Education provides plenty of debate in governor's races
Dane Smith, Star Tribune, September 8, 2006

Sen. Lourey puts aside pain for principle
She didn't give a speech. Becky Lourey merely cast an eloquent vote: No.
by Doug Grow, Star Tribune, May 5, 2006

She didn't give a speech. Becky Lourey merely cast an eloquent vote: No.

On Monday, she again was the only member of the Minnesota Senate to vote against a bill that will keep demonstrators 500 feet from funerals and funeral processions.

"I just hoped someone else would vote with me," Lourey said.
66 to 1. But what power there was in her vote.

The push for the law was based on passion, not reason.

On Feb. 23, demonstrators from a church in Kansas showed up in Anoka at the funeral of Cpl. Andrew Kemple, who was killed in Iraq on Feb. 12. The chants of six followers of Fred Phelps were ugly. God, they said, is killing U.S. soldiers because the country tolerates homosexuality.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty and legislators were so offended they vowed to create a law to block similar demonstrations. Lourey was the only senator to oppose the Senate version of the bill in March. The law that came out of conference committee passed in the House 121-2.

Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, and Mike Jaros, DFL-Duluth, opposed the measure, which is expected to be signed by Pawlenty early next week.

Both representatives said that protecting free speech is the central issue, not the bleats of pathetic people like Phelps.

Then there was Lourey, the DFLer from tiny Kerrick, 40 miles south of Duluth, casting that lone Senate "no."

What gives her so much depth in this issue is the fact she understands war's agony. On May 27, 2005, her son Matthew, an Army pilot, was killed when his helicopter was shot down in Iraq.

Though she opposed the war, Lourey respected her son's decision to fight.

Offended as she was by the vulgar behavior of the Phelps followers, Lourey not only voted her own conscience in rejecting the speech limits, but she believes it's what her son would have wanted.

"He was honorable and he believed in the Constitution," Lourey said.

Her colleagues were respectful but surprised. In fact, when legislators were scrambling to put together a law early in the session, Lourey said she was approached by a House member asking whether she'd like to be the Senate author of the bill.

"I told him, 'Thank you for asking, but I just can't do this; this is about freedom of speech,"' she said.

The law is so restrictive that the American Civil Liberties Union isn't going to get involved for the moment. The ACLU believes that before the ink dries on the governor's signature, the well-lawyered Phelps will be in federal court to contest the law, which is vague, and, the ACLU believes, "facially unconstitutional." Not to mention unnecessary.
The demonstrators, the ACLU's Chuck Samuelson said, could have been arrested under a variety of public-nuisance laws.

"As it is," Samuelson said, "the state of Minnesota will probably end up writing a check for about $100,000 to Fred Phelps for the privilege of writing an unconstitutional law."
Maybe that's not so much to pay for a lesson in free speech.

LINK: http://www.startribune.com/465/story/415447.html

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A sorrow that never ebbs
For Gene Lourey, the grief is as sharp and fresh now as it was when he learned almost a year ago that his son was dead. "I never stop," he says.
by Chuck Haga, StarTribune, March 31, 2006

KERRICK, MINN. -- It remains as idyllic a scene today as three decades ago, when Gene and Becky Lourey arrived at the farmhouse with 8-year-old Matt, the boy soldier, and four other youngsters.
Marshland rich with wildlife and thick stands of oak, maple, ash and pine fall away from the house to the Willow River, as unseen as country neighbors but just as reassuringly there. Scattered benches in sun and shade bid an easy welcome, and a three-legged dog named Buster, a cancer survivor, gamely hops to for a treat he knows is coming.

But at the front of the house, flags of the state and nation flap in a subdued late-winter breeze, the colors lowered still -- nine months later -- to mark the combat death in Iraq of Army helicopter pilot Matthew Lourey, 40.

"How long will the flags stay at half-staff?" a visitor asks, and a great choking sigh comes from Matt's father, who reaches impulsively for sunglasses. He keeps a pair of dark glasses in the house, another at his office, another in his truck. Unable to hide his eyes, he tries to compose himself enough to answer without crying.

But he can't.

'Good for each other'

Gene grew up on the Iron Range, Becky in Park Rapids and Little Falls, where they met and were married 43 years ago. Gene was 21, Becky 18.

"Becky is a cheery person, a happy person," he said. "I'm not like that at all. She was born to be a mother, and now she is the world's greatest grandmother. I'm not good at children's things -- I wasn't good at children's things when I was a child.

"But we're good for each other. Being around her makes me happier."

Becky had borne four children -- Matt was the second boy -- when they moved into the old farmhouse in 1974, and they planned to adopt four more. They adopted eight.

"We gravitated to hard-to-place kids," Gene said. "We went to the adoption meetings and there were all these parents there who had no kids at all, so we said we'd just take the kids nobody wanted. It turned out there were a lot of them. The adoption workers kept coming up here with cute pictures and sad stories."

The Loureys lost their first adopted child, 5-year-old Jay, who didn't survive heart surgery in 1973. And Fernando, adopted from Guatemala at the age of 3 or 4, died at 25 just six years ago in a diving accident.

While Becky, a DFL senator running for governor, attends to legislative business and her campaign, Gene spends much of his free time alone in their house. He alternates between two easy chairs, one in a small room lined with books, the other set in a sun-splashed bay window, where he passes hours with the history-tinged thrillers of Ken Follett and Nelson DeMille.

His office in Bruno is a 9-mile drive from the house, but there's an alternate route three times the distance. He drives it to think things through, and he carries pages torn from a desk calendar, each highlighting a book he'll try to find on a weekly visit to a Duluth bookstore. He also carries binoculars to scan for timberwolves, bobcats and bald eagles. He rarely sees other people, which is how he wants it.

"The more sorrowful I get, the more time I need to spend alone," he said. "I try not to do anything that calls attention to me. I've always been that way, but now I use it as a shield."

He is reluctant even to talk with the few score people who might best understand his grief and appreciate its still-jagged depths: the parents of 31 other Minnesota servicemen who have died in Iraq since the war started three years ago. Becky has found some solace in that, he said, but for him to talk is to ache and cry.

On precinct caucus night, Gene attended his DFL caucus, then drove two hours to St. Paul. At midnight, as they talked about how she'd done, Becky cut his hair and trimmed his beard. By dawn he was on his way home.

"I never stop," he said. "I don't eat in cafes. If you stop, you have to see people, and they'll ask about Matt. They mean well, but I ... "

He reaches for the glasses.

"I can't."

'He knew I worried'

As he drove to work that day last May, he heard on the radio that a helicopter had crashed in Iraq. Arriving at his office, he rushed to his computer, hoping to find an e-mail from Matt. "Whenever something happened over there, he'd try to let me know he was all right. He knew I worried."

There was no e-mail. Instead, daughter Maria appeared at his door.

"It was Matt's helicopter," she said.

In that instant, Gene said, he remembered the face of the surgeon who told him that Jay had died on the operating table. He heard the voice on the phone telling him that Fernando had broken his neck.

Becky got the horrible news about Matt at the same time. "My son is dead," she said to someone as she raced from the State Capitol, her immediate instinct to get to Gene, knowing how devastated he would be.

"She's much tougher than I am," Gene said.

At the funeral, he sobbed in his wife's arms.

"We know how each other grieves," Becky said, "and we've learned how to support each other, how not to trigger each other's buttons.

"We've lost three sons, we've lost two businesses, and we've had a farm auction. Those are things that can destroy a marriage. The intensity of the grief ... he is struggling. But I love him so much for who he is."

Gene had been a code breaker at the National Security Agency. Disturbed by the course of the war in Vietnam, he left to do software work for schools. Later he got into health care, helping local governments maximize their federal funding. That led to creation of the family business, the Nemadji Research Corp., which employs 70 people.

They bought most of their 2,000 acres by Kerrick relatively cheap because only a few hundred acres could be farmed. But the land's value has multiplied and provided the equity to develop their company and buy empty school buildings in Askov, Bruno and Sandstone, where they're creating a sort of regional small-business incubator. Old classrooms, labs and kitchens will house a music studio, silk-screening business, organic greenhouse and fish farm, wood products company, salsa operation and upholstery shop. Employees will have access to insurance, day care and other benefits.

"It's pretty good, rewarding work for a knee-jerk liberal like me," Gene said, smiling.

"I'm trying to make a great community for my grandchildren to grow in."

Five children, two sons-in-law and two nieces work at Nemadji, and Gene's office overlooks an outdoor play area attached to the day-care center. "Most of the time, a half-dozen of my grandchildren are playing out there," he said.

A father's tearful pride

Scattered about the farmhouse are pictures of Matt as a child: waving a wooden sword, or piloting a wooden airplane hung from a tree. In the basement, toy soldiers maneuver across a plywood diorama, a battle scene Matt designed.

"He loved toys, games and physical things, and he was always full of joy when he played," his father said. "He liked to draw, too. I thought he might grow up to design toys."

Matt's parents tried to talk him out of returning to Iraq for a second tour.

"We were war protesters," Gene said. "But Matt knew what he was born to be."

Matt was 19 when the Marine barracks in Beirut was bombed. He joined the Marines but switched to the Army Reserve so he could fly. When high cholesterol threatened to ground him, he became a vegetarian and distance runner.

Becky, who last year joined a war protest outside President Bush's Texas ranch, said she treasures the stories other soldiers told her of "hearing the whir of the helicopter blades and then Matt's voice and knowing the cavalry was on the way."

Pride jockeys with grief in Matt's father, too.

"I know better than anyone in the world that he was doing what he wanted to do," he said. "I did everything I could to get him not to go in the military, and I did everything I could to get him not to go back to Iraq.

"But he thought it was his duty. He told me he was the most experienced pilot in his unit. He trained the others.

"I think he would have gone back even if he knew he'd be shot down. And, truthfully, I admire him for that. You have to admire that dedication."

Chuck Haga • 612-673-4514

LINK: http://www.startribune.com/562/story/284048.html

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EDITORIAL: Free speech, even at funerals
Protests are vile, but also protected
Rocky Mountain News, March 23, 2006

Sometimes it's easier being green than a defender of the First Amendment. But mere public hostility can't keep us from doing our duty. And our duty is standing up for the rights of the most obnoxious practitioners of free speech.

These days, they're the cretins who take their political protests to funerals. The most famous of them belong to Fred Phelps' church in Topeka, Kan. As reporter Myung Oak Kim notes in today's News, they have the gall to picket, among other things, military funerals. They proclaim that God is punishing the nation for tolerating homosexuality and wave signs that say such things as "Thank God for Dead Soldiers."

Along with other state legislators across the country, Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs, is sponsoring what he calls "The Right to Rest in Peace" bill. It would do for funerals what the "bubble law" does for abortion clinics: establish a perimeter inside of which picketing and protests would be illegal.

Except he would establish a 500-foot radius as opposed to the 8-foot distance upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court for abortion clinics. Picketing and demonstrations would be banned from within 500 feet of the site from an hour before to an hour after the services.

Merrifield is a member of the American Civil Liberties Union but he's crosswise with the organization on this one. Colorado ACLU attorney Mark Silverstein agrees Phelps is "despicable and reprehensible" but the proposed law "is an overbroad suppression of expression that would violate the First Amendment."

We agree. We didn't even support the limited abortion clinic perimeter. Blocking or attacking people are criminal acts, but shouting and name-calling are legitimate forms of protest.

Must citizens be completely passive when Phelps and other funeral abusers go to work? No. We wholeheartedly support the work of the Patriot Guard Riders, a volunteer group of 20,000 motorcyclists nationwide who keep track of military funerals and, if given permission by the family, form a flag-bearing honor guard outside the church or mortuary or cemetery. They stand with their backs toward the protesters in order to shield the survivors and other funeral-goers.

Another of our heroes on this issue is Minnesota state Sen. (and gubernatorial candidate) Becky Lourey, who cast the sole vote against a bill banning funeral protests. "This is very emotional because the speech we're addressing is very ugly, but we can't repeal the Bill of Rights because of it," she told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Lourey is the mother of a soldier who was killed in Iraq. No protesters showed up at his funeral but she said she wouldn't have changed her mind even if they had.

Now that's a friend of freedom.

