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~ ~on-Rartisari Rol:5lication of tne /\?iinnesota lrloose of Rer2resentatives I Fle"5ruari 2, l ~~c5 I ~olume 13, ~uml!5er 3 • HF2721-HF3009 Session Weekly is a non-partisan publication of the Minnesota House of SESSION WEEKLY Representatives Public Information Of Minnesota House of Representatives • February 2, 1996 • Volume 13, Number 3 fice. During the 1995-96 Legislative Session, each issue reports daily House action between Thursdays of each week, lists bill introductions and upcoming committee meeting· schedules, and pro vides other information. The publication W ek at a glance is a service of the Minnesota House. No No kids operating speedboats - The House Environment and Natural Resources fee. Committee heard graphic and deeply emotional testimony Jan. 31 from the family and friends of a boy killed in a speed boat accident last year. The committee then approved To subscribe, contact: a bill which would prohibit children under 12 from operating a boat with higher than Minnesota House of Representatives a 40 horsepower motor.· ................................................................................ Page 4 Public Information Office 175 State Office Building Telecommunication failure -A bill that would have guaranteed Internet access and St. Paul, MN 55155-1298 other advanced telecommunications services to every Minnesotan failed to pass the (612) 296-2146 or House Regulated Industries and Energy Committee Jan. 29 ........................... Page 5 1-800-657..,3550 TDD (612) 296-9896 All-day kindergarten -A proposal to ensure that disadvantaged children are ready for first grade by having them spend more time in a kindergarten classroom was Director considered Jan. 31 by a House panel. ............................................................ Page 9 Assistant Director/Editor Elected Met Council - Members of the Metropolitan Council would be elected by Peg Hamerston the people they serve under a bill approved Feb. 1 by a House panel. The bill calls for all positions on the council to be up for grabs in the 1998 general election. Page 10 Assistant Editors John T. Tschida Feed the deer, please-The Minnesota House ofRepresentativesJan. 29 adopted a K. Darcy Hanzlik resolution to start an emergency deer feeding program in northern Minnesota .................................................................................... Page 11 Writers Hospital stays after birth - A bill to allow mothers and their newborn babies the Kendall Anderson, Betsy Gerboth, option to stay in the hospital a little longer after birth passed the full House Feb. 1. The Nick Healy vote was 126-8 ......................................., .................................................... Page 12 • Art & Production Coordinator Keeping the hospital open - The only way for the University of Minnesota Hospital Paul Battaglia and Clinic (UMHC) to survive is to join forces with another health care provider. A provost of the U of M's Academic Health Center told lawmakers he believes that the Photographers most practical solution to declining patient numbers and revenues is to combine the Tom Olmscheid, Laura Phillips, resources of the UMHC with Fairview Riverside Medical Andrew Von Bank Center in Minneapolis ................................................................................. Page 12 Office Manager No men allowed -A Twin Cities-based running club for women would be allowed Matthew A. Niewohner· to exclude men from an annual running event under a bill approved by a House panel. ....................................................................................... Page 15 Staff Assistants Toinette Lisa Battle, Dianna Kennedy Speed hike sputters - Efforts to increase speed limits on Minnesota highways have stalled in the House Transportation and Transit Committee. The committee took up proposals to boost speed limits, but no action was taken on any of the measures. Clearly, some lawmakers would like it to stay that way ............................... Page 16 ~j1 PRINTED WIT ~SOVINK Session Weekly (ISSN 1049-8176) is pub INSIDE lished weekly during the legislative session by the Minnesota House of Representatives Public Highlights ........................................................................ :............. 3 Information Office, 100 Constitution Ave., St. A closer look: Driver's licenses ...................................................... 17 Paul, MN 55155-1298. Second Class postage paid at St. Paul, MN, and at additional mailing Feature: The making of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome ........... 18 offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Session Weekly, Public Information Office, Bill Introductions (HF2721 - HF3009) ............................................. 