Have Our Neighbors In Wiskochsin Been Fighting For All Our Rights?
You Betcha.
On Monday, March 14, the Senate's State Government Innovation and Veterans Committee, chaired by Sen. Mike Parry, R-Waseca, will hear a bill to take away essential bargaining rights from Minnesota teachers (S.F. 208 - Hann). In response, Sen. Barb Goodwin, DFL-Columbia Heights, issued the following statement:
"Minnesota Republicans may claim they're focused on the economy and budget, but it's becoming clearer every day they'd rather bring Wisconsin politics into the Minnesota Capitol.
On Monday, Senate Republicans will hold a hearing on a bill that would take away essential bargaining rights from Minnesota teachers and allow school boards to unilaterally implement contracts without employee approval. This bill is yet another assault on middle-class families from the Republican majorities in the Minnesota Legislature.
Just yesterday, we heard Republican leaders promise to spend the next two weeks putting together their property-tax raising, all-cuts budget. Now we see Republicans are more interested in attacking working families than doing the hard work of balancing the state's budget.
Committee budgets must be passed by March 25. Sen. Parry's committee has been charged with cutting the budget of state agencies and veterans programs by 53% over the next two weeks. How is the committee moving any closer to meeting that goal by taking on collective bargaining rights? I find it ironic that a committee that purports to value government efficiency is spending its time on controversial policy instead of the state's $5 billion budget shortfall. Rather than attacking workers, we should be getting to work.
This is a very important time at the Capitol. We are just beginning the important process of putting together the Legislature's budget proposal. This is not the time to bring such a divisive, ideological agenda into the Capitol."
Do we want to become the state of Targasota or 3Minnesota?
If you care about keeping jobs that pay a living wage in this country, and believe that corporations have to be stopped from controlling our country completely ...
If you care that the income disparity that has become massive with the top 1% having improved their at every else's expense to the point in 2007 where their wealth has increased 281% since 1979 (to put that in perspective the top 5% had their income increase only 95% in the same time frame, middle income earners ... 25%, lowest income earners 15%) ... thats true class warfare and not the Orwellian speak from those who's campaigns are funded by modern-day robber barons.
If you only want to hear from PACs run by billionaires advertising for candidates who will support any effort to give them more than they already have and who hide their identity during campaign season (of the to 10 organizations spending on campaign advertising, the only 3 weren't funded by corporations and the wealthy were unions) ...
If you want a future where your children and grandchildren have a chance at the American Dream rather than just hearing about it at story time when tucked into bed ...
If You Care Then Contact Your Local Legislators And Tell Them: We Aren't Buying Your Kochade!
For those of us in Eden Prairie and Minnetonka, call Sen. Hann at 651.296.1749 or e-mail him and let him know you don't support this national Republican attack on the working Minnesotans he's supposed to be representing.
For Eden Prairie residents south of Valley View Road, call Rep. Loon at 651.296.7449 or e-mail her at rep.
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. Rep Loon, a former lobbyist for credit and collection agencies, and before that an anti-union organization of builders, is married to the Regional Executive Director of the US Chamber of Commerce, an organization that spent $almost $64,000,000 in lobbying efforts in the first 3 quarters of 2010, their PAC spent $168,821 through 10/13/10 ... $156,821 going to Republican candidates according to campaignmoney.com.
For Minnetonka residents south of Hwy. 7 and Eden Prairie residents north of Valley View Road, call Rep. Kirk Stensrud at 651.296.3964 or e-mail him at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
For those outside of Senate District 42, here's a link to the State Legislature's website where you can find contact information for your elected officials.
What do puppies and cats, bred as pets, have to do with raising chickens or pigs for consumption?
Minnesota Legislature to take up Puppy Mills to stop animal cruelty again.
Please contact our Eden Prairie legislators Rep Jenifer Loon, Kirk Stensrud and Senator David Hann and ask them to support new legislation to protect animals raised in Puppy and Cat Mills. Below is an article we published online in PRAIRIEHOMELIVING this fall about the issue.
Nothing, other than they fall under the auspices of the Agricultural Committees in the Minnesota Legislature.
Senator Hann attended the final Senate Agriculture Committee meeting where the Puppy and Kitten Mill breeder bill (S.F. 7) was discussed and voted on. There was a companion bill in the House, House Bill HF 253.
