Minnesota Legislative Reference Library
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8/30/2010
Minnesota Schools in the Washington Monthly College Guide
The newly arrived "College Guide" issue of the
Washington Monthly features Minnesota colleges
in several articles and rankings. "The
Mayo Clinic of Higher Ed" is a detailed, glowing description
of the undergraduate program beginning at the University
of Minnesota Rochester. It praises the structured
initial curriculum, the personalized learning,
and the lean administrative structure.
St. Paul College, just up the street from the Minnesota Capitol, tops the list of best 2010 Community Colleges, and is featured in "Shakespeare with Power Tools: How a Humble Trade School Became the Best Community College in America." Three other Minnesota community colleges are in the top ten: Itasca Community College, Leech Lake Tribal College, and Alexandria Technical College.
The highest ranked Minnesota institution on the Liberal Arts Colleges list is Carleton, at 12. On the National Universities list, the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, comes in at 43. For Master's Universities, Hamline ranks fourth. Happily, no Minnesota institutions were noted in their list of schools with the worst failure rates, the 2010 Dropout Factories.
7/30/2010
Old Advice and New Advice for Legislatures
An article in the July/August issue of State Legislatures magazine describes advice for legislative improvements from the
1970s compared with
advice for strengthening legislatures today. "What
Legislatures Need Now"
starts with a description of the influential 1973
study, Sometime
Governments: A Critical Study of 50 State Legislatures,
by the Citizens
Conference on State Legislatures. It was a call to
action for legislative
reform in many states. Our copy of the small, yellowing
paperback book
has been borrowed from the Library many times over
the years. Here are
the specific recommendations
for Minnesota, and another
separate report
from the Citizens Conference in 1974, "How Citizens
Can Improve the
Minnesota Legislature."
Many of the changes suggested in Sometime Legislatures have been made, but new challenges have emerged. The State Legislatures article lists many ailments facing contemporary state legislatures, taken from Alan Rosenthal's 2009 book, Engines of Democracy: Politics and Policy in State Legislatures. They include excessive partisanship, excessive public mistrust, and a lack of attention to the legislature as an instution. E-mail or call a librarian at 6-8338 if you would like to borrow either of these books. *
7/26/2010
Does the End of Session Cause High Blood Pressure?
The Library has several projects underway to scan
documents in our legislative files and historical
notebooks. It's part of our long-term goal of making
as much information as possible about the Minnesota Legislature and legislative issues over time available to everyone,
everywhere, online.
We found an amusing
letter from 1973 tucked in the
"Legislative Profiles" notebook. Commissioner of
Health Warren R. Lawson, M.D. wrote to Senator William
Kirchner, "You will recall that during the closing
days of the 1973 session, nurses of the Department
of Health took the blood pressure of as many legislators
as could be cornered." I picture nurses
with blood pressure cuffs stalking the Capitol hallways, hailing "Senator!
Representative!," and members darting into their
offices. Charts attached to the letter show the results;
of the 156 members tested, "one out of five of this
group had an abnormally high reading." Being a legislator
at the end of session might not be good for your
health!
It's also interesting that the control group used to compare the legislators' readings was "U.S. white males."
7/15/2010
The Veto Database is Highlighted
The Library's historical
veto statistics are highlighted
in the June
issue of Reference Notes from MINITEX. We are
happy for the recognition! The article preceding "Minnesota's
Veto History Available Online" is more fun;
be sure to check out "Facebook Facts You Didn't Know."
They are both on page six.
7/13/2010
A Practical Consultants Report
Have
you wondered just how much electricity your computer
printer is wasting at home? Should you bother to
turn it off? A new consultants report for the Minnesota
Department of Commerce summarizes a study of possible
low-cost and no-cost electricity savings opportunities
in homes. The study was done by the Energy
Center of Wisconsin, Electricity
Savings Opportunities for Home Electronics and Other
Plug-In Devices in Minnesota Homes: A Technical and
Behavioral Field Assessment.
It focuses on devices outside of major appliances
and lighting, including computers, space heaters,
and audio equipment. Is it worthwhile to set up a
computer power management system, or unplug them,
turn them off when not in use, or use smart power
strips? The authors of the study are practical; the
focus is on what consumers could easily do to gain
the best energy savings.
A very interesting table shows just how much energy is used by various household appliances and electronics (Appendix C, p. 52). I should remember to turn off the printer!
7/12/2010
A Contest We Did Not Win
Though several legislative staff members made a
valiant application-writing effort, the Minnesota
Legislative Web Site did not win the 2010 LINCS/NALIT
Online Democracy Award from the
National Conference of State Legislatures. The application
is a challenge to complete. It's not easy to describe
the depth of the site and all its features in a few
100-word boxes. Our disappointment
shouldn't be too great in not winning this year;
after all, we DID win already, in 2006.
