$3/day: MN Foodstamp Challenge Day 1

Two weeks ago I received this email:

Representative Kalin,

Would you be willing to participate in a statewide food stamp challenge?

From June 25-29, the Minnesota Partners to End Hunger are inviting all Minnesotans to eat on an average $3 per day food stamp budget (to raise awareness about food stamp funding in the federal Farm Bill).

If you would be interested in participating for a few days or even the full five days, we'd love to highlight your experiences on our website or with the media. Here's the site: http://www.mnfoodstampchallenge.blogspot.com/

Best,
Jessica XXXXXXX

Intriguing? Challenging? Set your mind a-whir? It sure did for me. I could re-post all the linky's and such from the blogspot site, but it's so good, I suggest you mosey on over there and get it first-hand.

My first day experience:

Day 1 snuck up on me. Last weekend was filled with a lot of family time and wedding prep. Some of my fiancee's family came in town, as did my cousin, for a shower - thus I didn't have much time to prepare for today.

When I first received the invitation to participate, I set to my mind to figuring out just how one could ever try to make it on 3 bucks a day. Natural foods or fresh produce are likely out of the question, save for homegrown items. I am thankful for home-laid eggs that's for sure!

$3 a day is tough enough on a family with regular meal times. It looks to be even tougher on someone who spends a lot of time on the go, or on the road.

I've learned that others taking the challenge may have received some ground rules or rules of thumb. I did not, so I made up my own based on common sense and some basic assumptions. All of my self-imposed ground rules are based on the notion that were I on food stamps I'd be pretty innovative in making it work. Please feel free to disagree...

I decided to grab any coffee, cookies, or other snack food when offered - but only once a day, as being a legislator probably offers more opportunity than the lay person. I also said that homegrown foods were 'off budget' except for the cost of raising the food. This year that's limited to eggs, as I have no garden right now and no venison in the freezer. I decided to use any coupon or other savings option, within reason as well. I also will count coffee expenses, though I may wish I traded a pound of ground beef for the caffeine headache come Thursday.

So today, I delayed breakfast until it was too late. I ended up using a caribou coffee $4 gift card I got at a dinner last night to get a cup of coffee, for no cash out of pocket. Thankfully caffeine suppresses hunger a bit, as that was my whole morning intake.

Noontime was spent at a Transportation speech by my Congressman Jim Oberstar. I grabbed coffee along with a chocolate chip cookie, a peanut butter cookie and an oatmeal cookie. Yes, I chose the cookie varities strategically but I did wait until it was obvious no one else was going to eat any more of them.. Again, no cash required. $15 still left for the week.

After an open house at the new County Human Services building - where I skipped the snacks - I finally got really hungry. On my way to an evening meeting, I stopped at McDonalds to take advantage of the cheapest protein I could grab quickly : a double cheeseburger for the low low price of $1.07. It is surprisingly satisfying, but that may be due to the 44 oz ice water I got for free.

At the evening meeting, dinner was served, and it sure did smell good. But the $15 would blow my whole budget for the week. A staff member at the meeting gave me some advice based on her experience living off food stamps years ago. It all hit home for me when she mentioned the guilt of having to look into the pleading eyes of her young kids at the dinner table.

State Senator Tony Lourey was also at the meeting and is also taking the food stamp challenge. We shared strategies and hot bargains at the store. He's got a family of five, so our experience is very different. I was curious about my grocery shopping experience to come later.

I shopped at the Cub Foods in Cambridge, on my way home. Unfortunately, I was quite hungry at this point - not a good idea with a very limited budget. At first, I had an easy time putting together a full basket: Romaine lettuce @ 1.29, white bread @ 1.69, rice @ 1.13 and beans @ .97, tortillas @ .99... Protein. Carbs. Greens. Good to go for several meals, at just over 6 bucks... Not bad.

I added 21 oz. of spaghetti noodles for 1.00, and generic sauce for 1.59. Some peas and corn in a can for a total of .88 and I had a heavy basket for about 10 bucks. On to some meat-y protein. I grabbed two cans of tuna for 98 cents and a pound of ground beef for 2.50 (a splurge, I know, but I need real meat during these 5 days).

Then, to some hamburger helper. It had to be generic, but almost all the boxes required about a half a cup of milk. I am making a bad choice, I know, but I am forgoing fresh dairy these five days. I think I could have found room for milk, but it's no wonder that a lot of America is in a dairy deficit in their diet. Without milk, I chose the hamburger helper that only requires water. Plus, I saved 49 cents on the box - just 1 dollar.

