Statement by DFL State Chairman Ken Martin
This legislative session, Gov. Mark Dayton and DFL legislators kept their promises and gave Minnesota a two-year balanced budget that invests in the middle class.
The DFL said ‘no more’ to the gimmicks and shifts used for the past 10 years to balance the budget. The DFL’s honest budget was created in part with a fairer tax system that calls on the wealthiest Minnesotans to pay more in income taxes. Republicans fought hard for the 54,000 Minnesotans with average incomes of $617,000. The DFL closed the gap between the percentage of income the wealthiest Minnesotans pay and what the rest of us have been paying.
The historic investment in all levels of education will pay off for years to come. Getting kids off to a good start with all-day kindergarten, having smaller class sizes in our K-12 schools and helping more students afford a college degree puts both individuals and the state on the path to prosperity.
The DFL accomplished this work with little or no help from Republicans who refused to offer their own ideas on how to balance the state budget and invest in our state, when it came to DFL proposals, most Republicans stood in the way of progress and just said ‘no.’
In 2012, Minnesotans put their trust in Gov. Dayton and a DFL led House and Senate to Build a Better Minnesota. Actions taken during the 2013 session will do just that.
For further discussion of the 2013 legislative session, see
Capitol Report Host Julie Bartkey's interviews of Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, Senate Minority Leader David Hanh, and Professor Larry Jacobs from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs
Steven Dornfeld's near end of session article in MinnPost: "Both DFLers and Republicans will go home happy after session is over" and
Eric Pusey's article in the Twin Cities Daily Planet: "Legislative Progress after a Decade of Regression."
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As State DFL Chair Ken Marten points out, the state tax of the wealthiest Minnesotans will increase so that the wealthiest Minnesotans will pay closer to the percent in state taxes as the rest of us have been paying all along. The increase in taxes will contribute to strengthening education at all levels and to creating jobs. As our state's commitment to education declined in recent decades, including a 30% decline in higher education in the last five years, incomes in Minnesota have also languished. Top quality education is the key to the future prosperity of all Minnesotans.
How will the increase in tax on the wealthy for improving MN education work? Jeff Kolnick, MN 2020 Hindsight Community Fellow, explains that the additional income tax will affect families with over $250,000 in taxable income. According the the Minnesota Department of Revenue, these families would on average have a pretax income of $321,000. Suppose their pretax income increased to $331,000 which would put them about $10,000 over $250,000 in taxable income. Their tax on the additional $10,000 would go up 2% or $200.
Read Jeff Kolnick's article: "Unpacking the Income Tax."
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Minnesota has taken a major step forward in increasing the use of solar energy by mandating that investor ownedutilities generate 1.5 percent of their electricity from solar energy by 2020. The original 2013 Clean Energy and Jobs Act, sponsored by Senator Chris Eaton and Representative Will Morgan, included a mandate for 10% solar generated electricity by 2030. The legislature was willing to get started on solar energy, but not set an extended mandate. The original bill required a gradual increase in MN's solar energy with the larger increases taking place during the last years of the mandate. The bill that was finally passed will result in a 30 to 40 fold increase in MN's solar generated electricity from the current 13 Megawatts to 450 Megawatts by 2020. It is expected to generate 1,500 new jobs in Minnesota.The 2013 Solar Energy Jobs Act was rolled into the Energy Omnibus Bill 2013. The bill requires at least a tenth of the new solar energy to come from solar installations of up to 20 kilowatts, a residential size installation, and it allows for community solar projects in which individuals could invest and then have their utility bills reduced.
For further details on the bill see:
Minnesota's new solar law: Looking beyond percentages by Dan Haugen at Midwestern Energy news.
A Great Leap Forward on Solar Energy: Solar Bill Will Expand Solar Access by More than 30 Fold Increase by 2020 by Rob Sargent and Samantha Chadwick
Big Gains in Clean Energy and Efficiency this Year by Ross Abbey at Fresh Energy
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The Jackie Stevenson Award
Someone who is the consummate volunteer. Active in lots of activities, comes up with ideas, involves and engages others. Always there. Always willing.
Jackie's daughter Leslee Tejada (center) and former DFL State Chair Rick Stafford (right) presented the award to Georgiana Ruzich, longtime Chair of Congressional District 3, tireless supporter of DFL Candidates, and DFL Senior Caucus Board Member. Georgiana commented, “The inspiration Jackie gave me and so many others to fight the good fight and never give up goes a long way. I was just lucky enough to walk in her shadow for a while."
The Linda Scheid Award
A local legislator who works hard for all of us. Leads on issues, speaks out on policy discussions and listens to constituents.
