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Legislative Policy Priorities

The League Board of Directors adopts legislative policy priorities each year. The Board's top three priorities for 2010 were:

  • State and local fiscal relations.
  • State budget stability.
  • Bonding/capital improvement, specifically related to drinking water, wastewater, storm water, urban forest management and transportation infrastructure.

The League is starting to develop policies for the 2011 legislative session.

Read about the policy development process

Issues the League was involved in during the 2010 legislative session included:

Bonding/Capital Investment
(This includes funding related to drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, urban forest management, redevelopment, and transportation infrastructure.)
The cost of city water and transportation infrastructure continues to escalate, due to both increasing construction costs and changing environmental and health regulations. One way cities are able to deal with those added expenses is through state grant and loan programs. Those programs are funded through the state capital investment bill, which will be developed during the 2010 session. The League will work to insure that those programs are adequately funded and that federal matching funds are maximized. LMC will also recommend that funding be included in the bonding bill to deal with the emerald ash borer on city property.

Broadband
On Nov. 6 the Minnesota Ultra High-Speed Broadband Task Force unveiled its recommendations urging state actions as well as public/private partnerships at the local and regional level to spur access to greater bandwidth. One of the recommendations is that as soon as possible and no later than 2015, broadband services should reach Minnesotans throughout the state at speeds of at least 10-20 megabits per second (Mbps) for download capacity, and 5-10 Mbps to upload video and data files. The League supports this recommendation. The League also supports the task force’s recommendation to create a state broadband advisory council to address critical needs for improved broadband services and encourage public and private sector collaboration to meet the challenge of expanding use of broadband for delivery of health care, online learning, technical, commercial and industrial output and business activity, as well as nonprofit and public services.

Competitive Cable Franchising
At the close of the 2009 session, legislation was introduced that would provide for state franchises for new and incumbent cable systems. Despite results of a University of Minnesota study of similar laws enacted in Texas, California, and Michigan that found little evidence of increased competition or savings for consumers due to lower rates, it is possible that the 2010 Legislature may consider whether to enact such changes in Minnesota. The League is discouraging introduction of a companion measure in the Senate and urging cities to persuade local legislators not to co-author or support the bill as introduced. In another more recent development, the League is filing an amicus curiae brief in support of the decision by the City of Prior Lake to grant a competitive cable franchise to Integra, the incumbent local phone company that serves a portion of that community. This decision has been challenged in court by Mediacom, the incumbent local cable franchisee. The city’s actions have stirred interest on the part of some legislators to address the “level playing field” provisions in Chapter 238, the state law governing local cable franchising authority, that have been used by providers that are already providing cable service to limit the authority of cities to grant competitive franchises.

Economic Development and Redevelopment
Cities have the statutory authority to manage economic development activities within their jurisdictions, and they count on the limited tools available to keep local economies healthy. In light of the current economic downturn, cities need greater flexibility to use their redevelopment and economic development tools to support the economic viability of the business and residential communities. Some of these tools are tax abatement, tax increment financing, and the levying abilities of economic development authorities and housing redevelopment authorities. The League will support changes in these mechanisms that encourage redevelopment and compact development, while retaining local control and decision-making. The League plans to propose general legislation that allows term extensions for redevelopment districts, which are taking longer to develop as a result of the current economic crisis. Job creation will continue to be a focus for economic development efforts in the 2010 session, with the omnibus bonding bill as the vehicle for many of these projects. The League will support bonding appropriations to state agency programs that benefit cities, such as the Redevelopment account and Transit Improvement Areas program at the Department of Employment and Economic Development.

Elections
The League supports immediate changes to requirements for accepting and rejecting completed absentee ballots. The League also supports legislation that would move the date of the state primary. The 2009 Legislature passed a bill containing measures that would have accomplished both policy objectives, but the governor vetoed the bill at the close of the session. Since that time, the League and members of the LMC Elections Task Force have continued conversations with key legislators in hopes of obtaining bipartisan support for necessary reforms to be taken up early in the 2010 session. Cities and counties need adequate time to prepare for changes to be put in place for local, state, and federal elections that take place next fall.

Environmental Policy and Funding
Passage of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy sales tax amendment in 2008 created significant new funding for environmental programs. The League played an active role in recommending and passing a sound spending plan for the Clean Water Fund segment of those resources during the 2009 session. The League will work in the 2010 session to protect those gains and prevent increases in the environmental fees paid by cities as a solution to state budget shortfalls.

Foreclosure and Neighborhood Recovery
Over the last few years, Minnesota has seen a surge in the number of mortgage foreclosures. Cities are feeling the financial impacts of the foreclosure crisis, dedicating already strained resources to address public safety and maintenance problems associated with foreclosed and vacant properties. Cities are also experiencing revenue declines due to delinquent utility payments, property tax payments, and nuisance abatements. The League will work to secure state and federal resources as well as financing tools to help pay for the costs associated with foreclosure remediation. The League will also advocate for a process for cities to acquire vacant and abandoned properties if it is determined preferable to do so. Finally, the League will advocate that cities be notified of foreclosure so that appropriate services can be offered to residents.

