How Many “Bills” Has YOUR MN Congressperson “Passed”?

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Eric Austin

Mad Voter in MN CD 4

Earlier today a tweet scrolled across my tweetdeck by a user named “Mad Voter in MN CD4” that caught my interest. The user, I assume a conservative, asked the Minnesota DFL Party and Democrats in general, I assume, to count the number of “bills” passed by Minnesota Congresswoman Betty McCollum who represents the 4th Congressional District. The implication being that McCollum is ineffective due to the perceived lack of “bills” passed. Given the limitations of twitter and its 140 character limit, the tweet did not define what types of bills or legislation or amendments were acceptable to “Mad Voter” nor did the tweet address whether they truly believed whether the number of bills passed by a member of Congress was the best metric for effectiveness. The only other piece of information offered was a blog dedicated to opposition research on Congresswoman McCollum.

Even though the tweet was probably little more than an attempt to make the political hit point that McCollum is ineffective because she hasn’t passed enough bills and therefore doesn’t do any work in the estimation of the twitter user I decided to give their overall point some examination by doing a little research.

Rather than simply focus on McCollum, I did some basic research on every current member of the House of Representatives from Minnesota. I began by searching for EVERY piece of legislation (public bills, resolutions, and amendments) offered by each member in every term of Congress in which they served. From there I defined a “bill passed” as any piece of legislation (public bill, resolution, or amendment) that either became a public law in the case of a public bill, passed the House of Representatives in the case of a resolution, or that amended a piece of legislation that eventually became a public law. Here are the raw numbers I collected:

MN 1st Congressional District – Tim Walz (D) 2007-2013

  • 45 TOTAL pieces of legislation sponsored
  • 2 Bills PASSED
  • 1 Amendment agreed to which became law

MN 2nd Congressional District – John Kline (R) 2003-2013

  • 50 TOTAL pieces of legislation sponsored
  • 6 Bills PASSED
  • 2 Amendments agreed to which became law

MN 3rd Congressional District – Erik Paulsen (R) 2009-2013

  • 46 TOTAL pieces of legislation sponsored
  • 0 Bills PASSED
  • 1 Amendment agreed to which became law

MN 4th Congressional District – Betty McCollum (D) 2001-2013

  • 81 TOTAL pieces of legislation sponsored
  • 5 Bills PASSED
  • 2 Amendments agreed to which became law

MN 5th Congressional District – Keith Ellison (D) 2007-2013

  • 85 TOTAL pieces of legislation sponsored
  • 3 Bills PASSED
  • 0 Amendment agreed to which became law

MN 6th Congressional District – Michele Bachmann (R) 2007-2013

  • 48 TOTAL pieces of legislation sponsored
  • 3 Bills PASSED
  • 0 Amendment agreed to which became law

MN 7th Congressional District – Collin Peterson (D) 1991-2013

  • 161 TOTAL pieces of legislation sponsored
  • 6 Bills PASSED
  • 4 Amendments agreed to which became law

MN 8th Congressional District – Chip Cravaack (R) 2011-2013

  • 9 TOTAL pieces of legislation sponsored
  • 1 Bills PASSED
  • 2 Amendment agreed to which became law

Given that these are raw numbers of legislation passed by each member there isn’t much context. Stay tuned for some future posts to add context to the numbers. Also, if you believe there are errors or gaps in the above raw data, please let me know as I want to make sure this is an accurate representation of the “bills passed” by each member of our congressional delegation.

Posted in Legislation, US House District 1, US House District 2, US House District 3, US House District 4, US House District 5, US House District 6, US House District 7, US House District 8, US House of Representatives | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Draz Calls Health Benefits DIVISIVE SOCIAL ISSUE

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Eric Austin

Steve Drazkowski (R) is not at all pleased about state union negotiations. Anyone familiar with “The Draz” will find this less than shocking given the track record of the Republican from Mazeppa for supporting every piece of anti-union legislation he can find in the ALEC database. This time, however, he is displeased for a whole other reason and that is because the state is, according to “The Draz“, “incorporating social issues” into the negotiations process. What outrageous social issues has “The Draz” fired up?

“I find it very troubling that our governor is initiating actions to incorporate social issues, very divisive social issues, into these contract proposals and that’s what we’re trying to get to the bottom of here,” Drazkowski said.

Has he changed his tune from the 2011 legislative session when he and his caucus pushed “divisive social” amendments to deny gay and lesbian couples equal marriage rights? Nope. In Article 19, the state had the audacity to offer the same health benefits to same sex domestic partners as it does to straight partners.

