Legislative Heroes of the 2009 Session Rep. Jim Abeler

Last year two of this years legislators took an awful lot of grief from their own party, mostly over 1 vote. Those two legislators were (of course) Representatives Jim Abeler(Anoka) and Rod Hamilton. During the waning days of this years session, however, these two were real heroes for the people of Minnesota. A great case in point can be found in Sunday nights session (video footage found at the House website). First was Rep Abeler - speaking on the over-ride of the Governor's line item veto of the General Assistance Medical Care portion of the HHS bill. I have transcribed a portion of it here, but you need to listen to the entire thing (starting at the 31:50 mark).....

I didn't know we were going to be working on this veto today Madame Speaker....I don't have a prepared bunch of speech so I have a couple of thoughts I will offer you...we have had...we are in probably one of the most challenging times our state has seen certainly in my lifetime and I turn 55 tomorrow (Monday - Happy belated Birthday Rep. Abler)...we have struggled this session to come to grips with that...General Assistance is a very important program and the thought of not having it gives a lot of us pause - I suspect that everyone in the House is concerned about that. It's a very sober day as we consider this. And none of us take this matter lightly I assure you. I do have a disappointment however - that the same diligence that we were able to put forward for 14 consecutive days of working on that topic...has come to a stop. I knew - we all knew whatever the disposition of that bill that we'd be short 100, 200, 300 or more million dollars to get out of here under anybodies plan and the billion dollars that has been brought forward as the answer to the funding leaves the targets that we pulled off of the floor light by half a billion dollars. And so nobody should be surprise that there was an action by the chief manager of the state to do something! It is not the choice I would have picked...but that's what got picked...So what do we do now? We still have 29 - no excuse me 31 hours left to get out of here and so if we should over-ride this veto and re-instate the $381 million into the budget - what you have now is the need to find a way to find $381 million other dollars and I can't tell you the frustration that I have had...as I have been thinking about this kind of day since November...the people have come to my office and said 'don't cut me' and I said 'I'm with ya...but help me manage - how do we a bunch of money...that we can reframe and soft land everybody' and they mostly said 'don't cut ME'...I commend Rep. Bly he was one of the first people to forward with a plan to reduce something that was 'valuable' and then and then save another program that was valuable which was later picked up by Rep Hamilton...I commend both of you for setting the spark for making HARD choices...that is what bipartisan work - that is what work is about!..Now I don't know you can pass a bill that would have 2, 300, 400 million dollars in cuts off of this floor - that is not my problem - my problem is to think of good ideas that can manager our way out of this that will cause the least amount of harm to the least amount of people in the worst economic crisis we have seen since ANY OF US have been around...people are challenged but we still have momentum and we can still make some wise leadership decisions on the state level...if this gets held up - I've met some of you up there - I treat them in my office (for my Utah readers Rep. Abeler is a chiropracter - ed) and I know the challenges that they have...so let's say we spare this group - if we adopt the billion dollar target that was set by the bill that was proposed (the bill I thought we would be talking about now) - the public safety target WOULD HAVE TO BE SLASHED and the target for transportation would be slashed and there might not be transit anymore...and so we have to make some choices - we have to lead - we have to govern - how do we do that - with all respect to the way it's been going - it's not by having us wait in the hallway for the meeting to be called to get to work...we're all here to do the best we can and if we vote to uphold this veto today I will tell you SOMEBODY ELSE WILL BE CUT because there is no plan to back fill 381 million dollars. So at risk are these great people who need the help - THEY NEED THE HELP - but which disabled group is then going to take the hit, which hospital not on this list...will be unalloted! Which group of people who have a need in education...the courts or in some other program would be unalloted...I have done my best - I will keep doing my best - I will stay up all night if it takes but members - if we do this we are going to go home and leave even more programs vulnerable through our inability to choose. WE MUST CHOOSE! And so vote how you like on this - this is your choice you vote your conscience if you think this is the best way to leave all the other topics unanswered - well then that's your choice. But for me - with the most compassion that I can muster - for the people up in the audience who I serve with my career and who I love to help and serve even when they can't make their co-pays even if they can't afford anything this is not the right vote for today....

Bold my emphasis - capitals Rep Abeler's emphasis. Rep. Abeler made many fine points about the need for leadership - the leadership that even august political publications like PIM have said was missing from the Democrats this session. Is it any wonder why the Governor has chosen to "go it alone"? Decisions needed to be made. The state of Minnesota is already facing a $6.4 billion deficit and the Democrats in the Legislature proposed spending that would put the state $3 billion more in debt (and they have a constitutionally mandate to balance the budget). The DFL led legislature made decisions (more on some of them in the Rod Hamilton post) to spend money on things like earthworm research OVER the people who need GAMC. It is a decision that they need to live with!

