Thissen wins recent online poll
March 26, 2010| Posted in In the NewsMinnesota Progressive Project – Friday Poll
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March, 2010
MN Lawmakers vote on health care compromise
March 25, 2010| Posted in In the NewsNew York Times: Minn. Lawmakers Send Health Compromise to Governor
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 25, 2010
Filed at 9:28 a.m. ET
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — After weeks of legislative drama involving a veto, a failed override, a lawsuit and a last-minute deal, the Minnesota Legislature on Wednesday approved a compromise plan to maintain state health coverage for more than 30,000 vulnerable adults.
The bill preserving the General Assistance Medical Care program is headed to a supportive Gov. Tim Pawlenty after clearing the House on a 121-12 vote and a final 50-12 Senate vote. The program had been scheduled to run out of money on April 1.
Top Democrats and the Republican governor struck a deal earlier this month to extend the program just hours before officials planned to start switching the patients to a less comprehensive state plan. The compromise slashes spending while putting hospitals in charge of coordinating care for patients who include the homeless, mentally ill, drug addicts and veterans.
”Even though we don’t have a lot of money, we’re still going to make sure you get the care that you need,” said Democratic Rep. Erin Murphy of St. Paul, one of the key negotiators.
General Assistance Medical Care covers more than 30,000 people each month, most of them living on less than $8 a day. Pawlenty withdrew funding for the program unilaterally last year to help erase a deficit.
Under the compromise, General Assistance Medical Care will focus on paying safety-net hospitals to coordinate care and prescriptions for patients, with the goal of aggressively managing their conditions to avoid hospitalization and other costly services when possible. The new program will start in June and the current program is extended until then.
Most GOP lawmakers united behind the compromise, saying it showed state leaders could cut costs while still caring for the poorest residents in Minnesota. All House Republicans voted for the bill on Wednesday.
”When we are faced with incredibly challenging issues, this body can work, this process can work for the people that our programs serve and for the people that pay the bills,” said Rep. Paul Kohls, R-Victoria.
All the no votes in the House came from Democrats, mostly from areas outside the Twin Cities where hospitals are expected to lose big on the revamped program.
Rep. Paul Thissen of Minneapolis, one of 11 Democrats running for governor, was among the critics. He said his colleagues caved in to Pawlenty’s veto threats and settled for too little money to achieve the changes their bill envisioned.
”This bill is not the best we can do. This bill is not even better than nothing,” Thissen said.
The vote came as state leaders grasped for details of the federal health care overhaul, which promises new dollars for public health care programs but also requires the state to put up at least a half-billion dollars in matching money from mid-2011 through 2014. Minnesota faces a $1 billion deficit through the middle of next year and a bigger projected shortfall after that.
Pawlenty opposes the federal health care overhaul.
Before the votes, he met privately with leading legislators to talk about federal funding for the General Assistance Medical Care patients and other low-income adults. The meeting was inconclusive. The two sides disagree about the exact cost to the state.
Thissen takes on Seifert on FOX
| Posted in In the News, Uncategorized
Rep. Paul Thissen debated keeping Minnesota’s pension promises with Rep. Marty Seifert last night on FOX 9 news (view video here). Thissen argued that Minnesota’s police, firefighters, teachers and public employees serve the state, typically for lower than private sector wages, in return for a secure retirement. We owe it to those who protect us to defend their pensions.
Thissen has worked diligently over the past 2 legislative sessions to keep state pensions solvent, bring greater responsibility and transparency to public pensions, and bring stakeholders together to find common ground on retirement security. He authored a pension bailout in 2008 that protected Minneapolis teacher pensions while adding greater oversight and responsibility to the plans.
“Minnesota is a state where we keep our promises to those who serve. We’ve taken action over the past 2 years that put us on the path to do that,” Thissen said.
Thissen has faced off with both leading Republican candidates for governor in the past 2 weeks. Thissen and Emmer debated the future of Minnesota on MPR’s Midmorning (full audio here) on March 11.
Thissen votes against GAMC cut on floor
March 24, 2010| Posted in Paul's Viewpoint, Speeches
Paul voted against the GAMC cut/compromise bill today. The full text of his speech on the floor of the Minnesota House is below:
View the video of Paul’s speech here.
By passing this bill, we are once again giving in to a Governor who holds good policy hostage like a playground bully. This legislation will not work. As legislators – for the good of Minnesota – we must stop giving in to the Governor. And we should start today.
I deeply appreciate the hard work of my diligent colleagues who have labored in good faith to protect the poorest, most vulnerable Minnesotans and every one of us who rely on strong hospitals in emergencies and sickness.
I deeply respect and appreciate the work of advocates in the Save GAMC coalition who have worked so hard to be the voice for those who usually have no voice in this building. Indeed, the only reason I considered voting for this bill is to honor the work of that coalition and thousands of Minnesotans across the state who recognized the immorality of the GAMC veto and took action.
Believe me, I know how hard that work has been. After Governor Pawlenty vetoed GAMC for the first time last spring, several of us spent the summer traveling Minnesota listening to patients and GAMC recipients, hospitals and health care professionals about how we could make GAMC work for Minnesota. We visited shelters and homeless camps along the river. We learned that meaningful and lasting reform required a focus on not only the care delivered in the hospital and clinic, but also helping people stabilize their lives with housing support and chemical dependency treatment. Regardless of what some may think, real reform does not come cheap.
