Regional state legislators size up approaching session

• Legislative Breakfast

District 22A Rep. Joe Schomacker (left), moderator Chad Cummings (center) and District 22B Rep. Rod Hamilton sit idle while District 22 Sen. Doug Magnus speaks Saturday morning during the Legislative Breakfast event at Worthington’s Hickory Lodge.

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — Taxes and the state budget, particularly in the areas of education and human and health services, were the central topics Saturday when area legislators met with city representatives at the Hickory Lodge during a legislative breakfast hosted by the Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee.

District 22B Rep. Rod Hamilton (R-Mountain Lake), District 22A Rep. Joe Schomacker (R-Luverne), and District 22 Sen. Doug Magnus (R-Slayton) met with constituents to gather input for the 2012 Legislative session.

The “billion-dollar debate” on taxes, as Hamilton deemed it, started with concerns about the recent passage of the Homestead Market Value Exclusion.

Hamilton admitted that while the terminated Market Value Homestead Credit (MVHC) was not a functional program, the current Homestead Market Value Exclusion presents a whole new challenge.

“Entities are not asking for the program (MVHC) to be reinstated,” he said. “The $30,000 exclusion adds some severe, unintended consequences. I talked to the tax chairman and he agrees as well that we need to come back and take a hard look at it.”

Not surprisingly, the long-standing discussion of local government aid, especially for Greater Minnesota cities, surfaced.

Magnus explained that the future of LGA, along with other decisions, will be based on the state’s February budget forecast.

“At this time, we have statutorily dedicated the money — $350 million in the cash flow account (and) nearly $650 million in the budget reserves,” Magnus said.

He further added that legislators could rely on reserves to help with issues like LGA but warned that in light of the ongoing budget deficit in European countries, state legislators will be cautious in doing so.

“We’ve seen what happens when it gets down to zero and it gets really ugly,” he said. “Personally I believe that cities, especially smaller towns, need LGA, but it’s going to be where we get the money.”

Schomacker noted that the current formula of LGA distribution needs to be rectified. He cited the example of corporate tax exemptions afforded to Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth.

“Why don’t they have to operate with the same formula that the rest of the cities and counties do?” he questioned. “The formula is based on the economy in the 1990s. We can’t be looking at the 1990s anymore.”

“You can eliminate them and I don’t think you’d get any argument from Greater Minnesota cities, but be careful if you do that because the without the voting bloc of legislators that represent that areas in the mix, the LGA is dead,” Mayor Alan Oberloh said.

In terms of education, Schomacker explained the necessity of the mandated teacher evaluation that resulted from the 2011 special session.

“The impact that an effective, highly performing teacher can have on a classroom of 20 to 25 students is $400,000-impact on the economy,” he said, citing author Thomas Friedman. “If we have low-performing teachers, we’re going to have a lower economic impact, so the value that these teachers have are absolutely important.”

Concerning the shift in school funding to 60-40, Hamilton stressed that there is a plan to repay schools “because it’s the law.”

“We need to recognize that education received an additional $650 million across the state over the two-year budget,” he added. “For the first time in the seven years I’ve been out there, we saw a decrease in the disparity gap of education and nursing home funding.”

Hamilton detailed the modest increase given to nursing homes instead of “holding things flat or reductions” as a positive note.

“I work in the pork industry. We start people off at about $4 more per hour than what they start off for working with people in the nursing homes,” he added. “When you make those comparisons, it’s absolutely gut-wrenching.”

Also discussed was the future of the Vikings’ stadium.

“The fact that Minnesota can identify with four major league teams and what it means for bringing businesses into the state….are the arguments that make more sense for me,” Schomacker said.

Both Schomacker and Hamilton reassured that funding for the new stadium will not be drawn from the state’s general revenue.

Daily Globe reporter Ana Anthony can be reached at 376-7321

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