By Rep. Paul Anderson
The new session of the Minnesota Legislature is already in its fourth week, and it's a start that I've not witnessed before during my time at the Capitol. Usually, not much happens during the first few weeks on the floor of the House or the Senate because it takes time for prospective bills to work their way through the committee process and be ready for floor action.
Not so this year, as the first bill, one pertaining to tax conformity, was passed during week two. Not to be confused with tax reductions, this bill simply conformed Minnesota's tax code to the IRS in the area of exempting state income tax on funds received mainly from various federal pandemic programs. The bill was put on a fast track to allow time for the Dept of Revenue to update its software in time for this year's tax filing.
A bill that was the DFL majority's top priority, House File (HF 1), was also fast tracked through committees and heard on the floor this past week. It's the Protect Reproductive Options Act, the bill dealing with abortion. It was passed after four hours of emotional debate on a nearly straight party-line vote. One DFLer joined all Republicans in voting against the bill, but it passed on a 69-65 vote. Supporters of the bill say it enshrines these protections in state law, while Republicans said it goes way beyond that, calling it the most liberal abortion law in the nation. The bill guarantees the right to abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, with no age restrictions, and no assurance that parents of minors must be notified.
The bill is expected to be heard in the Senate this week.
Another bill that will surely create strong debate is scheduled to be heard soon in the House. It's HF 7, a bill that mandates that, by the year 2040, all electricity utilized by Minnesota residents come from renewable sources. I think this bill moves the needle too far, too fast. We are a long way from being able to rely strictly on wind turbines and solar panels for our total electric generation capacity. Think of our weather conditions during this month of January, with very little sunshine and not much wind, either. On many of these gray winter days, renewables generated little power, with the vast majority coming from coal and natural gas.
We as a society rely heavily on electricity. We can't put gas in our cars or keep our business systems functioning without power. And here in Minnesota, the loss of electricity could become a life-threatening situation. I think we need to maintain a variety of generation sources. Renewable are fine as part of that mix, but because they are intermittent, renewables need to be backed up. And, until we have cost-effective and efficient battery storage of power, we need to maintain the baseload capability that coal, natural gas, and nuclear provide.
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On the topic of ag and farming, I serve as the lead Republican on the Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee. Our first few meetings have mainly dealt with updates on the various programs overseen at the state level by the Dept. of Ag. New this year is that broadband has been added to the committee's jurisdiction. We heard a report from the Office of Broadband on how $100 million in grants was recently awarded, with another $67 million to soon follow. Several projects in our district were on the list, including one for southern Pope County, one in western Stearns County, and one including Stevens and Grant counties.
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