April 24, 1997 - The Minnesota House and Senate both finished their K-through-12 education spending bills last night (Wed). Both bills are meant to improve schools and raise slumping test scores, but they take different approaches. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: --------------------------------------------------------- | D-CART ITEM: 8617 | TIME: 3:21 | OUTCUE: "...soc at the cap --------------------------------------------------------- When the legislative session started in January, the pressure was on for lawmakers to do something about Minnesota's schools. Lower-than-expected standardized test scores had added ammunition to Governor Carlson's attacks on teachers unions and school bureaucracies. Four months later, the Senate has responded with what may be the most radical change in school funding in three decades. Senate K-through-12 chairman Larry Pogemiller says his bill is designed to succeed where years of court-ordered desegregation and open enrollment have failed:
April 23, 1997 - House DFLers have killed a proposal to require MPR to sell one of its frequencies in return for continued state subsidies. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports.
April 22, 1997 - The Legislature is getting closer to figuring out your tax bill for next year. The Senate finished work on its tax reform package today (Tues), which cuts property taxes by almost 2 Billion dollars over three years. At the same time, the House Taxes Committee has unveiled its own tax reform package, which makes more modest cuts. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: Senate Taxes Chairman Doug Johnson has been fighting for a week to keep his huge tax reforms together -- and so far, he's succeeding. His combination of deep cuts in property taxes for business and apartment buildings and generous property tax refunds for homeowners withstood a barrage of amendments from Senators trying to change the mix -- including a fierce battle on Monday over the new "business activity tax" which pay
April 21, 1997 - A new state business tax narrowly survived a challenge in the Minnesota Senate today. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports.
April 18, 1997 - The Senate Taxes Committee has finished work on a sweeping tax reform package. The reforms will lower most property tax rates, but they also set up a controversial new tax on businesses. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: The Taxes Committee has delivered what its chairman, Tower DFLer Doug Johnson, has been promising since January: major property tax reform. The legislation cuts everybody's rates somewhat, but the biggest cuts go to businesses, which also pay the highest rates. Chairman Johnson says the bill reduces the state's dependence on what he calls "unfair" property taxes: ((Escalating property taxes are stifling economic growth, and we all hear from our constituents, people who don't even want to remodel their house because their assessor will come and raise their rates.
April 11, 1997 - A key Senate committee today (Friday) killed Governor Carlson's latest school vouchers proposal. The Governor has promised to veto all other school spending until he gets a vouchers plan, and lawmakers are steeling themselves for a showdown at the end of the legislative session, next month. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: The Senate K-12 Committee didn't surprise anybody when it voted down the Governor's vouchers plan; their counterparts in the House already killed the bill last week. The Governor wants a law to let students spend state dollars on private education, something he believes would reform the whole school system by making it more "customer-oriented." The Governor has been fighting the Legislatu
April 4, 1997 - The chairman of the Senate K-12 education budget committee today dropped a small political bomb today (Friday) when he proposed a version of Governor Carlson's school vouchers plan. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: DFL State Senator Larry Pogemiller says his plan isn't a vouchers plan -- it's a "CERTIFICATES" plan. But both plans seem to share the same basic philosophy: the idea that free-market-style competition would be good for Minnesota's schools:
April 2, 1997 - A panel of State Senators is contemplating raising the gas tax to pay for better state highways -- even though a gas tax hike has stalled in the House of Representatives. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: Members of the Senate Transportation Budget committee aren't supposed to spend their time talking about what's going on over in the House, but these days they can't help themselves. Bloomington Republican Bill Belanger despairs openly about the House's unwillingness to raise more highway dollars: ((It's GRIM there... even if Rep Carruthers gets involved over there, it's GRIM, so....))
March 26, 1997 - Today is crunch time at the state capitol, as lawmakers rush to get their pet bills past the first major deadline of the legislative session. One of the bills that didn't make it was the "right-to-carry" bill, legislation that would have made it easier for law-abiding Minnesotans to carry concealed handguns. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports.
March 24, 1997 - (midday) Legislation to get the state to build the Minnesota Twins a new stadium cleared a critical hurdle today (Monday) -- but just barely. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: The Twins proposal HAD to pass the Senate Local and Metropolitan Government Committee today so it could beat a technical deadline coming up on Wednesday. Committee members made it clear they weren't happy about the bill, but chairman Jim Vickerman says he feels an obligation to keep it on life support: ((If I listen to the constituents I represent they'd tell me to vote no and kill the bill today. But I think the Twins the MN Twins merit some more consideration.))