Finstad, Wiger run for

21B seat in Legislature

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

The candidates for the open House District 21B seat differed on their approaches to solving the state budget crisis, as well as maintaining the Profile of Learning in education at Monday night's forum.

Republican Brad Finstad repeated his campaign position on the budget, saying "We need to put our common sense and work ethic to achieving accountability and making the necessary cuts. Only then should we consider raising taxes."

Democrat Mark Wiger said he would apply his problem-solving skills to the task by considering reductions, elimination of duplications and tax increases including raising the gas tax, rolling back some property tax cuts, as well as tax cuts given the "top 2 percent of wage earners" and restoring vehicle registration fee cuts.

Wiger said he felt his opponent's approach in resisting tax increases would be folly because "I'm concerned about maintaining our quality of life."

Finstad rebutted that he too was concerned about maintaining a quality of life, but he added, "An example of what I'm talking about is the money spent on light rail."

Asked if he would cut programs to balance the budget, Finstad said, "I would need to get the most recent budget estimate before taking a look at what programs to cut. There are creative ways to avoid cutting programs."

"I'm not in favor of cutting programs. We need to maintain core functions," Wiger said. "Hopefully, there are ways to avoid cutting programs. Professional accreditation reduces the need for regulation and the associated costs, and we also should be willing to contract out services to save money."

Wiger supported continued state funding of schools, saying "All children need to have an equal education. We need to stay strong in some many areas, like computer technology and improving our work force in preparing to replace the baby boomers."

Finstad said there is a need to look at the entire education funding issue.

"The state has spent a half billion dollars on Profile of Learning. We should be supporting teachers and students in the classroom and not mandate a teaching style."

Wiger countered that, "There are ways of reducing paperwork and waste without throwing out the program. I would not be in favor of getting rid of Profiles of Learning because it gives a chance to compare schools and provides standards for learning."

"I believe maintaining the program is a waste," Finstad replied. "We need to get the creativity back in the classroom. When we get parental involvement in education, that's a good thing."

In fostering growth in rural communities, Wiger said it was a matter of supporting economic development programs.

"There are a variety of tools, including having a pool of revolving funds for venture capitalists. I would want to work with stakeholders so these communities can prosper and grow."

"There should be tax-free zones to encourage businesses to come out into rural Minnesota, and we need to improve roads and bridges and high-speed Internet access. We need to provide opportunities for businesses," Finstad said.

Finstad claimed that the state is regulating farmers off the farm, particularly with regulations on the livestock industry.

"We can't hamper it with regulations."

Wiger called for a balance in protecting the environment with livestock production.

Wiger said transportation problems can only be solved by more bonding and an increase in taxes. Finstad called for a "long-term plan for funding highways. We should consider bonding, and we need to streamline the environmental impact process because it's costly."

Editor's Note; The forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters. It took place at the Public Library Monday evening.