May 20, 2015

LPMN Chair Chris Dock: Irresponsible State Capitol theatre, growth of Gov’t – the norm in St. Paul.

End of 2015 regular session

End of 2015 regular session

When I was in elementary school, I remember working feverishly on school projects the night before they were due, and my parents asking me the same question every time – “how long have you known about this project?” The answer may have been a week or a month – to which my parents would tell me I should have started earlier, should have planned better, and should have anticipated how much effort the project was going to require.

That-last minute approach is just like how Minnesota’s legislators work – except I was 9 years old and trying to complete a macaroni painting for art class, while these people ran for office saying they wanted to work for the people of Minnesota, and they are deciding how to spend $42 billion of OUR MONEY.

Another legislative session has ended in Minnesota; is anyone surprised at the result? The session lasted from January until midnight this past Monday, so legislators had nearly 5 months to complete their work. However, we hear the same stories as always – 1,000 pages of budget language arriving on legislators’ desks with a few hours to read them (they don’t) before they are told by their party leadership to vote to pass them (they do).

We then get to wake up on Tuesday and hear “it’s not our fault, it’s the other party that is failing to do their job.” Does that sound familiar? It should – we hear it every session.

Republicans and Democrats squabbled over who will increase spending more, with it being safe to say you’ll see at least a 6% increase in biennium spending (as it stands pre-special session). Republicans have proven they won’t cut government. Democrats won’t either. Libertarians are the missing voice in St. Paul.

The latest (literally) example of legislators doing whatever is best for themselves is Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook) “slipping a provision onto a bonding bill” for a $7.2 million underground parking garage for 30 spaces on the Capitol grounds – that’s $240,000 per parking space, which means each space will cost 33% more than the average price of a house in Minnesota. Senator Bakk said he didn’t want the views from the State Capitol and the new Senate building (which was also slipped in at the last minute of a session, costing $90 million of OUR MONEY to house 67 part-time “workers”) to be ruined by an unsightly surface-level parking lot.

Mr. Bakk, maybe you should be more concerned with Minnesota voters’ view of what is happening inside the Capitol – it’s unacceptable. You and your fellow legislators have been entrusted with prioritizing the needs of Minnesotans and prudently budgeting and spending the money you have extracted from us – that is your job, right? You should do it, or step aside and let someone take your place who will.

Our elected officials are counting on the fact that we are all too busy with our own lives to pay much attention to what they are doing. The Libertarian Party of Minnesota will be watching them closely – we’ll keep you posted.

Concerned about the expansion of government control and the erosion of individual liberty? Please consider joining and becoming active with the Libertarian Party of Minnesota. Libertarians support liberty on all issues, all the time! Libertarianism is a philosophical and political movement to promote personal freedom, strong civil liberties, a genuinely free marketplace, and peace.

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