Staff photos by Kevin Boneske  

Arrowhead 135 runner Lisa Paulos (107) of Iowa pushes her sled loaded with survival gear midday Monday as she approaches the Highway 53 crossing south of Ericsburg.

File photo 

Minnesotan Jason Giddings (42) crosses Highway 53 south of Ericsburg after removing his skis while competing in the 2015 Arrowhead 135. Giddings was one of four skiers who started last year’s ultramarathon.

Staff photo by Kevin Boneske 

Arrowhead 135 biker Scott Jensen (61) of North Dakota is all smiles as he leaves Monday morning from the Gateway General Store in Kabetogama, the ultramarathon’s first checkpoint.

File photo  

In front from right, 2015 Arrowhead 135 runners Rachel Utecht (157) of North Dakota and Michael Nicholls (101) of Minnesota proceed south on the Arrowhead State Trail after crossing Highway 53 south of Ericsburg.

The 11th annual Arrowhead 135 began at 7 a.m. Monday in International Falls with 154 ultramarathon athletes. The 84 bikers, 66 runners and four skiers from throughout the United States, Canada and other countries who left Kerry Park encountered mild winter weather on the first day of the race with the Fahrenheit air temperature remaining in the 20s above zero. To successfully complete the 135-mile ultramarathon along the Arrowhead State Trail, the athletes have until 7 p.m. today to reach the Fortune Bay Casino near Tower.

Sen. Tom Bakk

Laurel Beager / FILE PHOTO 

Rep. David Dill

Minnesota drivers would pay more for gas and license tabs under a plan unveiled Monday by Gov. Mark Dayton.

The plan is very similar to one rolled out last week by the Minnesota Senate, Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk said, who with Rep. David Dill represents Koochiching County.

It appears everyone in Minnesota knows money is needed to shore up the state’s aging road and bridge system, but how to pay for those infrastructure improvements isn’t so clear, Borderland’s lawmakers said.

“I am dead still in traffic on a road that needs another lane,” Bakk said early Tuesday morning as he talked to The Journal on his way to the Governor’s Mansion to discuss with Dayton the budget proposal released later in the day.

The 6.5 percent gas tax is figured to add about 16 cents per gallon and license and registration fee increases would provide more than $1 billion each year over the next 10 years.

The governor’s plan would also add about 30 percent in state road and bridge funding to local governments.

Residents of Ramsey, Hennepin, Anoka, Washington and Dakota counties pay a sales surtax of 0.25 percent to fund transit, which Dayton would raise to 0.75 percent — and extend the whole tax to Carver and Scott counties, which chose not to impose it. This money would fund an extra 20 new mass transit lines in the metro area.

Earlier this month, House Republicans released their transportation plan. It uses $200 million from the state’s budget surplus and directs the Minnesota Department of Transportation to cut 15 percent of its budget and direct that spending to new transportation projects. The plan would put a total of $750 million into transportation over four years.

Meanwhile, Bakk, DFL-Tower, said a gas tax is never popular, but road and bridge repairs will never get cheaper. The Senate plan also calls for a gross receipts sales tax of 6.5 percent on gas, increasing the registration fee by a minimum of $5, and a 1-cent sales tax across the seven county metro area.

A gas tax is a true user fee, Bakk said. Only people who use the state’s raods and bridges would pay the user fee by purchasing gas.

Dill, DFL-Crane Lake, said increasing costs to Minnesota residents is always a concern, but it’s even more so in rural areas where people often pay a disproportionate amount because of the distance they must travel for work and other routine business. He pointed to his wife, Tucky, who travels about 100 miles each day to teach school.

The state is now paying for the lack of investment in infrastructure in the past years, Dill said.

“Now, we need to take a bold step to catch up,” he said.

Unless the state Constitution would be amended, a gas tax increase would be dedicated in law rather than the constitution and the law could be changed to switch the mix of road and bridge and transit funding, he said.

“My fear is it will not be constitutionally dedicated to road and bridge,” he said.

The big fight may be over the transit parts of the proposal, Dill said. For rural Minnesotans, the need for an improved transit system may be hard to understand, he said.

Meanwhile, Dill said a bill he’s sponsoring to allow more weight on bridges to efficiently haul more is “all a part of the grand scheme of transportation.” That bill would benefit several Koochiching County trucking operations.

