Law & Government
May 13, 2013
“It's easy enough to levy costs when it's ‘somebody else’ who pays, but levy too much and we'll discover, down the road, that we don't like the price.”
May 9, 2013
This week, the Minnesota State House of Representatives issued a news release that said the following:“The Elections Omnibus Policy bill (HF 894), authored by Rep. Steve Simon (DFL—Hopkins), passed by a vote of 74-60 with support from both sides of the aisle.”
May 6, 2013
All of you have constituents who have lost retirement savings in the Great Recession, either in whole or in part and will have to work much longer than they planned to make up those savings. How will you explain this legislation to them?
May 6, 2013
The old defined benefit model is not working and I have lost confidence that it can be saved. These pensions are supposed to be a secure, prudently managed retirement savings vehicle for public employees. Instead they are a political tool.
Apr 29, 2013
The “Happy to Pay for a Better Minnesota” crowd is fully in charge. This does not position Minnesota to compete for the top talent and capital that is shopping the country (and world) for good economic opportunities.
Apr 29, 2013
Kim Crockett at 2013 Tax Rally
Apr 23, 2013
Justice Louis Brandeis is famous for saying that “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.”
Transparency in government would, Brandeis felt, help purify its actions. In the 2011-12 Legislature, several provisions were passed and signed into law that brought transparency and accountability to Minnesota government.
Apr 19, 2013
Like the great and powerful OZ hiding behind a curtain of actuarial mumbo-jumbo and a thundering defensive posture, the executive directors of the state pension plans recently tried to scare off those who dare to pull back the curtain so public employees and taxpayers can see for themselves that the funds are not what they seem.
Apr 10, 2013
As you may know, one of my missions is to reform our broken public pension system. So when I think it will make a difference, I head to the Capitol to testify, talk to folks and offer what we have learned over several years of earnest and hard work on this complex but urgent matter.
Apr 7, 2013
Sometimes you just can’t make this stuff up. The latest cause célèbre for prominent lawyers and judges in Minneapolis is the rights of a new, disenfranchised class of victims who, we’re told, can’t vote, serve on juries, or — in some cases — live in public housing.