A bill introduced in the Minnesota Legislature on Thursday would make it legal for farmers to grow medical marijuana and sell it to dispensaries in states where marijuana can be legally used for medicinal purposes. The Medical Marijuana Production and Export Act would direct the state government to develop a strict licensing plan for the potential grower and cites a positive economic benefit for the state’s agricultural sector.

Currently, sixteen states have legalized medical marijuana including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.

The bill (HF662) would allow Minnesota farmers to grow and export medical marijuana to those states. From the bill:

The legislature finds that the production and export of medical marijuana can contribute to the state’s economy and agricultural vitality and can be regulated so as not to interfere with the strict regulation of controlled substances in this state. The purpose of the Medical Marijuana Production and Export Act is to strengthen the state economy and its agricultural sectors by authorizing the development of a regulated medical marijuana production and export industry while maintaining strict control of marijuana.

And:

(1) the person will produce, process, and possess marijuana only for export and in full compliance with this chapter and any corresponding rules promulgated by the commissioner; and (2) any consumption or unauthorized possession of marijuana will be prosecuted to the fullest extent provided by law.

The bill’s authors are DFL Reps. Phyllis Kahn of Minneapolis, Tom Rukavina of Virginia, Frank Hornstein of Minneapolis, Tom Huntley of Duluth, Karen Clark of Minneapolis, Jeff Hayden of Minneapollis, and Leon Lillie of North St. Paul.

Margaret Anderson Kelliher. Photo: Mary Hanson Photography

Coming into the DFL State Convention, it was hyped that a progressive group called reNEW Minnesota would throw its weight behind one DFL gubernatorial candidate to push them over the top. But the group couldn’t choose between their three supported candidates and opted not to vote together. Instead an old-school political force showed its strength, as labor supporters facing the choice between labor-friendly Margaret Anderson Kelliher and R.T. Rybak, who has taken heat for his relations with Minneapolis unions, flocked to Kelliher to win her the DFL endorsement.

The labor focus at the convention was partly due to Iron Ranger and state Rep. Tom Rukavina. During his opening speech at the convention, he made his labor sympathies clear.

“I promise my union friends this — I’m not going to rub elbows in the corporate halls but I will rub elbows in the unions halls,” he said. “And I’ll walk a fine line, but I’ll walk the picket line when you need me.”

For an underdog candidate, Rukavina garnered passionate support from a statewide union, locals and members of unions that didn’t officially endorse a candidate, even snagging a late endorsement from former Minnesota AFL-CIO President David Roe.

“I think I got a huge percentage of the truly uncommitted delegates, a lot of whom were labor,” Rukavina told the Minnesota Independent. “Organized labor, like the building trades and the teachers in particular, just let their people decide how to vote and I got a lot of those votes.”

The Communication Workers of America (CWA) Minnesota State Council endorsed Rukavina in January. Minnesota CWA President Tim Lovaasen told the Minnesota Independent that the convention pretty much came down to Rukavina’s endorsement of state House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher when he dropped out.

“When Rukavina pulled out and threw his support to Margaret, well that’s when [union delegates] all said, ‘OK, we’ll go that way then,” Lovaasen said. “Tommy doing what he did gave Margaret this tremendous momentum — no one was going to catch her after that.”

Rukavina said an unprecedented number of his delegates threw their support behind Kelliher after he dropped out and endorsed her: 82 percent of Rukavina supporters shifted to Kelliher’s side, according to delegate ballots.

“She understands the ‘F’ in Farmer and the ‘L’ in Labor a little better,” Rukavina said of Kelliher and her relationship to the DFL acronym. “They’ve trusted me and trusted in who I considered was the best candidate — and most of them went with her.”

The impetus to flock to Kelliher also came partly in reaction to strong distrust of Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak after unions tangled with the mayor as he sought to cut back Minneapolis spending. Rybak only received the endorsement of Teamsters Local 120, but opposition on the convention floor to Rybak by union affiliated delegates was tangible.

“Those unions and people sympathetic to those unions within the labor movement were going to go with Margaret and not R.T,” Lovaasen said.

One out of every four chairs at the DFL State Convention this weekend was filled by delegates affiliated with organized labor.

“I think we made up a good chunk of it, we weren’t a majority, but we were definitely a factor out there, just like we’re a factor in the general election,” said Lovaasen, who attended the convention. “Even with waning membership there’s a lot of people who are sympathetic with what the labor movement has done, has stood for, and tried to do for working people.”

