Minnesota Legislature
2001 Session Weekly
Session Weekly is presented here electronically as printed and distributed from the House Public Information Office (175 State Office Building). The electronic versions are not updated but contain exactly the same information as the printed copies.The Session Weekly has been posted as Portable Document Format (PDF) files, allowing you to view the document and all its attributes exactly as the printed document. It can be viewed and printed from any Windows, DOS, Macintosh or UNIX machine using the Acrobat Reader. These files have been optimized to work with Acrobat Reader 3.0. To view PDF files, you will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. Adobe also provides free accessibility tools for screen reader access which you must use to read the Session Weekly.
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With At Issue stories about a House committee that is traveling around the state to hear concerns and solutions to the ongoing problem of rising health care premiums and costs; a story about how policy makers are considering a proposal to open a state-run casino in an effort to boost revenue; a story about state health and public safety officials who discussed Minnesota's readiness in the event of a bioterrorist attack at two House committee hearings; a story about the memorial service at the State Capitol which brought 35,000 Minnesotans together after the Sept. 11 attacks. Included here are thoughts and photos from the day; a story about how officials have made some security changes at the Capitol since Sept. 11. But the buildings are still open to the public for tours and special events; a Stepping Down feature about Rep. Steve Wenzel (DFL-Little Falls) who has left the House of Representatives to serve as the Minnesota director of rural development for the U.S. Department of Agriculture; a New Member Profile about Rep. Greg Blaine (R-Little Falls) who was sworn in as the newest member of the House of Representatives Nov. 15; the results of the House of Representatives informal Minnesota State Fair poll. More than 9,100 fairgoers weighed in. But this year, young people at the fair also added their two cents; and more.
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With a wrap-up of the 2001 Special Session including features about the $8.7 billion K-12 education funding measure which provides a $104 increase in per-pupil funding, along with several accountability measures; the agriculture, environment, and natural resources funding measure which allocates $1.2 billion in overall spending for the 2002-03 biennium; the $8.5 billion health, human services, and corrections funding measure which provides increased health coverage for children and their families, while extending benefits to welfare recipients nearing the 60-month deadline for aid; the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities which will receive about an 8 percent increase in funding, under a $2.8 billion funding law; and the 2001 tax law which provides $757 million in tax relief during the 2002-03 biennium and a possible $1 billion in future biennia. The plan provides double-digit property tax relief, as well as a sales tax rebate; and more.
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With a history feature about special sessions of the legislature that have been called throughout Minnesota's history; the latest Highlights, New laws and Vetoes of the 2001 regular session; the advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features At Issue stories about Gov. Jesse Ventura's veto of the omnibus health and human services funding measure, containing more than $7 billion in funding and an abortion consent measure; about how a plan for building a Major League Baseball stadium in Minnesota is moving through the committee process, though its form has changed along the way; about how the youngest four-year public university in Greater Minnesota was conceived by a legislative commission in the late 1950s; about how Minnesota has not had the death penalty for nearly 100 years, though the idea continues to be proposed in the Legislature. A botched execution in 1906 led to its abolition; the advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features At Issue stories about the three fold message received by House and Senate members from the 14th Dalai Lama May 9: basic human value, religious harmony, and the situation of the Tibetan community around the world; about how Public health officials and legislators struggled with the near epidemic outbreak of venereal diseases in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries; about how the fishing opener often marks the beginning of summer for many Minnesotans and the trek north provides many landmarks of the state's fishing tradition; about how the 30 year old, Community Corrections Act in Minnesota created a partnership between local law enforcement and state corrections officials to find local solutions for offenders; the advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features At Issue stories about the environment and natural resources finance measure that passed the House which would provide $746 million in funding, but cuts the budget for Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Office of Environmental Assistance; about how the Legislature will welcome the 14th Dalai Lama on his visit to the Twin Cities May 9, intended in part to raise money for the Tibetan Cultural Center; about how action in both the House and Senate will shift toward conference committees in the coming weeks to work out the differences between bills; the advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features At Issue stories about how the House Judiciary Finance Committee has approved its omnibus bill, which allocates $1.3 billion for the next biennium from the general fund and includes provisions addressing felony DWI, racial profiling, and the CriMNet system; about how the full House passed the jobs and economic development omnibus bill, which would spend $353 million for 2002-03; about the House Health and Human Services Finance Commitee which approved a 576-page omnibus bill that would appropriate $6.5 billion for the 2002-03 biennium; about Public college and university officials who anticipate tuition hikes for students, despite the extra funding provided in the $2.83 billion House Higher Education Finance omnibus bill; about a bill that would implement the recommendations of the streamlined sales tax project in several U.S. states which is being considered by the House Taxes Committee; about the $3.6 billion transportation finance measure which would make several significant policy changes, including two proposed constitutional amendments that could change the structure of state transportation funding; and a story about the House pages who represent different backgrounds, and come to the House to deliver the official documents of the Legislature; the advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features At Issue stories about how Legislators have been proposing lowering the blood alcohol concentration to 0.08 percent since 1997, but they have a bit more incentive with the potential loss of federal highway dollars; about Minnesota officials who are preparing in case the highly contagious Foot and Mouth Disease should come to the United States and Minnesota; about the Late Gov. Rudy Perpich's new portrait, including his wife Lola, now hangs in the Capitol, after family and other proponents persevered; the advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features At Issue stories about how a plan to increase student attendance and reduce truancy is being considered by the House K-12 Education Committee; a story about a number of bills that would repeal obsolete laws and rules, ranging from the regulation of trackless trolleys to itinerant carnivals; about several bills proposing long-term goals for mental health care in the state that are being heard in a House committee; and about how Lawmakers are mulling a plan that would dedicate tobacco endowment funds to the University of Minnesota's Academic Health Center; the advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features At Issue stories about about how Legislators have proposed more than $1 million in grants to local law enforcement to combat clandestine methamphetamine labs in Minnesota; a plan allocating money to three programs that train future teachers in cultural and social methods to help them teach in urban and urban-like schools which will be considered for the K-12 omnibus bill; a bill that amends civil case law with regard to the damages defendants must pay which passed the House, but awaits action in the Senate; about how lawmakers are debating a measure that would allow taxpayers a direct mechanism to vote down property tax increases; the advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features At Issue stories about how about how Legislators are debating a bill that would create ways to regulate dairy industry matters, particularly milk prices; about a plan that effectively freezes the Profile of Learning graduation standards until an alternative can be developed was approved by a House committee, while members also approved another plan that would scrap the Profile altogether; about how members are considering merging the state Department of Economic Security with the Department of Economic Trade and Development in an effort to focus more on building a skilled and sustainable workforce; the advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features an At Issue story about how about how Legislators are proposing a plan providing tax-free zones to stimulate development in distressed communities; a history piece about how the debate over one legislative session or two dates back more than 100 years, but the Legislature has employed the same practice of annual sessions since 1973; the advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features At Issue stories about how parents and school officials are questioning the potential overuse of Ritalin to control behavioral disorders; about how a proposal to remove law enforcement discretion in granting permits to carry concealed weapons in public has cleared on House committee; about proposals providing incentives for programs to attract women into nontraditional jobs and industries were approved by a House committee; about how legislators have developed a plan to change the process for establishing administrative rules that may result in more legisltive oversight; the advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features At Issue stories about how a House committee is considering two plans to reinstate the state Board of Education, abolished just two years ago; about how a House subcommittee approved a bill that would require voters to produce photo identification before receiving a ballot at the polling place; remembering former Gov. Harold Stassen, the youngest elected governor in the United States, perennial presidential candidate, and signatory of the U.N. Charter who died March 4; a feature on the Minnesota State Law Library, which is open to the public, and offers many resources for legal research; the advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features At Issue stories about the House Jobs and Economic Development Finance Committee which approved three bills that would fund youth intervention programs to give children constructive skills and help them stay out of trouble; about how Gov. Jesse Ventura has recommended a $730 million 2002-03 budget for the Department of Corrections, a $3.9 million reduction in the department's base; about how Legislators are mulling plans to fund after-school programs for children through district's community education departments; about three bills that would create funding sources for transportation in the state constitution that were approved by the House Transportation Policy Committee Feb. 27; a Capitol Forum Series speech that challenged lawmakers to evaluate the importance of partnerships between industry and public higher education institutions; the advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features At Issue stories about a plan requiring Minnesota's constitutional officers, including the governor, to demonstrate that secondary employment opportunities are not a conflict of interest; about how state officials and medical researchers are discussing acccess to patients records for reseach purposes; about a Legislative Auditor's report showing that housing prices are climbing faster than salaries and how officials are trying to help those who struggle the most to find adequate housing; about how House members are considering several measures that would exempt local units of government from having to pay taxes on their purchases; the advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features At Issue stories about how Legislators are examining proposals to conserve energy and create new, modern sources; and about two proposals to expand eligibility for the state's prescription drug programs, beyond inclusions made in 2000; a policy feature with the former White House director of technology who challenged legislators to provide funding for looming technological advances in a Capitol Forum Series speech; New Member profiles of Reps. Paul Marquart, Neva Walker, and Scott Wasiluk, the advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features stories about farmers and legislators concerns regarding a proposal to move oversite of feedlots from the Pollution Control Agency to the Department of Agriculture; about an aggressive action plan for early childcare and education in Minneosta; about the public's first chance to comment on Gov. Jesse Ventura's tax plan, including expansion of the sales tax to many services, New Member Profiles on Reps. D. Scott Dibble, Ruth Johnson, and Connie Ruth; a story on late floor action in which the House took up a Senate bill to proved $30 million in emergency heat assistance to school districts, but ammended it to provide a sales tax rebate, the advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features stories about legislators concerns that Gov. Ventura's K-12 education funding budget may not be sufficient to meet all of the state's needs; about how Minnesota is ahead of other states in reducing harmful air toxins, but still needs to do more; about lawmakers initiatives to reduce the tax burden on Minnesota military personnel, a story about how a captured Confederate flag remains at the Minnesota History Center despite Virginia's attempts to reclaim it, New Member Profiles on Reps. Barbara Goodwin, Jeff Johnson, and Dale Walz; the advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features At Issue stories about Gov. Jesse Ventura's capital budget request for 2001, a year typically devoted solely to the state's biennial budget; a story about how lawmakers are reviewing a bill that clarifies the role of the state�s constitutional officers as state employees; and also a proposed a bill to register beer kegs in Minnesota to cut down on underage drinking, New Member Profiles on Reps. Geri Evans, Sheldon Johnson, and Maxine Penas; advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features At Issue stories about how Minnesota farmers are coping with the dairy crisis, a project to bring Internet access to Greater Minneosta which is still awaiting private sector financing, and about how officials are preparing for an aging state population; a story about this year's YMCA Youth In Government program; new member profiles on Reps. Debra Hilstrom, Eric Lipman, and Mark Thompson; along with bill introductions; advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features an At Issue story about student accountability assisssments for the federal Title I program; 2001-2002 committee assignments bring criticizm from the minority, but it isn't the first time the controversy has occured; a feature on new House Majority whip Marty Seifert; New Member Profiles of Reps. Carl Jacobson, Tony Sertich, and returning member Nora Slawik; a listing of committee membership; along with bill introductions; advance committee schedule; and more.
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Features the opening day of the 2001 Legislative Session; features on the Governor's State of the State address; a profile of the 2001-2002 Minnesota House membership; a feature on the new member orientation held in Nov.; new member profiles on Reps. Connie Bernardy, Jim Davnie, and Rob Eastlund; a feature on the speech given by economics reporter Chris Farrell to legislators who attended this year's Minnesota Horizons Conference; a feature on House's participation at the Minnesota State Fair including this year's poll results; along with bill introductions; advance committee schedule; and more.