Time to leave the ‘70s behind, says Minnesota Chamber

Blazer spoke Monday at AmericInn to local members of the business and education community who attended a Brown Bag Luncheon, sponsored by the International Falls Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Minnesota Chamber represents the interests of its 2,400 members, including the local chamber, during legislative sessions at the state Capitol. Blazer, who said the meeting was the last of 29 around the state before the January session, gave a general report on the 2010 state legislative results and also collected concerns from those who gathered over lunch.

“It’s not the ‘70s anymore,” Blazer reiterated throughout his presentation, stating that legislators and many policy makers appear to be “in a rut.”

Blazer opened with a screen projection of an August 1974 “Time” magazine cover which featured Minnesota’s then Gov. Wendell Anderson holding a catch while fishing.

Blazer said that he had just moved to Minnesota when he first saw the coveted feature. “It was like I died and had gone to heaven,” he said of the image.

But 40 years forward, he admits that he now not only finds the representation embarrassing (the fish was a fairly mediocre catch) but it also “is not a very accurate view of what’s going on in our state.”

And the problem, Blazer explained, is that the question “What’s it like to live in Minnesota?” is still being answered with those types of images and implications. “And things have changed light years since the 1970s,” he says.

Blazer said the state chamber is initiating a rethinking of the ways state and local public services are delivered. He advises that when election candidates come knocking, the questions should be: “Are you a new thinker; have you moved on; or are you still continuing to operate from the 70s?”

Getting up to speed

Blazer made his case citing dramatic economic and social changes since the 1970s.

In that decade, Minnesota businesses competed largely with other businesses in the upper Midwest, he said. “It was a regional market. Run the clock ahead and today, the market is the larger world.”

Blazer asserted that he recently consulted with a Bemidji business of 21 employees which sells its product to 40 different countries; the world market much more a part of its success than the upper Midwest. He projected lists of Minnesota’s top companies since the ‘70s-’80s to date, and explained the ways in which their very evolution illustrates how a legislative retrofit is imperative.

Most of the state’s 1970s businesses were homegrown by those who had come up through the ranks, he said, adding that the very few which existed in 1980, such as Best Buy, Target and United Healthcare Group, have undergone enormous alterations.

Blazer went on to show that the Minnesota work force of the 1970s grew rapidly because women were entering the work force. The female work force eventually became saturated and as the birth rate slowed, work force growth slowed. Today, it is near a standstill which is projected until at least 2025.

On education, the Legislature also needs to get up to speed, according to Blazer. Educational policy leaders in 1971 answered school district property tax disparities with the educational finance reform known as “Minnesota Miracle.” Today, the major topic of education is the achievement gap, he said. An academic performance gap in America exists between white students and students of color, due to English not being the spoken language in a growing number of homes.

Yet, current policy makers sought to pass the defeated “New Minnesota Miracle,” which would have significantly increased K-12 funding with no guarantee of, or accountability for, improved student performance, reports the state chamber. Blazer said this was akin to reviving a legislation which is 40 years old, dusting it off, changing a few dates and using an old ‘70s plan all over again.

The educational achievement gap is increasing particularly in the southern part of the state. This issue of diversity will also come to International Falls, Blazer predicts, because the non-English speaking population is growing faster.

Blazer said that while diversity might have meant “getting to know a Finnish neighbor” in the ‘70s — it now encompasses changes such as a mammoth steel company owned by the family from India (Essar Steel) living on the Iron Range.

Collectively, the above circumstances added to a growing dependency ratio (people under age 18 and over age 64) and a very dramatic two-decade decline in state spending, are going to epically alter the rate of state program growth, Blazer said.

Far different from the ‘70s decade, today’s older population is proportionately big, and getting bigger. This happens at the same time as state spending is declining. Blazer stressed that an aging population doesn’t produce as much and has higher health demands. So, he questions, “Where is the money for education and other systems going to come from?”

Blazer also compared the job losses of today’s recession with recessions of the past, citing a five-year job recuperation plus new job creation in the 1980 and 2001 recessions. But in the current recession which began in August 2008, a five-year projection (2013) predicts just a break-even situation.

“It’s a very different world we’re getting into,” Blazer said, questioning if St. Paul policy makers, and he said he was speaking bipartisanly, are moving ahead with new solutions. “Are we stuck or are we using solutions that really fit?”

Local input

Blazer gave a broad overview of the 2010 legislative results regarding taxes, education, permit issuance, energy, transportation, health care and labor.

The topic of education seemed to draw most of the concerns from those who attended.

Dixie Kalstad voiced her support for education saying “children are our future.” She also expressed her opinion that the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment II testing system is flawed, not accounting for some children’s testing anxiety which results in skewed reports.

Another mother whose child has dyslexia said the testing is required for all students no matter their learning style. “That’s where you see these overall declines (locally) in testing,” she said.

New District 361 Superintendent Jeff Peura concurred, saying that the state is dictating a testing policy for all students, and comparing this district with students in Minneapolis is not a legitimate comparison.

Blazer disagreed. He said that while the MCA II tests may not be the right ones and parts of plan may be less than perfect, children are all going to end up in the same economy.

“They’re all going to be competing for the same jobs,” Blazer said. “We want to get them all up to the world standard.” He noted that it shouldn’t be assumed that all local students will live and work in International Falls.

Jenny Dougherty said that focusing on test results ignores impediments to learning that come before the tests. She cited Falls classrooms with not enough physical space for students. “That’s a shame,” she said, “and things like these are a real problem.”

Blazer told the audience that the state chamber continues to work toward alternative licensing, which recruits younger adults who are not necessarily teachers to teach college major fundamentals. Reports show that the program has been quite successful in raising student achievement in many places. Minnesota reportedly lost points in applying for the federal stimulus program “Race for the Top,” which rewarded states that implemented aggressive school accountability measures — because it didn’t have the alternative licensing program. Blazer also added that some successful states are using evaluation strategies which “don’t so much label a school but determine whether a teacher gets to be in front of a classroom.”

Cynthia Jaksa, International Falls city councilor and Kootasca representative, made adamant statements that when the state chamber is representing northern Minnesota, it should consider the effects of certain tax proposals on local government aid. Jaksa cautioned taxpayers that should there be a loss of LGA, local property taxes would triple.

Bob Anderson represented Boise Inc. and said that the permit issues on which the state chamber is working are important to the paper company. “I can tell you that we spend not tens but hundreds of thousands (of dollars) in permits today,” he said. Anderson added that there are energy issues which are also key in keeping the paper mill viable.

Also in attendance, Julie Schumacher told The Journal that her question for election candidates will regard their plans for depolarizing important issues and bringing people together. She said inordinate amounts of time are being used for defense strategies.

Additional concerns can be addressed to the Falls Chamber at 283-9400 or betsy@intlfalls.org. More Minnesota Chamber of Commerce information is available at www.mnchamber.com.