News

Read letter from Koch's office.

Business and Commerce

Insurance claims law modernized

A new law brings insurance statute covering portable electronics claims into the 21st century.

The law allows claims processors-supervised, non-licensed insurance adjusters to enter data into an automated claims adjustment system. The computerized system is designed for data collection, calculation and final resolution of portable electronics insurance claims. A licensed adjuster may supervise up to 25 people for that purpose.

The law makes other clarifications about who is eligible to seek a Minnesota portable electronics claims adjuster license, including those with out-of-state licensure and residents of Canada, under certain conditions.

Rep. Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) and Sen. Dave Thompson (R-Lakeville) sponsor the law.
HF1405*/SF1125/CH95

Health and Human Services

Nursing home reimbursement rate formula changes

A new law conforms state statutes to new federal requirements related to case mix classifications and reimbursement rates at nursing homes.

The new rates will be based on an updated minimum dataset or any new version mandated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that nursing facilities are required to complete for all residents. The new law also states that the health commissioner shall establish resident classes according to updated resource utilization groups.

The law also makes technical and clarifying changes to body art technician licensing and inspection statutes.

Additionally, the law permits counties and the state to contract with facilities in a bordering state for detoxification services for Minnesota residents. It also allows Minnesota detoxification facilities to contract with bordering states to provide services to residents of the bordering states.

Rep. Joe Schomacker (R-Luverne) and Sen. David Hann (R-Eden Prairie) sponsor the law.
HF1508/SF1286*/CH110

Donation for anatomical gift program

In addition to being asked if they want to be an organ donor, people applying for a driver's license or state identification card will be asked to contribute $2 to a donor awareness campaign. The same question will be posed when registering and transferring title on a motor vehicle.

The money will be used as grants to federally certified organ procurement organizations and nonprofit organizations that advocate for organ and tissue donation. Funds will also cover all Department of Public Safety expenses to implement the program.

The law is sponsored by Rep. Sarah Anderson (R-Plymouth) and Sen. David Senjem (R-Rochester).
HF808*/SF892/CH80

Transportation

Carbon monoxide awareness testing

A new law taking effect May 25, 2011, required that information about carbon monoxide poisoning be included in the driver's manual and be part of driver's education training. Beginning Jan. 1, those seeking a driver's license will be tested on their knowledge of carbon monoxide dangers.

Sponsored by Rep. Andrea Kieffer (R-Woodbury) and Sen. Chuck Wiger (DFL-Maplewood), the so-called "Tyler's Law" is the result of a December 2010 tragedy when Tyler Lavers, a sophomore at the University of Minnesota, was accidentally killed when installing stereo speakers in his car. He backed his car into the garage at the family's cabin to be closer to the tools and best lighting. With the garage door open, he started the car at some point to test his speakers. Despite a ventilated garage, the very cold air created a higher output of carbon monoxide from his engine, and combined with a confined space, allowed the deadly poison to concentrate where he was and ultimately kill him.
HF650*/SF1042/CH70

Lockridge Grindal Nauen is honored to have been presented with the Red Stocking Award from Hunger Solutions Minnesota for our commitment in the fight to end hunger. The firm has partnered with Senator Tom Bakk to organize the "Stock The Shelves" fundraiser, benefiting the Arrowhead regional food shelves, for the past five years.

This week's event raised $65,000 and brought together many of the state's generous corporate sponsors. "Senator Bakk has shown great leadership in bringing people together to raise money for hungry Minnesotans. Senator Bakk's commitment, our gracious sponsors and the special guests, Governor Dayton and Vikings' Jared Allen, made this year's event a success." Lydia Bjorge, event organizer and a member of the state government affairs team at LGN.

The Arrowhead region of Minnesota has been adversely affected by hunger. Last year 23.4% of the population experienced a food hardship.