Here are the
words from
our contest application form this year, reminders
of our constant improvements and great content.
7/9/2010
Colorful Legislative Biographies
C.L. Hall wrote Biographical
Sketches of the Officers of State Government of
Minnesota and of the 19th Minnesota State Legislature with
lofty aims in 1877. "The subjects of the pen
sketches are the servants of the people, and it
is highly proper that the people should know something
of the history of their servants."
He seemed to think the people needed to know the weight of many of the members. "There are four members whose aggregate weight is 907 lbs, and if they were strung out in a horizontal line, they would measure 24-1/2 feet. Hon. Anthony Huyck weighs 300 lbs and is 6 ft. 1/2" in height; Hon. Edmund Rice, 242 lbs, 6 ft 1-1/2" in height, Hon. L.A. Huntoon, 235 lbs. and 6 ft 2 in.; Hon. Hon. Frank Erickson, 200 lbs. and 6 ft.2 in.; and there are a score besides that measure well. It is very doubtful if any other legislature on earth, of equal number, embodies such an amount of flesh and blood and bones as the Minnesota Legislature carries around every day of its life." (p. 28)
Each entry is fascinating. Many include dramatic accounts of military service, usually in the Civil War. Some biographies include comments would not be found in a modern account. For example, Rep. J. Zimmerman "served in the Indian campaign for a short while, and came back with a whole scalp." Rep. Lee Hensley was a believer in womens rights, "to the extent that they be encouraged in the art of self-cultivation, with a view to becoming good sweethearts, wives, mothers and sisters, possessed of all those delicate and refining influences that should cluster around the human heart, and blossom at the fireside and in the social circle, and make woman pure and lovely in the sight of God."
7/8/2010
Minnesota Rules Online Improvements: Great News! (Part Two)
The Office of the Revisor of Statutes was awarded
a
Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Grant to
scan the full text of Minnesota
Rules since 1982. The Minnesota
Rules Archive includes all of the biennial compiled
editions since 1983, and a scan of the 1982 volumes
published separately by the agencies (the Minnesota
Code of Agency Rules, or MCAR). This is an invaluable
set of online documents for researchers delving back
into rule changes over the years. Definitely great
news! Details can be found in a press
release from
the Office of the Revisor of Statutes.
It's amazing to think how much technology has increased access to legislative documents. To get a sense of the old pre-technology days, check out part IV of the 1968 Report of the Rules Subcommittee on Improvement of the Legislative Process, beginning on page 11. The Subcommittee studied how electronic data processing might be applied to the legislative process. "This report does not recommend use of electronic data processing systems at this time, save one. We do feel that Minnesota Statutes should be placed on magnetic tape or disc at the earliest possible date." Electronic bill status was a possible future use.
But today, we are happy the Revisor's Office has added depth to the Minnesota Rules collection.
7/6/2010
Minnesota Rules Online Improvements: Great News! (Part One)
Minnesota
Rules, the administrative rules promulgated
by state agencies, have been online for a few years.
With such easy access, researchers sometimes don't
remember the old days - you know, when
state agency rules were really difficult to identify?
When you weren't sure you had the right agency
rule, or the most recent rule, or all the relevant
rules?
A recent milestone makes finding the right rule even easier. The Revisor's Office has added the topical index online.
Searching the free text of rules with key words
can often turn up a daunting number of hits. For
example, if you search the rules with a word search
for "disabled," you get 149
hits. Instead, try searching the "Rules
by Topic"
index listed under Minnesota
Rules on the "Statutes,
Laws and Rules" page. Choose topics under "D"
and you will find topics listed for Disabled
Children,
Disabled
Persons, and Disabled
Veterans. Each topic
leads you to an alphabetical list of sections dealing
with the topic.
7/2/2010
Not So Many Physically Active Adults in Minnesota?
How many Minnesota adults are physically active?
How do we rank with other states? In a recent report,
State
Indicator Report on Physical Activity, 2010,
the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) identified
physically active adults in each state as those "who
achieve at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity
aerobic physical activity or 75 minutes a week of
vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity or
an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-
intensity aerobic activity." The CDC also measured
adults who were highly active and those participated
in no leisure-time physical activity at all.
The CDC report includes state-by-state tables, but did not rank the states. A comparative analysis was done in the April, 2010, issue of State Policy Reports (Vol, 28, Issue 8) in an article titled "Measuring State' Ability to Support Physical Activity."
