Pubdate: Sat, 23 May 2009
Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune (MN)
Copyright: 2009 Star Tribune
Contact: http://www.startribunecompany.com/143
Website: http://www.startribune.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/266
Authors: Mike Kaszuba and Pat Doyle, Star Tribune staff writers

PAWLENTY VETOES MEDICAL MARIJUANA, SIGNS LEGACY BILL

Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoed an emotionally charged proposal late Friday
to allow terminally ill patients to use marijuana for medical
purposes, but signed into law a plan to disburse hundreds of millions
of dollars from the Legacy Amendment passed by Minnesotans last year.

Four days after the Legislature ended with a stormy adjournment, the
governor issued five vetoes Friday night on issues from election law
to mortgage-foreclosure proceedings.

He also signed a bill late Thursday that allows police to pull over
drivers solely because they or their passengers are not wearing seat
belts. Currently, officers must spot another traffic offense before
they can stop a vehicle and ticket someone for not being strapped in.
The new law is effective June 9, and carries a $25 fine.

Pawlenty, who in 2008 set an apparent single-year record for most
vetoes by a Minnesota governor, indicated in a letter that he was torn
by the medical marijuana legislation. He said that while he was
"sympathetic to those dealing with end-of-life illnesses," he felt
marijuana poses "serious public safety and health risks." Legalizing
marijuana, even under limited conditions, "could serve to compound
these problems," he wrote.

Although he had also expressed some concerns with how the Legislature
wanted to allocate Legacy Amendment money, Pawlenty signed the
legislation Friday with just one, $200,000 line-item veto. That money
was for a board that was created a year ago and that supporters said
needed one-time-only money, Pawlenty said.

After gaining nearly 56 percent backing in November, the Legacy
Amendment showed that Minnesotans were willing to vote for higher
taxes in some instances even as the state and national economies were
headed downward. Once the issue reached the Legislature, the focus was
on who would get the money as scores of groups jockeyed to be heard.

The amendment increases the state sales tax by three-eighths of 1
percent for 25 years, with money going for the outdoors, water
resources, parks and trails, and arts and cultural heritage. Estimates
by the Department of Revenue showed that, in the first year, the water
resources and outdoors categories each stood to get $77.2 million, and
that $46.2 million would be available to arts and cultural heritage
projects.

In the proposal that passed the Legislature on Monday, a variety of
projects were selected for Legacy funding, among them: $36 million to
buy a permanent conservation easement on nearly 190,000 acres of
forest land in northern Minnesota; a $450,000 project to improve the
water quality of Lake Rebecca in Hennepin County; $51 million for the
state pollution control agency for clean water initiatives, and $1
million to the Perpich Center for Arts Education in Golden Valley.

Sen. Ellen Anderson, DFL-St. Paul, who played a lead role in shaping
the legislation, said that Pawlenty could have line-item vetoed more
proposals within the Legacy legislation had he philosophically
disagreed with them. But doing so, she added, would simply mean more
money would be available from the Legacy funds in future years, and
would not help the governor solve the state's vexing budget deficit.

Other Actions

In other actions, Pawlenty vetoed an elections bill in part because he
said he disagreed with a proposal to move the state's primary from
September to August.

In signing the seat belt legislation, the governor also OK'd a new
provision that allows motorists to drive 10 miles over posted speed
limits of 55 miles per hour or above when passing on two-lane highways.

Many had expected a veto on the medical marijuana bill, which would
have allowed terminally ill patients to use marijuana to ease their
pain.

One of the important players in the debate was Chris DeLaForest, a
former state legislator who was an influential lobbyist this year for
the proposal. On Friday DeLaForest joined the Pawlenty administration
when he was named as the new director of legislative and cabinet
affairs. DeLaForest said his selection, on a day when he was waiting
to hear whether the governor would sign the bill, did not place him in
an uncomfortable situation. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake