Teaching Healthy Eating or Controlling Our Lives

ARTICLE XIII
MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS
Section 1. Uniform system of public schools. The stability of a republican form of government depending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it is the duty of the legislature to establish a general and uniform system of public schools. The legislature shall make such provisions by taxation or otherwise as will secure a thorough and efficient system of public schools throughout the state.

The Minnesota Constitution states that the State of Minnesota is responsible for educating the citizenry. As school districts are fighting to fund their mandate with the dollars they have, our wise legislators have decided to throw yet another unfunded mandate on top of the mix (HT Drew)

1.1A bill for an act
1.2relating to public health; adding nutrition as a required academic standard;
1.3requiring a BMI monitoring program for children and youth; establishing a
1.4statewide health improvement program; establishing a health, nutrition, and
1.5physical education advisory council; requiring reports; appropriating money;
1.6amending Minnesota Statutes 2007 Supplement, section 120B.021, subdivision
1.71; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapters 120B; 145.
1.8BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Now I can certainly understand teaching language arts, science, mathematics, social studies, health, physical nutrition and health. I have no qualms with that, but just WHO is going to be conducting the BMI monitoring program? Would the individual school districts, strapped as they are, responsibile for buying the equipment necessary to conduct BMI testing? Who would be responsible for keeping the records? Would they be kept in the school district or would the state keep them? The bill calls for the establishment of a health, nutrition and physical education advisory council....who would be responsible for that additional layer of government employment? The individual school districts or the state? Who is going to pay for all of this? Funny you should ask.....

4.14 Subd. 3. Fee imposed. (a) A fee is imposed upon the sale of cigarettes in this
4.15 state, upon having cigarettes in possession in this state with intent to sell, upon any
4.16 person engaged in business as a distributor, and upon the use or storage by consumers
4.17 of cigarettes. The fee is imposed at the following rates:
4.18 (1) on cigarettes weighing not more than three pounds per thousand, 37.550 mills
4.19 on each cigarette; and
4.20 (2) on cigarettes weighing more than three pounds per thousand, 75 100 mills on
4.21 each cigarette.
4.22 (b) A fee is imposed upon all tobacco products in this state and upon any person
4.23 engaged in business as a distributor in an amount equal to the liability for tax
under
4.24 section 297F.05, subdivision 3, or on a consumer of tobacco products equal to the tax
4.25 under section 297F.05, subdivision 4. Liability for the fee is in addition to the tax under
4.26 section 297F.05, subdivision 3 or 4.
4.27 EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective for sales and purchases made after
4.28 June 30, 2008.

Hmmmmm - why does an increase in the cigarette tax sound so very familiar? Oh yeah....well to be fair, that part of HF 3391 appears to have been taken out in committee....

Seriously, it is stunning to me just how far this Legislature is to reach into your wallet and your home. Not only will they dictate what you will eat, they are now going to tell you what you can and can not feed your kids. They are going to tell you what to eat and how much exercise you will be forced to engage in (because you simply can not loose weight by diet alone - I know from experience) and when! This from the party that claims to be all about privacy rights....at least they are if you are engaging in a same sex relationship or aborting a baby...

How much government intervention is going to accepted by the people of Minnesota before they finally rebel against the DFL led legislature?