Michel Hopes to Be 'Lead Voice' for Jobs, Economic Growth

Editor's note: With the 2012 Minnesota legislative session set to convene today, Sen. Geoff Michel (R-Edina) sat down with Edina Patch to reflect on last year's session, discuss some recent happenings in the Minnesota political scene and provide his constituents a glimpse at what to expect from him in 2012.

Edina Patch: How are you preparing for the impending legislative session?

Geoff Michel: I'm looking forward to this one. Probably the overriding issue, the environment that's different from recent years, is that we don't have a budget deficit. As of now, we actually have a surplus. I can probably count on one or two fingers—right now this is my 10th session—the number of times we've had a surplus rather than a deficit. We have roughly an $800 million surplus, so that's just a night and day difference from last year at this time when we had a $5 billion deficit. It just kind of puts us on a better footing for a legislative session that's focused on some reforms. I believe we can do some good bipartisan things with the governor and where I think we can meet and spend most of our time is on jobs and the economy.

Patch: Do you think this session will be less focused on partisan politics and more on issues, then?

Michel: Yeah. I think last year we had one of the worst budget deficits in the history of the state and the country on a per capita basis. And we had a Republican Legislature and a new DFL governor. We were kind of set up to have a little bit of gridlock, a little bit of confrontation. Now that the economy is showing some signs of life, we won't be back in a budget setting mode. We can hopefully do some good things focusing on jobs and the economy. I hope we can get out and be done with this short legislative session by about Easter.

Patch: Given how last session went, that would be a miracle.

Michel: Easter's the season of miracles, right? I'd love to see a nice 10-12 week session, taking us from late January to early or mid-April and then be done. This truly is supposed to be a part-time Legislature. And it's an election year, so people will be eager to get back out into their districts and start the campaigns.

Patch: What should your constituents expect from you this session? What do you kind of see your role being?

Michel: My personal goal would be to be a lead voice in the Senate and in St. Paul for jobs and economic growth. I'm the chair of that committee—jobs and economic growth—in the senate. We're going to start off in the first week with three pieces of legislation. Let me talk to you about those. They kind of fall under two topics: One is regulatory relief and the second is tax relief. 

The goal is "How do we make Minnesota the best place to start and grow a business?" And so we've taken some road trips this summer and fall. We went to St. Cloud, Eagan, Brainerd and we met with local chambers of commerce. We've done tours of small and large businesses and we've been asking people what the state can do—or in some cases not do—to help them as job creators. We have to make this a less expensive place to do business.

The other word I want to use is "certainty." We've got to give people a reason to invest here in Minnesota. And some of that gets back to certainty, because what we've heard is, "Well, government just keeps changing the rules. You're piling on more rules, you're piling on more mandates and regulations." I feel like one of the big messages we got from small businesses in particular was we need to take a timeout. The constant change, constant additions in terms of cost and regulations I think has helped to freeze them up. They're just kind of waiting for the next thing to happen rather than doing what they do, which is take their ideas, employ people and grow.

We need to get our private sector economy going again. So that's the conversation I want to lead, that's the focus I want to have at the Capitol. How can we grow Minnesota's economy? What can we do to make this a great place to start and grow a business? How can we position Minnesota for what I hope is economic recovery? And it's coming, it's coming.

We're a little better than the national average in terms of unemployment, which is good. We're a cold state. We're not on a coast. So we have to give people a reason to move here, to live here and to invest here. I'm excited about working on those issues and I know there are some things we can do this session to make this place more attractive for a job creator.

Patch: Could you provide some specifics on how you'll accomplish that?

Michel: One proposal we're going to have is a moratorium on new rules and regulations. This is in the name of certainty. We may need a new rule for life, safety or emergency reasons, but in general what I want to be able to do is say, "The rules you're living with now, those are the rules you're going to live with." We have rules and regulations for a lot of good reasons, but a lot of them have become outdated. We're going to talk about a moratorium on new rules, and we're also going to talk about rolling back some of the older, more obsolete rules that businesses have to live under that have hampered job growth.

