As the partisan rhetoric seems to be getting worse in both Washington and St. Paul, a bipartisan group of eight state legislators have chosen to place the people of Minnesota first and concentrate on finding solutions.
State Senator Geoff Michel, representing Edina and west Bloomington, meeting with State Representative Joe Atkins, D-Inver Grove Heights, hatched the idea several months ago, when both men realized that the aging of Minnesotans would seriously impede the State’s quality-of-life if something isn’t done. The name 2020 Caucus springs from the concern that such large budget items as healthcare, transportation, and education will hit a brick wall by the year 2020. The State will no longer be able to fund these items as in the past. Specifically, this is the year people over 65 will outnumber school-age children ages 5-17.
Senator Michel says, "We can change laws. We can change regulations. But we can't change demographics." The group feels that long-term, bipartisan solutions are needed to offset the effects of these demographic realities. Long-term thinking has not been high on the list of priorities at the State Capitol, recently, as budget troubles and the immediate needs of a growing State put pressure on legislators.
In the first 30 years of the 21st Century, Minnesota is expected to add 1.39 million people, greater than the added grow of Illinois, which is considerably larger than Minnesota. Much of the growth will come in the counties immediately surrounding the Twin Cities. Seven exurban counties - Scott, Sherburne Wright, Chisago, Carver, Isanti and St. Croix in Wisconsin - were among the nation's 100 fastest growing counties since 2000.
Senator Michel says there are reasons why people are not paying attention. "Often, up here, it just looks like a political food fight - press conferences, finger-pointing, name-calling - without any result, without any action. Who would want to tune in to that? Minnesota had this great tradition where there was a time for campaigning and there was time for governing. We seem to have forgotten the government side and gotten stuck in this permanent campaign."
Michel goes on to say, "This was probably the most exciting and energizing thing I've seen in a while. Literally everybody I've spoken to has had the same reaction. You would think we had just discovered sliced bread."
Other legislators currently in the group include: Three Senators - Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis; Mee Moua, DFL-St. Paul; and Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont; and three Representatives: Laura Brod, R-New Prague; Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis; and Paul Kohls, R-Victoria.
