[chambernews] Fw: The Morning Digest from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce

Thu Jun 18 10:23:52 CDT 2009

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Karen.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Olson, David 
To: karen at kanabecchamber.org 
Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 8:57 AM
Subject: The Morning Digest from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce

                  June 18, 2009

                  The Minnesota Morning Digest is underwritten by RSM McGladrey 

                  Today's Minnesota headlines...

                  DFLers call Pawlenty 'stubborn' on his cuts 
                  >From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:  DFLers will have a formal chance today to weigh in on Gov. Tim Pawlenty's controversial plan to balance the budget solo, but they don't expect they will tip the scale much. "We'll have lots of questions, but we don't expect him to have a lot of answers," said House Majority Leader Tony Sertich, referring to Budget Commissioner Tom Hanson, who will preside over a meeting of legislative leaders on Pawlenty's unallotment recommendations.
                  http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/48297777.html?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c::
                  D3aDhUec7PaP3E77K_0c::D3aDhUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr

                  Tax reciprocity deal with Wisconsin at risk unless Gov. Doyle agrees to early payment
                  >From the St. Paul Pioneer Press:  Nearly 80,000 Minnesota and Wisconsin taxpayers who live in one state and work in the other may have to start filing two state income tax returns if Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Gov. Jim Doyle can't work out a new tax reciprocity agreement. Pawlenty told Doyle in a letter released Wednesday that he would consider ending tax reciprocity if Wisconsin doesn't speed up its payments to Minnesota.
                  http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_12614577

                  Entenza: Unallots to raise property taxes
                  Appearing in the Bemidji Pioneer:  Gov. Tim Pawlenty's slashing of $300 million in state aid to cities and counties promises to raise local taxes and unequally spreads the pain of state budget woes, says a rival for his job. The Republican governor said he wouldn't raise taxes "but that promise is wrong," Matt Entenza, a 2010 Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said Wednesday evening, "because there's no question that the governor is raising taxes." And, the former House minority leader from St. Paul said, "the governor is creating a disproportionate share of the pain for rural communities, including communities here in northern Minnesota."
                  http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/event/article/id/24751/

                  Union sends budget ideas to Pawlenty 
                  >From the Duluth News Tribune (Forum Capitol Bureau):  Gov. Tim Pawlenty would not need to cut budgets so deeply if he would listen to a state union's ideas, the organization's executive director says. Jim Monroe of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees said that his staff is looking into ways the state can save money. Although the effort is not done, the MAPE leader said, it is producing good prospects. MAPE has given the Pawlenty administration its ideas, but has heard little back. For instance, MAPE found that the state may employ about 400 too many supervisors.
                  http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/123110/

                  NUMC president: alternatives needed
                  >From the New Ulm Journal:  The President of New Ulm Medical Center (NUMC) said Gov. Tim Pawlenty's emergency plan to cut more than $730 million in state spending announced Tuesday was good and bad news for health care. First the good news, according to NUMC President Lori Wightman. "We expected larger cuts," Wightman said. Pawlenty's announcement to end General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) on March 1, 2010 will hit poor Minnesotans hard. Wightman said alternative solutions must be found by working with legislators before the 2010 deadline.
                  http://www.nujournal.com/page/content.detail/id/507649.html?nav=5009

                  Pawlenty's decision cripples school districts
                  >From the Owatonna People's Press:  After Governor Tim Pawlenty's decision to temporarily reduce aid payments to schools, school officials are reeling. "This is not just a double-edged sword," said Tom Sager, Director of Operations and Finance for the Owatonna School District, "but it really is a triple-edged sword." Beginning in fiscal year 2010, aid payments to schools will be deferred so that school districts will receive 73 percent of their first year entitlement in 2010 and 27 percent of the entitlement in fiscal year 2011. Pawlenty maintains that the deferral will generate $1.17 billion in savings.
                  http://www.owatonna.com/news.php?viewStory=107332

                  Heitke says cuts in LGA no surprise, and the city is prepared
                  >From the West Central Tribune (Willmar):  Willmar Mayor Les Heitke says the city had been anticipating possible cuts in this year's Local Government Aid from the state and planned the city's 2009 budget accordingly. Heitke says his reaction to Gov. Tim Pawlenty's unallotment of LGA to help balance the state's budget is to not panic.
                  http://www.wctrib.com/event/article/id/53549/

                  Opinion and Editorial...

