Public Policy Issues (Archive 1.18.05)
This legislative update published on January 18, 2005
“Our lives begin to end the day
we become silent about things that matter.”
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968)
1. Family Violence Prevention: A Key Family Value
2. Sex Offender Bill and Other Hot Topics at the Capitol
3. Sex Offender Laws Require Dollars
4. Gang Strike Task Force Funding
5. A Look at Minnesota Schools
6. Leadership for Minnesota Schools
7. Focus on Child Care, MFIP, Social Services & Affordable Housing
8. Why are Committees Important?
9. The History Of A Legacy Remembered: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
10. Contact us
1. Family Violence Prevention: A Key Family Value
Preventing family violence is a key family value, aligned with moral issues which played so heavily into last fall’s Presidential election. Across the nation, Americans value strong families who have taken the brave and courageous step to rid their lives of abuse.
”Our philosophy at Tubman is to support victims where they are,” says Executive Director Beverly Dusso, “Over 85 percent of our clients say ‘We don’t want to break up our family. We just want the abuse to stop.’ We work to help women, men, and children achieve their goals.”
With the reauthorization of the federal Violence Against Women Act and Minnesota state budget decisions at stake this year, elected officials need to hear that family violence prevention is a value embraced by citizens across the state and our nation.
Funding for emergency shelter has been dramatically reduced, resulting a net loss of $700,000 between 2002 and 2004 for Tubman Family Alliance shelters alone, which house more than 1,400 women and children annually. From 2002 to 2005, other essential Tubman services families seek in the wake of abuse, like housing advocacy, crisis legal intervention, and transitional housing, were cut by over $280,000.
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2. Sex Offender Bill and Other Hot Topics at the Capitol
A bill strengthening penalties for sex offenders was brought forward in the Minnesota House of Representatives last week. This bill would create mandatory life sentences for certain sex crimes. The bill would also initiate a new criminal sexual predatory conduct crime. The bill has been sent to the Governmental Operations and Veterans Affairs Committee for further review.
(H.F. 0207)
Health Care Access. In the Senate, a bill would allow single adults and households without children to be covered by MinnesotaCare, a state-sponsored health care plan. The bill has been sent to the Health and Family Security Committee for further review. (S.F. 255)
English-Only Drivers Licenses. A Senate bill would mandate that all Minnesota driver’s license exams be given only in English. Giving the exam in languages other than English would be prohibited. The bill has been sent to the Transportation Committee for further review.
(S.F. 198)
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3. Sex Offender Laws Require Dollars
The Department of Corrections has requested $4.37 million in additional funding as a result of prison population growth. The additional funding would also cover sex offender management expenses and health services for inmates. Minnesota has the 32nd lowest crime rate, the 49th lowest incarceration rate, and the 46th lowest per capita spending on corrections, according to material provided by the department.
The Board of Public Defense has asked for additional funds due to increased public scrutiny of sex offender cases, among other issues. The Board also seeks to reduce the caseloads of individual attorneys, which currently double what is recommended by the American Bar Association.
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4. Gang Strike Task Force Funding
Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety Mary Ellison requested $276,000 which she says is needed for the Gang Strike Task Force to continue its operations through June 30 of this year. This specialized law enforcement unit, in existence since 1997, is focused on identifying, arresting and prosecuting gang members engaged in criminal activity throughout the state of Minnesota.
Other recent Department of Public Safety news includes a discussion of Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines at the joint meeting of the Crime Prevention and Public Safety Budget Committees last week. For judges to deviate from set guidelines and hand down a higher sentence, juries must determine that there are “aggravating circumstances, beyond a reasonable doubt,” according to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, Blakely v. Washington.
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5. A Look at Minnesota Schools
The House Education Policy and Reform Committee heard from experts on demographic changes within Minnesota schools and the state at its first meeting last week. Chair, Rep. Mark Buesgens (R-Jordan) emphasized understanding the makeup of the current student population before a discussion of education policy and reform begins.
The number of students of color in Minnesota school districts rose dramatically from 1989 to 2003, according to Dr. Bruce Vandal, Associate Executive Director of Minnesota Minority Education Partnership, Inc. The number of African American students in the state has increased from approximately 24,000 to more than 62,000, the total number of Latino students has nearly quadrupled from 9,000 to more than 35,000, and the number of Asian/Pacific Islander students has nearly doubled from 22,000 to over 44,000. Beyond the metro area, cities like Willmar, Austin and Worthington have seen double-digit percent increases in their enrollments of students of color, said Vandal.
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6. Leadership for Minnesota Schools
Governor Tim Pawlenty named Alice Seagren as the new Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education. Seagren, currently the Chair of the Minnesota House of Representatives Committee on Education Finance, has served as a legislator since 1992. According to Gov. Pawlenty, Seagren has the experience and vision to continue to focus the Department of Education on its core mission of increasing student achievement, while still working towards innovation and reform.
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7. Focus on Child Care, MFIP, Social Services & Affordable Housing
In the Minnesota House of Representatives, a new Committee has been formed in 2005 to oversee issues relating to jobs and economic opportunity. The Jobs and Economic Opportunity Committee will focus on affordable housing, social services, child support, child protective services, child care, and MFIP, amongst other issues.
Members of the House Jobs and Economic Opportunity Committee include:
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8. Why are Committees Important?
Committees act as gatekeepers in the legislative process. Simply put, a Committee is a group of legislators who consider a subject or issue and make recommendations for action to the House or Senate. After discussion, and sometimes taking testimony from experts and community members, a Committee can send the bill forward to the House or Senate floor. Likewise, a Committee can disapprove of a bill and stop it from going forward.
Committees occur in the early stages of how a bill becomes a law – usually right after a bill is first introduced by at least one Senator or House Representative who “authors” the bill. A Committee’s recommendations often determine a bill’s fate by allowing the bill to go forward where it may become a law, or by recommending the bill not go any further.
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9. The History Of A Legacy Remembered: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Fifteen years after Dr. King's death, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill into law making the third Monday of January a national holiday celebrating the birth and life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – an American hero and fearless leader in the Civil Rights movement.
It took many years for Congress to dedicate this national holiday. Before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the United States had only honored two individuals with national holidays – George Washington and Christopher Columbus. Some opposed MLK day because they felt other Americans deserved a national holiday, such as Abraham Lincoln or John F. Kennedy. More flagrant barriers to the confirmation included a Senator from Georgia who denounced Dr. King as a “communist.” Others feared the cost of the holiday, as a paid day off for millions of federal workers with overtime pay for those who had to work. Senator Bob Dole pointed out to those critics, “I suggest they hurry back to their pocket calculators and estimate the cost of 300 years of slavery, followed by a century or more of economic, political and social exclusion and discrimination."
In the years leading up to the official decree, many African Americans celebrated MLK Day themselves, and a few states declared King's birthday a state holiday. The bill was finally passed by both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, and President Reagan signed into law on November 2, 1983. The first national celebration of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday took place January 20, 1986.
For further information, visit MLK Online.
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10. Contact Us
This legislative update is produced by Tubman Family Alliance, a pioneer in family violence prevention nationwide. Tubman Family Alliance offers a full range of services for all community members—men, women, and children—with the aim of preventing and ending family violence.
Get involved by volunteering at Tubman Family Alliance, or invite the Tubman Speaker’s Bureau to bring critical violence prevention outreach to your workplace, faith community, civic group or professional association.
For further information on legislative issues and how you can help take action, contact Randy Schubring, Director of Public Affairs at Tubman Family Alliance at 651-770-8544/612-825-3333 or at grassroots@tubmanfamilyalliance.org.
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This legislative update published on January 18, 2005. |