LINK: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/editorials/article/0,2777,DRMN_23964_4563271,00.html

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State Sen. Becky Lourey running for governor
Enlists support of ex-Mpls mayoral candidate Hakeem
by Swailehe Msuya, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, March 8, 2006

Minnesota State Senator Becky Lourey (DFL-District 8) announced that she is running for governor of Minnesota to well-wishers at a house party held at the residence of former Minneapolis mayoral candidate Farheen Hakeem on Friday, February 10. Lourey said she had done the math and is confident she can win this race, as she has alternative policies that will “put power in the hands of the people.”

Introducing her campaign team of Elizabeth Dickinson, Brenda Bell Brown and Hakeem, Becky proudly announced that she is “surrounded by people who care for the things that she cares for.” Outlining her strategy, she said she stands for a universal health care program, describing it as “the most durable” means of providing health care to all Minnesotans. Driven by a passion to make changes in Minnesota, she said that what we see around us falls short of the people’s expectations, and the people are thirsting for alternative choices.

Lourey was disappointed by the present governor’s plan to build more jailhouses as a way to fight crime instead of investing in quality education that will keep our youth off the streets and place them on a sound footing to work on building successful careers.

Our current democracy is based on “constitutional liberalism,” in which a few rich people have hijacked the power from the people and do not care for social justice, Lourey asserted. The situation on the ground is reduced to that of the rich man’s game “where survival is for the fittest,” she added.

Lourey has raised 12 children: four biological and eight adopted, some of whom are African American and Korean-American. “I have struggled to put food on the table for 12 children. At one time, four of my children were on surgery, my husband was out of work and we had no health insurance. I know what being without health insurance means firsthand.” She has seen racial injustice take place when her Black children “got arrested when they should not,” she said.

Now is the time for change, Lourey maintained, and she brushed aside skeptics by declaring, “If you approach elections with a defeatist attitude, you will lose.” She lashed out at the current administration for going “to war just for the oil” and passing down unprecedented huge budget deficits “to our grandchildren.”

Lourey lamented that over the years she has witnessed the legislature “being compromised,” and said that it is time for new leadership that will work in the interest of the people and introduce a “fair taxation system.” She is sure of winning this race because she believes she has the winning strategy hinged on issues that the people of Minnesota want addressed now.

LINK: http://www.spokesman-recorder.com/News/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=67073&sID=13

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EDITORIAL: Becky Lourey: All deserve access to health care
Building on MinnesotaCare, there's a way to achieve coverage everyone can afford.
by Senator Becky Lourey, StarTribune, March 6, 2006

Affordable health care is good for business. Healthy workers are more productive. Productive businesses are more competitive.

Providing health coverage for all Minnesotans will make our businesses stronger, not weaker. And we can accomplish it through cost containment, bulk drug purchasing, prevention, paperwork reduction and accountability -- without increases in state spending. The next time you hear someone promoting myths to the contrary, ask whether they're acting on behalf of a vested interest that doesn't want the health care system challenged or changed.

Here is the most pressing fact: We cannot afford to leave the health care system as it is. Families cannot afford it, and neither can businesses.

Our companies are being forced either to cut health benefits -- often leaving employees dependent on government safety nets -- or to cut jobs altogether.

The rate of uninsured Minnesotans has swelled on Gov. Tim Pawlenty's watch -- rising 24 percent from 2001 to 2004 (based on a University of Minnesota School of Public Health study). A 2003 survey found almost a quarter of Minnesotans had forgone medical care in the preceding year because of cost, neglecting serious medical conditions in more than half of those instances.

Although Pawlenty has attempted to stigmatize workers who enroll in MinnesotaCare as "health care welfare" recipients, he hasn't put forward a cogent plan to broaden health care access and control costs. Instead, our state has headed in the opposite direction.

We need a realistic, comprehensive solution. The heart of such a solution is in our midst.

MinnesotaCare has expanded access for thousands of the working poor since 1992. It is successful, solvent and stable. We should let Minnesota businesses share in the savings by giving them the option of covering their employees through MinnesotaCare -- a lower-cost alternative to the private market, but voluntary.

We should stop squandering potential economies of scale. Larger coverage groups enjoy lower risk, manageable costs and greater bargaining power. While preserving an adequate MinnesotaCare fund balance backed by the existing provider tax base, we can gradually expand its coverage pool, increasing efficiency within the health care system and encouraging preventive care. The state can establish a prescription drug purchasing alliance, allowing local government and private entities to join. We can help local purchasing groups unite to negotiate for products and services.

Savings will result if we clamp down on overhead. Much of the money flowing into our health system is wasted on administration, duplicative paperwork, unneeded capital expenditures and excessive executive paychecks. The state should ask any insurer working with state-funded insurance programs to cap executive pay and to spend no less than 95 percent on direct care.

We all accept that health should not be tied to wealth, and that the poor do not deserve to be relegated to illness. It's time to connect the dots and officially acknowledge that people deserve access to health care regardless of income. We also must affirm that businesses do not deserve to be burdened with excessive health costs any more than families and individuals do.

By applying courage and creativity, we can meet this challenge and achieve health care coverage that is affordable for all.

Becky Lourey, DFL-Kerrick, is chair of the Senate Health and Family Security Committee and a coauthor of the legislation that created MinnesotaCare. She is a candidate for governor.

LINK: http://www.startribune.com/562/story/284048.html

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EDITORIAL: A beacon of hope in the North Star State
Caucus for Sen. Becky Lourey and support someone who will support you.
by Ani Loizzo, Minnesota Daily, March 6, 2006

Anyone who has lived here can tell you Minnesota is just a little bit different from most states. It has a fantastic mix of urban and rural, metro culture with greater Minnesota salt of the earth values. There’s a mix of cows and cabarets, hot dishes and highways, which sets Minnesota apart. The weather is much colder. The people, maybe a little bit nicer, and the political atmosphere is charged with energy, spunk and pride.
Minnesota traditionally has been a politically active state. In 2004 we led the nation in voter turnout, with 79 percent of Minnesotans going to the polls. We take pride in our politics. We take pride in candidates who put the people and the public good first. The good name of Minnesota politics, however, has been blackened by the self-interested and irresponsible Pawlenty administration. Instead of taking pride in our government, we’ve had its doors shut in our faces after Gov. Tim Pawlenty shut it down for the first time in Minnesota history. We’ve watched University tuition increase 50 percent in the four years Pawlenty has been in office. We have not been able to make the progress the public wants on renewable energy, responsible economics, comprehensive education and universal health care.