Then there's tax relief. Minnesota, any way you cut it, is still a top 10 state for tax load—whether it's income taxes or property taxes. We had a proposal last year, that we're going to bring forward again, that would reduce and eventually eliminate the statewide business property tax. This is one that the state Legislature and the governor could help people with. The reason I particularly like it is it's like planting a flag in Minnesota and saying, "Look, no matter what size your business, whether you're making money or not, we recognize that in the year 2012 economic times are tough. We the state are going to try to make things a little bit easier for you, make things a little less costly, so that you can get through this tough economic time and get to the recovery."

We actually passed last year as part of a bigger bill a repeal of the statewide business property tax, but the governor vetoed it. I think if we sent that bill to him on its own, I think he'd be open to it. Some of it is just symbolism, but if we're going to make job creation the number one priority in Minnesota, we have to make it less costly for job creators. That's another one of the pieces that we've heard good things about as we've gone around the state.

These are ideas that are ready to go. They'll be in committee week one and I'll do all I can to fast-track them. There will be bipartisan support for these kind of initiatives. I really believe that. This is an area where I think we can work with the governor. I think all politicians of all stripes are going to be judged on "What did you do vis-a-vie the economy? What did you do to make this state's economic situation better? What'd you do to help with job creation?" I hope we're asked that on the campaign trail and even beforehand.

Patch: Looking back at the state shutdown last summer, were there any lessons learned on your end?

Michel: One specific that I'd follow up on is I'd like to see legislation that actually prohibits us from having that kind of a shutdown. What I'd like to have is in the event that a budget is not passed by a certain date, that you click on the current funding level. While there may be political fights happening in St. Paul, the state should not suffer from that. It was proposed before, during and after and the governor did not want to talk about that. We shouldn't put ourselves through that again, ever. And there's a way statutorily to do that. That particular proposal will come back this session for sure.

Patch: The Minnesota Republican Party has had a rough few months with regards to incidents with Sen. Amy Koch and former party chair, Tony Sutton. How do you feel about the party as the session approaches?

Michel: I'd hope the session gives us a chance to get back on our feet as a party. I think if the legislative session that I'm anticipating is successful, then that's good for the whole state. It doesn't matter if you're a Republican or a Democrat if we do some good things for the economy, for job creation. And that may have an impact on whatever the Republican brand is these days. But more importantly, we need to do good things for the state.

It's an election year, I get that. I'd like to see us take a little time campaigning and do some governing. Let's take the next three months for governing and there'll be plenty of time for campaigns, red vs. blue and all of that.

Patch: I know Sen. Koch's departure impacted you as well. Are you surprised at how things shook out? Given your lengthy tenure as assistant minority leader, then deputy majority leader, it seemed like you might have been in line for that spot. 

Michel: I did not seek any leadership position.

Patch: You didn't want it? What was the reasoning behind that?

Michel: I felt the things I needed to do within the caucus required me to focus on kind of dealing with the aftermath of Sen. Koch's situation and I didn't want anyone to confuse that with my own personal ambitions. I've got a great committee to chair that I'm excited about and I've been a part of leadership a lot. I'll continue to do all I can to be helpful and I think 2012 will be a good year.

Patch: Are you going to miss it at all?

Michel: You know, there's so much to do working in the majority. I already have and I hope I'll be given even more tasks and responsibilities. I'm certain I'll look back at 2011 and think it was one of the most exhilarating years that I ever had at the State Capitol. Going from the minority to the majority was a huge change and it was an honor to be a part of it. We've got a whole new session to go through here. I'll be doing all I can to help with these transitions and changes. The Senate is about more than just one or two members. And I'd say that about the state Legislature, too. It's bigger than any one of us.

Patch: Are there any bills you authored in 2011 that are carrying over or new bills you plan to push in 2012 that you want your constituents to be aware of?

Michel: I've got kind of a laundry list. Some didn't make sense to do in a budget year as opposed to a non-budget session. Let me give you a couple of examples. I love doing work for the University of Minnesota. They've got some bonding proposals, and I'd like to be a strong voice for the university at the Capitol and for the state bonding proposal that they're putting forth. That's one example.

