By Rep. Paul Anderson
If there was any hope left at this time for Gov. Mark Dayton to call a special session, that speculation ended last week when he sent a letter telling us the time had expired for a special session. Earlier, he had said that the reason for not calling one was a lingering disagreement with Republicans over funding for the Southwest Light Rail project. That issue was removed from the table when officials when the Met Council went around the Legislature and secured funding on their own for the state’s portion of the $2 billion project.
Now, his reason for not calling us back to finish work on an important tax relief bill was wording in a different piece of legislation, the bonding bill, that called for certain highway projects to be funded. Again, a compromise was offered to allow MnDOT to bypass any of those projects that weren’t shovel-ready. The governor called those projects “earmarks” and wouldn’t change his stance.
One has to wonder just how badly he ever wanted to call a special session in the first place. It’s especially frustrating when a large majority of legislators supported the tax bill, and Gov. Dayton vetoed it because of a wording error. Among other provisions, it would have provided tax relief to business owners and farmers. Those things will now have to wait until next year, meaning those taxes cannot be lowered for at least another year.
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This spate of wet weather we’ve experienced for the past week is trying the patience of farmers wanting to get back in the field to work on the fall harvest. Although amounts vary, some parts of our district have received over 4 inches in that time frame. What makes the situation more difficult at this time of year is that the moisture is not needed, and fields dry out more slowly because of lower temperatures in the fall. We need several days of sunshine and windy conditions to begin the process of drying. The forecast sounds encouraging as this week looks to be open with several windy days and warming temps.
Our hearts go out to those folks in southern Minnesota who received two months’ worth of rainfall in just a few hours. In the area around Waseca, which is just southeast of Mankato, nearly 14 inches was recorded in two days! We heard reports of water standing up to the tassels in corn fields. If that water doesn’t recede in a few days, the integrity of those stalks will begin to weaken and the corn will fall over. It could make for some very difficult harvesting conditions.
And it will take even longer for the ground to become firm enough again to support the weight of combines and other harvesting equipment. Some of those same areas have been wet all summer, and this additional rain just makes the situation worse. I attended a meeting in Glencoe last week and drove through the Hutchinson area, observing large drowned out spots in fields that have been there much of the summer. I talked with one area resident who said his neighbor had gotten stuck numerous times while attempting to combine wheat earlier this summer.
For the most part, good crops are still in the field waiting to be harvested. The tight ag economy and low commodity prices have many concerned already, and this bout of wet weather is just adding stress to an already stressful situation. We join the prayers for dry weather so harvest can resume and the crops can be brought in safely.
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