"Due to the poor economy and high unemployment, food shelves are struggling to meet the increased demand. More and more families are stretched to the limit and relying on food shelves to eat. We are doing our part to help, and I encourage all Minnesotans to take some time to help others this holiday season," said Senator Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, Senate DFL Caucus Leader. In many areas, the statistics of food shelf visits cannot paint the picture of the real need for food assistance. Some food shelves' service statistics have leveled off in recent months because they can no longer expand their capacity. Colleen Moriarty, Executive Director of Hunger Solutions Minnesota welcomes this timely financial gift. Said Moriarty, "This event and the funds raised will go a long way to assist these food shelves ramp up their service capacity, especially now during the holiday season."

Presenting sponsors of this year's event are: Thomson Reuters, Cliffs Natural Resources and Ameriprise Financial. Gold Sponsors include Minnesota Power, Twin Metals and Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America. Additional sponsors include CenturyLink, Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P., Delta Airlines, The Minnesota Twins, The Liffey, the Minnesota Wild and Fortune Bay Resort Casino. "This event is a great opportunity to continue Thomson Reuter's mission of relieving hunger in our community. We understand the need grows every year, and we are happy to do our part in helping to meet that need for Minnesota families," said Rick King, COO Technology, Thomson Reuters.

Lockridge Grindal Nauen Government Relations team member Lydia Bjorge accepts the "Red Stocking Award" from Hunger Solutions Minnesota for LGN's continuous efforts to fight hunger in Minnesota. She is pictured with Governor Mark Dayton, Senator Tom Bakk and the Minnesota Viking's Jared Allen.

The honorees were chosen based on the following criteria: leadership in the profession, involvement in major cases or other newsworthy events, excellence in corporate or transactional services and public service. The nominations were submitted by judges, bar groups, clients and fellow attorneys. The honorees come from diverse practice groups including criminal law, litigation, intellectual property and in-house legal service. An event honoring the Attorneys of the Year will be held on Thursday, February 23 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Minneapolis. Congratulations Charlie!!

Special Election Primary Results

Results are in for yesterday's two DFL primaries to fill vacancies for Minnesota House and Senate seats.

Senate District 59

In east Minneapolis, Kari Dziedzic was victorious in a hard fought five-way race. Dziedzic currently serves as a policy aide to Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein and is the daughter of long-time Minneapolis City Councilman, Walt Dziedzic.

Dziedzic had gathered significant union support heading into the primary and won nearly a third of the vote, edging out Mohamud Noor (Somali man backed by several groups such as TakeAction, Stonewall DFL and Minnesota Association of Professional Employees), Peter Wagenius (policy aid to Mayor RT Rybak and son of State Representative Jean Wagenius) and Peter Ostrow (former City Council president and current assistant city attorney).

Senate District 59 includes the Cedar-Riverside area of Minneapolis, the University of Minnesota and runs to North Minneapolis. It is a seat traditionally held by Democrats.

Dziedzic will face Republican Ben Schwanke in the January 10 general election.

House District 61B

In a much less crowded primary field, attorney Susan Allen won Tuesday's election handedly with 82 percent of the vote.

This district is located in South Minneapolis and includes the Powderhorn Park and Bryant neighborhoods. In a seat traditionally held by Democrats, Allen could very well be the first Native American woman to serve in the Minnesota Legislature.

She will face Independent Nathan Blumenshine in the January 10 general election.

Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P. is again proud to participate in the Adopt-A-Family Holiday Gift Giving program benefiting local families in need through the Genesis II for Families program. Members of the LGN team donated a mountain of gifts, Cub Foods gift cards, hundreds of dollars and their time to make the holidays brighter for local families. Gifts were distributed to families at a holiday party taking place on Saturday, December 3. Check out the photos from the LGN gift wrapping party.

About Genesis II for Families

Genesis II for Families began as the Criminal Justice Project in 1976 through a federal grant, becoming the first community-based corrections program for women in the state of Minnesota. In 2003 the name changed to "Genesis II for Families, Inc." to better reflect services provided to whole families. Populations served have grown to include not only at risk adults and their children but also teens. Today, Genesis II for Families is a financially stable organization with comprehensive programming that allows us to effectively fulfill our mission of strengthening families, empowering youth and changing lives.