With the 2006 gubernatorial election coming up, it is the duty of Minnesotans to elect someone better than Pawlenty. Minnesota needs a governor who can lead the people in areas of health care, education, transportation and the environment. We need someone who understands the challenges of the metro while still being able to relate to business owners and farmers. We need someone people can believe in, someone with not only a plan but a vision for the state of Minnesota. We need someone with Wellstone spirit and Minnesota pride. Minnesota needs Sen. Becky Lourey.

Lourey is exactly who the state of Minnesota has been waiting for. She has 16 years of legislative experience in the Minnesota House and Senate. She is the chair of the Senate Health and Family Security Committee and has done great things for the environment, education, the economy, transportation and social justice. She has been a farmer, a small-business owner, a legislator and has raised 12 children. She is an experienced activist, particularly against the war in Iraq. Although she does not support the war, she supports our troops, including her son Matt Lourey, who died during his second tour of Iraq last May. She is the embodiment of the diverse, well-rounded character of Minnesota. All these things make her a sharp contrast to our floundering governor.

To get Minnesota back on track, we need to look at who will lead the way. I urge all of you to support Lourey in her quest for a better Minnesota. She has the experience, the confidence and the drive. She has common sense and uncommon leadership. Pay attention, Minnesota — with your support, Lourey is going to return our state to greatness.

Ani Loizzo is a Lourey for Governor staff member and a University student. Please send comments to letters@mndaily.com.

LINK: http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2006/03/03/67448

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Discreto éxito de la celebración del Día del Inmigrante
by José A. Aldea, Gente de Minnesota, Feb. 16, 2006

El pasado 14 de febrero se celebró el Día del Inmigrante, que tuvo una asistencia de políticos reconocidos del estado y una afluencia de 500 personas.

En el caso del primero, el éxito es muy relativo y depende de cada una de las parejas que decidió celebrarlo. En el segundo caso, el éxito se pudo medir, y da pie para muchas interpretaciones.

Desde las 9 de la mañana hasta las 5 de la tarde, estuvieron abiertas las puertas del local El Nuevo Rodeo, situado en el 2709 de E. Lake St., para dar la bienvenida a todos aquellos que quisieran celebrar el Día del Inmigrante. Sin embargo, durante todo ese tiempo se registró la asistencia de 500 personas, lo que estuvo por debajo de las expectativas creadas.

El Día del Inmigrante fue una iniciativa que nació a partir de una conversación en una radio local, La Invasora 1400 AM, en la que se proponía crear un día de celebración para todos los inmigrantes.

A partir de ese momento se puso en marcha toda una maquinaria que quiso establecer el 14 de febrero como fecha para celebrar el día de toda la comunidad inmigrante. En palabras del Comité para el Día del Inmigrante, se pretendía “mostrar a los habitantes de Minnesota lo que sería vivir un día sin inmigrantes.” La idea era que las personas deseosas de participar olvidarán sus trabajos por un día y celebraran su condición de inmigrantes.

Sin embargo un paseo por Lake St. mostró que la realidad era otra muy distinta. Los negocios se mantenían abiertos y la vida parecía que seguía su curso. La respuesta general al Día del Inmigrante no fue buena.

En cambio, en las dependencias de El Nuevo Rodeo la cosa cambió. Hacia las 12 del mediodía, cuando se tenía planeada una conferencia de prensa, la asistencia era notablemente alta, con movimiento y varias organizaciones latinas ofreciendo sus servicios a los asistentes, a través de puestos instalados en el segundo piso del local.

A partir de ese momento subieron al escenario los numerosos políticos locales y estatales que iban a dirigirse al público inmigrante para celebrar la oportunidad de reunirse en un día como aquél.

Nombres tan importantes como la representante estatal Karen Clark (DFL), Cam Gordon y Robert Lilligren (Green Party) miembros del Consejo de la Ciudad de Minneapolis, la candidata a gobernador y actual senadora estatal Becky Lourey y el también candidato a gobernador Kelly Doran se dieron cita para expresar su apoyo a la comunidad inmigrantes. Incluso hubo discursos en español por parte del miembro del Consejo de la Ciudad Gary Schiff y Ángel Morales, activista y líder comunitario.

La respuesta política fue la nota sobresaliente de un día que echó de menos a su principal invitado, el inmigrante. Por parte de los políticos, las palabras fueron de agradecimiento por las contribuciones, de ánimo y de apoyo. Fue mayoritario el rechazo a las propuestas anti-inmigratorias del gobierno estatal, y el apoyo a medidas a favor de los inmigrantes, como la ley de separación entre policía e inmigración (conocida como INS City Separation), la Dream Act – que está actualmente pendiente de ser revisada por el Senado Estatal – que permitiría el acceso a la educación superior de los hijos de inmigrantes y propuestas para mejorar la calidad de vida de los inmigrantes. Incluso la senadora Becky Lourey mencionó, en un entusiasta discurso, la posibilidad de montar un consulado de Minnesota en México, si ella salía elegida como gobernadora.

La celebración del Día del Inmigrante se enmarca dentro de la reciente ola de protestas y accioes en contra de las propuestas del gobernador Tim Pawlenty. El fin de semana del 10, 11 y 12 de este mes, se celebró una marcha pacífica a favor de una reforma inmigratoria justa, que reunió a cerca de 3.000 personas y esta misma semana se tienen planeadas otras marchas en otras localidades del estado de Minnesota.

LINK: http://www.gentedeminnesota.com/news.php?nid=2884

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EDITORIAL: Factual accuracy is what matters
by Senator Becky Lourey, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Feb. 16, 2006

As we head into the 2006 legislative session, we are hearing calls for a civil dialogue and an end to legislative gridlock. One basic requirement for civil discourse is honesty. Factual accuracy matters. It simply is not factually accurate to say Minnesota has the best economy in the nation with the lowest unemployment rate, as claimed this week by Republican House Speaker Steve Sviggum.

Ask the Northwest Airlines mechanics who have lost their jobs, or Ford employees who repeatedly face furloughs and a shutdown threat. Better yet, look at current U.S. Labor Department statistics, which indicate that Minnesota's unemployment rate has slipped to 16th nationally, not close to the top ranking.

A truthful dialogue aimed at reaching a successful conclusion to legislative negotiations later this year serves Minnesota's best interests. Speaker Sviggum, let's take greater care right from the start.

