Minnesota Senate

April 30, 2015

Senator Tom Bakk

Senator Richard Cohen

Dear Senator Bakk and Senator Cohen:

We are writing to express our dismay over the amendments that were adopted on the

Senate Floor to S.F. 2101 on April 22, Earth Day, and ask for your leadership to address

these concerns. Many of us regret voting for the senate bill with the adoption of the bad

floor amendments.

Many of the amendments adopted on the floor, and several of the policy provisions in the

bill, were not heard or considered in any policy committee. These amendments represent

major policy shifts for the state and were adopted without public participation or the

opportunity for senate members to understand the sweeping impact of these measures.

Some amendments, such as the Energy Intensive, Trade-Exposed (EITE) industry electric

rates provision, do not represent the policy which actually passed the Environment and

Energy Policy Committeerather it is language which has not been vetted but has statewide impact and significant consumer protection issues.

In addition to our concerns about process, there are provisions in the bill that are simply

bad for Minnesota. At a time when we are regularly seeing reports of community water

supplies across the state not being safe to drink, the Senate joined the House in voting to

undermine the authority of our state agencies to implement our existing clean water

standards.

These standards, to protect and restore the quality of our lakes, rivers and streams, were

developed over ten years through a painstaking process of scientific research, peer review

and public outreach. An attack on these standards and our agencies ability to implement them is an attack on the very mission of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and

other agencies charged with protecting the environment and public health. Furthermore, it

denigrates the hard work and professionalism of our public servants by politicizing what

should remain a scientific process.

The Senate has done an excellent job developing and passing budget bills that separate

volatile policy provisions from the budget process, with this one glaring exception. This

bill has become highly politicized in the process. It is out of sync with the voters of the

state and is out of step with core Minnesota values to protect our great outdoors.

We ask that you use your power to remove these provisions from the Senate bill. Both the

House environment and natural resources omnibus budget and House energy omnibus

budget bills have been characterized as some of the worst policy propagated on these

topics. One expert characterizing the House energy bill as eviscerating thirty years of progressive energy policy.

While our concerns about SF2101 are strong, they pale in comparison to the deeply

destructive environment and energy policy provisions contained in the House companion

bills. For your convenience, we have enclosed lists of troubling environment and energy

provisions contained within the House budget legislation.

Many members of our caucus reluctantly supported the budget bill despite strong

concerns about the harmful environment and energy policy contained in it. We ask you

find a path forward that recognizes that this legislation puts many members of our caucus

in an unfair position of either rejecting the budget, or voting for unreasonable policies.

We ask you to follow through on your commitment to keep these controversial provisions

out of the budget debate. Holding the state budget hostage to these harsh attacks on

Minnesotas environment is not acceptable.

Sincerely,

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Senator Sandy Pappas Senator Katie Sieben

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Senator Melisa Franzen Senator Jim Carlson

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Senator Scott Dibble Senator Susan Kent

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Senator Chris Eaton Senator Greg Clausen

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Senator Bev Scalze Senator Patricia Torres Ray

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Senator Ron Latz Senator Kevin Dahle

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Senator Barb Goodwin

cc: Governor Mark Dayton

Senator David Tomassoni

Molly Pederson