Column: Focus remains for four key issues

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, March 30, 2004

By Dan Sparks, State senator

When the 2004 Legislative Session began in February, the Senate DFL pledged to concentrate on four key issues: Education, jobs, health care and transportation.

Although recent news coverage would lead viewers to believe that social issues and the upcoming elections have dominated Capitol discussions this spring, the real focus of our work has remained finding a way to improve the state’s commitment to these four issues.

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Last week, the Senate took a major step toward addressing a growing problem in the &uot;Jobs&uot; category-outsourcing. The practice of American companies shipping jobs overseas to save money has become too common, and state economists have linked outsourcing to growing unemployment rates. In February alone, Minnesota lost 2,000 jobs and the state’s unemployment level was bumped up to 4.7 percent.

These numbers send a clear message that lawmakers must be doing everything in their power to protect American jobs. In response to this need, Senate DFLers have been working on a package of jobs-related bills and took a major step last Thursday by successfully passing the outsourcing bill out of the Senate. The bill, of which I am a coauthor, requires that the services provided and paid for by state agency contracts are performed by workers in the United States.

This seems like a logical solution to at least part of a very large challenge. It is true that this is not a fix-all solution to the outsourcing problem. However, it is a valid attempt at protecting Minnesota jobs, and I would hope that both sides of the aisle can come together on such an important issue.

Another topic that has been going relatively unnoticed is the environment. Minnesota thrives on its natural resources and outdoor facilities, so keeping tabs on our environmental policy is always important. Last week, I presented a bill to the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee that will restrict the use of phosphorous in fertilizers. The bill is intended to protect our waters from phosphorous pollution that has been turning our lakes and rivers green with algae. The bill passed out of the Environment Committee and is headed to the Senate floor for a full-member vote.

Last Friday was the Senate committee deadline for policy-related legislation, which means most of the other bills I authored have now finished the committee process.

This past week included final work on two large insurance omnibus bills I am carrying for the Department of Commerce. In addition, I presented a bill that would help nursing homes by allowing them to obtain higher medical malpractice insurance policies, and a bill that refines regulations that utility excavators such as Gopher One Call must follow. All of these bills passed out of committee and are awaiting final Senate votes.

The pace at the Capitol will continue to escalate in the coming weeks, so please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. I can be reached at (651) 296-9248 or (507) 438-2898; G-24 State Capitol, St. Paul, MN 55155; or at sen.dan.sparks@senate.mn, where you may also request my weekly e-mail newsletter.

(Dan Sparks is a senator representing Albert Lea and Freeborn County.)