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Session Weekly January 31, 2003, Volume 20, Number 4

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Session Weekly January 31, 2003, Volume 20, Number 4 JANUARY 31, 2003 VOLUME 20, NUMBER 4 In this issue: STATE PROFESSIONAL CONTRACTS REPORT BUDGET BILL, MINNESOTACARE STUDY, AND MORE HF183-HF261 ESSION S Weekly Session Weekly is a nonpartisan publication of the Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Office. During the 2003-2004 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 IGHLIGHTS Public Information Office H 175 State Office Building Education • 5 Health • 7 Recreation • 9 St. Paul, MN 55155-1298 Elections • 5 Higher Education • 8 (651) 296-2146 or Safety • 9 1-800-657-3550 Energy • 5 Law • 8 Tourism • 10 TTY (651) 296-9896 Gambling • 6 Metro Affairs • 9 Director Barry LaGrave FEATURES Assistant Director At Issue: Family — Legislators toured a number of facilities that provide services LeClair G. Lambert to homeless individuals Jan. 28. • 11 Editor/Assistant Director Michelle Kibiger At Issue: Government — The House passed a budget-balancing bill that would Assistant Editor trim $468 million from the fiscal year 2003 budget. Conferees are already meeting Mike Cook to negotiate a compromise between the House and Senate proposals. • 12 Art & Production Coordinator At Issue: Health — A legislative auditor’s report reveals that the MinnesotaCare Paul Battaglia program may not be collecting as much as it should in premiums. • 14 Writers People — The House majority and minority caucuses appoint whips to count Miranda Bryant, Patty Janovec, votes and help assist the majority and minority leader with floor debate and ad- Jeff Jones, Tom Lonergan ministrative duties• 15 Chief Photographer Tom Olmscheid People — Rep. Karen Klinzing (R-Woodbury) brings a teaching background to Photographers her new role as a legislator. • 16 Andrew Von Bank, Kristine Larsen People — Rep Paul Kohls (R-Victoria) hopes to use his experience as a com- Office Manager muter from the metropolitan area’s far western suburbs in advocating for road Nicole Wood improvements. • 17 Staff Assistants People — Rep. Paul Thissen (DFL-Mpls) draws wisdom from many sources, in- Christy Novak, Joseph Rude cluding his favorite musician Bruce Springsteen, in developing his Session Weekly (ISSN 1049-8176) is published political philosophies. • 18 weekly during the legislative session by the Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Services Office, 175 State Office Building, St. Paul, MN 55155-1298. Periodicals DEPARTMENTS/RESOURCES postage paid at St. Paul, MN, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Session Weekly, Public Information It’s a Fact: Agricultural societies 4 Reflections: Two special governors 23 Office, Minnesota House of Representatives, Bill Introductions (HF183 – HF261) 19 Minnesota Index: State and federal 175 State Office Building, St. Paul, Committee Schedule (Feb. 3-7) 21 assistance programs 24 MN 55155-1298. Printed on recycled paper which is 50% recycled, 30% post-consumer content. On the cover: A resident returns to his room at American House Apartments, a housing service for former homeless adults in St. Paul. Members of the House Jobs and Economic Finance Committee visited the apartments during a Jan. 28 St. Paul shelter and housing tour. —Photo by: Kristine Larsen 2 January 31, 2003 IRST READING F★ ★ ★ projects on a competitive basis, though a num- ber of other contract procedures do exist for certain circumstances. Procedural difficulties According to the auditor’s report, the De- partment of Administration processed nearly In light of public skepticism state officials pledge to improve 3,500 contracts and contract amendments practice of awarding professional and technical contracts from April 2001 to April 2002 with a total value of nearly $1.1 billion. The Corrections Department had the highest BY MICHELLE KIBIGER “If you read the state laws on contracts, you number of contracts during that period with 265. looming budget crisis has painted a new will go home and sleep very well, because they The Transportation Department was close be- face on the old problem of the state’s are tough and very rigorous,” Nobles said. “But hind with 239, and the median value of trans- Aprofessional and technical contract pro- you’d be dreaming because that doesn’t hap- portation contracts was $53,500, nearly $50,000 cedure. Though recent news accounts have pen very often.” more than the corrections contracts. shed light on specific concerns within the Min- The auditor’s evaluation found that the MnDOT also had a high number of amend- nesota Department of Transportation Department of Administration does not ful- ments to professional contracts with 