Posted 3/15/01 ëMighty Booksí From Senator Twyla Ring I thought I had learned my lesson last year ñ my first session of the Senate. I thought I would not over extend myself. I would not agree to sponsor (chief author) too many bills . . . maybe five or 10 would be enough. I thought I had learned that taking a bill from an idea to a law is a long, hard road fraught with many detours and potential potholes. But, alas, like a mother who forgets the pain of labor between the births of her babies, I seem to have forgotten many of the time management lessons I thought I had learned last year. The problem is not only an internal one, but also an external one. It is my own character that when seeing a job to be done I want to do it . . . and I want to do it well. It is also true that there are many needs to be addressed in the state and many people, including constituents in Senate District 18, have great ideas about how to address them. One of the nearly 30 bills I am sponsoring is SF 192, the ìMighty Booksî bill. This idea was brought to me by Mark Karnowski, the city administrator in Lindstrom. Karnowski suggested the bill, which we hope will do for libraries and books what ìMighty Ducksî does for ice and pucks! I agreed with him that reading is at least as important as skating. To briefly review the ensuing process: I took Karnowskiís idea to Senate legal counsel who drafted the language of the bill. Once satisfied that the language reflected what I hoped to accomplish, the draft went to the revisorís office to be ìjacketed.î I sent the green-jacketed version over the House to find representatives to sponsor it there ñ 15 DFL members have signed on thus far led by Rep. Margaret Kelliher Anderson. I enlisted support from co-authors in the Senate for the yellow-jacketed version, including Sandy Pappas, Michelle Fischbach, Doug Johnson and Leroy Stumpf. Now the bill was set to begin its journey through committees, beginning with the Senate Education Committee where it was well received thanks to expert testimony from Karnowski and Bob Boese, the executive director of East Central Regional Library. As is the case with all bills, one committee does not a law make! It can take two, three or more committee stops before a bill hits the floor of the Senate for debate. Depending upon votes in the Senate and House, there may be a conference committee . . . or maybe a governorís veto . . . there are many times when a bill can be killed along the way. Itís a time-consuming process. ìMighty Booksî recognizes that libraries face funding challenges that are hard to meet. Our regional libraries offer free access to a broad range of books, periodicals and computers to ever-increasing populations. But these libraries are often on the short end of funding because there just arenít enough county dollars to go around. ìMighty Booksî will bring grant dollars for developing new libraries and renovating existing ones. In order for a new library to qualify for a grant, its need, financial viability, public-private partnership and more must be demonstrated. Renovation projects, such as bringing libraries up to code for patrons with disabilities, must show a dollar-for-dollar state-local match. As currently drafted, the legislation will fund up to four new library grants at $250,000 each and up to 16 renovations at $50,000 each. This funding level is reflected in the fiscal note attached to the bill as it proceeds through the system. The fiscal note can certainly change, however, as the bill moves through committees. I believe that this legislation will be a boost to libraries, such as ours in East Central Minnesota where population growth has placed patron demands that libraries struggle to meet. This is a brief summary of only one bill Iím working on. Multiply that by 30 and you get an idea of why Iím putting in 12 to 14 hour days. I want to help Minnesotans meet challenges they are facing not only in my district but also in the entire state. To comment on ìMighty Booksî or any of the other myriad of issues facing the Legislature (for example, long-term care, dental access, public transit, affordable housing, education funding, health care and prescription drug costs, etc.) just call 651-296-5419, email Sen.twyla.ring@senate.leg.state.mn.us or write to me at 306 Capitol Building, 75 Constitution Ave., St. Paul, 55155. ©Post Review