Meanwhile - this critic (from last year) of Rep. Jim Abeler must stand up and commend HIM for making the hard decisions and having the courage to stand by them (as he did last year I know...) and for giving such an empassioned plea for leadership. Your common sense and your ability to see that the Minnesota taxpayers are seriously over burdened are a welcome breath of fresh air.

Padding The Resume

The Minnesota Legislature recently passed HF 3902 - the Agriculture Policy bill. Tucked away in the depths of the bill (starting at line 19.19) is an addition to the Minnesota Statutes that I must admit piqued my curiosity.

19.19 Sec. 23. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 148.01, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
19.20 Subdivision 1. Definitions. For the purposes of sections 148.01 to 148.10,:
19.21 (1) "chiropractic" is defined as the science of adjusting any abnormal articulations of
19.22 the human body, especially those of the spinal column, for the purpose of giving freedom 19.23 of action to impinged nerves that may cause pain or deranged function; and
19.24 (2) "animal chiropractic diagnosis and treatment" means treatment that includes,
19.25 but is not limited to, identifying and resolving vertebral subluxation complexes, spinal 19.26 manipulation, and manipulation of the extremity articulations of nonhuman vertebrates. 19.27 Animal chiropractic diagnosis and treatment does not include:
19.28 (i) performing surgery;
19.29 (ii) dispensing or administering of medications; or
19.30 (iii) performing traditional veterinary care and diagnosis.



Back in the days when I was showing and training horses, I did experiment with "alternative" medical treatments for my horses when needed. I am a huge fan of acupressure and massage therapy for animals as I have seen it work time and time again to treat things as varied as hypertension (I had a thoroughbred horse that was a nervous wreck when we first got him) to colic and related gastro intestinal distress. After 6 months of massage therapy the thoroughbred went from nervous wreck to relaxed cuddle bug (trust me....he did try to "cuddle"). The veterinary medial industry has always been quite open to non-traditional therapies. I know many people who use equine chiropractors and swear by their treatments. However, these equine chiropractors are trained veterinarians! They have gone through years of veterinary training in addition to their chiropractic training. Not so here. You have human chiropractors who are going to just take a few simple classes and then they are going to be able to treat animals.

Apparently, the discussion on the floor was "heated".

"For government to be putting this into law is ridiculous," said Rep. Mark Buesgens, R-Jordan.

This is one of those few times when I have to disagree with Rep. Buesgens but for reasons he would not expect. It is the government's place to regulate who can and can not practice procedures like this. It is part of the licensing process. Where I do agree with Rep. Buesgens is in that I don't think human chiropractors, like Rep. Jim Abeler, should be working on animals.

"Just because it is new or unusual does not mean it is not a good idea," said Rep. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka. Abeler's a chiropractor who said that he doesn't plan to take required training to allow him to work on animals.

I agree with Rep. Abeler that we should not look at new or unusual ideas, but human physiology is very different than canine physiology which is different than feline or equine physiology! A stiff spine and hip dysplasia may appear to be the same thing, yet a chiropractic adjustment will cripple a dysplasic dog for life! Are you ready for that Rep. Abeler?

Stick to working on people Rep. Abeler. Your patients will thank you and my dogs (who may indeed someday need a canine chiropractor) will thank you!

Reaching An Understanding

In the two weeks since the Transportation over-ride vote, much has been said for and against "The Six". If the "Dear Colleague" letter that Rep. Abeler has sent to his caucus is any indication, there are a few hurt feelings as well.

Dear Colleagues,
You may be wondering why I am behaving as I have been since my convention voted 58-42 to ratify my votes and actions over my 10 years.
Shockingly to me, Rep Emmer showed up at the convention on Saturday around 9:45, declaring himself as representing the caucus. “Marty went south, and I went north.”
Following a nice commendation of Rep Hackbarth for providing good representation of his district (no mention of me), Tom went onto bash the “Democrat transportation tax bill.” The entire speech lasted 7 or 8 minutes, during which time the crowd got actively engaged, since as a group they were about 3:1 opposed to the bill and many were angry at me anyway. When comments came about“those 6 republicans” Tom gestured in an encouraging way, and crowd whipped intoa frenzy against those 6 (including me) resembling an Obama rally.
There was nodoubt as to the local object of this aggression, me. As he closed, he received tumultuous applause and left.
When David Olson of the Mn Chamber arrived, he was treated harshly by the crowd and booed due to the firey mood of the crowd after Emmer’s speech.
When I approached Marty prior to the convention for a letter stating that I had been a good caucus member except for this singular vote with which he vehemently disagreed, he declined stating that didn’t I remember that the caucus was not going to do any help in my election. Which I accepted.
What shocked me is that the caucus would send Tom Emmer who has obvious and unresolved anger issues toward me and expect his appearance in already tense situation to go well. I think in human resource circles they call this theWorst Possible Decision.
I have been a member of the caucus for 10 years, but cannot recall even any stories about the caucus attacking a sitting member during an endorsing process,especially when the opponent is “no endorsement” and particularly when that member is supported by business and the MCCL.
The caucus punishment story about us 6 had died down with the advent of the budget forecast and the governor’s response. The Emmer rant at my convention has given all of this retribution talk new life, and we are now becoming known as the party of the robot.
I think we had better look inside each of ourselves and see where we are goingto wind up politically and as a coalition.
I am sending this to members and staff both, because we are all in this together. There has been too much silence already, and this matter has escalated way too far. All our loyal crew deserves to know what is going on and what transpired.
Now you know what happened. If you don’t happen to see
me at caucus, you shouldn’t be surprised. It is hard to leave your backside open
to a “family” who has tried to blatantly defeat you.
State Rep. Jim Abeler
Former Minority Lead
Health and Human Services Finance
Room 203
State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155

