Current Public Policy Issues

This legislative update published February 7, 2007

Key Issues

Legislation to Watch

Battle Homelessness

Upcoming Events

Learn about Legislature

MCBW 2007

Contact Us

2007 LEGISLATURE IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Wed., Jan 3 marked the beginning of the 85th legislative session. Minnesota will expect to see some big changes with both the House & Senate being controlled by the DFL party.

It has been eight years since the House was controlled by the DFL. With 85 DFL members and 49 Republicans, it will be an interesting year to pay attention to what type of activity we see at the Capital. Serving you in the House is Rep. Margaret Anderson Kelliher (DFL-Minneapolis) as the new speaker of the house, Rep. Tony Sertich (DFL-Chisholm) as the new House Majority Leader and Rep. Marty Seifert (R-Marshall) as the House Minority Leader.

In the Senate the DFLer's strengthened their hold with 44 DFL members and 23 Republican Senators. Serving you in the Senate is Sen. Larry Pogemiller (DFL-Minneapolis) as Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Tarryl Clark (DFL-St. Cloud) as the Assistant Majority Leader and Sen. David Senjem (R-Rochester) as the Senate Minority Leader.

The changes in leadership have also brought changes in committee structure. In the House, criminal and civil justice policy issues will be heard in the newly combined Criminal and Civil Justice committee, which is led by Rep. Joe Mullery (DFL-Minneapolis). Crime victim services funding will be considered in the new Public Safety Finance Committee led by Rep. Michael Paymar (DFL-St. Paul). This committee has established a new Crime Victims Subcommittee led by Rep. John Lesch (DFL-St. Paul), which we hope will bring greater visibility to the needs of battered women and all other crime victims.

In the Senate, crime victim policy will be heard in the Judiciary Committee led by Sen. Mee Moua (DFL-St. Paul). All crime victim funding issues will be heard in the Public Safety Budget Division led by Sen. Linda Higgins (DFL-Minneapolis). Sen. Leo Foley (DFL-Coon Rapids) will be leading the Judiciary Finance committee which will hear policy bills related to the courts.

You have the ability to meet your Representatives and familiarize yourself with what issues they are focused on this session. It is important to let them know what type of action you'd like to see done in this legislative session for issues that pertain to Domestic Violence and other important topics. To find out more about who represents you, click on the link below. It's easy!

Once you type in your address, you will be provided with a picture of your State Rep., State Senator, U.S. Rep., and U.S. Senator along with links to each of their web pages, which party they belong to and their email contact information.

http://maps.commissions.leg.state.mn.us/website/districts/

KEY ISSUES IN 2007

Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty gave his State of the State Address on Thur., Jan. 18. He highlighted four issues that he would like to see addressed in the upcoming year for Minnesota.

• 
  · Increase budget spending on education 2%/2%
        - Work with high schools to improve on the 3R's:  
•                   Rigor, Relevance & Results
  · Next generation energy plan - move towards obtaining 25% of
•                   energy from renewable fuel sources by 2025.
  · Heath care - the goal is to cover an additional 45,000 people
•                  that are currently uninsured.
  · Property tax relief

Important Legislation to Watch!

This section will highlight important pieces of legislation that is coming up in the House or Senate for you to learn more about. Current bills will be highlighted to give you more information on what's coming up before the legislature and allow you the opportunity to contact your representatives to let them know your view on bills.

Housing Solutions Alliance Housing Solutions Act

Housing Solutions Alliance (HSA) was formed to bring awareness and help provide dedicated funds for a range of housing solutions in Minnesota. More than 100 organizational supporters and thousands of individuals are apart of the Alliance.

HSA is working to present legislation in the 2007 session to encourage Legislators to provide resources to help people with low-incomes to find affordable housing, and to encourage new affordable housing to be created within Minnesota. Their bill will provide revenue to proven flexible MN Housing Finance Agencies (MHFA) because more than 297,000 low-income households statewide could not afford their housing (BBC Research and Consulting, 2003.) If this legislation is passed, more than 6,500 low-income households would receive rental assistance and more than 1,200 households would be able to become home owners.

To learn more about this important work, visit www.housingsolutionsalliance.org

"Castle Doctrine" Bill Would Expand Deadly-Force Law

Deadly force against perceived assailants is the subject of a bill introduced by GOP legislators. The term "Castle Doctrine" is used to describe this bill because it allows homeowners to defend themselves in their homes using deadly force in defending themselves, and not only at home. The proposed bill expands on an early proposal with the main differences being that it expands the area of "home" to include virtually any place the person is "authorized to be."

