Gov. Pawlenty mulls session

Pushes bioscience,

biotechnology

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

ST. PAUL -- Gov. Tim Pawlenty mused the 2003 legislative session Friday morning, during a conference call with Greater Minnesota daily newspaper reporters.

With a special session looming on the horizon, Pawlenty said as much work will be done as possible by the regular session deadline of midnight, Monday night.

"We'll do as many deals as we can by Monday night," Pawlenty said.

Indeed. The 2003-2004 regular session Minnesota House web site hot list includes four pages of bills in small type.

The lengthy list includes 911-access cell phones for seniors, community ownership of the Minnesota Twins, requiring hands-free cell phone devices while driving, limiting consultant use by state government, do-not-call list loopholes, authorizing fantasy sports leagues, freezing government employees' wages and salaries, job opportunity building zones, medicinal marijuana use, repeal of prohibition on first-cousin marriages, and raising speed limits to 65 m.p.h daytime and 55 nighttime on paved, two-lane highways.

The governor said bio science and bio technology bills have economic implications in a variety of ways. He mentioned Newport Laboratories of Worthington and Dow Cargill's work on soy and corn fiber as examples.

Newport Labs produces food animal vaccines for swine including Compass, Beacon, TempDown, MycoGard 1 Time and MycoGard.

The governor and leaders at the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic formalized a new research alliance Thursday. The partnership is designed to make the state a world leader in cutting-edge bioscience research.

Plans call for more than $100 million in state investment over the next five years, including a new research center in Rochester. The group said the fields of biotechnology and medical genomics hold promise for advances in medicine, agriculture and manufacturing.

Funding for a white collar crime task force would encourage work between local, state and federal law enforcement. White collar crime problem areas include antitrust violations, bankruptcy fraud, computer crimes, environmental crimes, financial institution fraud, government fraud, health care fraud, insurance fraud, intellectual property rights, money laundering, public corruption, securities fraud and telemarketing fraud.

"In order to prosecute, we need focus," Pawlenty said. "The task force would be a focal point."

Pawlenty called the idea of tax-free economic zones a good idea worth trying. He anticipated the zones being included in final-hour legislative negotiations.

"I'm optimistic about them," Pawlenty said. "We hope to take applications for them this summer. I'd like to see them up and running by fall."

He proposed $120 million in bonding for Minnesota's first commuter rail line, the Northstar Corridor. It would connect the St. Cloud/Rice area with downtown Minneapolis along highways 10 & 47, using existing rail tracks owned by the Burlington Santa Fe Railway.

The governor said the general public should consider how the new conceal and carry gun law works before judging it. He said the new bill toughens existing laws by requiring gun owners to be older, receive training, and lifetime bans for offenders.

Pawlenty said there was no evidence to support the theory that gun violence would be worse in future decades due to conceal and carry gun laws.

The governor said its time to hold the line on tax increases. He blamed previous administrations for a dramatic tax build-up that put Minnesota among the most heavily taxed states in the country.

"We doubled the state's budget over the past 10 years while the population grew just 12 percent," Pawlenty said. "Iowa -- which is a very liveable state -- taxes 21 percent less per capita. Indiana has a million more people than we do but spends $1 billion less per biennium. Wisconsin spends less than we do. Someone needs to bring a little fiscal discipline."

Pawlenty said that without his tax cuts, the state was set to increase state spending by 14.4 percent over the next two years. His plan would increase taxes by about four percent over two years.

The governor said state colleges should slow down tuition hikes by forcing institutions to hold increases to only slightly more than the cost of operation.

"Students should ask institutions why costs are rising so fast instead of banging on the legislature," Pawlenty said.