Minnesota Legislature
2000 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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Features the opening day of the 2000 Legislative Session, features on the Governor's bonding proposal, the history of the light-rail debate in the legislature and the courts, Gov. Floyd B. Olson's advocacy of a unicameral legislature, a Capitol Forum debate over the safety of genetically engineered foods, and a look at some of this year's Youth in Government program participants, along with bill introductions, advance committee schedule, and more.
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Featuring a proposal being considered this year that would increase penalties for crimes motivated by prejudice; a government feature about how three of the most influential people in government joined together this week to push for a unicameral legislature; a government feature about how some lawmakers are looking to protect private property rights in the face expanding development; a higher education feature about critics of the governor�s bonding plan that want more for Minnesota colleges; a policy feature on a lecture presented in the Capitol Forum series focusing on medical and ethical implications of genetic engineering; and a history feature about Urban growth and rural concerns that were the dominant forces in 100 years of Minnesota politics.
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Featuring: a look back at child labor laws and how they affected bowling alleys in the 1950s; a look at how DNA data is collected in other states; an agriculture initiative where farmers say increasing support for productive ethanol plants is key to success in a depressed market; a crime feature where local officials want to replace overcrowded, outmoded county jails with new regional faclities funded in part by the state; a crime feature about several proposals officials are considering to extend the statute of limitations for sex crimes and other serious offenses; a crime feature showing the progression of sex offender laws to protect citizens; a transportation feature about an effort underway this year to repeal funding for a light-rail transit line in Minneapolis; along with bill introductions, advance committee schedule and more.
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Featuring: a look back at the life of former Chief Justice James Gilfillan; an education feature about initiatives to make schools safer and prevent school violence; an employment feature about how low unemployment has prompted lawmakers to focus on training skilled workers in developing industries; an environment feature about the Legacy 2000 plan that would provide millions to enhance and protect the environment; a transportation feature looking at committee recommendations for bridges, roads and railroads, including $300 million more in bonding than Gov. Ventura requested; a look back at Billy Williams, aide to 14 state governors from 1904 to 1957; along with bill introductions, advance committee schedule and more.
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Featuring a close look at the February budget forecast; a look back at consumer protection initiatives in Gov. Karl Rolvaag's administration; an agriculture feature about tax proposals lawmakers are considering that would aid Minnesota's struggling family farmers; an education feature about a House committee's effort to make the Profile of Learning more acceptable for teachers and students; a transportation feature on House proposals to cut license tab fees; and a history feature on the tragic and deadly Milford mining disaster; along with bill introductions, advance committee schedule and more.
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Featuring a close look at a bill that would move certain offenses committed by juveniles to adult court if a firearm is involved; the story behind Floyd of Rosedale and the football rivalry between the University of Iowa and the University of Minnesota; an education feature about legislative initiatives to fend off projected teacher shortages; a family feature about how couples planning to marry can choose an option demanding more preparation going in and making it more difficult to get out; a game and fish feature about measures to increase hunting and fishing license fees; and a history feature on the 30 year battle to institute a state sales tax; along with bill introductions, advance committee schedule and more.
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Featuring a proposal to place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot to dedicate a portion of the state sales tax to natural resources projects; a look back at a 1909 report detailing the need for reform in the Legislature; a story about a surprise amendment on the House floor that dramatically changed a bill modifying the Profile of Learning; a story about a state government spending measure that would give the governor a raise while cutting other costs, a story about the debate regarding whether the Legislature should reduce property taxes or income taxes in a search for meaningful reform; a transportation proposal to spend $425 million to address metropolitan bottlenecks and reverse light-rail funding; and a policy story about the history of charter schools in Minnesota; with bill introductions, advance committee schedule and more.
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Featuring the House bonding plan that lines up with governor's recommendations only on the bottom line; a story about welfare changes and other noteworthy measures that are included in a massive omnibus bill that funds a wide array of government programs; a look at a tax plan advancing in the House that would cut taxes and provide rebates, a history story about how the current governor isn't the first to receive attention from the national media or to catch criticism for it.
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Featuring a bill awaiting the governor's signature which would provide a variety of new methods to track sex offenders; a feature regarding light-rail transit troubles, lawmakers approve a bill that aims to eliminate potential conflicts of interest in awarding contracts for state projects; and a Stepping Down feature about Rep. Doug Reuter who is stepping down after two terms. The House's lone independent garnered attention by leaving the Republican Caucus, while continuing to fight on emotional issues.
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With stories including a feature about how lawmakers have moved to settle a dispute between the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and farmers over changes to rules governing feedlots; a feature about where the House and Senate bonding bills differ, with major divides related to higher education, environment, and state building projects.; a feature about a bill that would give divorcing parents the option to work out their own custody agreements rather than fighting it out in court.; a feature about how some fourth-grade students combined school projects into a real-life civics lesson and successfully campaigned for 13th state symbol; Stepping Down features about retiring members Rep. Phil Carruthers, a former speaker of the House, who is leaving to take a top post with the Ramsey County attorney, and Rep. Lee Greenfield,who is known for persevering to make the revolutionary MinnesotaCare program become law.
Including a feature about how state laws set minimum penalties for a long list of crimes, some of them strange and seemingly outdated; a history feature about how it wasn't until the last 25 years that Minnesota began creating laws to control guns, but firearms issues have become a frequent subject of legislative debate in recent years; Steping Down features abouts Reps. Alice Johnson, a public education supporter who plans to leave the House for a more private life and Myron Orfield who is leaving the House to run for a state Senate seat.
With a feature about the governor's veto of a bill that would have required a 24-hour waiting period before a woman could have an abortion; Stepping Down features about Rep. Linda Wejcman who is leaving the House to return to her work in her south Minneapolis community; Rep. Jim Rostberg who says his business pursuits and other interests prompted his decision to leave, not the criminal charge pending against him; Rep. Ann H. Rest, long a leader on tax issues, she combined a background as an accountant and a teacher to push for reforms; a history feature about an early Minnesota editor's views forced a confrontation with political powers and vandals to keep her newspaper alive.
With a feature about a once-controversial fountain that will soon return to its home near the Veterans Service Building after months of repairs; a history feature about the Legislature's veto override power and how it is being used more now than ever in the past; a feature about how the Minnesota's Sentencing Guidelines Commission rates crimes and determines how long felons should stay in prison.
With a feature about the revived unicameral proposal; a history feature about how public perceptions prompted the first efforts to register and monitor lobbyists; twenty-five years after the fall of Saigon, Legislators reflect on their experiences during the Vietnam War and its impact on their lives in a feature; and a feature about a former legislator and sheriff who tells tales of his life as rural law enforcement officer and jailer in a new book.
With a feature about the omnibus education bill which provides $184 million of new education funding and seeks to keep Internet porn out of the classroom; a feature about the human services items which dominate the state government appropriations bill, though environmental, judicial, and economic development programs are in the mix; a feature about the compromise tax bill which includes $142 million in income tax cuts and license tab fee reductions and a $685 million sales tax rebate; and a feature about the $600 million transportation package which saves light rail and returns emphasis to neglected infrastructure.
With a feature about the bill lawmakers passed to address concerns about the state's Profile of Learning. The relatively modest bill will give schools more power to choose how to implement the initiative; a feature about Rep. Peg Larsen who is leaving the House after three terms to spend more time with her family; and a feature about Rep. Sherry Broecker, a leader on crime and public safety, who is leaving the House after three terms to return to her interest in local issues.