SF0007 - A bill for an act relating to animals; providing standards of care for dog and cat breeders; authorizing rulemaking; providing criminal penalties; appropriating money; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 347.(Betzold Bill)
Senator Hann passed on the vote, which means he did not vote yes or no. He was the only Senator who chose that option.
In a conversation with Senator Hann recently, he said he felt the bill needed more work. However, a version of this bill was introduced 4 years ago. Over the years, the bill has changed to reflect numerous meetings and multiple stakeholders. Hann’s objection to the bill was that it would create more regulations and expense for breeders and farmers, although this particular bill had nothing to do with farmers whose products are sold for consumption. Legislation related to the handling of pets, not livestock, should be under the Minnesota Legislature’s Consumer Protection Committee. Nevertheless, since it’s not, and every bill that goes through the Agricultural Committees is scrutinized with the farmer in mind.
Hann argued that there is no need for additional regulations for breeders of pets, because there are federal laws, but the Animal Welfare act only licensed breeders who sell wholesale. This is loophole in fed law that allows majority of breeders not to be licensed. There are no state laws and no regulatory groups that have oversight of cat and dog breeders in Minnesota.
The situation according to the Minnesota Animal Human Society is that “ Minnesota is among the top producers of puppies and kittens in the United States . Breeding these animals is a multi-million dollar industry with no state licensing or inspection. While many breeders in Minnesota act responsibly, the problem is the inhumane breeding and care practices. There are reports of breeding facilities housing more than 1,000 animals. Many of the animals live in horrific conditions—cages stacked on top of one another in unsanitary conditions, inadequate food, water and veterinary care; with animals receiving little or no exercise or socialization.”
Hann suggested that I not only look at the cons but the pros of keeping more regulation out of cat and dog breeders’ businesses. I did.
What I discovered is that some legislators on the committee that voted the bill down, were against regulation, government control and were solidly pro-business. They did not want to see any bills passed that would have oversight of cat and dog breeders, because they believed it would mean there would be state wide basic regulations, and provisions that might hurt farmers. In fact what this bill would have done is facilitate the state’s ability to prosecute cat and dog breeders to stop animal cruelty before it occurs.
There is a need for a state law that can address animal safety in breeding situations, particularly in the case of small Mom and Pop breeders or large mass volume breeders who conduct business without animal safety oversight, who don’t pay taxes and some who even have no license to conduct business in the state.
Hann’s vote could have mattered, but he didn’t vote yes or no. What Hann made clear is that we as Minnesotans can’t be both, pro-business, pro-community or pro-protection for animals.
We don’t agree.
Good breeders don’t fear regulation, because good breeders already have invested in good practices.
Evidently, Hann was confused, because he said the Puppy and Kitten bill was tied to a bill that would hurt farmers. Neither the House nor Senate Puppy and Kitten mill legislation was attached to a bill requiring more oversight of farmers.
Hann is too ideologically driven to see the writing on the wall. The Food Industry itself is becoming more conscious of a growing consumer demand for animal welfare in the food products that we consume, not just in the breeding of cats and dogs.
The Socially Responsible Agricultural Project says that though few agree on an exact definition they believe an agricultural business that is Socially Responsible is one that:
Recognizes its rights end where another’s begin
Accounts for and pays all its production costs, rather than shifting them to others (neighbor, local or national government)
Does not act to subvert or evade efforts to protect the environment
Becomes a partner to the community in which it does business
As an example Whole Foods, a national food chain, is introducing an animal welfare rating system. Their proposal includes signs in stores detailing how animals have been raised. The rating system goes along with Whole Foods’ transparency goals. The grocery chain recently became the first retailer to have signs telling consumers where and how different species of seafood sold within its stores are raised.
Food Safety is one of the biggest issues politically, particularly after the egg recall and the salmonella outbreaks linked to two Iowa companies, Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms, who together have recalled 550 million eggs this month.
We understand that regulation is a bad word to some politicians, but regulation provides healthy food and healthy pets. Recent events have shown that both animal cruelty and food safety are hugely important issues of great public concern.
We have to strike the right balance in ensuring that businesses are not unnecessarily burdened and that pets and consumers are protected.