Now I won't go in depth into the fact that Rep. Abeler ignores the fact that he needed 60 votes to "rafity" and justify his vote. I'll simply say that 42% of his delegation chose not to "ratify" his vote and that is the more significant number as that is what with-held his endorsement last week....Instead what I want to focus on is his focus on how hurt he is that his caucus would react so negatively on this "one vote".

The caucus is, essentially, a team. Or (as Rep. Abeler states "a family"). Teams and families work together toward common benefits and common goals. Teams and families tend to share core principles - the team/family well being being one of the most important of those core principles. If a team is not whole, if a family is working at odds, they can not reach the common goals. What Rep. Abeler (and Reps. Erhardt and Peterson) seem to forget is that THEY are the ones that broke from the team...they are the ones that turned their backs on the family and voted against the common goal - against the best interests of the family. Rep. Abeler professes his disappointment and hurt that the "family" would turn their backs on him. Did he give any thought (before going against the family) to how hurt the "family" would be by HIS actions? The Governor and Caucus leadership made it clear (before the over-ride vote) that there would be consequences to going against the family. Did Rep. Abeler think that the family would ignore HIS betrayal? Actions have consequences. I would think that someone as intelligent as Rep. Abeler would understand that and (most importantly) accept it. If he honestly feels that his vote was the correct one, why the continued attempt to "ratify" his actions in front of the caucus leadership?

Rep. Abeler points out how hurt he is over the actions of the caucus....did he give any consideration to how hurt the CAUCUS was when he went against the best interests of the "family"? If not, he really should.....for it is only when you attempt to understand the hurts on both sides that brings real healing. If you want understand, Rep. Abeler, put your pride aside and try to understand how the other side feels....maybe then you can understand what is going on within the caucus.

Open Letter to Rep. Abeler

Dear, Rep. Abeler,

I listened, with great interest, to your speech on the House Floor last Monday. While I was dead set against the bill, I was willing to listen to a divergent opinion on the subject. Apparently, based on your remarks, I was the only one of that mindset. I listened to you go on about how so many people from other districts contacted you and how you had over 800 emails and how you were searching for a "local" one. Well, using that "logic" Rep. Abeler, since I am in Scott County, does that mean only my representatives in Scott County can raise my taxes? While I wish that were the case (I have two very fiscally conservative representatives in Mike Beard and Mark Buesgens) I know that is not the case. Therefore, since representatives who are outside of my district can raise my taxes, then I think that I am well within my rights to lobby said representatives.

Another thing that struck my about your speech was your insistence that people who publically opposed the bill (like Phil Krinkie and Jason Lewis) didn't tell the whole story about what was in the bill and yet you did the same thing. You never mentioned (in your floor speech in defense of the bill) that the quarter percent sales tax increase was dedicated to light rail! You also never mentioned the 3.5 cent gas tax surcharge that goes on top of the two cent gas tax increase. You mentioned that the gas tax is dedicated to roads and yet you neglect to mention that the Trunk Highway funding formula takes most of the gas tax money that is raised in the Cities and sends it outstate where the needs are not as dire! You also neglected to mention the surcharge on leased and rental vehicles that is in this bill. It is obvious to me, that there is cherry picking of information going on from both sides. I would assume that someone so passionate about the whole story being told would be the one to tell the whole story. Clearly I was mistaken.

It seems to me that your mind was made up on this issue from the get go and no amount of input from anyone outside of your special interest groups (i.e. the Chamber) was going to change your mind. I can appreciate that, but please do not be surprised when the voters, the people you are supposed to represent rally against you. And do not be surprised when taxpayers interestes from outside of your district take an active roll in helping replace you. After all, you worked hard to take money away from taxpayers outside of your district. Can you really blame them for trying to prevent that in the future?

Cross Posted at TaxPayers Revolt