We're back in session - State of the State with Governor Pawlenty

The House is now back in session as of February 4, 2010 and it's time to watch your pocketbooks once again. With deficits looming and unemployment near 10%, the ecomony of Minnesota is fragile to say the least. It was exciting to be on the floor for the opening day and to hear from the Republicans, just exactly what the game plan for this 2010 session will be. This first day of session proved to be rather uneventful on the House Floor. House Minority Leader Kurt Zellers’ family was there and his young son was able to hit the gavel to begin the House Session. As the Republicans discussed their strategy for this year, the resounding theme was making Minnesota a job and business friendly state once again. “Live within our means” No new taxes” and “No unnecessary spending” are the themes as this year embarks.

On Thursday, Governor Pawlenty gave his final State of the State message to the House and the Senate. He was quick to point out that the most important thing happening this week was not the “State of the State” message, but the return of the Minnesota National Guard Red Bulls that arrived home at various times throughout this week. He praised them for their hard work and selflessness in serving to keep our country safe.

The Governor’s first point was that the true source of economic recovery would not be BIGGER Government. The people from this state who have been successful in creating jobs in the past were the same ones, along with new people who would create them in the future. We need to get out of their way and make it easier for them, NOT harder. The tax code in Minnesota is antiquated and needs reform.
He pointed out that Minnesota is the 8th worse place in the nation to do business. We have the third highest corporate taxes in the developed world. The Minnesota tax system is killing jobs. We need to go in a Pro- growth, Pro- job direction. He would like to expand the JobZ program to include car manufacturing and keep the Ford Plant in St. Paul here along with those jobs.

He said we need to reduce government spending which leads to tax increases and kills jobs. Since he was born in 1960, government in Minnesota has grown 21% every two years. Companies make decision to grow and create jobs based on where they can make money. Competitive forces will demand MN compete and will be left behind if they don’t.
Our state government spends $43 million every day, and that is 2.3 million more than we take in each day. This is obviously unsustainable.

What are the solutions to this budget deficit and how do we make room for savings?
The Governor said, "The unallotments cannot be restored." He said that we need to focus our spending on the military and K12 education. We need to look at cutting the time for the permitting process, schools need to focus on performance for teachers, and he spoke of the Teaching Tranformation Act. This would reform teacher tenure and link evaluations to student performance. He said, "We don’t raise the value of education by lowering the standards."
Other proiorities for the governor would be in regard to Health Care. Minnesota has led the way in putting the Consumer in the center of health care decisions, costs, quality, and paying for better outcomes.
We need to have the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines, fostering competition.
And we need to overhaul our publicly subsidized health care – Minnesota Care and Medical Assistance.
We need to get sexual predators off our streets and double the time they serve for their crimes.
We need to assure our military are able to vote and have their votes counted on time.
He ended quoting the Preamble to the Minnesota Constitution:
"We, the people of the state of Minnesota, grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to perpetuate its blessings and secure the same to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution".
Governor Pawlenty has done an outstanding service to the State of Minnesota and I am grateful for his leadership over the past seven years. I look forward to his strong voice for this year to get Minnesota back to work.