Minnesota ranked 39th in the percentage of physically active adults! Oddly, Minnesota ranked best in the category of adults reporting no leisure-time physical activities, meaning the lowest percentage. Perhaps the statistics suggest that a lot of Minnesotans are somewhat active, but did not meet the threshold of "physically active" identified by the CDC.
The CDC report also includes twelve recommended policy and environmental variables for states to promote physical activity, and lists which variables are present in each state.
E-mail or call a librarian at 6-8338 if you would like a copy of the State Policy Reports article (not available online). *
7/1/2010
Steal These Ideas
The Library's Legislative
Time Capsule pages were mentioned
in the June issue of State
Legislatures magazine, in "Steal
These Ideas: 25 Legislative Website Ideas That May
Surprise You." Minnesota was listed twice!
The Legislature's MyBills service,
with the ability to add your own notes to your personal
bill tracking, was also noted.
6/25/2010
Multifaceted Carp
We receive many books as gifts, passed on by legislators or staff or sent by publishers. An interesting book published by the Blue Earth Historical
Society recently turned up, Multifaceted Carp by Henry M. Quade. Carp!
That was eye-catching, given the current issues with
Asian carp invading Minnesota waters. It turns out
the book is more about an interesting period around
WWII when carp were canned in Mankato. Still, we
thought the natural
history of the broader species included in the book would be relevant to our collection.
The book turned up in the news yesterday, when the author was quoted on KARE TV with a depressing statement, "No one has a crystal ball, but if you were to bet on the asian carp getting into the Great Lakes, the answer is yes. A single carp can lay a million eggs."
E-mail or call a librarian at 6-8338 if you would like to borrow the book. *
6/17/2010
Wild and Scenic Rivers History
We are always pleased to see the fruits of research
done in the Legislative Library. Back in October,
2009, Susan Damon and Jay Krienitz pored over old
clippings and documents as part of their voluminous
research on the origins of the Wild and Scenic Rivers
Act. The resulting article appeared in an issue
of the William
Mitchell Law Review devoted to environmental
law.
We are happy to add this history, "The
Rivers Belong to the People" : The History
and Future of Wild and Scenic River Protection in
Minnesota, to our library
collection. Their work provides valuable background
for researchers studying the issue and the era.
Here are additional materials on wild
and scenic rivers in our collection.
6/15/2010
Teen Driver Safety Report
A recent press
release from the Minnesota Department
of Public Safety described a program of "Celebrity
Buckle-Up Reminders." Before school was out, participating
schools played announcements on the public announcement system urging teens to use seat belts, by people like comedian
Louie Anderson, Minnesota Twins player Nick Punto,
Minnesota Lynx player Lindsay Whalen, Minnesota
Vikings player Jim Kleinsasser and the 93x Morning
Show crew.
The messages are important. As the press release noted, "Traffic crashes are the leading killer of Minnesota teens — the group with the lowest seat belt compliance rate. Statewide each year, motorists age 15–29 account for 45 percent of all unbelted deaths, yet this group represents only 25 percent of licensed drivers." The Department has many additional web resources on teen driver safety.
Every state is working to save teens' lives. A recent report from the United States Government Accountability Office, Teen Driver Safety: Additional Research Could Help States Strengthen Graduated Driver Licensing Systems, includes descriptions of state strategies to improve teen driver safety and a list of recommended graduated drivers license requirements. A comparison table shows the provisions of each state's current laws. (Interestingly, there are still a handful of states that allow 14-year-olds to hold a learner permit.)
Here's a non-celebrity reminder - buckle up!
5/28/2010
But Are They the First Twins to Run for the Legislature?
A reporter called the library today (they often do).
He wanted to know if there have ever been twins
who have run for the Legislature. We don't
know of any, but since people ran for the Legislature
for more than a hundred years before our library
was created in 1969, we certainly can't be sure!
We track extensive historical information on the
Legislature and legislators. All members since territorial
times are in our Legislators Past & Present database,
and their records are augmented all the time. For
example, a granddaughter recently
provided additional background and the Civil War
service for John
Day Smith. We have an extensive list of Family
Connections within the Minnesota Legislature.
But no twins are mentioned.
Identical twins Jeff and Jay Backer are running for the Senate and House, respectively. If they were both elected, it might lead to some confusion. At least they are both in the same party - that would be easy to remember! If anyone knows of any twins who have run for the Legislature in the past, be sure to let us know.
645 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Blvd
St. Paul, MN 55155-1050
Reference: (651) 296-8338 Circulation: (651) 296-3398
Hours: 8AM to 4:30PM Mon. - Fri. (Legislative history service ends a half hour before closing.)
Legislative Session Hours: 8AM to 6PM Mon. - Thurs., 8AM - 5:00 PM Fri. or later as needed.