Dayton’s Veto Was Right Decision for Rural Minnesota

As a family farmer, I wanted to let the Governor know how wrong I thought passing this legislation was and urge him to veto it

By Loretta Jaus

Loretta Jaus is a dairy farmer from Gibbon, Minn.

Last Thursday I traveled from my dairy farm in Sibley County to the Governor’s Mansion in Saint Paul. I wanted to be with other Minnesotans who were gathered there to let Gov. Mark Dayton know that House File 846 was bad for Minnesota, especially rural Minnesota.

Many provisions favoring corporate polluters and special interests had been inserted into this bill, which funds the state Departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources, as well as the Pollution Control Agency.

One provision called for eliminating the 48-year-old Citizens’ Board of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. This provision was slipped into the bill late on Saturday, May 16. With the legislature set to adjourn two days later, the public had next to no chance to be made aware of this last-minute insertion before the whole bill was passed. This would be a huge setback for environmental protection: the Citizens’ Board creates a public and transparent process for decision making and guards the agency against undue corporate influence.

(More here.)