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Rep. Ernie Leidiger

Final tally for Leidiger’s speeding ticket: $978

May 18, 2012 by seanolsen 28 Comments

A three-judge panel at the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings concluded the case against Rep. Ernie Leidiger and his campaign treasurer (and Carver County GOP Chair) Steve Nielsen Monday, by unanimously finding a violation of Minnesota Statute 211.B12 (7) and assessing a civil penalty of $500 against the two gentlemen.

Instead of finally taking responsibility for their actions, however, Leidiger and Nielsen went out swinging in their responses to the charges, though, continuing to insist that paying speeding tickets out campaign funds is permissible under the cited statute because it occurred “in the line of duty” and because Rep. Leidiger is a large donor to his own campaign.  Even more outrageously, Leidiger and Nielsen suggested that the Minnesota DFL Party, who raised this complaint, be required to reimburse Leidiger and Nielsen for the cost of the speeding ticket and Nielsen’s $300 fine previously paid to the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board.

So the final tally for the Leidiger speeding ticket fiasco:  1 speeding ticket, 2 state statutes violated, and $978 in expense ($178 for the ticket itself, $300 in fines to the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, and $500 in fines to the Office of Administrative Hearings).

The entire order by the Office of Administrative Hearings is below.  It really is worth the read.

2012 Election, Carver County, Legislative Watch, State Legislature
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Sen. Julianne Ortman

Ortman denied GOP endorsement for State Senate [UPDATED]

May 16, 2012 by seanolsen 3 Comments

At the SD 47 GOP nominating convention last night, State Senator Julianne Ortman was not able to secure backing from 60% of the delegates after five ballots and did not earn endorsement.  The Chaska Herald has coverage of how the balloting unfolded.

On the first ballot, Ortman earned 49% of the delegates, followed by Bruce Schwichtenberg at 32% and Kevin Masrud at 19%.  Masrud dropped out at that point, throwing his support to Schwichtenberg.  Following that change, Ortman’s vote total held steady at just over half the delegates.  After five ballots, the delegates voted not to proceed with a sixth ballot.

The Herald reports indicate that the Ortman and Schwichtenberg campaigns were hitting each other hard with their literature.  Schwichtenberg accused Ortman of supporting expanded sales taxes and cap-and-trade as well as being a supporter of former Carver County GOP Chair Paul Zunker, who was convicted of criminal sexual conduct in March.  Ortman raised some issues in Schwichtenberg’s past, including a bankruptcy, tax issues, and a lengthy legal battle with Carver County over a septic system.

Despite the near-deadlock in the delegate count, Schwichtenberg has not committed to running in the primary.

The party also endorsed incumbent Representatives Ernie Leidiger (by acclimation) and Joe Hoppe (a first-ballot win over challenger Gary Heyer) at the convention.

[UPDATE]:  Schwichtenberg announced today he will run in the primary.

2012 Election, Carver County, Legislative Watch, State, State Legislature
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Chaska Park Board approves Griep Park plan

May 15, 2012 by seanolsen 0 Comments

The Chaska Park Board (of which I am a member) approved the plan for development of Griep Park last night by a 6-0 vote.  The plan involves installation of play equipment on the park’s southeast corner near White Oak Drive.  The project has a $90,000 budget — $50,000 for the playground equipment and $40,000 for site preparation, grading, and landscaping.

The project will next go to the Chaska City Council for approval at their meeting on Monday, May 21.

I want to thank the many residents from that neighborhood who got involved with the process.  Your involvement makes for better results.  The final plan will be minimally disruptive to the heavily wooded park, and has nice play areas for both preschoolers and school-age children.  This park is going to be a real asset to the neighborhood, and a nice addition to the city’s park system.

On a sad note, former Park Board member Jack Spizale passed away last week.  Jack was warm-hearted, friendly, and a great asset to the Park Board.  He will be missed.

Chaska, City Council, Park Board
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Sen. Julianne Ortman

Stadium bill passes final hurdle in Senate; Ortman votes no

May 10, 2012 by seanolsen 2 Comments

The Minnesota Senate approved the proposal to build a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings today by a vote of 36-30.  Carver County’s State Senator, Julianne Ortman, voted no on the proposal.   This was the final legislative hurdle for the bill, and the final action taken by the Legislature this session.  Both houses have adjourned, and the 2012 campaign is underway.

Governor Mark Dayton may sign the bill as soon as this afternoon.  Various reports indicate that team owner Zygi Wilf is en route to the state.

2012 Election, Legislative Watch, State, State Legislature
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ernie

House passes final Vikings stadium bill; Leidiger votes no, Hoppe votes yes

May 10, 2012 by seanolsen 3 Comments

The Minnesota House approved the conference committee version of the bill to build a new Minnesota Vikings stadium on a 71-60 vote last night.  Carver County’s House delegation split on the vote, with Rep. Joe Hoppe voting yes and Rep. Ernie Ledigier voting no, just as they did on the original version of the bill Monday night.

