Clark, Swenson say session a success

By GUY PRIEL

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Although it ran longer than originally planned, the 2000 Legislative session ended on a positive note that will make Minnesota better for families and farmers, according to Representatives Howard Swenson of Nicollet and James Clark of New Ulm, both Republicans.

"My overall reaction to the session is that we had a lot of positive things happen," Swenson said. "When we started the session I advocated a higher tax cut than we received, but it's a step in the right direction."

The tax burden, under the Republicans, has been reduced by 15 percent the past two years, and the marriage tax penalty was successfully eliminated. There was also a permanent cut in income taxes by $2 billion, Clark said.

"With the tax relief we passed, we gave some good benefits to people,' Swenson said. "Some people will say we spent too much money, and others will say taxes are still too high."

The legislators managed to pass historic property tax cuts, which will help family farmers. there will also be a 20-30 percent reduction in taxes used for education for average family farmers, Clark said.

"The whole purpose in reducing taxes is that families know how to spend their money more wisely than some bureaucrat sitting behind a desk in St. Paul," he said. "Overall, families are substantially better than they were two years ago."

The state will pick up 60 percent of school taxes on agriculture land, which will be a benefit to farmers, because addressing the tax burden on farms was a major issue of the session, Swenson said.

"On the spending side, we have reduced state government spending to the lowest level since the 1960s," Clark said.

In recognition of the ongoing difficulties faced by school districts as a result of declining enrollments, the state provided additional money in the supplemental budget, which was an achievement for a non-budget year, he said.

"Funding alone is not what educates children," he said. "It takes hard work. I applaud the work that teachers, school board members, and parents perform in educating children."

Minnesota has the best education system in the nation, and the legislature passed a bill that protects teachers from lawsuits when they are forced to deal with disruptive students in the classroom, Clark said.

The feedlot debate was one major issue of the session, and a bill was passed that requires the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to make changes in existing ordinances. The bill provides the agency with more direction for the changes, and also recognizes environmental concerns, Swenson said.

"We managed to provide extra money for nursing home workers who say they don't get enough pay for what they do," he said. "We provided $25 million for that. We also managed to develop a proposal that addresses prescription drug costs for low-income workers."

Transportation, which is critical for rural Minnesota, benefitted greatly from the session, which provided $177 million to improve highways, specifically 14, 23, 52, and 212. This includes $30 million for rural bridges, and $30 million for county and city roads, Clark said.

"This was a major investment, considering that this was not a budget year," he said. "I am pleased with what we did."

Passage of Katie's Law, named after Katie Poirier, who was killed at a Moose Lake convenience store in 1999, will make streets safer for all Minnesota residents, which was one goal of the legislature. This bill calls for life-time registration for sexual predators, increase sentences for sexual predators, and restrict the ability of convicted felons to change their names, Clark said.

The biggest disappointment for Clark as the Governor's veto of the Woman's Right to Know Bill, which had the full support of Jesse Ventura in 1998 when he was running for office.

"Overall I am very pleased with the progress we made," he said. "We have a tri-partisan government in Minnesota, but the results were very positive. I am excited about the future."

Creating a balance is important in the legislature, and Swenson was disappointed by the decrease in license tab fees, because that will leave a hole in transportation funding.

"When you have a dedicated fund like that, you know the money is there," he said. "Some provision should have existed. It needs to be a package deal."

Swenson, who has been in the House since 1994, and Clark, who has been in the House since 1998, will both be seeking reelection in November.