Our state representative, Joe Atkins, sent me an email today.  In the style of an email response, I include it below, in its entirety, with my comments inserted.  Rep Atkins’ letter is in italics. (I could not get the indentation to work)

Do new laws impact you?  Below are new laws that go into effect on Monday, July 1st.  Typically, new laws become effective on August 1st, but the ones below kick in sooner.

Yes, they do.  Is there any doubt that the laws apply to everyone in the state?  Is Rep Atkins asking because he’s not sure, or is he wondering if we didn’t know that?

SCHOOLS.  All-day kindergarten at no cost to parents is available as of July 1st.  The mandatory age for school attendance increases from 16 to 17.  Controversial graduation exams will be replaced by a new set of reading, writing and math tests.

Last I checked, all parents were taxpayers, not just parents of small children. Does “no cost to parents” mean that parents are not taxpayers?  Has Rep Atkins found a secret stash of cash to pay for this?  Unfortunately, no.  It means that taxpayers without small children will pay for kindergarten for parents with small children.  That may be a good thing, but it’s hardly “no cost” to anyone

JOB CREATION.  A $349 million business tax cut – the largest in state history – goes into effect on Monday.  Designed to help small businesses create jobs, it reduces the amount employers pay into the state’s unemployment insurance fund.  Three additional foreign trade offices have also been authorized.  Minnesota’s first trade office in Shanghai, China resulted in a 71% increase in the export of Minnesota-made goods to China in the first year alone.  The MN Investment Fund and the Growth Acceleration Program kick off Monday; they aim to leverage greater private investment in small businesses and start-ups.

This is artful presentation.  The legislature raised taxes this biennium by roughly $2.1 billion dollars.  Is this the largest tax hike in history?  Rep. Atkins says they cut taxes by $346 million.  I’m sure they did both, but the cut is a lot smaller than the hike.  I am reminded of Thomas Sowell’s quote about the welfare state being a con game, where politicians take your money silently, and sing their own praises when they give some of it back to you. 

CLEAN CAMPAIGNS.  Minnesota’s Political Campaign Refund Law, which had been shelved for four years, goes back into effect on Monday.  Designed to encourage small donations and decrease the influence of PAC’s, lobbyists and large givers, the program provides a full refund of up to $100/couple or $50/person to those who donate to political campaigns, starting on July 1.

This provision in state law effectively subsidizes political campaigns with tax money.  It’s nice for the politicians.  It’s nice for those who get to support their chosen candidates with tax money.  Is it really proper use of tax money?  Is that what Minnesota voted for in 2012?  Taxpayer financed local campaigns?

COLLEGE TUITION FREEZE.  Monday is the first day a two-year tuition freeze for all resident undergraduates at the University of Minnesota as well as undergrads at all state colleges and universities.  This includes community and technical colleges, too.

 Those of you paying attention might have noticed that not all tuition was “frozen”.  Readhere.

ENERGY.  Minnesota’s largest utilities will be mandated to procure or produce 1.5% of their energy from solar.  This follows the lead of Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, where they adopted a 4% solar standard.

I encourage people to read the ” omnibus energy bill” from this legislative session.  It is a marvel of pork-barrel politics, backroom deals and crazy economics.  Like everything else here, activists get to feel good about “doing something”, in this case “green energy”, while someone else pays the bill.  It’s taxpayers, ratepayers, and the state economy suffering because energy will be more expensive, less reliable and less available.

All this might make some sense if the greenhouse gas emissions were anything but a rounding error in the totals, but they’re not.  Minnesota’s contribution to the world’s “carbon footprint” is miniscule.

ENVIRONMENT.  A new law and funding to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species goes into effect on Monday.  The money comes from constitutionally-dedicated Lottery funds.

HEALTH CARE.

  Nursing homes get a 5% funding increase, effective Monday, after years of cuts.  Payment reforms for HMO’s and hospitals yields $150 million in savings to the state.  A new law kicks in on July 1st to prevent child sex trafficking.  There will be upgrades to the AMBER Alert system to help find missing children.  Additional funding for homeless veterans and their families is effective on Monday.  Disabled people who require a home care attendant are now legally able to insist on an attendant of the same gender.

Rep Atkins chooses to highlight a few measures that are hard to oppose, not the measures such as unionizing independent businesses ( HF 950),  forcing hospitals to track and report nurse staffing levels ( HF 588), and redefining marriage ( HF 950), or giving $500 million to the Mayo Clinic (tucked into the omnibus tax bill)  These are all priority items for special interests – unions, activists and specific business interests.  Again, great presentation by avoiding the hard stuff.  It sounds good, but is it right?

EFFECTIVENESS RANKINGS.  Non-partisan staff kept track of new laws passed by each legislator.  While I ranked first on the list in passing laws, and first in bipartisan laws, that is mostly because I have the best staff at the Capitol.  Chris and Pete do a phenomenal job, as does our research staff (Yes, I am taking them all out to lunch).  I think we also ranked first in repealing laws that no longer make sense or are obsolete, but no one keeps track of that.  

As always, please let me know if you have concerns, questions or comments.

Joe

Rep. Atkins needs to be reminded that the stability of the law is a good thing.  Winston Churchill warned us that “If you make ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law.”  I don’t think anyone voted for him so he would go to St. Paul and pass as many laws as possible.  I for one, want and expect him to make wise choices and only support those laws that are necessary, prudent, and have broad support.  We should not seek to impose our will on a reluctant minority.  Consent of the governed is far more important than any particular legislative victory. 

We don’t need more laws.  We need respect for the laws we have.  We don’t need more taxes and more spending, we need people, and legislators to do their jobs well, and seriously.  We need people in government who are there to serve, not to compete for “best legislator” and “most popular service”.  We need legislators who look to the long term and a fair shake for all, not carrying water for special interests.