179. (MnDOT), officials and independent auditors fill its role of oversight in the contract process, Criticisms surrounding MnDOT contracts say the problem extends beyond the depart- and it needs to do a better job of prioritizing involve the large number of single-source con- ment to numerous other state agencies. its workload, Nobles said. tracts, where a department determines that only It’s a systematic problem that can be blamed “They’re simply overwhelmed by the num- one contractor is reasonably available to perform in part on the number of contracts flowing bers” of contracts they must oversee and ap- a particular service, contracts that were amended through the system, they say. prove, he said. with substantially higher costs, and contracts for Legislative Auditor James Nobles testified Specifically at issue is the process by which services that could possibly have been provided before a joint meeting of the House Transpor- the state selects contractors for professional by existing department staff. tation Finance and Transportation Policy and technical services – those defined as in- Nobles emphasized that the problem identi- fied in the auditor’s report directly relates to the contracting process — to what degree state agen- cies are following proper procedure, not the per- sonalities involved. Newspaper accounts suggested conflicts of interest on behalf of agency employees in the Transportation Department – that personal gain motivated contract awards. Agency officials and Nobles say though the agencies did not follow the law governing con- tracts, they did not break the law with regard to conflict of interest. “This is not about personal gain,” Nobles said. “It was a conflict of perspective. … There is of- ten a disconnect between the program people,” who want to get the job done quickly, “and the contract people who often want to conduct the project in a fair and open manner.” Nobles also said the auditor’s evaluation examined laws, rules, structure, and process. Gov. Tim Pawlenty has appointed a task force to review procedures governing the state’s professional While he acknowledged that the processes the and technical contracts. Criticisms have been raised with state Department of Transportation con- departments have been using are not appro- tracts, as well as other agencies. priate, he said the evaluation determined that committees Jan. 29 regarding the issue. His tellectual in nature. These contractors provide laws were not intentionally broken. office prepared a report released in January a certain area of expertise valuable to an He said that many of the problems with that evaluated how all state agencies adhere to agency, such as with employee training, inter- MnDOT contracts specifically related to bad the contracting process dictated in state law. nal re-organization, and management. communication and relationships between The short story: they’re not. By law, the commissioner of the Department MnDOT and the Administration Department. “The state generally has a good contracting of Administration has contract authority for all In response to the media reports, Gov. Tim process on paper, but not in practice,” Nobles state agencies, unless otherwise specified by law. Pawlenty appointed a task force Jan. 28 to better said. He said that while there are a number of In addition, law dictates that the department pro- manage the relationships between the two laws in place governing the process, often vide contract management, review, and oversight. departments. Administration Commissioner agencies are not being required to follow them. Typically, contractors must submit bids for Brian Lamb and Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau, also Session Weekly 3 commissioner of the Transportation Depart- ment, testified before the joint transportation committee and said they both see the situation as an opportunity to insure the public is getting the service it demands via the most cost-effec- tive means. Agricultural societies “We know there is a problem and we know Governor’s budget-reduction plan includes cuts to we need to deal with it,” said Molnau, former Minnesota institutions nearly as old as the state itself chair of the House Transportation Finance The annual county fair, a rural summer Ramsey, Scott, and Washington counties. Committee. “It’s not MnDOT’s problem only.” feature, predates Minnesota’s statehood. But Stevens was elected president of the group Lamb said administration officials are focus- it took until 1868 — 10 years after state- in 1855, and it decided to hold an October fair ing on measuring performance trends with re- hood — for the Legislature to appropriate — jointly sponsored with the Hennepin soci- gard to contracts and
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