BECKY LOUREY, KERRICK, MINN.;
The writer is a state senator who is a DFL candidate for governor.

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Democrats seek to put business foot forward
by Brian Bakst (AP), Brainerd Dispatch, Feb. 9, 2006

ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — Three Democrats angling to unseat Gov. Tim Pawlenty refused to concede the business vote to Republicans, using a debate Wednesday to play up their own business credentials.

Shopping center developer Kelly Doran and state Sens. Becky Lourey and Steve Kelley reached as far back as their childhoods to illustrate their deep involvement in business — from mowing lawns at the family motel in Kelley's case to Doran's management of a large building firm.

While leaning on those personal experiences, the trio talked in mostly broad terms about how they would help companies thrive in Minnesota.

Drawing in business-minded voters could be vital if Democrats want to take back an office they haven't won since 1986.

"You don't elect a Democratic governor in this state without business support," Doran said.

The debate comes about a month before party activists head to precinct caucuses to start the official process of picking a candidate. While Democrats hope to endorse a candidate in June, party faithful probably won't know who their candidate will be until the September primary.

A fourth major DFL candidate, Attorney General Mike Hatch, opted out of the forum, hosted by the relatively new Business Democrats group.

The Democrats who debated Wednesday maintained a polite tone with each other, choosing instead to focus their fire at the current officeholder.

All three candidates criticized Pawlenty for blocking a legislatively approved transportation bill that would have pumped billions of dollars into road construction, using a dime-per-gallon gas tax increase as a key funding tool.

While the bill wasn't perfect, Kelley said it "had the framework for what we need in Minnesota."

"There are businesses out there that can't get their goods to market" because of congestion, he said.

The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce has supported an increase in the gas tax to speed up road construction.

"This is a governor who has no guts at all," Lourey said. "I submit to you I will be the gutsiest governor you have ever seen."

On health care, the candidates urged more action to bring down costs and expand access. They differed some on what that will take.

Doran wants to team with other governors to lobby Congress for a public-private partnership in which the government would pay for catastrophic care and basic coverage would fall to the private sector. He promised more details within weeks on how Minnesota could take the first steps.

"It's time to stop waiting for the federal government to step forward," Kelley said after hearing Doran's answer. He and Lourey promoted systems that rely, in part, on pooling purchasing power to get cheaper rates.

Asked whether each would raise taxes and which ones, none tackled the issue head-on, but none ruled out tax increases. But the Democrats said Pawlenty might have a tough time convincing voters he made good on his no-new-tax pledge of 2002.

"If your taxes did not go up during the last three years vote for Tim Pawlenty," Kelley said. "But if your taxes did go up, including property taxes, vote for me and I will win by the biggest landslide in Minnesota history."

Republican Party spokesman Mark Drake, who attended the forum, said the candidates resorted to "a lot of overheated rhetoric.

"They were all proposing tax increases of one variation of another," he said. "It's new packaging, but it's the same old liberal viewpoints."

LINK: http://ap.brainerddispatch.com/pstories/state/mn/20060208/3633593.shtml

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3 DFL candidates mostly agree at business forum
A few subtle differences emerged over lunch. Not attending was Attorney General Mike Hatch.
by Dane Smith, StarTribune, Feb. 8, 2006

On most responses at a Minnesota Business Democrats forum Wednesday, three DFL gubernatorial candidates taking part were three amigos.
Real estate developer Kelly Doran and state Sens. Steve Kelley and Becky Lourey all said they would push to expand coverage and reduce the costs of health care, a mounting problem for many businesses.

All said they would accelerate state spending or "investment" on highways and mass transit, and all indicated they would likely approve a gasoline tax increase to relieve what one them called a "congestion tax" on businesses.

All deplored tuition increases and allegedly insufficient spending on education, especially higher education, which business owners value for workforce training.

The candidates took almost no shots at each other, although Doran did subtly imply that legislators Kelley and Lourey were part of the problem at a "dysfunctional" State Capitol. He said the public was seeking "someone from the outside who is results-oriented."

All claimed to have solid business credentials and to understand business culture. DFLers frequently take the side of labor union interests and often are at odds with business owners and managers, who tend to vote Republican.

Doran, a shopping-center developer who has positioned himself as the more moderate of four major candidates, said he took pride in creating "thousands of jobs" with good wages and benefits.

Kelley, an attorney, reminisced about working as a youth in a variety of jobs for his businessman father. His campaign has targeted suburban moderates, and Kelley said he understood the need for "an opportunity society" where people "can start their own businesses and not work for someone else."

Lourey, described by many as an impassioned liberal among the bunch, reminded the business people in attendance that she and her husband run a medium-sized business with 70 employees, good benefits and a day-care center for children of workers.

Points of difference

Some subtle differences emerged, however.

Unlike Lourey and Kelley, who promised to push aggressively as governor for state action on health care, Doran said in a health-care statement distributed at the event that "50 different band-aids in 50 states" won't work. He said he would work to build a coalition of governors to pressure Washington for a solution.

Kelley responded that it was "time to stop waiting for the federal government to step forward" on health care.

Missing was Attorney General Mike Hatch, whose absence has been noted at three of the first forums or debates held in the early stages of the DFL nomination fight.

Hatch said that he intends to attend future forums and debates but that he was busy Wednesday with lawyers in his office on a methamphetamine initiative. "Politics is not just about showing up at forums; I've got a job to do," he said.

Although Republican leaders have portrayed Hatch as antibusiness, Hatch said he has lots of business support and business contributors. "A lot of the complaints I pursue come from legitimate businesses from people who are upset about their competitors breaking the rules," he said.

Minnesota Business Democrats is a relatively new and small group. About 50 people typically attend meetings, said founder Rob Jacobs, although about 100 showed up for the forum at Santorini's Restaurant in St. Louis Park.

LINK: http://www.startribune.com/587/story/235161.html

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Hatch keeping low profile as competitors score points at business forum
by Laura McCallum, Minnesota Public Radio, Feb. 8, 2006

Three DFL gubernatorial candidates stressed their business credentials before a DFL business group on Wednesday. Real estate developer Kelly Doran and state senators Steve Kelley and Becky Lourey say Gov. Pawlenty is taking the state in the wrong direction. The candidate forum was the latest in which Attorney General Mike Hatch chose not to participate. Some Democrats are wondering why Hatch is keeping a low profile on the campaign trail.

