The Legislative Process Past and Present
Is the process broke? How and what has the Minnesota Legislative process changed since the mid 1950’s? What is our responsibility as voters? Is the process too partisan? Is there anything that prohibits the members from being able to get together at dinners and sharing the kind of camaraderie that existed in the past that seemed to translate into a more productive and functional process? Will there be another special legislative session?
The panel joining me for this very special program:
Kate Knuth a democrat elected to her first term in 2006.
John Berns a republican elected to his first term in 2006.
Rod Searle a republican from Waseca who served from 1956-1981.
Ray Faricy a democrat from St. Paul who served from 1971-1980 democrat.
Otto Bang a republican from Edina who served from 1963-1982. 10 years house, 10 years senate.
1 Comments:
Brad - we had an on air conversation on June 2, 2007 concerning Minnesota taxation of military retirement pensions. Gov Pawlenty proposed under his 2007 Military and Veterans Support Package 100% exemption from state tax for military pensioners to reward their sacrifice and service. Many military veteran organizations i.e. VFW (Al Loehr state Legislative VFW Chairman), American Legion, Disabled Vets (DAV) and other participated in various conferences and expressed their support. Also, several prominent state business menexpresss their support because they at times have a specific retired military person in mind for a position but are refused by the individual because of Minnesota taxes on military pensions. Minnesota House Bill HF 300 was introduced to exempt military pension from taxation with the following statement "bill being provided in recognition of the benefits that veterans bring to Minnesota's economy, businesses, and communities, as well as in recognition of the personal and family financial sacrifices made by military career military members. Establishes state policy welcoming veterans back to Minnesota via income tax incentives." The Minnesota Senate had another Bill with similar language. Neither went to any committees for votes. Also, Minnesota is one of eight states in the US that tax military pensions. I have limited information on this subject but I have other military contacts that would be happy to provide data/info as necessary. Thanks for possibly having a dialogue on WCCO on this subject. Darrell Ritzema, SMSgt, USAF retired, 763-780-8401.
Post a Comment
<< Home