On behalf of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities (CGMC), staff at Flaherty & Hood launched the Greater Minnesota Advocate, a weekly informational resource for legislators covering important developments on CGMC program areas—property tax relief and LGA, economic development, land use, the environment, energy, transportation, labor and employee relations—all from a rural perspective.
In late January, shareholder/attorney Tim Flaherty and senior media advisor Glen Fladeboe embarked on a media tour through the cities of Alexandria, Moorhead, East Grand Forks, Thief River Falls and Bemidji to respond to the legislative majority’s "Phase 1" budget bill, which cuts roughly $1 billion in state spending, $149 million of which comes from city aid programs.
Paralegal Roseann Shaw joined Flaherty & Hood in January and will serve clients out of the firm’s Winona office.
On January 11, 2011, senior attorney/lobbyist Elizabeth Wefel spoke at a CLE seminar for the Ramsey County Bar Association and provided a preview of the 2011 legislative session.
Shareholder/attorney Chris Hood attended the Minnesota City Attorneys Educational Conference February 11.
In January, Flaherty & Hood sponsored a table at the Rochester Community & Technical College’s Beat the Odds scholarship awards dinner.
On behalf of the City of Albert Lea, Flaherty & Hood recently reached out to area residents and businesses to ensure high attendance and vocal opposition to Alliant Energy's proposed 22 percent electric rate increase at a Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) public hearing (to read more about the rate hike issue, click here).
For decades, the MPCA has had a water quality standard of less than 10 parts per million for sulfate released into waters where wild rice grows. The standard has rarely been enforced and few studies have been conducted to determine whether or not this standard is appropriate.
On November 15, the Winona City Council appointed attorney/shareholder Chris Hood to serve as its new city attorney following the retirement of current city attorney Richard Blahnik. Flaherty & Hood was chosen among three finalists interviewed by the City Council in October.
To cut personnel costs and avoid layoffs, many employers are considering or have implemented "furloughs" (i.e., reducing normal hours worked without paying employees for such reduction).
Phosphorus standards recently adopted in Wisconsin may result in significantly more restrictive and expensive compliance requirements for Minnesota municipalities and agricultural interests.
The Minnesota Environmental Science and Economic Review Board (MESERB) held its 2010 fall meeting in Melrose. Flaherty & Hood attorneys Steve Nyhus and J.D. Burton provided staffing assistance and a legal activities report to the group.
The federal Clean Water Act requires states to identify lakes and streams that do not meet state water quality standards ("impaired waters") and develop Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plans to clean them up.
U.S. Sen. Al Franken joined members of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities (CGMC) on Veterans Day as keynote speaker for the organization’s annual fall conference, which was held November 10 – 12 in Alexandria.
Conventional wisdom at the Capitol held that if both houses remained in Democratic hands and Mark Dayton took the governor’s office, a large bonding bill would jumpstart the 2011 legislative session and revisit projects vetoed by Governor Pawlenty in 2010.
The change in party control of the legislature will also bring a change in its committee structure. On November 16, the House and Senate Republican majority leadership unveiled their plan to "streamline" the House and Senate committees, including reducing the number of Senate committees from 25 to 16, and the number of House committees from 36 to 24.