For “The Draz” offering benefits to people is clearly divisive while taking rights from people is perfectly acceptable. Thanks for clearing that up for us Draz!

Posted in Civil Rights, Election 2012, Issues, Labor, Minnesota House of Representatives, Minnesota Politics, MN House District 28B, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2012 Election Metaphor Becomes Reality: “State GOP Served With Eviction Papers”

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Eric Austin

The DFL is gearing up for the 2012 election season hoping to serve “eviction papers” to Republican majorities in both the state house and senate. Unfortunately, their metaphorical eviction papers have been beaten to the punch by Hub Properties Trust who has filed really real eviction papers:

Massachusetts-based Hub Properties Trust filed paperwork in Ramsey County on Wednesday to evict the state GOP for failing to pay more than $96,000 in rent over the last year.

“Tenant remains in default under the lease by failing to pay in full when due, rent from April 2011 through the present,” the court papers read. “As of April 1, 2012, the tenant owes landlord a total of $111,192.14” (a security deposit on the property and several partial payments since June 2011 reduced the total outstanding debt to about $96,000).

Now that the party is being thrown out onto the street and soon to be homeless like too many other Americans I would suggest that the Minnesota Republican Party find itself a nice government program with which it can help get itself back on its feet. However, while on said program we will need to drug test the lot of them as well as limit the amount time they can be on said program because we don’t want them to become animals or something like that.

In the meantime, remember the Minnesota Republican Party is ALL ABOUT fiscal responsibility! Well, most of the time and mostly for you other people..

Posted in Election 2012, Humor, Minnesota House of Representatives, Minnesota Politics, Minnesota Senate, Thing I Read Today... | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Most Important Education Article(s) You Should Read TODAY…

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Eric Austin

It’s always nice to read something other than the teacher bashing and bubble test pedaling of the corporate education reformers. So, here are a couple good articles about reforms that actually work and what the United States would really have to do to get there (hint: it’s going to take more than firing teachers and a bubble test).

The article is from Britain but describes how Finland has come to dominate the world of education:

All students in Finland receive a free education from when they start at seven years of age until they complete their university studies. As a result 80 per cent of Finns attend university. During their educational journey all pupils receive free school meals, resources and materials, transport and support services.

Professional Learning Communities are integral to sharing and spreading good practice in a collaborative manner. The systematic introduction of languages is also striking and very effective. Pupils will often begin learning a third language by 11 years of age and some a fourth at 13.

A no child is left behind approach means that all classes contain a mixture of ability level pupils, with most classes containing two or more teachers who focus on those needing additional support. By having professionals working in conjunction, the needs of the pupils can be better met within a happy and familiar environment. Many teachers also stay with a single class for many years, moving with them through the school.

From the Washington Post, what the United States must do if it ever hopes to achieve equity in education. Again, the example is Finland:

The following three issues require particular attention.

Funding of schools: Finnish schools are funded based on a formula guaranteeing equal allocation of resources to each school regardless of location or wealth of its community.

Well-being of children: All children in Finland have, by law, access to childcare, comprehensive health care, and pre-school in their own communities. Every school must have a welfare team to advance child happiness in school.

Education as a human right: All education from preschool to university is free of charge for anybody living in Finland. This makes higher education affordable and accessible for all.

As long as these conditions don’t exist, the Finnish equality-based model bears little relevance in the United States.

There needs to be some fundamental shifts in how this country values education before any meaningful reforms can take place. Unfortunately, the corporate reformers ignore these shifts and dabble around the edges so they don’t have to address the real problems facing education in the United States.

Posted in Education, Issues, Labor, National Politics, Politics, Poverty, Thing I Read Today... | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

BREAKING: Brian Johnson (DFL) Running For Newly Formed House District 15B

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Eric Austin

Johnson for MN House

Brian Johnson, a lawyer and small business owner in Clearwater, sent out an email today to delegates (I happen to be one of those delegates) attending the DFL convention for the newly formed MN House District 15B. The email introduced the candidate and hinted at the broader campaign theme for 2012:

 

I believe that one way to accomplish these goals is to work together to protect the middle class.  In recent years, Minnesotans have witnessed an inefficient and dysfunctional state legislature. I am motivated, energized and dedicated to working vigorously for Minnesotans.  The message of “working together to accomplish Minnesota goals” will be at the forefront of my campaign.

To my knowledge, there are no other candidates seeking the endorsement so unless I am wrong Mr. Johnson will be facing Republican Jim Newberger in the general election.

Posted in Election 2012, Minnesota House of Representatives, Minnesota Politics, MN House District 15B, Press Release, Voting & Elections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment