DULUTH NEWS-TRIBUNE
Copyright (c) 1999, Duluth News-Tribune

Thursday, April 1, 1999
By Daniel Bernard/News-Tribune staff writer

THIRD PARTY HASN'T CHANGED LAST-MINUTE BILL CRUSH

   ST. PAUL -- Minnesota's wild experiment in three-party government is starting to look just like the old system in at least one respect -- the big decisions wait until a last-minute crush.
   As state lawmakers recessed Wednesday for a long Easter break, agreement was not near on the most important issues of the budget-writing session: quick tax rebates, long-term tax cuts and the use of the state's multibillion-dollar tobacco lawsuit settlement.
   Lawmakers will kick into high gear late next week to move the state budget out of committees by an April 16 deadline. Adjournment for the year comes a month later.
   But many policy issues did gain clarity Wednesday, the deadline for non-budget bills to make it out of committee. Following is a progress report on select issues of interest to the Northland.

Health and welfare

   Suing HMOs The House is squelching Attorney General Mike Hatch's crusade to give consumers more power over their HMOs. The legislation would let consumers sue their managed-care plans for punitive damages when the plans' improper denial of coverage causes serious harm. It would require health plans to disclose any financial incentives to doctors for denying care.
   In the Senate, the bill is one committee away from reaching the floor. But the bill was tabled by members of a House committee including Rep. Tom Huntley, DFL-Duluth, who called the bill ``a gift to lawyers'' that would raise consumers' premiums. Hatch on Wednesday suggested Huntley could have been swayed because his employer, UMD, receives grants from health plans that oppose the bill.
   Senior prescriptions Soon after its launch, a state program that subsidizes presciption drugs for poor senior citizens has met many suggestions for improvement. But it appears the suggesters may not get all they want this year. If the Legislature extends the program to aid poor people with disabilities, there may not be enough money to also raise the income limit so more poor people can qualify, said House Health and Human Services Finance Chairman Kevin Goodno, R-Moorhead. Currently the program aids seniors earning no more than 120 percent of the poverty level -- $9,890 a year for an individual, $13,270 for a couple.
   Child care The Legislature could offer child-care subsidies to more working poor families but perhaps not as many as advocates hoped. Between 5,500 and 7,000 Minnesota families not on welfare are on a waiting list for the sliding-fee program. Senate DFLers, including Sen. Becky Lourey of Kerrick, want to cover all of them by merging the program with another that provides child care for people on welfare. That would effectively make child care for the poor an entitlement, aiding all who qualify. But that's further than Gov. Jesse Ventura and the GOP House want to go. Rep. Barb Sykora, R-Excelsior, predicts the House will back a plan to cover about 1,300 additional families by increasing copays for everyone in the program.
   MinnesotaCare There appears to be bipartisan support for repealing the 2 percent ``provider tax,'' a sales tax on health-care services that funds MinnesotaCare health-insurance subsidies for the working poor. Support is also strong for replacing the tax with long-term payments from the state's lawsuit settlement with tobacco companies. Protests persist from some MinnesotaCare advocates who say the repeal would squander a rock-solid funding source. The big argument in a House-Senate conference committee could be whether to declare MinnesotaCare an entitlement covering all who qualify, or to limit it as a first-come, first-served program.
   Veterans care Veterans miss out on a price break if they don't drive to VA hospitals in St. Paul and St. Cloud. Legislation by Rangers including Sen. Jerry Janezich, DFL-Chisholm, would have the state look into some sort of arrangement to give vets similar discounts at health-care facilites in Greater Minnesota. The Senate is ready to pass the bill, but it has barely moved in the House.

The outdoors

   Firearms On gun control, the Legislature is leaning to local control. Although the full House is ready to vote on legislation that would bar cities from suing gunmakers over gun deaths, a matching bill was defeated 6-5 in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Author Sen. Doug Johnson, DFL-Tower, says the public doesn't approve of such litigation; he hinted he may revive the restriction by amendment. Johnson dropped a provision that would prohibit cities from using zoning rules to limit the location of gun dealers or gun shows.
   Meanwhile, the House has approved, and the Senate is ready to vote on allowing police departments to sell the guns and ammo they seize from criminals. Currently those items must be destroyed. Semiautomatic assault weapons could not be sold. The Senate Crime Prevention Committee passed the bill Wednesday but, amid concerns about resupplying criminals, added an amendment by Sen. Thomas Neuville, R-Northfield, clarifying that sheriffs in Hennepin and Ramsey counties must destroy seized guns if their county boards say so.
   Wolves Wolf advocates are maneuvering tenaciously against legislation that would allow public hunting and trapping of the grey wolf. The full House passed a bill allowing hunting, scrapping a roundtable's compromise that wouldn't alllow hunting. A no-hunting bill moving through the Senate sticks to the roundtable plan. But Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe, DFL-Erskine, has determined the bill ought to go the Agriculture Committee, where wolf-hunting advocates hold sway, Moe aide Vic Moore said Wednesday. So author Sen. Gary Laidig, R-Stillwater, said Wednesday he won't allow the bill to advance until the Agriculture chairman promises publicly not to allow any hunting or trapping amendments. Laidig's bill has to make it through the Senate mostly intact for anti-hunting forces to have any leverage in final House-Senate negotiations.
   Conservation land Northern Minnesota lawmakers introduced legislation to undo one of the final acts of former Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Rod Sando, who designated many thousands of state-owned acres in northern counties as wildlife management areas, off limits to logging. But DNR officials say the legislation is moot. Deputy DNR Commissioner Steve Morse said the agency put Sando's order on hold before the bills were introduced and plans to hold public hearings on the fate of the land in coming months, with a resolution by mid-summer. The land is in Koochiching, Beltrami, Lake of the Woods, Aitkin, Marshall, Roseau and Mahnomen counties.
   BWCA land swap Awaiting action on the floor of each chamber is a resolution urging the federal government to give land, not cash, to the state in trade for state property inside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, where it can't be logged. The state owns 100,000 acres of land and 172,000 acres of waters inside the federally controlled wilderness.