Even with the convention’s strong labor support backing her, Kelliher now heads into a potentially bruising August primary against well-financed opponents, former US Sen. Mark Dayton and Matt Entenza, both of whom skipped the DFL endorsement. Dayton also has strong labor support, including AFSCME Council 5.

Lovaasen said it’s likely that many unions who endorsed candidates like Rukavina will stay out of the primary fight.

“We’ll see what comes out of that and whoever that candidate is after the primary, I would suspect that the whole labor movement is going to get behind that primary,” Lovaasen said. “It would be better if we didn’t have three strong candidates — two of them have got money and the other one has got the endorsement.”

Image: Kevinzhengli

Rasmussen Reports released some of the first polling numbers on Minnesota’s gubernatorial race on Thursday, finding that for the most part Minnesotans are undecided about who they like for governor. And with a diluted field for the DFL, no candidate did well against both of the top Republican candidates, Tom Emmer and Marty Seifert.

Mark Dayton and R.T. Rybak fared the best against Emmer, both beating him 38 percent to 35 percent. None of the DFL candidates bested Marty Seifert, though, but Rybak tied him at 38 percent.

Among Republicans candidates, Emmer had the best net favorable rating — 38 percent favorable and 26 percent unfavorable — but 36 percent said they weren’t sure how they felt about him. Seifert garnered the support of 41 percent polled, but 33 percent found him unfavorable. Twenty-seven percent were undecided.

Among DFLers, only Rybak (49 to 37 percent) and Tom Bakk (27 to 22 percent) had a net positive rating. Mark Dayton had the highest favorable rating with 44 percent, but an even higher unfavorable rating at 45 percent. Of those polled, 39 percent liked Margaret Anderson Kelliher, but 41 percent didn’t. Matt Entenza had similar numbers with 27 percent and 31 percent. Tom Rukavina had an even split with 27 percent approving and the same disapproving.

Photo: Wikipedia

A bipartisan bill introduced in the Minnesota House on Monday could give the state’s agricultural sector a boost in the form of a new cash crop: medical marijuana. Gov. Tim Pawlenty last year vetoed an effort to legalize medical cannibis, but this measure has a different aim — to give farmers the OK to grow pot for export to states where its medicinal use is legal.

The Medical Marijuana Production and Export Act is sponsored by DFL Reps. Phyllis Kahn, Tom Rukavina, Al Juhnke, Tom Huntley and Frank Hornstein, joined by Republican Rep. Jim Abeler.

The Minnesota Independent’s requests for comment from the bill’s sponsors weren’t returned on Wednesday, but the bill spells out its aim:

The purpose of the Medical Marijuana Production and Export Act is to strengthen the state economy and its agricultural sectors by authorizing the development of a regulated medical marijuana production and export industry while maintaining strict control of marijuana.

Currently 14 states allow for the use of medical marijuana, although none are neighbors to Minnesota: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

Clockwise from top left: Bakk, Rukavina, Rybak, Pawlenty, Emmer and Seifert

A straw poll results from Tuesday night’s political caucuses continue to trickle in, gubernatorial candidates RT Rybak and Margaret Anderson Kelliher are taking the top spot in the DFL, while Marty Seifert is garnering a large number of votes on the Republican side. Early results for the Independence Party show Tom Horner taking the lead, but voting for that straw poll will continue online until Feb. 28.

Turnout was generally low despite a large number of candidates vying for the seat soon to be vacated by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. But DFL turnout was a bit higher than the GOP’s, bucking pundits’ expectations that an energized GOP base in the wake of the Tea Party movement and a win by Scott Brown in the Massachusetts Senate race last month would deliver more GOP caucus-goers.

A number of the 26 or so gubernatorial candidates have responded to the straw poll results.

Iron Range DFLer Tom Bakk maintained a positive outlook despite placing 7th in the poll (8th including uncommitted) out of 11 candidates. “My campaign has continued to build momentum throughout the last year,” he said in a statement. “We have worked hard to gain the support of Minnesotans across the state and from Hallock to Houston County we are seeing the results. The straw poll results reinforced what we have known for months. There will be a number of strong candidates vying for the DFL endorsement at the convention in April.”

Tom Rukavina, who shares an Iron Range background with Bakk, fared a bit better in the straw poll, coming in 4th.

