Legislative Reference Library - Library News
Minnesota Legislative Reference Library
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- Mandated Reports
January and February are the heaviest months for the submission of reports mandated by the Legislature. 226 new reports were required by the 2007 Legislature, a record number. Recently cataloged mandated reports are listed on the Library's website. The reports are incredibly varied. Some are one-time reports by task forces or other groups created by the legislature, like the DHS Background Studies, Disqualifications, and Set-Asides: Report and Recommendations of the 2007 Collateral Sanctions Committee. Some result from requests to agencies to study a specific issue, like a new report from the Department of Natural Resources, Minimum Standards for Conservation Easements Acquired with Public Money in Minnesota. Some reports are ongoing mandates, like Adverse Events in Minnesota Hospitals (earlier years here). In the coming days we will note a number of the reports in our growing stacks of new mandated reports. - State Hiring Freeze
Given current economic conditions, Governor Pawlenty recently released a directive to all state agency commissioners and board executives to implement hiring restrictions. A more detailed hiring restrictions document was soon released from the Commissioner of the Department of Employee Relations. This brought to mind Governor Ventura's freeze in 2002. State employers were required to post exemptions to the freeze on a website, to the chairs of the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, and to the Legislative Library. We scanned and archived all of those reports in a document with the unwieldy title, Reports on Exceptions to the Minnesota State Government Hiring Freeze Pursuant to 2002 Minn. Laws Chap. 220 Art. 10 Sec. 38 Subd. 2. - Public Health Preparedness
This week the U.S. Centers for Disease Control released Public Health Preparedness: Mobilizing State by State: A CDC Report on the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Cooperative Agreement. The Minnesota Snapshot highlighted the 35W bridge collapse. The Minnesota Department of Health cooperated with other state and federal agencies and the City of Minneapolis to respond quickly, communicate with the media and the public, and to initiate public health measures. - Funding Minnesota's Roads, Now and Then
Our librarians look forward to the release of each new thorough program evaluation report from the Office of the Legislative Auditor. State Highways and Bridges updates a report that has had much use in the ten years since it was released, Highway Spending. Funding roads has been an important focus of the Legislature since territorial times, a story related in a 1966 report by Arthur J. Larsen, Superintendent of the Minnesota Historical Society. It's interesting to dip into many sections of the 540 page long history, The Development of the Minnesota Road System. We should probably feel lucky we no longer have to provide our own labor to maintain our roads, as described in the chapter about the first legislative sessions after statehood, "Road Laws of Minnesota, 1858-95." "The labor tax system in force during the territorial period remained the law of Minnesota after statehood was achieved. It was modified in that there was no longer a set number of days during which citizens were required to work on the roads. Instead, the number of days of labor was determined by the town supervisors at their annual meetings, but it could not be less than one, nor more than four days, and seventy-five per cent of the work had to be done before August 1 of each year. Commutation of the labor tax by a cash payment was provided at the rate of one dollar and fifty cents for each day of labor assessed." - Minnesota Biofuels are Highlighted in National Magazines
A couple of articles in recent magazines highlight biofuels in Minnesota. The February issue of Biodiesel Magazine includes Making Biodiesel Policy in Minnesota. The February issue of Biomass Magazine features the use of biomass in St. Paul by District Energy St. Paul Inc. in "Cool, Hot and Green."
- Caucuses and Primaries
Given the enthusiastic crowding at the recent caucuses and the possible introduction of bills to institute a presidential primary, it was interesting to look back at electoral recommendations from the 1995 Report of the Growe Commission on Electoral Reform. The commission recommended maintaining the current caucus system with improved access to information about caucus location. They would have appreciated the new Secretary of State Caucus Finder. They also recommended delaying caucuses until April and holding caucuses on weekends to increase participation.
- Former Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe on YouTube
Former Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe is currently on the Board of Directors of the Policy Consensus Initiative (PCI). You can hear him talk about "The Keys to Convening" on a YouTube video. As legislators have the power to bring people together, they need to remember to be inclusive, impartial, and neutral. Legislators need to demonstrate commitment, keep people moving, and ensure there are outcomes to their initiatives. These concepts are also discussed in a short report from the PCI, Legislators at a Crossroads: Making Choices to Work Differently. - Thoughts on State Rankings #2
Sometimes state rankings give little context. A useful new report from the Minnesota House of Representatives Fiscal Analysis Office, FAQ on Tax rankings and Minnesota (Based on US Department of Commerce data); FY2005, includes how the rankings are computed, sources of the data, and gives details on how Minnesota fits in. Another useful source of rankings information is the Minnesota Department of Revenue; their site includes state and local tax rankings for the following taxes: individual income tax, general sales and use tax, property tax, and total tax.
- State Rankings
Librarians appreciate all sorts of resources for state rankings - our legislative users often want to know how Minesota compares to other states. Websites are often the answer, but several print reference books remain popular for looking up a specific ranking or for browsing on a topic. We are always sure to have the most recent editions of State Rankings, Crime State Rankings, Education State Rankings, Health Care State Rankings, CQ's State Fact Finder, and State Trends . Some books give state-by-state information on a specific subject, like the North American Gaming Almanac and the 50-State Property Tax Comparison Study. - Chmielewski Funtime Variety Show Band
When the Library receives gifts for the collection, they are often older state documents, books about Minnesota politics, or books by legislators. Recently our audio collection was expanded when a former LRL staff member donated these albums by former State Senator Florian Chmielewski. The Chmielewski Funtime Variety Show Band is still playing!
- Saving Your Neighborhood
The Great Neighborhood Book: A Do-it-Yourself Guide to Placemaking is a guide to revitalizing neighborhoods through the activities and efforts of the people who live there. The author, Jay Walljasper, a former editor of the Utne Reader and a resident of Minneapolis' Kingfield neighborhood, argues that it's the simple things such as rediscovering the front yard, offering people a place to sit, and tearing down fences that will help residents save their ailing neighborhoods. Chapters include "Keeping Peace in the Streets," "Greening the Neighborhood," and "Pride in Your Place." - Parents As Teachers
ETS, a non-profit educational organization, has published "The Family: America's Smallest School," a policy information report detailing the importance of the family and the home to a child's educational achievement. The report contains categories such as the parent-pupil ratio, family finances and literacy development and detailed state-by-state tables on topics such as "Percentage of children in poverty, by state, 2005" and "Percentage of children who were read to every day in the past week, 2003." Minnesota ranks well in both of these categories and in many others. - Legislators and Blogs
The
Fall, 2007, issue of the Journal
of the American Society of Legislative Clerks and Secretaries includes
an article reprinted from the Richmond
Journal of Law & Technology, "Silencing
the Blogosphere: A First Amendment Caution to Legislators Considering Using Blogs
to Communicate Directly with Constituents." The author, D. Wes Sullenger,
provides detailed background on the history of direct democracy and a legal discussion
of what constitutes a public forum. His conclusions include: "Once the legislator
opens the forum (a blog on a government network) for political discussion, the
First Amendment will prohibit her from exercising any control over the content
of postings addressed to the topics she raises or permits for discussion."
"This loss of control over their messages will cause politicians to avoid
blogging with constituents. Only the rarest politician would be willing to become
associated with comments some will view as offensive or incendiary." - Charter Schools
Continuing
interest in charter schools as a school choice option is evident in three new
reports in the Library from the U.S. Department of Education:
K-8 Charter
Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap, Charter
High Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap, and Innovations
In Education: Supporting Charter School Excellence Through Quality Authorizing.
For additional background on charter schools in Minnesota, see Charter
Schools, a 17-page information brief on charter school law by Lisa Larson
(Minnesota House of Representatives Research Department, 2005), or a shorter version,
Minnesota's
Charter School Law. The Library has a guide with links to many reports,
Resources on Minnesota
Issues: Charter Schools. The Office of the Legislative Auditor is currently
working on Charter
Schools, a program evaluation report to be released in June 2008. - Last Child in the Woods
The
Library recently purchased Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from
Nature-Deficit Disorder, by Richard Luov. For a taste of his fine writing,
read his article from the Orion Magazine
website, "Leave
No Child Inside." From the article: "Within the space of a few decades,
the way children understand and experience their neighborhoods and the natural
world has changed radically. Even as children and teenagers become more aware
of global threats to the environment, their physical contact, their intimacy with
nature, is fading. As one suburban fifth grader put it to me, in what has become
the signature epigram of the children-and-nature movement: "I like to play
indoors better 'cause that's where all the electrical outlets are.""