19 Minnesota House ofRepresentt¼tives, 175 State Office Building, 100 Constitution Ave., Committee Schedule (Feb. 5 - 9) ......................... ·........................... 26 St. Paul, MN 55155-1298. On the cover: Relentless sub-zero temperatures the week of Jan. 29 kept even the hardiest Printed on recycled paper w hichis 100% recycled, • Minnesotans off the St. Paul Winter Carnival snow slide on the Capitol complex. 20% post-consumer content. - Photo by Laura Phillips 2 SESSION WEEKLY / February 2, 1996 Week in Review ... Jan. 25 - Feb. 1, 1996 • Kids and tobacco ... Proposal fines store owners for sales to minors bill to get tough on retailers who sell cigarettes to minors is on the way to the House floor. SFSSS, sponsored by Rep. Loren Jennings (DFL-Harris), would require training for all clerks and use stiff fines and, in some cases, license suspensions to penalize retailers who violate state law forbidding tobacco sales to minors. The bill emerged Jan. 30 from the House Commerce, Tourism and Consumer Affairs Committee with support from store owners and opposition from some anti-smoking ac tivists. Critics strongly opposed a provision in the bill that would forbid local units of govern ments from enacting tougher penalties in the future. Supporters praised the plan because it would set uniform statewide penalties for illegal tobacco sales. Students from Litchfield Senior High School, left to right, Amy Miller, Kajsa Dille, Andrea Anderson, Under the bill: Julien Kubesh, and Paula Sikkila, captured the attention of the House Commerce, Tourism and • • In addition to criminal and civil penalties Consumer Affair~ Committee Jan. 30 with a skit about how tobacco kills. The committee approved a bill already in statute, clerks who sell to minors that would get tough on retailers who sell cigarettes to minors. would face at least a $50 fine, and minors for a first violation. Second and third of Their criticism centered on a clause that who buy or attempt to buy cigarettes also fenses within a 24-month period would would prohibit local units of government would be fined at least $50. (Proceeds bring a $200 to $400 fine, and a third from enacting tougher tobacco sales ordi would be retained by the local unit of violation also would result in as much as a nances. government.) Under current state law, seven-day suspension of the retailer's li "Why should we stifle that initiative?" said clerks face gross misdemeanor criminal cense to sell tobacco. Attorney General Hubert Humphrey Ill, who penalties of up to a year in prison and a Local officials would be allowed to set the argued against the pre-emption proposal. $3,000 fine for selling to minors. Minors punishment for a fourth violation. "... Why should the Legislature put a stop to face up to a $200 petty misdemeanor fine And local governments would be required local initiative in this area? Communities are not going to act irresponsibly." The bill would allow existing local ordi "We have a strong tradition of local control in nances to remain in place. In cities such as Minnesota . ... We ask that you don't erode Chanhassen, Litchfield, and Roseville, local or prohibit that local control." ordinances. are, in some cases, quite a bit stronger than what Jennings is proposing. -Karen Anderson, mayor of Minnetonka In Chanhassen, for example, store owners and president of the League of Minnesota Cities can be hit with a 10~day license suspension for a first offense, 20 days for a second offense, and one-year revocation for a third for buying or attempting to buy cigarettes. to license shops for tobacco sales and to offense, according to the city's public safety • All clerks would receive mandatory train conduct compliance checks at least once department. ing on tobacco sales laws and the penalties every two years. Current efforts to develop tobacco sales for violations of those laws. The specifics of "This is a tremendously tough, tough law," ordinances in the cities ofBemidji, Plymouth, the training programs would be developed Jennings said. and Stillwater would be thwarted under the by retailers. Jennings described the train But some anti-smoking forces and local bill. ing requirements as the "heart of the bill." government officials are less than enthusias "We have a strong tradition oflocal control • Store owners would be fined $100 to $200 tic about the bill. in Minnesota," said Karen Anderson, mayor February 2, 1996 / SESSION WEEKLY 3 of Minnetonka and president of the League of "Young farmers are the primary purchasers of bonds without a guarantee of state participa Minnesota Cities. "We ask that you don't used equipment." tion. erode or prohibit that local control." Minnesota currently charges a 2.5 percent Currently, communication among police, Pre-emption laws of varied strength are sales