Here are the key provisions of the final bill:

  • Here is the final breakdown of the financing:  the team’s contribution will be $477 million ($50 million higher than what they originally committed to), the state’s contribution will be $348 million, and the City of Minneapolis will contribute $150 million.
  • The state’s portion of the financing will be handled by allowing electronic pulltabs and bingo.  If those sources do not produce adequate revenue to cover the state’s portion of the expense, the following provisions will “blink on” (in order) to cover the funding gap:  a sports-themed lottery game, and a 10% tax on suites in the new stadium.
  • The length of the team’s lease will be 30 years.
  • Cost overruns on construction of the stadium will be the responsibility of the builder.  (That should make for some interesting negotiations upfront with the company selected as the general contractor for the facility!)
  • Naming rights revenue will count towards the team’s contribution
  • The team receives a five-year exclusive arrangement to bring a Major League Soccer franchise into the facility
  • Provisions instituting an internet sales tax and financing for the Mall of America expansion were removed from the bill

The Minnesota Senate will take up the bill later today.  You can watch the action here.  State Senator Julianne Ortman has indicated she will vote no on the current proposal because she does not favor using gambling as the means to fund the facility.  If the Senate passes the bill, it will go to Governor Mark Dayton for his signature.

[UPDATE]:  Correction made to the MLS provision.  The bill does contain a provision that would charge rent to the prospective MLS team.

2012 Election, Legislative Watch, State, State Legislature, Taxes
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34Ortman

Senate passes stadium bill; Ortman votes no

May 9, 2012 by seanolsen 1 Comment

The Minnesota Senate approved a proposal to build a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings last night by a vote of 38-28.  Carver County’s State Senator, Julianne Ortman, voted no on the proposal.  22 of the 38 yes votes came from the DFL minority, while only 16 of the 37 GOP Senators voted in favor of the bill.

As with the House bill, dozens of amendments were debated.  Key differences between the House bill and Senate bill include:

  • The team contribution:  the House bill calls for a team contribution of $532 million, the Senate bill calls for a $452 million contribution.  Both of these amounts are higher than the $427 million the team has pledged, and the team has not indicated publicly a willingness to go beyond that amount.
  • Financing the state contribution:  The Senate bill includes some user fees in addition to electronic pulltabs used in the House bill.  These user fees are a 10% fee on sale or rental of suites in the new stadium, a 10% fee on parking within one-half mile of the stadium, and a 6.875% fee on the sale of officially licensed merchandise at the stadium.
  • Other provisions include a tax break for expansion of the Mall of America and $2.7 million in annual payments to the City of St. Paul to utilize on sports facilities (either retiring of debt on the Xcel Energy Center or construction of a new St. Paul Saints stadium are the most likely uses)

The bill now moves to a conference committee to hash out the difference between the two bills.  Chaska State Rep. Joe Hoppe is one of the members of the conference committee.  Once a final bill is agreed to by the conference committee, it goes back to the floor of each body, where they will take an up-or-down vote with no amendments allowed.

2012 Election, Legislative Watch, State, State Legislature, Taxes
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The anti-business, socialist President strikes again

May 8, 2012 by seanolsen 16 Comments

Republicans have attacked Barack Obama for being anti-business and socialist over and over and over again since his election in 2008.

So, how’s that been working out?

Well, business profits are up.  Way up.

The Fortune 500 generated a total of $824.5 billion in earnings last year, up 16.4% over 2010. That beats the previous record of $785 billion, set in 2006 during a roaring economy.

The stock market is up.  Way up.

The Dow Jones industrial average has soared 62 percent since President Barack Obama took the oath of office during some of the darkest days of the Great Recession. The Dow was just below 8,000 then and stands near 13,000 today.

Corporations have record amounts of cash on their balance sheets.

Apple Inc. (AAPL), the world’s most valuable business, led U.S. corporations in amassing a record $1.24 trillion of cash last year as memories of the 2008 credit crisis linger, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

Excluding Apple, with $97.6 billion of cash and no outstanding debt, the figure was relatively unchanged at $1.15 trillion, even as revenue and cash flow from operations rose to a record, Moody’s analysts led by Richard Lane said in a report yesterday.

Government (federal, state, and local) is smaller.

For the first time in 40 years, the government sector of the American economy has shrunk during the first three years of a presidential administration.

Spending by the federal government, adjusted for inflation, has risen at a slow rate under President Obama. But that increase has been more than offset by a fall in spending by state and local governments, which have been squeezed by weak tax receipts.

Source: New York Times, based on Bureau of Economic Analysis data

It seems the anti-business, socialist President has actually worked out pretty well for corporate America.

2012 Election, Economy, National, Taxes, U.S. House, U.S. Senate
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ernie

House approves Vikings stadium bill; Hoppe votes yes, Leidiger votes no

May 8, 2012 by seanolsen 5 Comments

The Minnesota House approved a proposal to build a new Minnesota Vikings stadium on a 73-58 vote last night.  Carver County’s House delgation split on the vote, with Rep. Joe Hoppe voting yes and Rep. Ernie Ledigier voting no.

