Legislative News:
John Tuma: The Sig Award
“This afternoon we will take the Skyline Trail, the trail that more than any other gives us a feeling of distance and space. Vistas of wilderness will be ours, frozen swamps and lakes and winding trails through the woods. Along that trail towards sunset the light effects are more striking than anywhere else, for here the whole country lies before us.”
Sigurd Olson
The Singing Wilderness
1956
Sigurd Olson is a giant in Minnesota's conservation history as one of the leading voices through the mid-1900s for the preservation of wild places like our beloved Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park. He was also a literary acclaimed writer, penning his classic "The Singing Wilderness" in 1956, a must-read for any environmental activist. So respected was Olson that his likeness is one of only a few busts displayed within our State Capitol.
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It seems almost providential that Olson's bust stands guard to Capitol Committee Room 107 where most of the Senate environment and conservation issues are addressed.
Now that the 2010 session has ended I’ll follow my past tradition of using the last edition of my session musings to recognize those in the Legislature who championed the environmental cause in the tradition of Sigurd Olson. I'm probably violating some sort of copyright or writers’ etiquette, but I have affectionately called these recognitions my "Sig” awards in honor of the great Northwoods traveler.
First, a disclaimer: these are my personal suggestions alone. They are only my impressions as an old, overweight voyager who has traveled the wilds of both the Northwoods and the legislative halls. I recognize there are many who could be honorable mentions. This year's Legislature has many individuals who have fought passionately for the protection of our great outdoors and would be too numerous to include. My thoughts below are by no means intended to be an endorsement of any candidates, but only my humble impressions. So here is my call for the three “Sig” awards for 2010, but feel free to add your thoughts below.
The Retiree That Will Be Most Missed. There is no question that the most missed retiree will be Sen. Dennis Frederickson (R- New Ulm). After 30 years at the Capitol he certainly deserves retirement, but there is no doubt that his patient, persistent and gracious leadership will be missed in the Senate. He was one of the strongest advocates for our lakes, rivers and our great outdoors. Even though he was in the minority all the years he served in the Legislature, he was a leader on most of the important committees that crafted our major environmental protections and outdoor legislation. All those who served with him on those committees will tell you he played a critical role in crafting legislation that actually works. It would take me another article to identify all the legislation Senator Frederickson was so critical in guiding through the process, not the least of which are the LCCMR and the Constitutional Amendment.
As a conservationist and as a legislator, the best word to describe Dennis Frederickson is stewardship. He has passed on to his children and grandchildren a Minnesota with more wild places to roam and cleaner lakes and rivers.
When I found the above quote from Sigurd Olson, I could imagine those words coming from Dennis telling his grandchildren about the hike they were about to take. One can get a glimpse of the stewardship ethnic that beat in the heart of Sen. Frederickson by just reading his quote in his local paper, the New Ulm Journal, when talking of his retirement “. . . it is time to spend more time with my wife, Marj; fishing, hunting, canoeing the Minnesota River; and enjoying grandchildren's concerts, gymnastics, basketball and soccer games. I want to visit our beautiful state parks and trails and enjoy the outdoors."
The Rookies of the Year. The winners of the “Sig” rookies of the year certainly did not play the game at the Capitol like rookies. In their first terms Sen. Tony Lourey (DFL -Kerrick) and Rep. Mike Obermueller (DFL -Eagan) played the legislative game like seasoned veterans in guiding to passage one of MEP’s top priorities, the Complete Streets initiative. The proposal will provide for more comprehensive street planning that will help reduce air pollution. Despite having bipartisan support, it was clear that the more radical conservative elements of the Republican Party were out to sabotage the proposal and pushing for a gubernatorial veto. This was disappointing and surprising given the fact that it was meant to empower local control and to lower the cost of street projects, which seems like something any true conservative would support. Unfortunately, politics creates strange alliances and oppositions.
Given this opposition from some conservatives, Lourey and Obermueller quickly and carefully identified other bills they could amend their legislation to that would guarantee a gubernatorial signature. Even though they were prepared to move in several different directions if needed they were able to find a safe vehicle in the Omnibus Transportation Policy Bill (SF2540). That bill was eventually signed by the Governor. Good legislators learn early that getting their proposals passed doesn’t always mean passing their original bill. You need the humility and the innovativeness to find a safe “vehicle bill” to guide your provisions past the opposition. Lourey and Obermueller did this with the precision of veteran legislators.
The funny thing is, in the end their original bill number (SF2461/HF2801) actually passed the full Legislature. It did not have the complete streets language on it, but was itself used as a vehicle on the last day session. It’s not uncommon that legislators will throw several bills at the Governor with different mixes of proposals, hoping he will sign one of their bills. Veteran Transportation Chair Sen. Steve Murphy (DFL-Red Wing) grabbed SF2461 during the last days of session to send several provisions changing funding amounts on particular projects to the Governor. Therefore, Lourey and Obermueller actually did pass the Complete Streets “bill”; it just didn’t have the complete street language in it. Yes, I know it’s strange and confusing, but the bottom line is we have two champions in Lourey and Obermueller who were able to get things done for sensible transportation policy.
The Best Defensive Players. Entering the 2010 session we knew it was going to be a year where we needed excellent defense. The State was facing a record budget deficit that could threaten environment programming. The business community made it clear it was a priority to challenge our progressive energy policy and regulations protecting our environment. Therefore, we needed some defensive champions. There were many legislators who played key roles in defending our great outdoors, but there are two who stood out to me: Senators Yvonne Prettner-Solon (DFL - Duluth) and John Doll (DFL-Burnsville).
Last year the environment community was caught off guard by a successful amendment on the Senate floor to repeal the moratorium on the construction of new nuclear reactors. The moratorium was adopted in 1994 as part of the resolution over the "temporary" storage of nuclear waste in casks outside the Prairie Island plant near Red Wing. The wise decision by the 1994 Legislature was that a moratorium made sense until permanent storage was found by the federal government for our nuclear waste. The ‘94 Legislature understood it was a total lack of stewardship to create more of this dangerous waste for future generations to clean up until we resolved the problems of disposing of the waste produced by our State's two existing nuclear reactors. Unfortunately, pro-nuclear forces have been pushing hard to repeal these types of moratoriums across the nation.
Prettner-Solon and Doll came out and flawlessly executed an exceptional defensive strategy in the Senate. Despite the fact that there were votes to overturn the moratorium, they wisely turned the debate back on the central issues of what to do with the dangerous waste and the high cost to ratepayers to construct a nuclear reactor. Prettner-Solon as chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities, Technology and Communications Committee gave a bill to repeal the moratorium a hearing and worked closely with Doll to have him offer an amendment placing conditions that required permanent storage of nuclear waste and ratepayer protections before a nuclear actor could be constructed. It so confused the pro-nuclear forces that they eventually withdrew the bill from consideration in the Committee. When the pro-nuclear forces offered amendments to repeal the moratorium on the floor, just the threat of the Doll conditions amendment caused them to back off of their efforts.
Therefore, Prettner-Solon and Doll earned my Sig award for 2010. Sorry everyone, there are no trophies or plaques. You get plenty of those silly things from others to hang on your walls over the years. Someday those plaques will end up in a box in your garage (at least that’s where mine are) to be thrown away by relatives after you die. More important is that thanks to your efforts, we are passing on something more valuable to our descendents: “vistas of wilderness” and a Minnesota that they will be proud to live in and hike through.
John Tuma is government relations associate for Conservation Minnesota.