St. Louis Park, Minn. — More than 100 people packed the back room of a Greek restaurant in St. Louis Park to hear Doran, Kelley and Lourey discuss the issues. Tailoring their comments to the Minnesota Business Democrats, the candidates noted their business connections. Kelley's dad owned small businesses, and his first job was mowing the lawn at his dad's motel.

Lourey and her husband own a small business that employs 70 people. Doran is a commercial real estate builder who said he's created thousands of jobs during his career. He stressed the importance of appealing to business, saying that a Democrat can't win the governor's race without business support.

The three DFLers agreed that businesses are frustrated with increasing traffic congestion, and each one would have signed a bill with a dime-a-gallon gas tax increase that Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoed last session. Doran says Minnesotans understand that better roads cost money.

"If you go around the state and you want to ask, 'well should we raise taxes?' You'll get a universal 'no,' pretty much no. But if go around the state and you say, 'well, we need to raise taxes because we're going to invest in transportation, or we need to raise taxes because we're going to invest in our schools?,' that turns around," he said.

Pawlenty hasn't officially announced he's running for re-election, but the Republican raised more money from individual contributors last year than any of the Democrats in the race. Pawlenty opposes a gas-tax increase, and has proposed borrowing money for road projects.

In addition to transportation, Doran, Kelley and Lourey agreed that the state should spend more money on education, including early childhood education and higher ed. While they offered no specifics on how to pay for education and other state programs, Lourey says many people support a tax increase.

"As I've been campaigning, wealthy Minnesotans have said to me, 'please, please, raise our taxes. We believe in public education. We know that it is the melting pot for our state,'" Lourey said.

Lourey and Kelley say Pawlenty signed a no-tax-increase pledge, yet under his watch, property taxes and fees have increased. Pawlenty also pushed for a 75-cent-a-pack charge on cigarettes that Lourey called a cigarette tax. Kelley says Minnesotans know that taxes have gone up during Pawlenty's term.

"If your taxes did not go up during the last three years, then you should vote for Tim Pawlenty. But if your taxes did go up, including property taxes, then you should vote for me, and I will win by the biggest margin in Minnesota history," Kelley said.

Pawlenty has said that property taxes are a local decision, and he's called for a property-tax freeze. Pawlenty campaign spokesman Michael Krueger says the forum makes it clear that Democrats are focused on spending more taxpayer money. He says the governor believes that Minnesotans are taxed enough.

Doran, Kelley and Lourey have now appeared at several candidate forums together, but they have yet to share the stage with the fourth Democrat in the race, Attorney General Mike Hatch. Hatch's office said the Business Democrats' event conflicted with a conference call on a prospective pharmaceutical lawsuit. But some Democrats are questioning whether it's part of a deliberate strategy to stay above the fray.

Blois Olson from the newsletter Politics in Minnesota says Hatch needs to ramp up his campaign activity.

"He is the perceived front-runner, but the more he doesn't do, the less he is the front-runner," according to Olson. "And I think the Rose Garden strategy is, you sit in the garden and you smell the roses while everybody else enjoys the bad weather outside, and I think that while he is the front-runner, he has to start acting more like a front-runner and not be so publicly shy."

Olson says Hatch has only a bare-bones campaign operation. Hatch did raise half a million dollars last year, surpassing all of the other Democrats except Doran, who lent his campaign $1.8 million. Hatch's campaign says the attorney general focuses first on his full-time job.

LINK:http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2006/02/08_mccalluml_govforum/

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Lourey says she is contrast to Pawlenty
Gubernatorial candidate lost son in Iraqi war
by Devlyn Brooks, Northfield News, Jan. 31, 2006

NORTHFIELD -- When supporters approached her about running a second time for governor in late 2005, Becky ourey was ambivalent about another run for the state's top elected position.

After all, she was defeated in a run for the DFL gubernatorial endorsement in 2002 and dropped from the race. In May 2005, this very vocal opponent of the Iraqi war lost her son Matthew, who was killed in action during the war.

Lourey faces a crowded field of DFL challengers, including private businessman Kelly Doran, who abandoned a run for Mark Dayton's U.S. Senate seat to run for governor, and Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch, considered the heavyweight in the race.
But it's likely the race will stay convoluted for a while, as all three candidates have vowed they will make a run in the DFL primary in September, each foregoing any thought of dropping out if they do not receive the endorsement at this summer's DFL convention.

Once a very important factor in who received the DFL gubernatorial candidate nod, the power of the party's endorsement seems to be fading, and nothing demonstrates it more than this year's race.

Lourey says she will seek and fight for her party's endorsement, but that if she doesn't receive it, it won't deter her.

Lourey's platform
A former farmer, current business owner and longtime elected official, Lourey's platform consists of four main planks: education, health care, energy and transportation. Undoubtedly, they sound like the political planks of every candidate running, but Lourey says her experience and legislative know-how makes her the candidate able to get something done on all of these issues.

On health care, she says the state is very close to moving to a system of universal health care, and she says 80 percent of Minnesotans would like to see it happen. In fact, she said the state's low-income health care program known as MinnesotaCare was a preliminary step toward universal health care until the state Legislature turned conservative in the 1990s and killed the momentum.

"I think we can have universal coverage," she said. "There's nothing that keeps us from doing this."

On energy, Lourey said the state needs to make more investments in alternative energy -- including biodiesel, ethanol and wind -- because the state imports more energy than any other state in the Midwest. She said state government could make a difference through policy changes and through encouragement, but she admits the benefits aren't going to be "absolutely immediate."

And finally Lourey advocates more investment in state education and transportation needs, without being too specific. She said last year's transportation bill that wasn't supported by Gov. Tim Pawlenty would have been good for the state, and she will see that it passes if she is elected.

Experience
In recent history, Lourey probably is better known for her protest of the war in Iraq than her legislative career.

But Lourey says she has received little negative feedback about her anti-war campaign from Minnesotans as she has been on the gubernatorial trail. She said she's been clear to separate her support of the troops from her opposition to the war.

"I'm honoring my son in more ways than one (by running)," she said.