Land Use
Unplanned and uncontrolled growth has a negative environmental, fiscal, and governmental impact on cities, counties, and the state because it increases the cost of providing government services and results in the loss of natural resource areas and prime agricultural land. The Legislature has considered an increasing number of bills designed to diminish or limit local governments’ ability to exercise traditional planning, zoning, and eminent domain authority. The League believes the existing framework for guiding growth and development primarily through local plans and controls adopted by local governments should form the basis of a statewide planning policy, and that the state should not adopt a mandatory comprehensive statewide planning process. The League will work to protect city land use authority and to strengthen state statutes that promote efficient municipal development. Finally, the League will continue to advocate for eminent domain authority that balances the rights of private property owners with the interests of the public.

Pension Funding
The preliminary findings by the Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) actuary calculated a drop in the funding ratio for the Coordinated Plan from 73.6 percent to 70.4 percent over the last year. The decline for the Police and Fire Plan is even more rapid—88.4 percent to 83.5 percent during the same 12 months. These are the actuarial funded ratios. Additional declines in the association’s funding ratios are expected for several more years because these funded ratios only consider one-fifth of the negative returns of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009. The Minnesota Post-Retirement Investment Fund has now been dissolved and merged with the PERA active funds. The League will closely monitor the PERA funds and changes to the plans to reduce the long-term liabilities of the plans. If necessary, the League’s Board of Directors will consider new policy language in response to new conditions or proposed legislative solutions.

Personnel Mandates and Limits on Local Control
Many state laws increase the cost of providing city services to residents by requiring city governments to provide certain levels of compensation or benefits to employees, by specifying certain working conditions, or by limiting city governments’ ability to effectively manage their personnel resources. The League will advocate for local decision-making authority with regard to the terms and conditions of employment for local government employees and will oppose new mandates on local government employers.

Property Maintenance and Rental Housing
The ability of a city to maintain its housing stock is crucial for a community to continue to thrive, particularly with today’s housing crisis. A recent Supreme Court case called into question the ability for cities to enforce certain property maintenance and rental housing ordinances. Cities as a matter of public policy have the authority to enforce and ensure safe and sanitary housing, protect tenants from substandard housing, and require adequate maintenance of property to protect neighboring property values. The League will work to clarify and support the ability of cities to maintain residential and rental property.

State Budget Stability
The Legislature has struggled annually to solve what have become perennial budget deficits. Their actions have not been sufficient to permanently balance the state budget. In 2009, the governor and Legislature could not reach agreement on a balanced budget and as a result, the governor used his power to unallot state appropriations, including city aid and credit programs, to reduce state expenditure commitments. This exercise of the unallotment power was unprecedented in terms of timing and magnitude—it occurred at the beginning of the state’s fiscal biennium. The League urges the Legislature to address structural issues in the state’s budget, and supports the following options: considering all revenue options, not reducing further the property tax relief programs to cities, reinstating the inflation factor for expenditure estimates, building a 5 percent budget reserve, and modifying the unallotment statute to place a reasonable statutory limit on the timing of unallotment and the percentage of the state’s budget that can be unallotted during a biennium without legislative approval.

State/Local Fiscal Relations
Since the 1970s, services provided by Minnesota cities have been largely funded through a combination of property taxes, state aids, and state property tax relief programs. The current system of municipal finance was formed on the principle that municipal services should be provided without imposing excessive local tax burdens. In recent years, the state-local fiscal relationship has eroded under the stress of state budget deficits and a belief among legislators that cities should be more financially independent. With this trend, further reductions in state aid to cities will create fiscal problems for many communities already struggling with the effects of recent aid reductions and the shift away from an interdependent state-local fiscal policy. The League supports a strong state-local partnership, and believes any modifications to the current system should be consistent with the following principles: accountability, certainty, adequacy, flexibility, and equity.

Sustainable Development
Reducing environmental and energy use impacts of urban development are likely to be the topic of frequent discussions during this year’s legislative session. Minnesota cities spend significant time and resources planning for efficient growth, development, and redevelopment that will best serve the future needs of residents while protecting natural resources. Numerous factors are considered as part of that process, but an area of increasing interest involves concepts often categorized as “sustainable development.” The League supports efforts to promote sustainable development where cities are provided tools and flexibility to determine what works best for their community and the effectiveness of the proposed practice is supported by sound science. The League opposes mandates that supersede or limit the authority of cities to determine what practices will best meet the needs of their communities.

Unfunded Mandates
Given the unprecedented fiscal challenges facing cities, local and state policymakers will be seeking ways to reduce state mandates for local governments as well as ways to streamline government services. As in past legislative sessions, the League will work closely with other local government associations to find ways to improve flexibility and retain local control over purchasing, publishing, staffing, and reporting.