By Dan Dorman, state representative

With just weeks left in the 2004 legislative session, both the House and Senate are poised to sit down in conference committees to hammer out agreements on the major finance bills, from transportation and

K-12 education to agriculture and health and human services.

In the meantime, the House has been acting on smaller technical bills that were approved in committee but not incorporated in the major finance bills.

While the House was first out of the gate with major finance bills, the Senate ran an end-around the constitution by consolidating their finance bills into one (with apologies to Gov. Pawlenty) mega-honking spending bill. That means fewer lawmakers serving on conference committees. I’m wary about consolidating so much decision-making with too few members.

At the same time, the Senate gave the constitution another scraping when they put together a tax bill (remember, by law, all tax bills must originate in the House). What’s worse, the Senate created its tax legislation atop a House bill about &045; woodshops in Veterans Homes. No wonder the public’s eyes glaze over when they read about legislative activities.

YES, WE HAVE NEW LAWS

Without much fanfare, the Governor has signed some bills into law. As of last week, more than 25 bills had been sent to his office for his approval or veto. According to a staff person in the House Revisor’s office (the Office of the Revisor of Statutes assists members with legal advice from the draft of a bill through its presentation to the governor), the number of bills presented to the Governor at this point in session is higher than normal.

Here’s a look at some of the bills the Governor has already signed into law:

VETS NOTIFICATION &045;

This bill permits the Minnesota Department of Revenue to disclose to the Department of Veterans Affairs, upon written request, certain veterans’ taxpayer identification information. This would enable the VA to more easily notify veterans of military-related health hazards that might affect them or to notify surviving dependents of potential benefits.

JOB REFERENCE &045; Minnesota companies will now be allowed to pass along certain employment information to other prospective employers without undue fear of litigation. Such information would include wages and job descriptions as well as written disclosures of any instances of theft, harassment, violence, or other illegal conduct. The bill also requires school districts to share documented information about an employee’s sexual misconduct or violence towards a student.

Previously, many employers were reluctant to discuss a former employee’s job record for fear of litigation from a disgruntled employee who believed such a reference led to not getting a job.

ELECTION SIGNS &045; This being a general election year, come fall, you can expect to see quite a few lawn signs for one candidate or another. Don’t be surprised to see some really big ones. Under a new law, municipal ordinances that regulate the size of noncommercial signs would not be applicable during the state general election season. In all cases, noncommercial signs of any size can be posted in any number from Aug. 1 up to ten days after the state general election.

GRAFITTI CRIMES &045; You may see fewer instances of graffiti under a new law that allows property owners to seek damages. It would allow recovery of three times the cost of restoring the property and allows courts to order a defendant to do restoration work as an alternative to paying damages. The new law will also allow recovery of damages from the parents of a minor (up to $1,000). Graffiti is defined as unauthorized markings on public or private property that are visible from premises open to the public.

TOWN CREDIT &045; With more and more individuals and businesses conducting business with “plastic,” the state has allowed city and country governments to also make payments by electronic or wire funds transfer and to accept payment by credit card, debit card, and other forms of electronic or wire funds transfer. Under the new law, towns are now added to the list.

HATS OF TO CONGER, ALBERT LEA

Congratulations to the staffs at Conger and Albert Lea. As you may be aware, both cities secured grants from the Minnesota Small Cities Development Program. Albert Lea secured $600,000 to renovate the Lea Center building. The City of Conger will use their $583,000 grant to renovate its sewer system.

The grant will be matched through a USDA/Rural Development financing package to construct a collection system with a re-circulating sand filter plant for treatment. Albert Lea and Conger were just two of 31 cities to receive grants from among 85 applications.

Got a question or concern? Write me at 579 State Office Building, 100 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155, or call me, toll-free, at 1-877-377-9441. My e-mail address is rep.dan.dorman@house.mn.