Lourey was elected to the state Senate in 1996 after defeating a long-serving DFL senator in the primary. She was re-elected in 2000 and 2002. Previously she served three terms in the state House of Representatives.

Lourey and her husband, Gene, live in Kerrick in Pine County which is northeast of the Twin Cities but south of Duluth. They moved there in the 1970s to begin farming and later had to sell their livestock and equipment as many other farmers did in the 1980s. Lourey then went to work for a health care consortium in Duluth, which spawned her eventual life in public affairs. She and her husband also own a software company in Bruno, which employs 70 people in Minnesota and California.

"I want to be governor and I know what we have to do," she said. "I offer the sharpest contrast (to current Gov. Tim Pawlenty) and clearest choice."

Devlyn Brooks can be reached at 645-1116 or dbrooks@northfieldnews.com.

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EDITORIAL: Pawlenty plays politics
by Senator Becky Lourey, StarTribune, Jan. 12, 2006

Thank you, Katherine Kersten, for quoting my response to the governor's immigration blitz ("Concern over immigration is no illusion," Jan. 9).

People are sick of wedge-issue electioneering strategies. This is not to say that immigration isn't an important issue. Even the governor recognizes immigrants are an important part of our Minnesota economy and our community life, and they built our state over the decades.

However, he just doesn't want that fact to compete with his more sensational message. Unfortunately, the governor has failed to approach this issue with sound research and a full accounting of the situation. He is casting immigrants as prone to criminal activity, and so far has refused to account for their economic contributions.

Most frustratingly, the governor is treating immigration as another distraction from the most substantial, challenging issues of the day.

Our schools are struggling to offer a globally competitive education. We struggle with double-digit property tax increases. Our transportation system is crumbling, and health care burdens are overwhelming.

As governor, I will address these key bread-and-butter issues as our highest priorities, and I will build on the favorable opportunities offered by immigration. As Archbishop Harry Flynn has said about this issue, we must "uphold the dignity of every person."

BECKY LOUREY, KERRICK, MINN.;
DFL CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR

LINK: http://www.startribune.com/563/story/177963.html

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Mayoral candidate joins Lourey campaign
by Conrad deFiebre, StarTribune, Jan. 3, 2006

Elizabeth Dickinson, the Green Party candidate for mayor of St. Paul last year, is joining the campaign of state Sen. Becky Lourey for the DFL gubernatorial nomination.
Other appointments announced Monday by Lourey:

•Joseph Barisonzi, chief executive officer of Strategic Growth Initiatives, as campaign manager.
•John Blackshaw, chief executive officer of Williams Blackshaw Group and manager of Paul Wellstone's victorious 1990 campaign for the U.S. Senate and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak's reelection drive last year, as strategist and consultant.
•Aileen Seoane, grants administrator for the Latino Economic Development Center, as fundraising director.
•Eric Mitchell, former state DFL director of outreach, as political director.

LINK: http://www.startribune.com/587/story/159286.html

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EDITORIAL: Minnesota must invest to regain economic advantage
by Senator Becky Lourey, St. Paul Pioneer Press, December 8, 2005

Has Minnesota overcome its financial challenges and returned to its status as a national economic beacon?

The finer details in the November economic forecast clearly show otherwise. Any backslaps of praise for a long-awaited surplus are misplaced. Nearly every state across the country is showing unexpected economic gains resulting in sizable budget surpluses, so Minnesota's situation is not surprising.

Our state budget is no different than that of a negligent family who fails to get their winter jackets, pay for school supplies or fix the leaking roof — despite maxing out the credit card. Now we have a paycheck that gives us an opportunity to begin setting our family finances straight. Set aside discussions of using the surplus for new rebates or stadiums and let's focus attention on our top three priorities: fixing the gimmicks, repaying our neglected debts and catching up on our infrastructure investments.

The state gimmicks simply pushed higher costs onto schools and local governments, forcing families to pay higher property taxes and fees and making tuition unaffordable for college students. We can start repaying our debt by restoring access to health care and child care and returning our schools to reasonable class sizes. We can begin catching up on our infrastructure needs with smart investments in transportation, transit, energy conservation and protecting the environment.

Strong evidence that we haven't invested properly already is showing up in our state's poor economic performance. Since recovery from recession began in early 2003, the economic rebound in Minnesota has lagged 17 percent behind the rest of the nation, according to the November forecast. Our state has lost 11.7 percent of its manufacturing work force since 2001. The forecast anticipates that Minnesota will continue to trail the nation in personal income and job growth. Through fiscal year 2007, the forecast also expects sluggish state job growth — 36 percent slower than the national rate.

Rather than trail the nation in economic growth, we should lead it. With a clear vision for a better Minnesota through smart investments in a competitive economy, I believe we can buck the trend. Our state has been a national leader in the past because of the strategic investments we previously made in education, health care, energy and transportation. After we put our fiscal house in order, Minnesota should set its sights higher once again to achieve prosperity for all of our citizens.

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A Liberal Home Companion – Al Franken Brings his National Air America Broadcast to Duluth
by John Myers, Duluth News Tribune, December 8, 2005 – excerpt

“Al Franken is moving his national liberal radio show to Minnesota in January, coming home from the Big Apple much like fellow North Star state native Garrison Keillor came back a few years ago.”

“But the most poignant segment of the show focused on the conflict in Iraq and featured state Sen. Becky Lourey, a DFL gubernatorial candidate whose son Matt was killed in Iraq earlier this year when the U.S. Army helicopter he was piloting was shot down.

“Franken, who is headed next week to Iraq as part of his third USO tour to the Middle East, said he is grappling with whether to support an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops, as Lourey and many other Democrats support. But the two agreed that the war has been botched from its inception and that the nation appears to be uniting against President George Bush's ``failed'' foreign policy.”

“In a more humorous moment, Lourey noted that she knew Franken's mom, who was a real estate agent in Minneapolis, in the 1970s.

``I'm very honored to be here with my good friend Phoebe Franken's little boy,'' Lourey said to rousing laughter.”

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EDITORIAL: Whether Gov. Lourey or not, local pol will stay active - Senator will abandon seat but not politics
Duluth News Tribune, December 6, 2005

“Type in the name "Becky Lourey" in the News Tribune's electronic archive and it lights up like a Christmas tree. Among accomplishments of the two-term state senator from Kerrick who served three stints in the House are her co-authorship of the Minnesota Care bill in 1991, her leadership of the Katie Poirer Task Force and its subsequent legislative initiatives, and her work to establish the Rush Line Transportation Corridor that could mean the resumption of rail transit between the Twin Cities and Duluth.”

