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A NONPARTISAN PUBLICATION APRIL 13, 2001 ESSION VOLUME 18, NUMBER 15 Weekly SMINNESOTA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES • PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE In this issue: BIODIESEL DEBATE OBSOLETE LAWS, TOBACCO ENDOWMENT, AND MORE HF2420-HF2453 ESSION S Weekly Session Weekly is a nonpartisan publication of the Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Office. During the 2001-2002 Legislative Session, each issue reports daily House action between Thursdays of each week, lists bill introductions and upcoming committee meeting schedules, and provides other information. The publication is a service of the Minnesota House. No fee. CONTENTS To subscribe, contact: Minnesota House of Representatives HIGHLIGHTS Public Information Office 175 State Office Building Agriculture • 5 Game & Fish • 12 Local Government • 17 St. Paul, MN 55155-1298 Children • 5 Government • 13 Metro Affairs • 17 (651) 296-2146 or 1-800-657-3550 Crime • 6 Higher Education • 13 Recreation • 17 TTY (651) 296-9896 Development • 8 Housing • 14 Safety • 18 Education • 9 Human Services • 14 Taxes • 18 Director Employment • 10 Immigration • 15 Transportation • 19 LeClair G. Lambert Energy • 10 Industry • 15 Environment • 11 Law • 16 Editor/Assistant Director Michelle Kibiger Assistant Editor Mike Cook FEATURES Art & Production Coordinator At Issue: Education — A plan to increase student attendance and reduce Paul Battaglia truancy is being considered by the House K-12 Education Committee. • 21 Writers David Maeda, Theresa Stahl, At Issue: Government — Legislators have proposed a number of bills that Jonas M. Walker, Mary Kay Watson would repeal obsolete laws and rules, ranging from the regulation of track- less trolleys to itinerant carnivals. • 22 Chief Photographer Tom Olmscheid At Issue: Health — Several bills proposing long-term goals for mental Photographers health care in the state are being heard in a House committee • 24 Andrew Von Bank, Sara Kirk At Issue: Higher Education — Lawmakers are mulling a plan that would Office Manager Nicole Wood dedicate tobacco endowment funds to the University of Minnesota’s Aca- demic Health Center. • 25 Staff Assistants Christy Novak, Michelle Sorvari Session Weekly (ISSN 1049-8176) is published weekly during the legislative session by the Min- DEPARTMENTS/RESOURCES nesota House of Representatives Public Information Office, 100 Constitution Ave., St. Paul, MN 55155-1298. Periodicals postage paid It’s A Fact: Minnesota nice 4 Committee Schedule (April 16-20) 28 at St. Paul, MN, and at additional mailing offices. Governor’s Desk (CH13-23) 26 Reflections: Natural disasters 31 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Bill Introductions (HF2420-HF2453) 27 Minnesota Index: Teens and tobacco 32 Session Weekly, Public Information Office, Minnesota House of Representatives, 175 State Office Building, 100 Constitution Ave., St. Paul, MN 55155-1298. Printed on recycled paper which is 50% recycled, On the cover: The Capitol quadriga sits amid gray rainy skies the first full week of April. 30% post-consumer content. —Photo by Andrew Von bank 2 April 13, 2001 IRST READING F the production facilities are farmer-owned. The committee adopted a second amend- Fueling the debate ment requiring the Department of Agriculture Proponents of biodiesel fuel plan call it good for the to study the “feasibility and desirability” of providing tax credits benefiting biodiesel environment, while opponents say it is bad public policy producers. Westrom told the committee that HF362 is BY JONAS M. WALKER “all about three E’s: environment, economics, ollowing one of the most visible public lobbying campaigns of the and energy.” The middle factor determines stakeholders’ perceptions of the other two. legislative session and the indefatigable efforts of its sponsor, a bill to The debate surrounding the environmen- Frequire the inclusion of biological material in diesel fuels has earned tal benefits of biodiesel takes place in the con- the approval of four House committees. text of new federal rules requiring diesel fuel HF362, sponsored by Rep. Torrey Westrom (R-Elbow Lake), would to reduce its sulfur component by 95 percent by 2000. The National Biodiesel Board wrote, require the sale of so-called “biodiesel” fuels in Minnesota, a mandate pro- “Sulfur emissions are essentially eliminated ponents say would spur the development of “home-grown,” ecologically- with pure biodiesel.” friendly fuels and bolster the state’s sagging rural economy. Opponents, Opponents, however, argue that fuel com- panies will make the necessary improvements including the trucking and airline industries, in fuel at the refinery level. say biodiesels are insufficiently tested and de- John Hausladen of the Minnesota Truck- cry the measure as “good