Transportation issues are “so magnified on Koochiching,” Dill said. “It’s a transportation county.”

Steve

Simon

When filling out a ballot in the Nov. 4 election, many Minnesota voters probably didn't pay much attention to candidates for state offices like state auditor, attorney general, or secretary of state.

However, the work the secretary of state does ensures Minnesotans are able to fill out ballots, and makes voting as easy as possible for eligible voters.

Steve Simon was sworn in as secretary of state earlier this month, and he told The Journal Thursday one asset he brings to the office is his previous experience in the Legislature. Simon represented District 46B, covering St. Louis Park and Hopkins, in the Minnesota House from 2005 to 2015, and served as chair of the House Elections Committee.

“From the standpoint of public policy, and particularly legislation, I have some great, strong relationships among legislators of both parties,” Simon said. “And I think that's going to serve the office well.”

As secretary of state, it's important for Simon to work with both parties to increase voter turnout. However, he said it's important to remain impartial and fair when it comes to administering elections.

“When it comes to the elections function of the office, the office of secretary of state is no place to put a thumb on the scale, for any political party, any candidate, anyone, period,” Simon said.

While he was elected as the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party candidate for secretary of state, Simon said election administration needs to remain nonpartisan. In recounts, like in the 2008 U.S. Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken, it's important for the secretary of state to be seen as fair.

“You have to inspire trust and confidence,” Simon said. “Especially from people who wouldn't vote for you, or aren't political supporters.”

Turnout

When it comes to increasing voter turnout, Simon said there are a few specific changes he wants to implement. One change would be a move toward true early voting, in addition to the “no excuses” absentee voting system in place currently.

The current “no excuses” absentee system, first implemented in the 2014 election, allows a voter to vote from home without an excuse, alibi, or reason for not going to the polls, Simon said. This is helpful for people who have difficulty leaving the home, he said, or for people with busy schedules.

“It's not just for the disabled or the sick, it's for the just plain busy,” Simon said. “It's for someone whose work shift doesn't accommodate a normal voting period in a 13-hour period on one day.”

The true early voting system Simon wants to implement is used by 32 other states, including Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. This would allow someone to cast a ballot at a polling place in “game-day conditions” within a given period before the election, Simon said.

That ballot would be counted on the same day, Simon said, as opposed to absentee ballots which aren't counted until election night. The current system creates a backlog of ballots all being counted on election night, which would be alleviated by the true early voting system.

“That accounts for why election night sometimes lasts so long, because they're waiting for the absentees,” Simon said.

Another change to increase voter turnout, Simon said, is preregistration for 16- or 17-year-olds. Almost half of the states have it, and it's a way to create good habits for high school students when it comes to voting, he said.

“Obviously the actual registration wouldn't kick in until they turned 18,” Simon said. “But preregistration is a way for them to get in that habit.”

Minnesota usually ranks among the top three states when it comes to voter turnout in elections, Simon said. With a history of high voter turnout, he said it's tempting to settle for the status quo, but the desire to improve is much stronger.

“In Minnesota, we've never been ones to rest on our past accomplishments,” Simon said. “We're always looking to innovate, we're always looking to get better.”

Issues

Simon worked with domestic abuse issues during his time in the Legislature, and strengthening protection for victims of domestic violence is one of his goals as secretary of state. Minnesota currently has a Safe at Home program, which allows domestic violence victims to keep their addresses confidential so their abuser can't find them.

“This office runs that program, there are nearly 2,000 enrolled now,” Simon said. “It's a way for people not to be found by the person who terrorized them.”

Domestic abuse is an important issue, Simon said, because it's an example of “secret suffering.” It creates a situation where someone fears for their life or their children's lives, and doesn't speak out due to that fear.

“There's so much pressure, some of it self-imposed, some other kinds of pressure, for them not to come forward, and not seek the help that they need,” Simon said.

Many states have a similar program, but Minnesota was one of the first three states to implement it, Simon said.

It's premature to consider a legacy during the first month on the job, but when he leaves office, Simon said he wants to be remembered for two things: making voting as easy as possible for Minnesotans and reaching out to everyone across the state.

“This is not a command and control situation from St. Paul,” Simon said. “This is about working with people from everywhere. Not just physically everywhere, but ideologically everywhere.”