There's some education reforms, some government reform. This is one that's not popular in my household, but I think we need to look at a longer school year. Minnesota students are in the classroom on average 170 days a year, but the average across the country is 180, so that's two more weeks of school. We live in what I'd argue is the best public school district in the state, but I also think if our kids had another week or two in school, they could do even better than they already are doing.

Patch: Another big one is the Vikings stadium. What are your thoughts on the various proposals floating out there?

Michel: I think the Vikings are a statewide asset. I think the state needs to be part of a solution. Having said that, as of today it doesn't seem like any of the proposals are ready for primetime. I'd naturally have a bias for one of the Minneapolis sites, more focused on the western suburbs. But Minneapolis has three proposals right now, so we need to get down to one proposal, we need to be clear what the host city will do and can do, I think we need to be clear on what the Vikings will pay or won't pay. We've had a lot of meetings, we've had some hearings now in the Senate, but I don't feel like we've got enough meat on the bone here. My crystal ball on the Vikings is very unclear.

Patch: As I'm sure you know, Gov. Mark Dayton recently introduced his bonding proposal for 2012. What are your thoughts on that?

Michel: The Governor's bonding proposal—which was north of $800 million—that's a little steep, a little heavy. You know we just passed a $500 million bonding bill in July as part of the kind of special session agreement. So I think we need a bonding bill and we need to kind of protect and preserve state assets. I'm not sure we can afford $800 million, maybe something half that size would be better. It's more important than ever to ask how much debt we can carry, because that's going to be a 20 and 30 year cost that we'd hand off to future legislatures and even our kids. I'd like to see us have a skinnier bonding bill.

Here's the other part where I part ways with the governor. He talks about his bonding bill as a jobs bill and I just fundamentally disagree with that. If he thinks an $800 million bonding bill is a good jobs plan, then why don't we pass an $8 billion bonding bill? The reason why we don't do that is we can't afford that much debt and second of all, these projects have some great worth, but they're short term. What I want to get back to is helping create careers, creating industries and job creators that are going to be here for decades, not just a project to put a new roof on a dormitory. We need to do that, but you can't build an economy on a bonding bill. I think he's overhyping it and overselling it by calling it a jobs plan. What I'd argue is a better jobs plan is lowering the cost of doing business in Minnesota and giving businesses a little regulatory relief.

Patch: You're up for reelection this year, but it sounds like you're trying to stay out of that mindset until after the session concludes. Has that been a struggle?

Michel: Those in your profession can't seem to get away from the horserace of the election season. And I get that, that's important. I think short-term, there are a couple of important things for Edina. I hope that the new redistricting plan, which will come out in February, I hope that it holds the city together in the same legislative district as much as possible.

The fact is that over the last 10 years populations have shifted throughout the state, so the new lines are going to have to be drawn to account for those population shifts. But it's important to hold cities together. That might set the table more for election and campaign talk, but that won't happen until Feb. 21.

I really have a fundamental belief that there's a time for campaigning and elections, but there's also a time for governing. There are some things we have to do, so I hope that at least until Easter we can kind of hold off on a lot of the campaign and election talk and do some good things for Minnesota.

Patch: What do you think locally people should be on the lookout for during this session? What are you going to be doing that will have an impact on Edina?

Michel: I'd back it up to say that I think the strength of our community is our schools. Rep. Downey, myself and Rep. Mazorol are going to be working closely with Superintendent Ric Dressen and the school board. We've got great schools, the best thing to do for Edina schools is to give them as much freedom, flexibility and discretion as possible. I wouldn't say that about every school district. As a parent with four kids in the Edina school system, I'd rather have the parents, teachers and principals making decisions about what's going on in schools rather than state legislators and for sure rather than Washington, D.C.

Patch: Is there anything else you'd like to share with your constituents prior to the session?

Michel: I really am optimistic about this session. I think there's a general agreement that the economy is the number one issue. There's at least initially some good state budget news. I guess what I'm optimistic about is we're not going to get stuck back on the debate of rather we need to raise taxes or not. I fundamentally believe we cannot ask for more from taxpayers, especially in the middle of a recession. The governor believed just the opposite, so that was a rough debate. Maybe what we're doing is that debate will be reserved for the election campaign in the fall, but during the spring we can focus on a few other things, find some bipartisan agreement and head home for Easter.