                  Column, Lori Sturdevant: The pols noticed one cut
                  Appearing in the Minneapolis Star Tribune:  
                  Gov. Tim Pawlenty's proposed unallotment cuts in state spending would hit many sectors, not least of them politicians themselves. He said Tuesday he plans to eliminate the state's longstanding practice of giving refunds to individuals who give $50 (or married couples who give $100) to political candidates. That program was intended to encourage more people of modest means to participate in campaign financing, rather than allowing big special interests to dominate the field. Eliminating it would save the state a modest $10.4 million over the next two years.
                  http://www.startribune.com/opinion/48254042.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU

                  Editorial: Time for council to make hard choices
                  The Albert Lea Tribune says:  Now is the time for the Albert Lea City Council members to prove their mettle. Sure, the annual budget is brought forth by city staff following collaboration with the council, but remember it is the voter-elected councilors and mayor who approve it. Gov. Tim Pawlenty has made some deep cuts in local-government aid. Like it or not, he is the governor. The blame game is over, and now we have to fall in line.
                  http://www.albertleatribune.com/news/2009/jun/17/editorial-time-council-make-hard-choices/

                  Editorial: Austin will get through LGA cuts
                  The Austin Daily Herald had this view:  It went down yesterday. At 2 p.m., Gov. Tim Pawlenty made good on his promise to balance the state's budget himself after the legislative session ended in May on a stalemate. The cuts were deep in what are some of the worst economic conditions since World War II. In total, $300 million will be cut from towns, cities, counties and townships, with higher education seeing a $100 million reduction. ... On the local level, Austin is forecasted to lose $380,012 in local government aid for 2009 and another $876,000 in 2010.
                  http://www.austindailyherald.com/news/2009/jun/17/editorial-austin-will-get-through-lga-cuts/

                  Editorial: Pawlenty swings budget ax 
                  The Fargo (ND) Forum offers its observation:  Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty did precisely what he said he was going to do regarding the state's budget. He cut specific budgets and used the unallotment process to delay or kill state funding that previously has been approved. The governor's action generated routine indignation from his political opponents and from a plethora of beneficiaries of state funding. Anyone surprised by Pawlenty's ax hasn't been paying attention. The failure of the governor and DFL majority in the Legislature to cobble together a compromise budget forced the governor's hand. When the normal process stumbled, it fell to the governor to do what the law requires: balance the state budget.
                  http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/244056/

                  Editorial: Now is the time to implement cost-saving ideas
                  The Faribault Daily News says:  It's good to be ahead of the curve a little bit. It seems that's the position the city finds itself in as it stares down a $1.3 million cut from Gov. Tim Pawlenty over the next two years. At the beginning of the month, the city council heard from staff what shape the city would be in after a hypothetical budget cut. The city will release a revised 2009 budget in the next several weeks that will reflect the Local Government Aid cut made by Pawlenty on Tuesday in resolving the state's multi-million dollar deficit.
                  http://www.faribault.com/news.php?viewStory=92388

                  Editorial: DFLers' outrage: Furious nothings
                  The Winona Daily News concludes:  What's more shocking than the outrage Democratic lawmakers around Minnesota expressed when Gov. Tim Pawlenty made his "unallotments" to the state budget? The answer: Their surprise that Pawlenty actually made cuts to things like social services, local government aid, K-12 education and higher education. But Pawlenty did everything but smoke signal and telegraph what he was going to do long before the session ended in infamy and shame when the DFL-controlled Legislature decided to abdicate its responsibility and not pass a balanced budget, leaving state government's future in one lame-duck governor's hands.
                  http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2009/06/18/opinion/ourviews/edit.txt

                  Around the nation...

                  Honeymoon Over: It's On Obama's Watch Now
                  From Congressional Quarterly: Early in his presidency, Barack Obama had a grace period when the public saw the nation's problems as ones he inherited, but two new polls -- by New York Times/CBS News and Wall Street Journal/NBC News - make clear that there are rising concerns about his policies.
                  http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docid=news-000003146528

                  Expansive Energy Bill Advances In Congress
                  From the Washington Post: The measure would be the third energy bill in four years -- not counting the huge energy provisions in this year's economic stimulus bill. Like the others, it is rife with controversy over new offshore drilling plans near Florida, the sharing of federal offshore oil and gas royalties, and a mandate for renewable energy that alternative-energy executives and environmentalists say is too weak. It would require 15 percent of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2021, but would allow exemptions that would diminish that target. The proposed bill would also create a new "clean energy" financing agency that would extend subsidized loans and loan guarantees to a variety of projects, including nuclear plants.
                  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/17/AR2009061701699.html

                  State Income-Tax Revenues Sink 
                  From the Wall Street Journal: State income-tax revenue fell 26% in the first four months of 2009 compared to the same period last year, according to a survey of states by the nonprofit Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. The report, conducted by the public-policy research arm of the State University of New York, is one of the most up-to-date measures of how deep the recession is digging into Americans' wallets and, consequently, state coffers.
                  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124527624327024867.html

                  Around the world...

