat down at a meeting of the Brown County Congress of Elected and Appointed Officials to answer questions about the legislative session early Friday morning.

They fielded questions about cuts to local government aid, Gov. Tim Pawlenty's no-tax pledge, the Profile of Learning, unfunded mandates to cities and counties, the logistics of the federal Farm Bill, federal and state funding for U.S Highway 14 and problems caused by partisanship.

Participants in the meeting split into three groups--city, county and education representatives --and thought up questions to ask the legislators. Each group had one minute to ask a question and the legislators had two minutes to respond.

"Generally, we see an average of 25 people at each meeting. There were a few more this time, I think, because of the critical issues," said Katie Rasmussen, a University of Minnesota extension educator who organizes Bridging Brown County.

"It's an opportunity for people who don't have other avenues to express their opinion. The topic was also timely, as that's kind of what's on everyone's mind. It's a topic no one is taking lightly."

Even though the legislative session just started this past week, many officials already had questions on how proposed cuts would affect their city, district or Brown County.

Finstad, Frederickson and Doug Alrichter, an aide to U.S. Congressman Gil Gutknecht, did not make predictions or promises.

"The governor spoke about everyone playing a part in the solution," Finstad told Brown County Administrator Chuck Enter. "Right now, the Republican caucus is waiting for a plan from the governor, and we'll see it next week to address the deficit."

The sheer size of the deficit is expected to affect everyone and Frederickson said there's no way to make up the $4.5 billion shortfall without touching every program in the state.

"All programs will be affected," he said. "That's big. That's horrendous. We'll have to wait until April or June to see if the governor's no-tax pledge works. I'm not making any predictions."

Alrichter added that the federal government has the same problem, but has one advantage--deficit spending. He said federal law allows the U.S. government to go into debt in times of war or economic hardship. He said the fight against terrorism was one cause of the shortfall problem.

Superintendent Harold Remme of District 88 said he was concerned about the deficit's impact on K-12 education, particularly since the governor has promised classroom education would not be affected .

"What is the definition of 'classroom education'?," he asked Frederickson. "What isn't 'classroom education'?"

The senator said he hasn't actually seen Pawlenty's definition, but said he assumes it means anything that is administrative or relates to maintenance or extra-curricular activities.

Finstad said, "There will be no sacred cows, but the governor did say classroom education is the last thing he is going to touch. We need to ask him what he means."

The representative went on to say a memo from the House Republican research department found the state Department of Children, Families and Learning approved pay increases for 10 people during the last days of the Ventura administration.

"Maybe that's what he's talking about," Finstad said.

Remme then wanted to know how the three felt about the Profile of Learning, when its replacement is going to be implemented, what the replacement will be and how much the replacement will cost.

Finstad said the new testing standards are supposed to be implemented by April 15.

"We can't do regulations by April 15 and be ready for the next year," Remme replied.

New Ulm City Manager Brian Gramentz brought up the subject of unfunded mandates to cities and counties. Frederickson said the Senate is "going to try not to pass bills requiring unfunded mandates, but they do happen."

Finstad said the Republican caucus talked about putting some state regulations--like the ones that govern health care--in the drawer.

"If the money's not there, maybe we can loosen up some of the requirements," he proposed.

Fred Juni, head of the county township association, asked if Gutknecht is going to help farmers sort out the logistics of the new federal Farm Bill, which he called "unworkable" since farmers, who Juni said were told to diversify their crops years ago, "are now being crucified."

Alrichter replied that the congressman will be bringing agricultural expert John Munson out to visit with farmers soon.

Finstad added, "The bill is insanely worded and Congress handed it over to the U.S Department of Agriculture and said 'Here, implement this'. Agriculture is very difficult on a national level. It's difficult to get ideas across."

Brown County Commissioner DIck Seeboth pushed Frederickson and Finstad for more help in lobbying for money for U.S Highway 14. Seeboth said the highway was left out of the third federal transportation plan.

"If you're not authorized, you're simply left out in the cold. We're going to lobby in Washington this spring. It's difficult to support something on a federal level if nothing's being done on a state level. We can't get 80 percent from the feds if we can't get 20 percent from the state."

Finstad said the house has a $250 million transportation bonding bill for the next four years that includes money for the Mankato-to-New Ulm section of the highway, adding that Pawlenty has also talked about the subject.

Finally, Juni asked, "Does partisanship prevent progress?"

Frederickson said that it doesn't, although it does prevent debates and consensus agreements.

"The legislature is a political process," he told Juni.

Finstad said he thinks partisanship leads debates because it brings out different points on all sides.

Frederickson had one final comment.

"We've talked about the spending side, but I want to talk about revenue," he said. "The projections went down because of drops in both personal and corporate income taxes as well as capital gains taxes."