By Rep. Paul Anderson
It was a busy weekend as we had four town hall-style meetings on the schedule. By far the largest was in Starbuck Saturday morning as around 70 folks came to give their viewpoints to Sen. Torrey Westrom, Rep. Jeff Backer, and myself.
The main topic of the nearly one-hour gathering was gun control, with residents weighing in on both sides of the issue. Several military veterans told the audience that they saw no need for assault-style weapons being available to the public. A former law enforcement officer said he thought the students marching across the country should look to themselves and help fellow students who show signs of being bullied or are alone. Discussion was respectful and also got into the aspect of mental health and school safety.
The topic of muskie fishing was also brought up at the Starbuck gathering. One person said that lake associations should not be allowed to dictate to the DNR whether or not their lake should be stocked with muskies. At the meeting in Belgrade, ditch mowing was discussed. One resident there was of the opinion that since residents in some cases pay taxes on the land where roadways are located, they should be allowed to mow and bale hay when they want. At Melrose, someone brought up the topic of legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. A map was distributed showing the various states where this has already been done.
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This week marks the unofficial half-way mark of the legislative session. Our break for Easter and Passover begins Thursday evening of this week and carries through next week, as well. Our second committee deadline is also this Thursday, so bills must have cleared it though all policy committees by this time. I have a couple of interesting bills up in committee this week, one pertaining to the registration of former military Jeeps or Humvees to be driven on public roads. The other has to do with a larger property tax exemption for agricultural organizations that host farming exhibits, such as Albany Pioneer Days.
In the case of licensing former military vehicles, the problem is that when they are sold to private individuals, the title carries a statement saying the vehicle is for "off-road use" only." These smaller vehicles are street-legal in all other aspects, but because of that wording and a Minnesota statute prohibiting their registration, it currently can’t be done. Our bill would change the statute and allow de-commissioned military vehicles to be registered in our state.
The other bill up for me this week deals with a property tax exemption that currently stands at 20 acres. That would increase to 50 acres under this bill and would pertain to organizations such as the Stearns County Pioneer Club. They organize and host the event in Albany, which attracts thousands each year during its three-day run in September.
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Also attended the Pope County Corn and Soybean Growers annual meeting over the weekend. Heard a report on activity in Washington, D.C., to modify or repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard, which is the legislation that calls for ethanol to be blended at certain levels in the nation's gasoline supply. Concern was expressed that if it’s changed significantly, it could do harm to the ethanol industry. Minnesota, alone, has 21 ethanol plants that have a large economic effect on our state's economy.
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Need to make a correction from last week’s column. I said that the Sauk Centre girls basketball team had amassed more wins in a season that any team in the history of Minnesota basketball. I should have qualified that by saying “in the history of GIRLS basketball,” because the BBE boys team in 2012 had the same exact record of 33-0 on their way to a state championship. The Jaguars had quite a run from 2010 through 2014, winning 125 games while only losing seven. During that stretch, they won two state titles and finished as the runner-up once.
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