A decent 5-day basket of food for about 13 or 14 bucks. So I thought long and hard about the things I'd like to have: Milk. Cheese. Yogurt. All too expensive. But the best way to make the day's diet go further is a big breakfast. With a plethora of rice, beans and eggs, I could make a great morning meal. Add a tortilla and I'm almost there. Even on an unlimited budget, my guilty pleasure is hash brown potatoes in the morning. I grabbed a big bag for 1.50.

The last thought was a snack. I've always loved smack-ramen for a snack. Two of the packs even make a halfway decent meal. 5 of them, for 70 cents.

I got to the register, and found myself about 65 cents over budget. I handed back the fresh lettuce. I now regret it. The fresh lettuce would go so much farther for taste and crispness than would the canned corn and peas. Bad move.

I also could have gotten rice and beans at the bulk price and only gotten what I needed for the 5 days. I probably could have snagged a quart of milk at this price. Instead, I am thinking about snagging 5 or 6 of those free 1/2 and 1/2 fresh creamers and mixing it without an equal amount of water in a bottle, and wham - instant milk with real dairy.

Dinner was pasta, sauce, corn and peas. I am a little hungry but not bad. I now have another meal of the same ready to go in the fridge. I also have two meals of the hamburger helper with ground beef in the fridge, and a fresh pot of both rice and beans. For the helper, I actually reserved a quarter of a pound or so of beef for a surprise burger late in the week.

I am definitely looking forward to my huevos rancheros breakfast with hash browns, without the cheese of course.

Day 1...
Breakfast: 0.
Lunch: 1.07.
Dinner: 0.93.
(33 cents of pasta, 40 cents of sauce, 20 cents of peas and corn)

An interesting survey... my response

Late this session, I received what was termed a "confidential survey" about my first legislative session, from someone I do not know. I did check out the source and a few references, and while I trust the confidentiality of the survey, I did not agree with the general premise of many of the questions. I thought about it a great deal, and finally decided to send this reply. The specific questions are below my reply.

Mr. [XXXXXX]-

I have given your survey a great deal of thought since receiving it in the late days of session. I do have some responses to the issues you've raised, but I decline to share them in this format right now.

Political rhetoric has unfortunately declined below even the lowest common denominator. Every statement - whether public, semi-public, or 'confidential' - today become fodder for the nastiest of attack campaign literature, or just political attacks outside of campaign cycles.

I developed collegial working relationships with many of my Republican colleagues during my first session. The vast majority of them are engaged in what I would call true public service; they suffer the slings and arrows of public office because they believe, as I do, that we can work together to craft forward-looking solutions that might actually improve the quality of life here in Minnesota. In different areas, our pholosophies about the means to the ends may diverge, but we do agree on the end goal.

Yet, I observed that there are some extremely caustic members of the Republican House that are not intent on doing good work for the people of Minnesota, but rather on obstructing the process of legislating for the common good. There is always a degree of politics in politics (imagine that!) but I do not believe that the legislature has ever seen such a concerted effort to do nothing but filibuster, obstruct, delay and deny legislative progress solely for the sake of political gain, and dare I say, individual ego. Long-time Capitol observers, journalists and lobbyists shared with me their own confirmation of the lack of good faith by a handful of angry legislators, acting out simply for the sake of acting out.

Turf wars are to be expected, within reason. Passionate debate on the House Floor, in the media, and in committee is to be expected, within reason. And irreconcilable differences are to be expected in a few areas, within reason.

But until there is a broadscale return to the ethic of decency, decorum and basic respect for individuals with different perspectives, I believe it best to stay silent with respect to the specific questions asked.

Any issues I have with individual members, be they my first-term classmates or party leadership, I choose to share only with them. My thoughts about specific issues can be found very easily in my weekly columns to my local newspapers, as well as in any of a number of other online or printed sources.

I wish you the best of luck in your work, and I do not wish to make your task more difficult.

My best,
Jeremy

Here is the email I received initially:

This is a follow up e-mail regarding a brief survey I am conducting for the Center for the Study XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.

This short survey is being distributed to 32 DFL Representatives, each of whom was elected in House districts carried by Governor Pawlenty last November. A similar survey is also being distributed to a few dozen GOP Representatives. We are very interested in your views on the challenges you face of being a DFL Representative in a moderate to right-leaning House district.

