Legislative committee action reviewed

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Jennifer Rogers, Tribune staff writer

State House of Representatives committee briefs for the week of Feb. 10 through Feb. 17:

Agriculture

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The herbicide atrazine, commonly used on corn crops, was the source of contention in the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee Feb. 15 as it reviewed an ethanol bill.

Committee Chair Rep. Tom Hackbarth (R-Cedar) ruled that an amendment offered by Rep. Jean Wagenius (DFL-Mpls) that would have added an atrazine restriction to the new ethanol proposal was not germane.

The House Agriculture and Rural Development Committee called in a federal expert Feb. 16 to present an evaluation of the herbicide and a general overview of the pesticide/herbicide registration process.

Anne Lindsay, deputy director of the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Pesticide Programs, said the agency is actively reviewing atrazine in its reregistration program. Part of this process requires that Syngenta, the maker of atrazine, produce a report on whether exposure to the herbicide has an effect on the sexual development of frogs.

The agency has adopted the view that available studies have yet to prove that atrazine has the potential to harm frogs or humans, Lindsay said.

&uot;Unfortunately, certain mischaracterizations of our regulatory process, particularly with respect to atrazine, are circulating in a variety of public venues,&uot; she said. &uot;These mischaracterizations call into question both the scientific soundness and the integrity of our work.&uot;

According to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, 90 products registered in the state contain atrazine. The European Union has banned the chemical altogether, although its approach to regulation is quite different that that of the EPA, Lindsay said.

Game and Fish

Coyotes are getting a little too close for comfort in some Minnesota counties and they could wind up with a bounty on their heads or hides.

HF868, sponsored by Rep. Aaron Peterson (DFL-Madison), would allow counties to offer a bounty for the taking of coyotes by all legal methods. The amount of the bounty would be left up to each county, as would the bounty boundaries and the part of the animal a hunter must produce to

claim the reward.

The House Environment and Natural Resources Committee approved the measure Feb. 10. It now moves to the House floor.

&uot;I certainly do now want them exterminated,&uot; said Swift County Commissioner John Baker. &uot;But we are having problems.&uot;

Statewide bounties were eliminated in 1965, said Ed Boggess, the fish and wildlife division policy section manager with the Department of Natural Resources. They were an ineffective experiment in wildlife management, he said.

Coyotes are not protected under state law, and it is legal to hunt or trap them. The bounty would provide a better incentive, proponents said.

A companion bill (SF761), sponsored by Sen. Gary Kubly (DFL-Granite Falls), awaits action in the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee.

Human Services

Long-term care providers and their employees could receive pay increases that many say are long overdue.

Sponsored by Rep. Fran Bradley (R-Rochester), HF775 would provide a 3 percent state subsidy increase in 2006 and again in 2007 to the total operating payment rates for nursing homes, intermediate care facilities for people with developmental disabilities and community-based long-term care providers.

At least two-thirds of the increases must be used to increase employee salaries, benefits and associate costs. The facilities would be required to report how the additional funding was used.

Bradley told the House Health Policy and Finance Committee Feb. 15 that the employees need and deserve raises.

&uot;These are people who do wonderful work,&uot; Bradley said. &uot;Thank God they have big hearts.&uot;

He noted that operating payment rates for the facilities have been flat in recent years, and the increases would help adjust for inflation.

Nearly a dozen people testified in support of the bill. Some said the raises are needed to increase staff morale and retention. Bruce Nelson, executive director for ARRM, said some employees earn $9 to $10 an hour and could earn more money working in fast food restaurants. Shirley Hokanson, a consultant for REM Minnesota, said the bill recognizes the hard work and responsibility of direct care workers.

&uot;REM considers these dedicated workers to be the foundation of the service system and believes they deserve regular, systematic recognition and compensation for their work,&uot; Hokanson said.

The bill will be considered for possible inclusion in the committee’s omnibus bill.

A companion bill (SF891), sponsored by Sen. Becky Lourey (DFL-Kerrick), awaits action in the Senate Health and Family Security Committee.

(Information gathered from Session Weekly, Vol. 22, Number 7, a nonpartisan publication from the Minnesota House of Representatives.)