Steele County Board Notes-April 27, 2010

A part of the OACCT's Public Policy efforts for 2010 is to become more active and involved on the County level. Volunteers from the Public Policy committee attend both City and County meetings and report back on items that are of interest/concern to business.

Steele County Commissioners Committee MeetingApril 27, 2010 - 3:00pmThe meeting started with an update from Brad Carlson and staff of the U of M Extension with an update on what services they provide and how their county funds are being spent. Emphasis on investment in youth with 4-H programs and master gardener program.Interesting demographics for Steele County:$161 million from farming in 200757 Dairy FarmsAverage age of farmer 55.5Discussion on the SE MN Emergency Joint Powers Board. Delegate and Alternate are needed. Mike Johnson is the delegate while a County Commissioner is appointed as Alternate. Suggestion that might be explored to flip/flop and have County Commissioner as main delegate so an elected official can make the call on grant money instead of a government employee.Piper Hills Campground discussed. Girls Scouts want to sell, still waiting on appraisal of property but County keeping this on their radar.South Country Health Alliance - Last three years have been very poor financially but with the hire of a new CFO and the help of the Finance Committee with Steve Rohlik they have turned this into a first quarter profit of $1.9 million and outlook is positive. That being said this Friday will be a telling day as two counties, including one with a large subscriber base, are considering withdrawing from the program for 2011. They have until noon on Friday to decide. If they do not re-up that will be another hurdle to overcome. The general discussion remained positive with emphasis that County Based Purchasing is an excellent model and that Federal Health Reform aligns with many of things they are already doing.

U.S. Chamber's Doctors' Exodus: Fact and Fact

Check out the U.S. Chamber's post on a recent presentation made in Owatonna:

http://www.chamberpost.com/2010/04/doctors-exodus-fact-and-fact.html

Legislative Update

At today's legislative update given by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, a couple key points were given:
a) State legislators will decide if they will reapply for the federal 'Race to the Top' grant by April 15th.
b) Expect work to start on a tax omnibus bill the week of April 19th. They don't anticipate major tax increases.
The deficit breaks down like this:
$994 M shortfall
-$312 M in cuts
-$147 M savings from new GMAC agreement
-$408M from Federal Government (possible, but not a sure deal)

This leaves $127M to be cut by the end of the session. If the federal dollars don't come through, the gap is $535M. These numbers aren't as bad as they could've been and should be solved without increasing the tax burden.