What If You Ruled the State Capitol?

The Legislature is almost over and we know what you’re thinking: I could’ve done so much better.

It doesn’t matter which side of the aisle you fall on, virtually every Minnesotan has had some pet proposal that didn’t make it through—or, worse, wasn’t even introduced.

We want to know how things would be different if you were in charge. Would you resurrect one of the proposals that died in the Legislature this year? Would you kill a law you hate? Do you have a completely new idea you’d see through?

We’ve offered three ideas to get the discussion started. Critique them and then share your own ideas in the comments below.

***

Public disclosure required for tax subsidies: Taxpayers invest enormous amounts of money in companies each year through subsidies such as tax abatement, forgivable loans and grants. These subsidies have legitimate purposes—the common justification being that a particular project wouldn’t happen “but for” the subsidy. Yet taxpayers rarely have all the information they need to determine whether a subsidy is a good investment because so many go to private companies whose books are closed. Voters can only trust that officials did a thorough job vetting the company. This law would change that. It would require companies seeking public subsidies to open their books 30 days before a vote on the subsidies and for as long as they receive the subsidies. This wouldn’t require companies to disclose trade secrets. It would only mandate that they fulfill the Securities and Exchange Commission’s requirements for publically traded companies. Sports teams, you wouldn’t be exempt.

• James Warden, Hopkins Patch

Flexible liquor sales: With all the back and forth over allowing Sunday liquor sales, perhaps we could compromise? A "closed one day" bill would do just that. The bill would require Minnesota liquor stores to close one day a week at their choosing. For smaller, family-owned liquor stores that worry about the high overhead costs of being open seven days, this would allow them to still close once per week—perhaps still on Sundays—while not feeling that they're missing out on a day of business. But the bill would also allow liquor stores, particularly those that border Wisconsin, which allows Sunday sales, to capitalize on a currently unavailable revenue stream. According to a Sunday sales proposal offered this year by Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R-District 28B), border liquor stores in Minnesota miss out on $145 million in business, which would generate $10 million in revenue for the state.

• Michael Rose, St. Louis Park Patch

Guaranteed revenue from public university athletic departments: It’s a myth that college sports is a money-making endeavor for schools. Just 14 of the 120 athletics programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision made money in 2009, according to a 2010 NCAA report. The University of Minnesota is not one of those lucky few. The Gophers athletics department got $3 million in direct institutional support and $5 million in indirect facilities and administrative support for the 2009-10 fiscal year, according to a USA Today database. This law would first help market forces reassert themselves by barring institutional support for athletics programs at Minnesota’s public universities. Second, it would give university academics a cut of all athletics revenue—ticket sales, donor contributions, NCAA distributions, licensing deals, whatever. This would ensure that athletics programs and others that trade on the university’s brand provide some compensation to the university for that privilege. Just as importantly, it would force athletics departments to take a hard look at the need for pricy amenities and salaries—such as the salary that made Gophers basketball coach Tubby Smith the highest paid state employee in Minnesota.

• James Warden, Hopkins Patch