Co-sponsor of the bill, Sen. Pat Pariseau (R-Farmington) is backing this bill because "a person could be charged with a felony just for defending themselves or their children in their own home." This bill is similar to one passed in Florida in 2005.

Opposition to this bill from both DFLers and law enforcement groups said that it is unlikely to be heard before a committee this year because it is a budget-setting session. Besides the fact that Minnesota law already permits deadly force when there is a fear of death or great harm inside the home, the bill seems to give a "shoot first, ask questions later" platform that would jeopardize more people than it worked to protect.

Senate Votes to Increase Minimum Wage

It's not passed into law - but the Senate voted 94 - 3 to raise the minimum wage for the first time in over a decade. Both MN Senators. Norm Coleman (R-St. Paul) and Amy Klobuchar (DFL-Minneapolis) voted to support the bill that would increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over the next two years.

The bill will now be negotiated between the House and the Senate because there is one big difference between them: the House version is simply a wage increase and the Senate's version added tax cuts for small a business that is objectionable to the House leaders.
Where does that leave things? The Democratic leader in the Senate, Harry Reid (DFL-Nevada) will negotiate the conditions of the bill with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (DFL- California) and Rep. Charles Rangel (DFL-New York) the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. The House could block consideration of the bill, or strip out the tax provisions and send it back for another Senate vote.
Nearly 15 million workers, 11 percent of the U.S. workforce, would see bigger hourly wage rates if the increase to $7.25 is approved, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank in Washington, D.C.

2007 HOMELESSNESS DAY AT THE CAPITOL

It's the coldest week of this winter that Minnesota has seen in more than two years. What would you do if you didn't have a home to sleep in?

More than 7,000 individuals receive services at a shelter each night throughout the state of Minnesota. More than 1,000 individuals are turned away. Many of these adults have young children in their care. But those numbers don't account for all Minnesotans who don't have a home to go to each night. According to Wilder Research Center, more than 20,347 people are homeless in Minnesota. These numbers are devastating to many families and to the communities of Minnesota.

Join the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless on Thurs., Feb. 15 to lobby our Representatives to find ways to bring about important and much needed change in this legislative season.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

1. Meet with other concerned Minnesotans who want to see change happen to end homelessness..
2. Take part in educating yourself on homelessness with the Coalition's legislative experts to help you prepare for meeting with your Legislator.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Here are some important dates to add to your calendar. Come out to support these important events!

• Sat., Feb. 10 Kids Day Minnesota 2007
• * Hosted by Miss MN International * FREE EVENT
  10a - 5pm King of Grace Lutheran Church - Golden Valley
  Crafts * Game room * Gym * Carnival games * Live Music
  Rebecca Ringen is working with Home Free, MCBV, NCADV to promote her platform of "Domestic Violence: Love should not hurt".

  · Mon., Feb. 5 - Sun., Feb. 11 National Teen Dating  Violence week.
  
  · Thurs., Feb. 15 MN Coalition for Homeless Lobby Day at the Capitol Christ Lutheran Church on Capitol Hill 9:30a - 2:45p

  · Wed., Feb. 28 Violence Against Women Action Day at the Capitol. Come view the Memorial for 2006 Femicide Victims & Sexual Assault Victims. Meet at the Capitol rotunda at noon.

  · Thurs., Mar. 1 Minnesota Youth Day at the Capitol. Time & location TBA
  

LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS

What is the purpose of a committee in the legislature? It is a forum that serves three main purposes:

1. Provides the public an opportunity to learn more about proposed bills
2. The bills are put into the best format possible
3. Recommending a worthy bill to the full body of the House or Senate.

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.

MCBW 2007 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES -

The Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women has identified three strong and important priorities in working with the men and women of the legislature this year that promote their overall mission of being a strong voice for battered women everywhere.

PROVIDE safety for all battered women and their children
Invest in safety for battered women and their children by supporting increased funding to victim services, which will mitigate the impact of inflation for the last ten years.

PROMOTE justice for all battered women and their children
Expand criminal protections for victims of battering. This includes the addition of murder and manslaughter to the list of qualified domestic violence offenses and other clean up language that will enhance the criminal response to crimes of domestic violence.

PREVENT harm for all battered women and their children
Oppose joint physical custody presumptions. Statutory presumptions for joint physical custody have been found to undermine the safety of battered women and their children, particularly without adequate consideration of the harm from battering in the relationship.

CONTACT TUBMAN FAMILY ALLIANCE

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