                  World Bank Raises Forecast for China 
                  From the Wall Street Journal: The World Bank Thursday raised its forecast for China's economic growth this year to 7.2%, acknowledging the boost to the economy from Beijing's stimulus plan, though it cautioned that "it is too early to say a robust sustained recovery is on the way." Strong government investment will support growth of China's economy, the world's third-largest, in 2009, but private investment is likely to continue to lag, the World Bank said in its latest quarterly update on China.
                  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124529045944526255.html

                  Industry sparks back into life
                  From Manufacturing Digital: The most recent signs of recovery come from the manufacturing sector, which has suffered the brunt of the credit crunch. The pace of decline in orders and output in the manufacturing industry eased last month, showing the strongest rating since October, according to the most recent purchasing managers' index. A recent poll of manufacturers in the northwest of England shows a snapshot of the state of the British manufacturing industry. When asked "How do you view your outlook over the next 12 months?" manufacturers had a split response in business optimism.
                  http://www.manufacturingdigital.com/Industry-sparks-back-into-life_26179.aspx

                  The economy...

                  U.S. continuing jobless claims fall by 148,000
                  From Market Watch: Continuing U.S. jobless claims took a big drop in the latest week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, in a sign that fewer people are having trouble finding employment. Continuing claims fell by 148,000 to 6.68 million during the week ended June 6, the lowest level in about a month. The four-week average of continuing claims rose, however, by 2,250 to 6.75 million. 
                  http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-continuing-jobless-claims-fall-by-148000-200961884800

                  Investors Rebuke Feds: Get Ready For Higher Interest Rates
                  From CBS News: The plan dreamed up by the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve for an economic recovery included a big bet: that interest rates would remain extremely low. That would, they hoped, spur borrowing and lending, encourage mortgage refinancing, and even lend support to housing prices. We're already seeing signs that this bet may not pay off.
                  http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/06/11/business/econwatch/entry5080200.shtml?tag=cbsnewsLeadStoriesArea;cbsnewsLeadStoriesArea.1

                  New Bill Proposed to Provide $30 Billion to Help Manufacturers, Suppliers 
                  From Industry Week: As Congress weighs energy and climate legislation, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced a new bill that would create a $30 billion revolving loan program to help auto suppliers and other small and mid-sized manufacturers retool for the clean energy industry. Brown's bill would also expand the focus of the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) to include support for manufacturers transitioning to the clean energy economy.
                  http://www.industryweek.com/articles/new_bill_proposed_to_provide_30_billion_to_help_manufacturers_suppliers_19418.aspx

                  The latest estimates on the cost of cap and trade
                  From the Houston Chronicle: The Congressional Budget Office has released its first cost assessment for the Waxman-Makey bill that calls for a cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions. The conclusion: the plan would generate $846 billion in revenue between next year and 2019, spend $821 billion and trigger another $50 billion in discretionary spending. In other words, it will at best result in no gain or loss and could actually cost the government money.
                  http://blogs.chron.com/lorensteffy/2009/06/the_latest_esti_1.html

                  In Human Resources news...

                  Employer medical costs expected to rise 9 percent in 2010
                  From the Chicago Tribune: Employers who offer health insurance coverage could see a 9 percent cost increase next year, and their workers may face an even bigger hit, according to a report from consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. Costs will rise in part because workers worried about losing their jobs are using their health care more while they still have it, the firm said in the report released to The Associated Press. The report also said rising unemployment is driving up medical costs.
                  http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-us-2010-health-costs,0,172822.story

                  Worksite Enforcement Official Wants to Work with Employers
                  From Workforce Magazine: In a speech, new assistant secretary for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement John Morton defends E-Verify, saying that it instantly confirms 97 percent of queries. But he acknowledges that the 3 percent rejection rate, in addition to the detection of unauthorized workers, could signal problems with the system. 
                  http://www.workforce.com/section/00/article/26/48/96.php

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