“I’m humbled and energized by last night’s results,” he said in a statement. “This goes to show that a little money and a big, refreshingly honest message has made me a contender at the DFL convention. When I entered this race last November, few people gave me a chance. Last night, we exceeded expectations, and I’m just getting going.”

Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak said his campaign appeared to be the straw poll winner with 80 percent of DFL caucuses reporting by mid-afternoon Wednesday. The campaign released a statement saying that Rybak had done well outside Minneapolis.

“[I]t shows that people are connecting with us in every corner of Minnesota, from Duluth to Hutchinson to Minnetonka to Eagan,” said Rybak. “We’ve been out meeting folks in every corner of our state, talking honestly about what we can accomplish together when we change our politics and put people and jobs first.”

Among GOP candidates, Marty Seifert barely won a majority votes among caucus-goers at 50.03 percent.

Seifert used the opportunity to slam DFLers:

It is amazing that nearly as many Republicans turned out for caucuses as Democrats last night. Just two years ago, DFL turnout was three times higher than Republican turnout. As I travel the state, it is clear that the DFL message of higher taxes, increased spending, and more government intrusion is falling flat with Minnesotans. Last night’s DFL caucus turnout confirms this.

He doesn’t note that a heated primary between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama may have had something to do with the record-breaking 2008 turnout.

Seifert continued, “At this point in the race, our campaign is the only GOP campaign with a statewide grassroots network and the financial resources necessary to wage an aggressive campaign for the endorsement and for the general election.”

Seifert’s primary competition, Tom Emmer, got 40 percent of the Republican vote. The Emmer campaign noted that “Emmer actually polled four points better than Governor Pawlenty did in 2002, going on to win the nomination against a better funded opponent.”

Emmer Campaign Manager David FitzSimmons said, “The race begins today. We are closing the gap and feel really good about our momentum as we head to the all-important delegate phase. These results exceeded our expectations.”

Photo: MNHS.org

The Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition released a questionnaire on Monday polling candidates for governor on their stance on single-payer health care (pdf). All DFLers and one Republican responded. The majority support a single-payer health plan in Minnesota.

The survey asked, “As governor would you sign the Minnesota Health Care Act if it passed in the Legislature?” The Minnesota Health Care Act would create a single-payer health care system in the state.

Only Republican Pat Anderson and DFLer Steve Kelley said they wouldn’t sign the bill. DFLers Tom Bakk, Mark Dayton, Matt Entenza, Susan Gaertner, Margaret Anderson Kelliher, John Marty, Tom Rukavina, RT Rybak, and Paul Thissen all said they would sign such a bill.

The survey also solicited responses from the candidates on how they foresee fixing the health care system if they are elected governor. Here’s a sampling of those responses:

Mark Dayton:

Currently, there is a significant difference in access to health care between rural and urban Minnesota. Rural Minnesota is home to 13% of the state’s population but just 5% of all doctors. This gap creates shameful inequality and needs to be fixed.

Tom Bakk:

Changing both the way physicians are reimbursed and the current pricing mechanisms of drugs would be good steps in the right direction toward removing inefficiencies from our health care system.

Pat Anderson:

Essentially less government, not more government is the route to expanding access, increasing quality and lowering costs of health care – recognizing that there are always tradeoffs among those characteristics.

Margaret Anderson Kelliher:

Minnesota can and should be the healthiest state in the country, and that starts with preventative care. As Governor, I will support funding for our public health system that focuses on providing information that keeps Minnesotans healthy.

Tom Rukavina:

If we can’t pass a full single payer health plan right off the bat, I will work towards opening the state health plan to people without insurance because Minnesotans are entitled to health care coverage that’s as good as what their Governor has.

Paul Thissen:

We need a comprehensive approach that tackles expanded access, improved quality, reduced cost increases and creating healthy communities in the broadest sense. We need to move away from an employer-dependent health care system, eliminate denials for preexisting conditions and, above all, return decision-making in health care back to the patient and medical provider.

RT Rybak:

[W]e need national health care reform. It is becoming increasingly clear that national health insurance reform will not be perfect, but it will advance some important goals: that people never lose access to health care if they move, change their job or get sick; that people with pre-existing conditions can get affordable coverage; that young adults can stay their parent’s insurance plan; and that health insurance costs come down.