farm politics but bad ing Association said any additive intended to public policy.” reduce sulfur emissions would be “a redun- Biodiesel fuel is just like regular diesel fuel, dant product.” but it includes a biodegradable, combustible A National Biodiesel Board study concluded liquid fuel derived from organic oils for use that biodiesel fuels yield significantly less soot in internal combustion engines. According to and carbon monoxide, both of which are regu- the National Biodiesel Board, a nonprofit in- lated pollutants. Additionally, biodiesels con- dustry association, soybeans provide tribute 93 percent fewer hydrocarbons, which 90 percent of the biological component of contribute to smog. biodiesel fuels. Other sources include recycled However, the same study also found that oils from restaurants and even animal fats, al- biodiesel fuels can produce more nitrogen though those are less commonly used. oxides (NOx), a compound that Runge says is The House Transportation Policy Commit- a “major contributor” to nitrous ground-level tee amended and approved the bill April 10 ozone emission. after one of the longest debates the measure A report issued by University of Minnesota has yet seen. It will now go to the House Trans- Professor C. Ford Runge concluded that “the portation Finance Committee. Twin Cities area has the potential to exceed In its original form, HF362 would require EPA standards for ozone” and that “any in- that all diesel fuel sold in Minnesota after crease in NOx emissions is a potential source July 1, 2002 contain at least 2 percent biodiesel; of environmental costs of compliance.” that would increase to 5 percent by 2006. Proponents counter that “biodiesel’s lack of In response to concern that Minnesota sulfur allows the use of nitrogen oxide con- would isolate itself by becoming the first state PHOTO BY ANDREW VON BANK trol technologies that cannot be used with Bill Frank of Lawrence Transportation testifies be- to adopt such a move, the committee amended fore the House Transportation Policy Committee conventional diesel. Biodiesel nitrogen oxide the bill to stagger the implementation until April 10 in opposition to HF362, a bill that would emissions can be effectively managed and ef- significant production facilities exist in the specify minimum biodiesel fuel content. ficiently eliminated as a concern of the fuel’s state. In the new language, the 2 percent re- use.” quirement would take effect no sooner than material in the same period of time after Min- Westrom’s second “E,” economics, proved 180 days after the commissioner of agricul- nesota producers could generate a quantity among the most contentious. Hoping for a fi- ture announces that Minnesota producers can equal to 2.5 percent the amount of diesel fuel nancial windfall, farmers seek to create a new generate at least one-half the amount needed. sold the previous year. By that second date, market for a bountiful product. Truckers and The amended bill also stipulates all diesel though, the commissioner may only count other industries see themselves as being forced would have to be at least 5 percent biological biological material toward that minimum if to pay for a lopsided mandate benefiting some Session Weekly 3 farmers at the expense of all other economic sectors. The biodiesel debate is often compared to the ethanol controversy of the mid-1980s. Ethanol is a corn byproduct that reduces pol- lutants when added to gasoline. Building on its green record and wishing to nurture a fledg- Minnesota nice ling market, Minnesota began financially sub- A look at tourism in the 1940’s sidizing ethanol production in the state in Though times have changed, one thing is 1948 was between 12 and 13 days. The fisher- 1987, an incentive that the United States also for sure in Minnesota: vacationers still come man tended to spend more time in Minnesota began providing. to the state mainly for its fishing as they did than the non-fisherman, the report stated. Ten years later, Minnesota became the first 50 years ago. Ninety percent traveled by automobile, while state to require that all gasoline sold within But the scenery, atmosphere, and the state’s others traveled by train, bus, or private airplane. its borders contain ethanol. It remains the only people have also lured both in-state and out- About 60 percent of vacationers occupied state to have done so. of-state enthusiasts. “housekeeping cabins” during their stay, while The Runge report concludes that Minnesota Steps to Better Vacations in Minnesota: A sur- most of the rest lodged in resorts, and a small soybean farmers stand to earn $7.5 million per vey of Minnesota’s vacation industry, which was percentage in “overnight cabins” or hotels. Just year were the state to adopt the biodiesel man- compiled in 1948, was the first

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