Barb Benson received the award for Representative John Benson from DFL State Chair Ken Marten. Barb Benson noted, “John says we can still feel Jackie in our lives. She understood that the secret in success in politics is that science of addition not subtraction; everyone has a place and need to contribute their talents. The promise of what America means will not be real unless we keep up the fight for all people.”
The Rick Nelson Award
Someone who makes the trains run on time. Not the face of the party nor the lead of an activity but the one behind the scenes who works hard for all of us.
Mike Rothman, MN Commerce Commissioner, longtime Chair of the DFL Constitution Committee, State DFL Finance Chair, and Chair of many DFL State Conventions, received the award from Kathy Nelson. Mike stated, “Rick Nelson was one of my dearest friends and mentors. I remember watching Rick and John French run a state convention and thinking, ‘wow, I hope I can do that someday.' "
Congratulations to the award winners whose longtime service to the DFL is much appreciated by everyone.
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Senator Al Franken was recently named chairman of the Energy Subcommittee of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He plans to use the position to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency. Together with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat from New Hampshire, Senator Franken urged his colleagues to take the scientific evidence of global climate change seriously and to develop and pass legislation which will slow and reverse it"In a time when Americans are dealing with record droughts and devastating hurricanes, the Senate cannot afford to simply ignore climate change. We need to talk about it, just as Democratic and Republican leaders outside of Washington are talking about it. And ultimately we have to come together to start addressing climate change before its damage and cost to society get out of control."
Read Senator Franken's full speech.
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The right to vote is the cornerstone of American democracy and we should be doing everything we can to ensure everyone's voice is heard. We have made a lot of progress strengthening civil rights in our country over the years, but now the Supreme Court is reviewing the Voting Rights Act of 1965—with opponents in the case arguing that some provisions may no longer be necessary. We should not be overturning laws put in place to protect voter rights; we should be strengthening them. We need to encourage people to vote, not inhibit them. One way to do this is by making voter registration easy and accessible. That is why I introduced a bill this week to allow same-day voter registration nationally, just as we have in Minnesota.
Join EMILY's List and me and send a message that we need to strengthen voter rights and allow same-day registration nationally!
Minnesota has one of the highest voter turnouts in the country. This past election alone, 17% of voters registered on Election Day. Had those people been unable to register at the polls, participation in Minnesota would have dropped 14 points.
The right to vote is what makes our country great, and there is no reason we should be keeping people who are eligible and want to vote from casting their ballot. We should be making it easier.
Click here to show your support for allowing same-day registration nationally, just like we have in Minnesota:
Ed Schultz commented that the election results indicate the American people think the wealthy should pay more. They did not vote to cut into the middle class and the elderly who didn't cause the deficit problems. "I don't buy it." In his interview of Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Sanders said, “I am prepared to work with other progressives to do everything that we can to make sure that the budget is not balanced on a collapsing middle class and on 46 million people who are living in poverty and on many elderly people who are barely keeping their heads above water economically.” Watch the interview and sign Bernie Sanders petition.
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What does our Party stand for?
Being part of the Minnesota DFL
means carrying forward a strong legacy
of creating opportunity, fighting for equality,
building up our communities and
working to improve life for all Minnesotans.
Watch our video, above, to hear more from real DFLers.
The “working poor” ... are in fact the major philanthropists of our society. They neglect their own children so that the children of others will be cared for; they live in substandard housing so that other homes will be shiny and perfect; they endure privation so that inflation will be low and stock prices high. To be a member of the working poor is to be an anonymous donor, a nameless benefactor, to everyone else.
Senator Eaton stated, “We have an opportunity to create thousands of good, family-supporting jobs, reduce carbon pollution and make more of our state’s energy right here at home, We can build our solar capacity, bringing jobs and investment throughout the state, and we can start today." 
Lynn Hinkle, Director of Policy Development for the Minnesota Solar Energy Industries Association (MnSEIA) emphasized that “Passing a 10 percent by 2030 standard sends a strong, predictable, and long-term market signal to attract investment in Minnesota’s solar energy industry and accelerate job growth.” Proponents of the bill pointed out that Minnesota currently imports 85% of its energy from outside the state sending some $20 billion out of state every year.
Appearing before the committee, Michael Noble, Executive Director of Fresh Energy, described the ultimate purpose of the Solar Energy Jobs Act as helping Minnesota build an industry for the day when solar energy is “the cheapest form of energy in the world.” Noble said that, according to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, solar energy would be cheaper than coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear or any other form of energy within 10 years. He stated that the Department of Energy has a program which aims to lower the cost of solar energy. The Sierra Club's Northstar Chapter gave kudos to Senator Chris Eaton and Representative Will Morgan for introducing the Solar Energy Jobs Act.
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