| Public safety bill sent to governor with budget cuts |
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| Thursday, 14 May 2009 | |
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ECM Capitol reporter The Minnesota Legislature has sent to the governor’s desk the public safety finance conference committee report, the House passing the bill May 12 and the Senate May 11. The report cuts the base funding for public safety and the judiciary budget by $99 million, although it uses $38 million in one-time federal stimulus dollars to offset the cuts. In both bodies Republicans attempted to send the report back to conference committee. Both attempts failed. House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, said the report had been written without complete feedback from the governor’s office. It’s 85 percent of the way there, according to Seifert, but should be sent back to conference committee. But House Public Safety Finance Committee Chairman Michael Paymar, DFL-St. Paul, said that he and other conferees had met with the governor, but he felt it wasn’t proper at that time to negotiate the bill. Although the courts, Department of Public Safety and other public safety agencies receive cuts under the bill, the Department of Corrections does not cut, he said. The department, through the use of federal and state dollars, receives a slight increase — about $4 million — over base for the next two years. Under the bill, corrections must reduce its fleet of cars by 20 percent. Another provision directs the department to find a way to save 89 cents a day in the cost of holding a prisoner — the cost is $89 per day. No state institution should be immune in these challenging times from seeking cost savings, Paymar said. But corrections cannot reduce the number of corrections officers or otherwise jeopardize public safety in achieving the savings. Another provision in the legislation would have the department commissioner looking at combining the staffs of state prisons in close proximity to the other. The bill repeals a short-term offender provision that has caused counties to complain that keeping short-term offenders in county jails is unfairly costing them money. Starting on July 1, state corrections would be responsible for all short-term offenders In the area of fee increases, some include: a parking ticket surcharge fee increase from $4 to $12; the fee for depositing a will would increase from $20 to $27; and a public defender co-pay would increase from $28 to $75. Local senators voting in favor of the bill were Don Betzold, Leo Foley and Rick Olseen. Voting against were Satveer Chaudhary, Debbie Johnson and Mike Jungbauer. The bill passed the Senate on a 36-30 vote. Local House members voting in favor of the bill were Denise Dittrich, Melissa Hortman, Jerry Newton and Tom Tillberry. Voting against were Jim Abeler, Rob Eastlund, Tom Hackbarth, Tim Sanders and Peggy Scott. The bill passed the House on a 87-45 vote. |
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