Senator Tarryl L. Clark

Transcription

1 E-News Volume 2009 Issue 9 Senator Tarryl L. Clark Assistant Majority Leader September 18, 2009 Events Serving St. Cloud, Waite Park, St. Augusta, Rockville, and Haven Township September 23 Returning Soldiers Health Meeting 6:00-7:30 pm St. Cloud Public Library The St. Cloud VA Medical Center will hold an educational and support meeting for veterans, family members of returning service members, and other interested members of the community. The meeting will address the readjustment experience of returning military members, with an emphasis on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). A clinical social worker from the VA s Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom programs will discuss PTSD symptoms and how to support and treat individuals with PTSD. The meeting is free and open to the public. For more information, call the Operations Enduring & Iraqi Freedom line, (320) October 10 Breast Cancer Walk 8:30-10 am Lake George, St. Cloud Join me and other women and men on Saturday, October 10 as we walk at Lake George to fight breast cancer. I am honored to help kick off the festivities at Eastman Park. To sign up and for additional information, visit October Military Women s Summit Ramada Inn-Mall of America, Bloomington The Minnesota Department of Veteran Affairs (MDVA) is pleased to announce the first Minnesota Veteran and Military Women's Summit Oct 16-17, at the Ramada Inn Mall of America in Bloomington. This event will bring together women veterans, women currently serving, female spouses of soldiers, care providers, and members of the community in a comfortable setting to provide resources, support and networking opportunities. For more information and to register, visit or call (651)

2 Sunday, November Veterans Day Parade & Social 1-3 pm VA Medical Center to Apollo High School Please join me and other members of the Warrior to Citizen Campaign as we celebrate local veterans at the annual parade and social. Leadership Summit Examines State Budget Woes and Seeks Solutions Three former governors, six former Speakers of the House, and three former Senate Majority Leaders joined the present legislative leadership in a bipartisan leadership summit at the State Capitol just after Labor Day. It was a privilege to be able to sit at the same table and share information and ideas with this group of distinguished public servants who led the state in good times and bad. Even now they are willing to set their political differences aside and donate their time and insight for the good of Minnesota. Nonpartisan fiscal staff prepared briefing materials for the summit which indicate the state is facing a $4.4 to $7.2 billion shortfall in the next budget cycle. Former Governor Arne Carlson said the state is facing an economic tsunami. He said the defict is twice as large as any we have lived through and said, all of the temporary gimmicks are gone. Governor Carlson said the Legislature and the Governor should start work now on finding ways to repair the state s long term structural budget problems. Postponement is not leadership, he said. Unfortunately, Governor Pawlenty declined to participate in the summit and prohibited his administration from participating (including former Speaker Steve Sviggum who accepted the invitation, but had to then decline it because he also serves as the Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry). However, the former governors and leaders have indicated a willingess to continue to seek solutions to help Minnesota get through this historic crisis. I look forward to working with them to seek strong bipartisan solutions and hope the Governor will join us at a further date. You can read the briefing materials that were distributed at the Summit by going to: You can watch the Summit online at: August Employment Numbers The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development yesterday released employment and unemployment data from August. For the St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area, over-the-year job losses amount to 3.7% of the area s workforce. Statewide details of the report are below: August Unemployment Minnesota's seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate slightly declined to 8% in August from 8.1% in July. This is the first time since June 2007 the state has had two straight months of declining unemployment. August Job Gains and Losses Although August unemployment dipped from July, Minnesota lost 10,300 jobs in August. 2

3 Leisure and hospitality lost the most jobs (down 3,200), then trade, transportation and utilities (down 3,000), followed by government (down 2,100), manufacturing (down 900), education and health services (down 2,200), financial activities (down 500), construction (down 300), and logging and mining (down 100). Job gains occurred in professional and business services (up 1,300), other services (up 400) and information (up 300). Over the past year, only education and health services (up 11,600) and government (up 700) have added jobs. All other industry sectors have seen job losses over the past year led by manufacturing (down 40,100), and professional and business services (down 33,900). Bill Update Reverse Mortgage Consumer Protection My consumer protection bill on reverse mortgages was vetoed by the Governor in May. This bill would provide seniors with additional protections when considering reverse mortgage as a financial planning tool. Many fear that unscrupulous lenders are targeting seniors and creating the next sub-prime mortgage crisis. The AARP and Lutheran Social Services were among the many groups supporting the legislation. The Governor s veto was surprising given the overwhelming bipartisan work on and support for the bill in both the Senate (65-2) and the House (97-31). Reverse mortgages can be helpful to seniors. They can allow an older couple to make use of the equity they may have tied up in their property while still remaining in their home. Although not new, reverse mortgages are growing in popularity as baby boomers continue to age. The vetoed legislation was a common sense bill had three main features. It required that seniors receive counseling before they sign any reverse mortgage deal with a lender. The bill also forbid lenders from cross-selling where unscrupulous agents would encourage seniors to use the proceeds from their reverse mortgage to buy other financial instruments that might be unsuitable for them. Finally the bill would give seniors up 10 days to back out if they realized it was not a good deal for them. There is a strong need for this legislation. Recently, the FBI reported that mortgage fraud is soaring. Fiscal year 2009 saw a 36 percent increase in this type of crime over FY That followed an 83 percent increase from the year before. The FBI report says that in response to tighter lending practices criminals turned to new schemes such as reverse mortgage fraud. Some experts fear reverse mortgages will be the next sub-prime fiasco for the housing market. Also this month, the General Accounting Office (GAO) issued a report that said a lack of oversight by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) left seniors at risk to abusive lending practices in the reverse mortgage market. The GAO is suggesting that HUD adopt at least some reforms similar to ones found in this vetoed bill. The Bartletts of Apple Valley could have benefited from some counseling when they took out a reverse mortgage on their town home. They said at first the money from the mortgage proved to be very helpful. But later when health conditions forced them to sell their home they found out about very expensive fees they would have to pay. I think if we had known what we were going to have to end up paying, we wouldn t have done it, said Marlene Bartlett. 3

4 There are thousands of more families like the Bartletts in Minnesota. Getting them accurate information and providing them the time to make sure the deal is right for them just makes sense as does making sure the lender s primary motivation is the reverse mortgage itself and not collecting fees from a secondary sale. When legislators return next winter we will renew our efforts on this bill and to protect senior Minnesotans from unscrupulous lenders while making sure reverse mortgages are still available. The goals are achievable and worthwhile. League of Minnesota Cites Gives Award I am honored to receive the League of Minnesota Cities 2009 Legislator of Distinction award for this past legislative session. The League counts over 800 cities as members. The award was in recognition for leadership in supporting city-friendly legislation including my authorship of the new administrative fines law. Out and About I met many people at the Senate booth at the State Fair s Education building. Once again (our third fair!), I enjoyed working with Wendy Haavisto, legislative assistant for Sen. Dennis Frederickson (R-New Ulm). The results of the Senate State Fair opinion poll and teen poll can be found here: secretary/info/statefair/index.php#h eader How to Contact Me By Mail: By Phone: Senator Tarryl L. Clark (651) Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Room 208 State Capitol By Electronic Form: St. Paul, MN

5 District 15 Fun Fact The St. Cloud Municipal Band was founded in the 1880s. In its early years, it was known for being the only band in the U.S. that played while riding bicycles. 5