Minnesota State Budget Forecast: $876 million Surplus

In a surprising turn, State Economist Tom Stinson released the state budget forecast showing the State of Minnesota running an $876 million surplus for the current biennium. By state law, the surplus will be used to replenish the state's cash account and budget reserves. The state's cash flow account will gain $255 million increasing its balance to $350 million. The remaining $621 million will go to the budget reserve to bring its balance to $648 million.

Higher than expected revenue and lower than forecast spending attributed to this surplus, according to Stinson. The 2011 fiscal year balance was $526 million higher than expected. State spending was also $205 million below estimates. These two items combined to form the $876 million surplus for the 2012-2013 biennium.

The forecast also shows a projected deficit of $1.3 billion for fiscal years 2014-15. The complete set of forecast documents and supporting documents can be found at: http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/fu-current-fore-nov.

The Politics of a Surplus

The Republican response from Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, House Speaker Kurt Zellers and Deputy Senate Majority Leader Geoff Michel, stressed that better financial management and their 2011 reform efforts lead to this surplus. They stressed that private sector growth accounted for much of the increase in revenue.

Majority Leader Koch repeatedly stated that there is no need to raise taxes and that this projection is confirming of that. Speaker Zellers spoke positively of building up the state's reserves and that this would prevent the state from incurring more short term debt from borrowing.

House Minority Leader Paul Thissen, Senate Assistant Minority Leader Terri Bonoff and Senator Dick Cohen provided the DFL response focusing on the $4.2 billion in state debt that Thissen said the "Republicans have left us." The trio claimed that the last legislative session under Republican control had created problems for Minnesota families through the elimination of the Homestead Tax Credit and problems due to the school shift.

Governor Mark Dayton issued a response stating that "this forecast is terrific news for Minnesota. It is especially encouraging, because our state's economic improvement has occurred despite a lagging national economy." Dayton highlighted that Minnesota's unemployment rate of 6.4% is well below the national rate of 9.0%. He also noted that 53,000 more Minnesotans had work than 2 years ago. He cited the cost savings produced in the health and human services portion of the budget was a positive development for the state.

Given Minnesota's recent budget situations, the possibility of reduced budget pressure is welcome news. With substantial uncertainty about the economic picture, the February budget forecast will be even more critical. Democrats and Republicans have stated very different positions on the meaning of this news and the course forward.

The respective responses from the Governor, the Republican legislative leadership and DFL legislative leadership indicate that this news won't transcend divisive politics. With Republican's claim that this forecast is a mandate for further reductions in government and the DFL pressing a message of Republican fiscal recklessness, this forecast does not overshadow the politics of the 2011 Legislative Session that produced no agreement on budgeting principles.

Minnesota law requires that the forecast balance be used to increase the state's budget reserves and cash flow account, so this money is not a liquid surplus. Even so, this forecast could change public perception of the budget situation and this could be used by both sides to advance their agenda in the coming legislative session. How this plays out in the public and political arena remains to be seen and will frame the beginning for the 2012 legislative session, scheduled to begin January 24, 2012.

Health and Human Services

Much of the discussion today centered around one of the largest area's of the state budget: health and human services. Lower human services spending accounted for 80% of the total spending reduction. According to Margaret Kelly, State Budget Director, state and federal policy changes are starting to produce savings.

Most of the savings in human services came from reduced spending growth on Medical Assistance. Minnesota had additional participation in federal Medicare, gaining and additional 25% of federal financial support. The cost for the uncompensated care pool of General Assistance Medical Care was lower than expected, cost for the early enhanced Medical Assistance program was lower than anticipated, and for the end of the 2012-2013 biennium, rapid growth in Medicaid enrollment is beginning to taper off.

Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson stated that "the good news today is that we are starting to bend the cost curve on the fastest growing part of the state budget...and we are doing so at a time when more and more people are turning to public programs."