Thursday, March 31, 2005
Duluth & St. Louis County Knocks One out of the Park
Duluth and St. Louis County at the Capitol was a wonderful event. The success of this annual lobbying event is seen in the legislature’s decision to send the governor a $945 million dollar bonding bill that includes approximately $40 million for projects at UMD, Lake Superior College, and the City of Duluth.
Now, we can expect to see new buildings take shape at these campuses and a sewer overflow system to protect Lake Superior from sewage overflows will be built. If this was a sporting event, those who participated in the lobbying event at the Capitol would be giving each other high fives. Well done.
In actuality, there is more than enough credit to go around. Business people, lobbyists, legislators from our area, and citizens all need to be reminded that their efforts are appreciated. But I cannot -and will not - discount Duluth and St. Louis County at the Capitol for bringing attention to many of these fine projects early in the legislative session.
Now on to next year….
posted by Andy Peterson www.duluthchamber.com at
Tomassoni - a Business Leader among Legislators
I make no pretense of hiding my admiration for Bill Clinton (D) or Arne Carlson (R). Both men were great leaders. Clinton avoided foreign excursions and was a fiscal hawk. Carlson inherited a financial mess and turned the state around, leaving us with a strong educational system. Both men took some heat from their respective parties when they went in the face of party leadership to either reform welfare or raise some much needed revenue. For this, they have earned my respect.
Just yesterday, another politician made a gigantic move. State of Minnesota Senator David Tomassoni (D), not normally known as pro-business, proposed a bill in the Minnesota legislature that would that would let most businesses, especially light manufactures, to be exempt from sales tax on capital improvements and repairs (as reported in the Duluth News Tribune, March 30, 2005). This flies in the face of the leadership in St. Paul. Let me be the first to congratulate the Senator on such a bold move. You have earned my respect.
What is ironic about Tomassoni’s proposal is that those who think rather concretely often purport that democrats are not pro-business. The Senator’s proposal is most likely one of the most pro-business bills that may come out of the legislature this year – all this from the “anti-business” party. We can shift costs, cut programs, and limit funding to education while crying out that we have not raised taxes; but until we propose bills as Senator Tomassoni just did, we cannot take credit for solving anything.
Tomassoni’s bill may be the tourniquet for small manufactures in our state. It is no secret that overseas manufactures are killing the manufacturing sector in our country. We often hear a collective outcry to levy a tariff or somehow bar imports. These measures may sound reasonable. However, they would create more problems than they solve. Tomassoni’s bill, on the other hand, will go a long way to provide relief for manufactures and the jobs they provide.
posted by Andy Peterson www.duluthchamber.com at
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Did you know that monkeys open bananas backwards?
Several years ago, I learned that monkeys open their bananas backwards. “So what?” you might ask. “Why do I need to know this information?”
The answer is simple: I learned a lesson from the monkey that warrants being shared. After I watched a monkey open his banana backwards, I tried to do the same. Like the monkey, I, too, found it easier to open the banana backwards, which leads me to my point: we ought to try to solve our problems differently.
That monkey taught me to solve problems using tactics that might be considered somewhat backwards. Perhaps we should all take a lesson from the monkey.
Following is a list of community issues I think we could solve if we worked backwards:
1. Our aquarium mess
2. Our stagnant population battle
3. Our homeless problem
4. Our healthcare crisis
5. Our sewer problem
6. Our distrust of those who hold different political opinions
7. Our city retiree healthcare problem
8. Our K-12 funding problem
9. Our higher education funding problem
Email me at apeterson@duluthchamber.com if know of a problem that could be solved by thinking differently. I’ll gladly respond.
posted by Andy Peterson www.duluthchamber.com at
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
State Politics Done Right
Every year, I look forward to the Superior and Douglas County Days as an interesting and enjoyable event.
The highlight of Superior and Douglas County Days is hearing from Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle (D). He is a great speaker and has a long record of community service: community activist, Peace Corps. Volunteer and Wisconsin Attorney General. Given his credentials, I would think his budget proposals would focus on expanding the social service budget or increasing taxes regardless of what might be in the best interest of the business community. Governor Doyle’s speech proved my assumptions wrong, and I learned he has a much more centrist agenda for the State of Wisconsin.
Governor Doyle articulated that he wants to do the right thing. He proposes to fully fund Shared Revenue (this is the money paid to local municipalities), fully fund the commitment to K-12 and higher education (this is called 2/3 funding), and to increase the amount of money that goes into roads and bridges. Governor Doyle proposes to do all this without a tax increase. Better yet, the Governor has pledged additional monies to rural schools to pay increased fuel expenses. He has also pledged to give bonuses to any city that does not raise its levy rates. Governor Doyle, in my mind, is doing the right thing.
Sure, Governor Doyle’s proposals must be approved by the legislature but politics seem different in Madison than in St. Paul. First, the Wisconsin Governor’s tax pledge was made to all the people of Wisconsin, not just to the Taxpayer’s League – a special interest group intent on blackmailing politicians in upcoming elections. Secondly, the Wisconsin legislature seemingly bases many of their decisions upon their state’s priorities rather than basing their decisions upon political muckraking that seems so prevalent in Minnesota’s legislature. I am not naive to the give- and -take of politics that occurs in Wisconsin as in any other state. However, the legislature in Madison appears to be on track, which is less than I, or anyone else, can say about the Minnesota legislature.
Surely, I am not the only one who has witnessed the differences between the states’ legislators. But more importantly, I am not alone in wishing Minnesota could get its act together.
posted by Andy Peterson www.duluthchamber.com at
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