11/10/04
Republican legislators get wakeup call from the DFL
The surprising change in the make-up of the House of Representatives could be good news for communities of all sizes, particularly in the suburban communities.
The Republican legislators, who ruled the House of Representatives by 18 votes, controlled committee chair appointments, membership, and the flow of what got passed and what didn't.
Now the situation in the House has changed with the Republicans holding 68-66 majority over the DFL.
Moreover, Governor Tim Pawlenty no longer can take the House caucus for granted as he moves his legislative no-tax-hike agenda through the process. He will face a House DFL caucus with much more clout and a Senate already controlled by the DFL.
The DFL agenda, which was always subject to a defeat in the House and a veto from the Governor, will have a greater chance of making it through the Senate and the House.
Six Republican Legislators in the suburban communities were defeated, including committee chairs Rep. Jim Rhodes of St.Louis Park, Lynda Boudreau of Faribault, Arlon Lindner of Corcoran and Bill Haas of Champlin,
With a pick-up of 13 seats, the DFL party sees the election as a mandate for moderation, away from the conservative right.
The do-nothing session in which a bonding bill could not be passed particularly irked voters.
Voters put two and two together and realized that their property taxes are going up, in part to fund programs that once were aided by tax money from the state. City, school and county officials had announced before the election their plan to increase property taxes, partly because of a loss of local government aid.
Counties had cut services and planned to increase their budgets.
Voters were confronted with special school tax levy elections to operate the schools. In Princeton, Elk River, North Branch, Rockford, Columbia Heights and Centennial all turned them down.
Suburbs with more wealth where the tax bite isn't as deep approved the levies, such as Eden Prairie, Orono, West Tonka, Mahtomedi and St. Louis Park.
Residents of cities were feeling the loss of local government aid as they saw layoffs, less park maintenance, dismissal of lifeguards, less street maintenance.
Failure to pass a bonding bill that had important highway projects in it, frustrated the motorists who are getting sick and tired of being locked in traffic jams. Finally, there's a good chance the House will vote on a gas tax hike, needed to fund priority highway projects.
With a closer balance of power, state dollars for the North Star Commuter Rail and all rail will have more support from the House. Several House members who blocked commuter rail, particularly Bill Haas of Champlin and William Kuisle, who headed the Transportation Finance Committee, bit the dust.
Another high profile issue in all communities is funding of education at all levels. While it's true that the Pawlenty Administration did not reduce the funding formula, by keeping it the same, many schools do not have the money to pay the inflationary increment. As a result, school boards hit parents where they live by raising fees for all extra curricular activities and making more little kids walk to school to save money.
School districts tried to raise money the only way they can, by asking for more, and the public is resisting.
The Republicans in the Legislature and Governor faced a tough task in dealing with a $4.1 billion deficit, boasting that they did it without raising taxes. The public swallowed hard, accepted the loss of aid and services and began to see their local taxes go up. They did not cry out for relief.
Last Tuesday, they sent a wake-up call with their vote that the issue of taxing at the state level with a broader tax base needs to be re-examined. -- Don Heinzman
HometownSource.com
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