John Marty:

The solution to this problem is to develop a health care system that works. This is what I have been working on. The Minnesota Health Plan (MHP) is designed to address the health needs of people, keeping them healthy so they need less medical care, and delivering the health care in a rational, efficient, cost-effective manner.

Steve Kelley:

Our moral obligation is to make sure that every Minnesotan has access to affordable, quality care. Minnesota can build on the federal plan using state savings to ensure all of us are covered. Universal coverage is attainable in Minnesota in conjunction with (not opposition to) federal plans.

Susan Gaertner:

As governor I will fight for a system of universal coverage based on public/private partnership that recognizes our changing workforce, ensures Minnesotans have a choice in coverage, and is financed in a way that works for both businesses and individuals of all income levels.

Kelliher’s donations came over four months, Rukavina’s in five.

But in a statement, Rukavina saw victory in the numbers:

Hey, I’ve nearly matched her. I’m not the powerful House Speaker or the powerful Tax Committee Chair, but I’m a powerful little candidate with a refreshingly honest approach with people. That’s why I am going to win.

Rukavina chairs a committee with a less wieldy name: the Higher Education and Workforce Development Finance and Policy Division.

Rukavina set off an uproar last month when he complained that Kelliher was getting special treatment from the state DFL, which was taking donations earmarked for Kelliher’s purchase of party data. The state Campaign Finance Board hears a complaint in the matter this month.

MINNEAPOLIS: A stadium not named for Hubert H. Humphrey. The Metrodome’s successor, as envisioned by the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, gets shown off today. [Minnesota Public Radio]

VIRGINIA: Iron Range union local backs local boy. If taconite pellets were votes, state Rep. Tom Rukavina would be governor. [Hot Dish Politics]

STATEWIDE: Dems could do worse at getting elected governor. In Utah or South Dakota. [Smart Politics]

SIXTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: A no vote on “dastardly” jobs bill. Michele Bachmann was opposed but the legislation passed the U.S. House 217-212. [St. Cloud Times]

MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: Flight attendant wondered if they’d get there by midnight. But the Northwest flight crew member on the jet that overshot the Twin Cities hadn’t heard of Greenwich Mean Time. [Associated Press]

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: Historic map set for permanent display. The 1602 rarity showing China at the center of the world arrives just in time for the Chinese Century. [Minnesota Public Radio]

This is how the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) describes the project: “PolyMet Mining, Inc. proposes to develop an open pit mine and to refurbish and modify the former LTV Steel Mining taconite ore processing facility to extract copper metal and precipitates of nickel, cobalt and precious metals near Babbitt and Hoyt Lakes in northeastern Minnesota.”

The project promises 400 jobs lasting 20 years. The impact on the environment could be more permanent.

“It would be the largest single wetlands impact that the St. Paul office has permitted,” said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project manager Jon Ahlness, according to the Tower Timberjay News. He was referring to the Corps’ St. Paul District, which covers 139,000 square miles including most of Minnesota, western Wisconsin, northeastern North Dakota, and small parts of South Dakota and Iowa.

The project has major political backing from U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken and U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, as well as state Sens. David Tomassoni and Tom Bakk and state Rep. Tom Rukavina, who gave speeches at the meetings. (Rukavina and Bakk are candidates for governor.)

PolyMet also enjoys paid help from people who have held state posts, including former state Pollution Control Agency (PCA) commissioner Brad Moore and former deputy PCA commissioner Ann Glumac.

But with that much political weight on one side, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Corps opted to hold the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) meetings without an exchange of views.

“To have a public meeting where the public doesn’t get to comment is really a boneheaded move,” Rukavina said, according to the Duluth News Tribune. The Timberjay News quoted Rukavina as telling the crowd in Aurora, ”That decision was a screw-up on somebody’s part. … If I was governor, people would have been able to talk tonight.”

Alan Muller, writing at the Twin Cities Daily Planet’s Free Speech Zone, names a couple responsible parties:

More and more, agencies tend to use consultants to structure meetings to get the results they want.  The consultant in this case is Mariann Johnson of MT Johnson Associates of Minneapolis. Ms. Johnson works in the field of “conflict resolution.” She didn’t want to discuss details, but said “we proposed a number of options,” and the decision was made by senior DNR leadership. Maybe the clearest explanation came from Corps. project manager Jon Ahlness: “The purpose of the meetings is for the public to give comments to the agencies, not for the public to give comments to each other.”

The public comment period on PolyMet’s EIS ends Feb. 3; mining could begin within months.