- - - -
- - - -

Center for the Study XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Questionnaire

1. How concerned are you that the House DFL agenda in this session is too liberal for your district: very concerned, somewhat concerned, only a little concerned, or not at all concerned?

2. During the current session, have you ever felt you were more in step with the GOP minority than with your DFL majority and leadership? If yes – with what bill?

3. What is the most important vote you have cast this session and why?

4. How concerned are you that the House will be unable to override Governor Pawlenty's veto on the transportation bill with the nickel per gallon gas tax increase: very concerned, somewhat concerned, only a little concerned, or not at all concerned?

5. What GOP legislator has impressed you the most this session and why?

6. At the beginning of the session, there was concern that the new DFL leadership in the House and Senate would be too liberal. At this point in the session, do you think the DFL leadership has been too liberal, not liberal enough, or about right?

7. Do you approve or disapprove of the job the DFL leadership has done so far?

Lastly, I have two questions about Election 2008 …

8. If Al Franken is the DFL nominee for U.S. Senate, do you think his presence on the November 2008 ballot will be asset to other DFL candidates running in your district, a liability to other DFL candidates running in your district, or will it make no difference?

9. If Hillary Clinton is the DFL nominee for President, do you think her presence on the November 2008 ballot will be asset to other DFL candidates running in your district, a liability to other DFL candidates running in your district, or will it make no difference?

Thank you very much for participating in our survey.

Coming back from the Quiet

It's been too long since I've made time to post. Over the next weeks, I'll begin a series of posts about energy efficiency and energy conservation.

This week, it was my honor to visit with Ed Mazria, founder of Mazria, Inc. Architecture Planning Conservation in Santa Fe. He was in town to speak to the University of Minnesota's College of Design about his latest project, Architecture 2030.

Ed wrote the Passive Solar Energy Book in 1979, for years the bible for solar-sensitive design. He then disappeared from the broader architecture world, hunkered down in New Mexico building millions of square feet of energy-efficient architecture.

Mazria reappeared on the scene with his October 2003 cover piece Turning Down the Global Thermostat. For nearly four years, he's staunchly advocated for sustainable design requirements in architecture curricula all over the U.S.

Monday, Mazria spoke to about 400 students, faculty and advocates at the U of M. That same afternoon, I was invited to a smaller workshop with master's students, faculty, the Dean of the College of Design, and leaders in the field, to propose new action steps in education, practice, research and policy to push energy efficiency in Minnesota, especially in Green Building.

I will write more about this in coming weeks. Thanks for your continued interest in patience.

From the Floor II: the Bonding Bill

Another day, another floor session. This time it's Tuesday evening, and the bill is the Capital Investment bill. Generally, the odd-numbered year's bonding bill is a bit slimmer than the even-numbered year's. This is again the case this year.

But there is good news for Chisago County. $500,000 will be bonded for the Rush Line commuter transit corridor infrastructure along highway 35 and highway 61.

The debate is just beginning, but I will be sure to add an update or two or three before the night is done.

UPDATE: Only four amendments, all of which were voted down with a wide majority. We're now on third reading.

UPDATE II: The bill passed 84-45, after a fairly brief discussion. Perhaps we're on the path to somewhat quicker sessions...?

Regardless, the next step of investment in the Rush Line is one evening closer to reality.

the Transportation Bill on the House Floor

We are on the House Floor today in an unusual Saturday session. We are taking up the Transportation Finance bill, one that I've worked very hard on this session as a member of the Transportation Committee. I am unfortunately missing one of my favorite events of the year - the Friends of Wild River State Park annual maple syrup and pancake breakfast (with freshly-boiled syrup!). But this Transportation Bill will help meet an incredible need facing the people I represent: traffic congestion and unsafe roads.

The bill is also a Jobs bill. My friend, Congressman (and Chair) Jim Oberstar often cites this statistic: 1 lane mile of new road brings 55 new jobs.

I spoke frankly with my MnDOT Area Manager last week. I asked him whether the state can fund the North Branch Bridge at highway 95 without more funding. His straightforward answer was - not before 2009, certainly. Without this bill, North Branch would have to levy $4.2 Million in property tax bonding to build the bridge.