Transportation

   Trains to Duluth The Legislature is likely to order the Minnesota Department of Transportation to study the feasibility of resuming Amtrak passenger train service to Duluth, as requested by St. Louis County and Sen. Sam Solon, DFL-Duluth. But MnDOT will have to find the money in its base budget: House and Senate chairwomen say they won't provide extra funds. And early signs are not good for the service becoming a reality. Federal subsidies are on the way out. A $25 million ``Transit Mobility Fund'' proposed by the Ventura administration this week is designed for Central Minnesota transit plans such as light rail. That means the Duluth train would have to draw enough fares to be self-sufficient.
   Selling your car In individual transactions, the seller -- not the buyer -- would notify the state that a car has a new owner. That would spare the seller if the new owner fails to register and incurs legal liabilities. The proposal is advancing in both chambers.

Etc.

   Marital harmony While House Republicans vow to end the tax code's ``marriage penalty,'' other legislators are on their way to creating a marriage reward. Legislation would give a price break to couples on their marriage licenses if they undergo 12 hours of premarital counseling. Those couples would pay $20 instead of the usual $70. To offer the discount without affecting the state budget, the bill proposes to raise the cost of divorce: Divorce filing fees would be $172 instead of the current $122. Minnesota sees 33,500 marriages per year and 17,000 divorces. The bill is eligible for passage by the full Senate and, in the House, needs a stop in the Ways and Means Committee before hitting the floor.
   ATM fees A proposal to ban ATM surcharges is dead. Under heavy lobbying by banks, the House Commerce and Tourism Committee squashed an amendment that would have banned surcharges by any business that owns more than four automatic teller machines. Instead the issue will undergo a legislative study for the second summer in a row.

Local budget requests

   DECC debt The Duluth Entertainment Convention Center could cut $80,000 a year off its debt costs for the Omnimax Theater if the Legislature allows the city to refinance a 5-year-old $7.7 million bond at today's lower interest rates. The request is before a receptive committee in the Senate.
   Natural Resources Research Institute Hermantown-based NRRI says it is in danger of losing ability to provide research aid to small businesses and entrepreneurs in Northeast Minnesota. Reason: Ventura's budget cuts $1.9 million in technology grants over two years. The House's budget looks too tight to replace it, while in the Senate it could come at the expense of the Duluth Technology Village, which wants $1.7 million to recruit software companies and skilled workers.
   Marina plans Two Harbors plans to swap land with the DM & IR Railway to develop a marina. But the land they want to offer DM & IR -- the former J & J Castings Inc. property -- is encumbered by nearly $363,000 in unpaid taxes dating to 1979. Legislation by Johnson and Rep. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, would let Lake County waive the taxes with the assent of affected local governments.
   Cook taxes Cook Hospital's taxing district would be authorized to subsidize the Cook and Orr ambulance services under SF 1276 by Johnson.
   Range war memorial Two proposed veterans memorials will probably wait till next year for a funding decision but might get money for planning. Iron Rangers and Solon wanted $400,000 to build a general veterans memorial in the Virginia area; Others, including Rep. Irv Anderson, DFL-International Falls, want to build a World War II memorial on the Capitol grounds in St. Paul.
   Ely magnet school The Ely School District and Vermilion Community College would study the feasibility of establishing an environmental magnet school for high school and postsecondary students. The request for $300,000 is still alive.

   For more information: Internet users can view the text and status of bills by subject or bill number at the Legislature's Web site, www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/legis.htm. To request a copy of a bill by phone, call the House at (651) 296-2314 or Senate (651) 296-2343. To contact your local legislator or to request a free legislative newsletter, call the House Public Information Office at (800) 657-3550 or Senate Information Office, (888) 234-1112.

News-Tribune staff writer Daniel Bernard covers state politics in St. Paul. He can be reached at (651) 222-1265.