The culmination of these conversations was a workable piece of legislation that spent less money but protected vulnerable Minnesotans and made sure that hospitals could care for all of their patients. But the Governor threatened a veto and we blinked.
We reached another compromise – worse policy but workable — which passed this body with a resounding bipartisan vote of 125 to 9. Yet, despite that overwhelming support both within and outside of the state capitol, Tim Pawlenty again vetoed our GAMC solution.
And on a party line vote, the House Republicans refused to override the veto – with 38 Republicans flip-flopping to back up the bully in the Governor’s office.
The Democrats — with big hearts, good intentions and desperate for a solution — returned to so-called “negotiations” with the Governor.
Now we are left with an unworkable bill. We all know it. It is underfunded — $80 million or more less than the Governor’s auto-enrollment proposal. It is poorly designed. It will mean job losses. We’ve heard that from hospitals and other providers from all across the state. We have heard that from advocates for the clients currently served under GAMC.
We should remember that the simply because the Governor defines reform in three words – “spend less money” –we don’t have to agree with him. Starvation is not a path to meaningful and lasting reform. That’s a lesson we all should have learned by now.
Members. there is a fine line between compromise and caving in. We are not on the right side of that line this time.
Fortunately, we have another option before us. The passage of federal health reform on Sunday changed the game. It offered us a different way to serve the people now covered under GAMC. The details and implications of that proposal need to be explored. But the Governor’s rejection of that option out of hand with no real understanding of what it means is nearly incomprehensible.
Let’s do the right thing for Minnesotans this time and reject Governor Pawlenty’s bullying. Let’s stand up for the people of Minnesota. Let’s extend the current GAMC program for a few months – just as we are doing in this bill – and take a few weeks to figure out whether and how to maximize federal health care dollars for current GAMC recipients. Let’s do it in consultation with the experts who actually deliver care and serve patients instead of behind closed doors. And let’s actually enact a policy that works for Minnesota.
Why are we choosing an unworkable surrender when we should be choosing a sensible solution that protects vulnerable Minnesotans and all of us?
We seem to have forgotten that inside-the-Capitol logic is often illogical. We have done better by vulnerable Minnesotans – our neighbors, friends, siblings, and children – in even the recent past.
Members – let’s not cave in to Governor Pawlenty’s threat to kick the poorest, most vulnerable Minnesotans to the side of the road if we do not do his bidding right now. This bill is not “the best we can do.” This proposal is not “better than nothing.” This bill is not a step forward; it’s a step back.
I urge you to vote No.
Thissen: Says we can do better for GAMC, not giving in to Pawlenty
| Posted in In the News
, By Holly Cairns, on March 24th, 2010Here’s a note from Paul Thissen’s Campaign:
(Paul Thissen) voted against a cobbled-together, rushed cut to GAMC today because I know that in Minnesota, we can do better. In this message, I included parts of my speech on the floor that fully explain why caving in to Governor Pawlenty is a mistake. If you would like to read the whole speech, you can do so here.
By passing this bill, we are once again giving in to a Governor who holds good policy hostage like a playground bully. This legislation will not work. As legislators – for the good of Minnesota – we must stop giving in to the Governor. And we should start today.
I deeply appreciate the hard work of my diligent colleagues and…advocates in the Save GAMC coalition who have worked so hard to be the voice for those who usually have no voice in this building…
After Governor Pawlenty vetoed GAMC for the first time last spring, several of us spent the summer traveling Minnesota listening to patients and GAMC recipients, hospitals and health care professionals about how we could make GAMC work for Minnesota…Regardless of what some may think, real reform does not come cheap.
The culmination of these conversations was a workable piece of legislation that spent less money but protected vulnerable Minnesotans and made sure that hospitals could care for all of their patients. But the Governor threatened a veto and we blinked…
Now we are left with an unworkable bill. We all know it. It is underfunded — $80 million or more less than the Governor’s auto-enrollment proposal. It is poorly designed. It will mean job losses…
Members. there is a fine line between compromise and caving in. We are not on the right side of that line this time.
Fortunately, we have another option before us. The passage of federal health reform on Sunday changed the game. It offered us a different way to serve the people now covered under GAMC…
Let’s do the right thing for Minnesotans this time and reject Governor Pawlenty’s bullying. Let’s stand up for the people of Minnesota…
Why are we choosing an unworkable surrender when we should be choosing a sensible solution that protects vulnerable Minnesotans and all of us?
We seem to have forgotten that inside-the-Capitol logic is often illogical. We have done better by vulnerable Minnesotans – our neighbors, friends, siblings, and children – in even the recent past.
This bill is not “the best we can do.” This proposal is not “better than nothing.” This bill is not a step forward; it’s a step back.
***end of speech text***
As leaders, we need to be honest with Minnesotans not only about the impacts of important legislation, but also about why we take the votes that we do. I have been a consistent advocate for quality health care for all Minnesotans and will continue to do so. I invite you to stand up with me for quality health care and sensible solutions that work for all of us.
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