40 of the 73 yes votes came from the DFL minority, while only 33 of the 72 Republicans in the House voted yes.

Dozens of amendments to the bill were debated yesterday, most of which were defeated, but there were some substantial changes to the bill that did get through.  These include:

  • Reducing the state contribution by $105 million and adding that to the team’s contribution, including a provision that would share naming rights proceeds.  This is a potential sticking point in the bill, as the Vikings have not agree to pay more (at this point) than the $427 million contribution agreed to in the original bill
  • Putting the Vikings on the hook for cost overruns during construction of the stadium; this is similar language to the Target Field bill, but it does imply giving the Vikings control over the construction process
  • Increasing the lease from 30 years to 40 years
  • Increasing the amount of revenue that has to be shared if the Wilfs sell the Vikings after the stadium is built

The bill moves to the State Senate today, which is in session beginning at 9 a.m.  State Senator Julianne Ortman of Chanhassen has indicated she will be voting no on the current proposal.

2012 Election, Legislative Watch, State, State Legislature
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Rep. Joe Hoppe

Hoppe, Leidiger, Ortman vote against bonding bill [UPDATED]

May 7, 2012 by seanolsen 6 Comments

The Minnesota House has passed a $496 million bonding bill by a 99-32 vote this afternoon.  The bill will fund a number of key infrastructure projects and will create a number of jobs.  You can see the details of the bill here.

The fact of the matter is that this an excellent time to aggressively use our bonding capacity to upgrade our infrastructure.  Why?  Let’s quickly summarize the reasons:

  • Interest rates remain at or near historic lows.  In fact, even with Governor Dayton’s proposed $775 bonding package, our average interest expense over the life of the bonds would actually decline over the current payments.
  • Minnesota’s construction industry still has lots of excess capacity, despite the economic recovery finally just starting to take hold.  State and local governments have been consistently receiving bids lower than estimated for what projects have been completed in recent years.  We can get good bang for the buck in the current environment.
  • While  bonding is additional debt, it’s the very best kind of debt.  Bonding goes to projects, like new buildings and renovations at our colleges and universities, flood prevention and mitigation, roads and bridges, pollution control, and public safety.  These projects are the foundation for future prosperity, and will give benefits to the state for years and decades to come.

Carver County’s House delegation of Rep. Joe Hoppe and Ernie Leidiger voted no on the proposal.

The Minnesota House’s voting tracker for the bonding bill. (Screen capture via The Uptake)

This is a disappointing vote.  The bonding bill is shaping up to be one of the few highlights of this year’s session, and our representatives are on the wrong side of the issue.  Hoppe and Leidiger are going to have very little to show for themselves when voters ask about what they have accomplished since the 2010 election.

[UPDATE]:  The State Senate took up the bill this afternoon, passing it on a 45-22 vote.  State Senator Julianne Ortman of Chanhassen also voted against the bill.

[UPDATE #2]:  Reps. Hoppe and Leidiger voted against the final conference committee version of the bonding bill on Tuesday afternoon.  The bill passed 97-33.

2012 Election, Economy, Legislative Watch, State, State Legislature
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34Ortman

You can’t always get what you want

May 5, 2012 by seanolsen 7 Comments

Legislative Republicans are mad.  Really mad.  Their top priority for this year’s session fell to Governor Mark Dayton’s veto pen yesterday — their package of business tax cuts.

In fact, here’s what State Senator Julianne Ortman had to say about this yesterday:

“He vetoed our highest priority,” said Ortman said, who also is deputy majority leader. “I think there will be consequences. I think that he has lost the trust of many of my colleagues in the Legislature.”

That may well be true, of course.  The real question is if such anger is justified.

Is it unusual for one side or the other to get shut out on their top priority for a session?  Hardly.  All you have to do is go all the way back to last year — when Gov. Dayton’s top priority was to close the state’s sizable deficit using a balanced package that consisted of about 75% spending cuts and 25% revenue increases.  Did he get that?  No way — the final deal instead borrowed from our schools and sold out future tobacco settlement revenues.

Yet, despite that, Dayton has worked with Republicans and agreed to compromise on some significant issues — including permitting and health and human services reforms.  Dayton has also indicated willingness to sign some elements of the Republicans’ tax bill into law.

That’s the nature of divided government.  Your top priority is probably going to be real low on the other side’s list.  But the job description isn’t to punt when the top priority is off-the-table.  Real leaders double down their efforts in those times and do the best they can for their party and their state.  Too many Republicans seem content at this point to walk away with nothing — no tax bill, no bonding bill, and no Vikings stadium.  Minnesotans should expect better.

2012 Election, Economy, Legislative Watch, Schools, State, State Legislature, Taxes
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