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EDITORIAL: Becky Lourey: Why we're having the debate
StarTribune, November 25, 2005 – exerpts

When state Sen. Becky Lourey called on the Star Tribune on Nov. 16, we asked: "Four months later, what has been the impact of last summer's antiwar protest led by Cindy Sheehan, which you joined after the death of your son Matthew?" Here is an excerpt of her reply:

“You see more and more people calling for a plan in Iraq. I don't think that would have happened if Cindy hadn't done what she did. That voice got Americans to start looking at this war more closely. It's amazing what one voice can do. ...

“We've reached the peak in our oil production, and there is a crisis ahead of us. We do have to respond to it. Isaiah 2:4 applies now so perfectly: 'They shall beat their swords into plowshares.' We can grow and innovate, and produce the things that will give us community energy production, with some left over to put on the national grid, too. We can be self-sufficient, while still not being isolationist. This is the vision. This is where we have to go.”

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A Conversation on Tax Fairness
Wondering if tax ride goes too easy on rich - Minnesota is overdue for a good debate on tax fairness. Two tax policy experts help get one started.
by Lori Sturdevant, StarTribune, November 20, 2005

“It's high time I revealed the true political bias of journalists: We love straight-talking candidates. They make finding a snappy quote on deadline so much easier. - Take Becky Lourey, the state senator who last week made her DFL gubernatorial campaign official. Reporters covering her announcement asked Standard Question A for liberal candidates: How are you going to pay for all that additional government spending you favor? - No doubt the assembled scribes expected the usual mush about "all options on the table," priorities, tough decisions, blah, blah. Instead, they got straight talk: - "I'm for fair taxes ... based on the ability to pay," she said. "We've got to stop living in a plutocracy, government by and for the wealthy." She then noted that high-income Minnesotans pay a lesser share of their incomes in state and local taxes than middle-income people do. She's interested in changing that.

Give Lourey points for directness, and one thing more: She wants the 2006 governor's race to call the question on state and local tax fairness. It's high time for that, too.”

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Lourey taking another shot at governor seat
State Sen. Becky Lourey said her chances are better than in 2002 because issues she's worked on have gained prominence.
by Conrad deFiebre, StarTribune, November 16, 2005

In the tiny northeastern Minnesota town where she and her husband run a software-based business, state Sen. Becky Lourey launched her second bid for the governor's office Tuesday, saying, "I know how to bring people together."

Lourey, DFL-Kerrick, is the lone woman in a crowded field of challengers to Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty next year. Her first run for the office ended with defeat at the DFL endorsing convention three years ago, but she said her chances are much better this time.

"The issues that I've always worked on have come to the forefront," Lourey said, listing her legislative advocacy of health-care access, education and public safety. "Minnesotans want their infrastructure back again."

“Despite that kind of talk, state Republican Party Chairman Ron Carey issued an unusually laudatory news release welcoming Lourey to the campaign.

“Unlike Hatch and Doran, often considered the DFL's gubernatorial front-runners, Carey said, "Becky Lourey is trusted and well-liked by DFL activists who know she will not shift her positions when the political winds change.   Although I believe she is too far to the left for most folks in our state, she is an honorable public servant who commands the respect of all Minnesotans."

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Women eyeing a run for governor
One way to make state government more functional might be to make it more feminine.
by Lori Sturdevant, StarTribune, October 9, 2005

As if on cue, here comes state Sen. Becky Lourey.

Finally, there's the prospect that when the candidates for governor appear on TPT's "Almanac," a skirt (other than Cathy Wurzer's) will be on the couch.

Before the senator from Kerrick said last weekend that she's "very, very serious" about making a second try for the DFL endorsement for governor, the absence of a female contender in the emerging gubernatorial lineup had not gone unnoticed, or unlamented.

“Then again, maybe someone who spent years resolving the conflicts that erupt in the back seat would have a clue about how to resolve a budget fight somewhere short of a state government shutdown. Maybe someone who habitually balances competing needs and demands in her family would better appreciate the value of win-win policy solutions, and not keep pressing for "we win, you fall on your face."

“If it's a woman's experience that voters are seeking, Lourey offers plenty. She raised 12 children, eight of them adopted, while founding a business in rural Minnesota with her husband and spending the last 15 years in the Legislature. The death of her son Matthew in Iraq last spring has made her voice only more compelling.”

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EDITORIAL: Threat to 'Health Impact Fee' Easily Resolvable
by Senator Becky Lourey, StarTribune, September 2005

When it became clear that we were not going to be able to take care of our budget deficit by using a progressive income tax (based on ability to pay) as our Senate DFL caucus proposed, I recognized that Gov. Pawlenty’s ‘Health Impact Fee’ was the only way out. While I was very disappointed to learn that only $1 of every $4 in the revised budget were going to health care needs, it was important to resolve the budget stalemate and help curb tobacco use that is so costly to public health and the public purse.

Bottom line, raising tobacco prices saves lives. Thus, in July, the Legislature approved the governor’s proposal to charge an additional 75 cents on every pack of cigarettes as well as collect new fees on other tobacco products. This revenue was how we saved and restored MinnesotaCare for working Minnesota families.

We assumed the governor’s staff had done their research when they said the only way they would raise this revenue would be as a “fee” inserted into the Health and Human Services Bill rather than as a tax in the Tax Bill. Most of us on the Health and Human Services policy and finance committees are still reeling from the destruction of the smoking prevention and cessation programs when the money from the tobacco settlement went to solve the 2003 deficit rather than, again, raising revenue in an upfront and honest way.

Now, we have a situation where the more than $400 million Health Impact Fee is seriously threatened by tobacco-industry litigation, and we need leadership from our governor.

Attorneys representing the big tobacco companies have filed a lawsuit to declare the health impact fee invalid. Their claim is primarily based on the fact that the 1998 state settlement with major tobacco companies requires no further financial health impact claims. They feel they have a solid case because the legislation plainly states, "A tobacco-use health impact fee is imposed on and collected from cigarette distributors ...to recover for the state health costs related to or caused by t