For a long time, the DFL House Caucus has listed its top priorities as "Education, Health Care and Property Tax reform." I've long thought that one critical issue has been missing, and spoke several times directly with the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader as well. I am satisfied that we're taking the Transportation Finance Bill before all others, because the need is so great across the state.

One last specific note before I share with you a little bit of what's happening on the floor. The 2005 Transportation Bill would have provided $17 million in state funding just to our Chisago County county-state-aid roads. Because the bill did not become law - and because we then had the worst county roads in a MnDOT study - the county was forced to bond $14 Million in property taxes to make up for the lost revenue.

- - - -

We're now about 30 minutes into the floor action on the bill. Representative Holberg offered an amendment that would violate our balanced budget principles over the next two years - the budget "tails" as they are called around here. I voted no.

As Vice-Chair of Public Safety, I've worked closely with the Republican Lead, Rep. Paul Kohls. I'd now call him a friend. His amendment to strip out the major funding of the bill just failed - and I voted no on this one as well.

Many of these amendments were discussed through the three-month committee process this year. We worked diligently in a bi-partisan manner to write the bill, which passed with only 3 nay votes in Committee.

- - - -

Rep. Sviggum is offering an amendment that would micromanage the transit system. My professional training is, of course, in architecture and planning. I know that we need to trust professionals to design a system that works well - and that we need to fund the system to reach the critical mass so that transit is available to areas where there is real need and desire for it - like Chisago County. My largest city is 29.5 miles away from the closest connection to the metro transit system, though we are part of the metro MnDOT district and pay for the roads the busses ride along. I will vote no on the Sviggum amendment.

Rep. Garofalo just offered an amendment to prohibit toll roads in Minnesota. While I generally agree with the principle, there are a few worthy areas where a toll road may make sense. The proposed major freeway-style bridge in Stillwater would cost $494 Million - primarily to move Wisconsin residents to their Minnesota jobs. This immense project will benefit Wisconsiners mostly, and a toll charge will help the users actually pay for the bridge project. I voted no on the Garofalo amendment for this reason.

- - - -


After I spoke urging a "green" vote, the Republican lead on our committee, Doug Magnus, spoke about the bill as well. He pointed out that there are a lot of good elements in the bill, even though he'll vote against it.

Now, finally, Transportation Chair Bernie Lieder is wrapping up the debate, sharing his wisdom as one of the true legends in the Minnesota House. He is also refuting some of the exagerations previously stated about the funding part of the bill. I've especially enjoyed getting to know Bernie, and learning at his feet. He's sharp, fair, and even-keeled.

The bill just passed 83-46.

Thanks for reading this post. Please do let me know if you enjoyed the format and the discussion. If you'd also prefer shorter updates more frequently, please do let me know as well. As always, your comments, questions, ideas and input are encouraged. Thanks for your attention. Enjoy the spring weather!

Picking up the pace

The House policy committee deadline is next Friday, March 23. As a result, committees are pressing hard to advance the most critical bills before next Friday.

The House Rules have set the most aggressive committee deadlines in memory, to get our work done on time, and to bring the most important issues to the fore earlier, rather than waiting until the last week of session.

The consequence is multiple committees at the same time, on all floors of the State Office Building. For instance, tonight I had a Transportation Committee hearing in room 10, a Public Safety Committee meeting in room 400S (I think!), a significant Property Tax bill in the Basement hearing room, and I still hoped to make it to my Township Annual meeting and a planned reception near the Capitol, too.

I will present no fewer than 7 bills over the next 5 days, with at least 3 or 4 more bills a possibility (depending on whether the substance is included in other bills.) I am also essentially "second author" on two other bills.

In addition, I am still working hard to keep up with the literally hundreds of daily emails and phone calls from constituents.

All of this to say.... I love this job.

Nice Profile in ECM Papers

ECM Publishers reporter Tim Budig stopped by my Capitol office last week. One never knows how the final piece might turn out, but Mr. Budig did a pretty good job capturing my general approach to serving Chisago County in the State House. Catch it here.

The Energy Bill he references, House File 1221, was initially presented today in the Energy Finance Committee, and will be voted on in committee on Wednesday. When fully implemented by 2025, we will save over 24% of the state's electricity, making the Renewable Energy Standard we passed last week easier and less expensive to achieve.

The cost savings may be immense. The cost of adding new power to the system is about 8 cents a kilowatt hour. The cost of saving energy is about 1.5 cents a kilowatt hour. More later...