First of all, Eva has a confusing collection of writings from the past and the present in the previous digest about Urban Ventures. In it, she says I support the UV project. I 've told her before that I don't give a hoot about this project. I have never been briefed on it by UV or its supporters. I have never been asked to support it or oppose it, except by Eva. I voted for the bonding bill it was in a few years ago -- I've voted for all bonding bills -- it's all about putting people to work! But that doesn't mean I'm a supporter of all projects in the bill. In fact, I think I was the author of 7 projects in that bill that also got vetoed by Jesse.
Make no mistake about it: The governor picked this little project, named for a prominent republican person of color, so he could stiff the city on all of its stated priorities for the bonding bill: The Planetarium, infrastructure for Heritage Park, the health profession education project at the old Sears building, the biotech proposal at University Research Park, and the Schubert Theater. Not one of these items is in the governor's proposal. While the city would benefit somewhat from other parts of the bill, the governor and his partisans managed to pretty well avoid supporting any projects in democratic areas of the state -- Mpls, St Paul and the range. Maybe we should rename the planetarium for Ronald Reagan and the Schubert for George Herbert Walker Bush. Here's the link: http://www.budget.state.mn.us/budget/capital/index.shtml The bonding bill will be hundreds of millions of dollars of building and restoration projects throughout the state. It is a great way to support our economy and get people working! There will be significant funds for our university and college system, environmental projects, ag projects, transportation and so on. When legislators decide whether to vote for the bonding bill, they must decide whether the projects as a collection are valuable, not just a small project or two, like UV. Of course, having said that, there's that whole collection of House rightwing republicans who have voted against a bonding bill because it contains a train. Others say they won't vote for it if Mpls gets "too much money" or if arts funding is included. Others don't vote for it if their particular district didn't get any project at all. And no, we won't vote each individual project up and down, standing alone, on the senate floor, as some people always say we should. We must view it as a whole, which is why a good chair and committee will try to put together a package of proposals that appeal to a wide range of members in all geographic areas of the state and benefiting both sides of the aisle. By the way, it takes a super majority (60%) to pass -- 42 votes in the senate and 81 in the house. When the republicans first took over the leadership in the house, they held the floor vote for the bonding bill open for almost 4 hours while they twisted arms for their members to vote for their own bill! For instance, Phil Krinkie, the bonding cmte chair in the house, had never voted for a bonding bill. Heck, he's never voted for anything! I suspect there will be a hearing on the UV proposal. I hope Eva and others who have an opinion, one way or the other, will go to the hearing and speak their minds and educate the committee members. Otherwise, it will be portrayed, as the governor did it, as a great project that helps kids graduate from school. Good decisions come from good information. Sorry that this is so long. Linda Higgins State Senator North Mpls, District 58, the other side of town from UV Representing Eva Young and 77,999 other folks too REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
