Tim Pawlenty
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Timothy James Pawlenty (born November 27, 1960) is an American politician from the Republican Party. He is the 39th and current Governor of Minnesota, and started his term on January 6, 2003. His wife, Mary Pawlenty, is a district judge in Dakota County. Although Pawlenty was raised as a Roman Catholic, he converted to Evangelical Protestantism as an adult.
Political career
Early career
Pawlenty earned his undergraduate and law degrees at the University of Minnesota, and worked as a criminal prosecutor before entering politics. In 1994, Pawlenty was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives, where in 1999, he became their Republican Party Majority Leader when Republicans gained control of the House in 1999. As Majority Leader, Pawlenty was instrumental in passing Governor Jesse Ventura's tax cuts.2002 Senate campaign
Tim Pawlenty had originally planned to seek the Minnesota US Senate seat in 2002. However, this plan was derailed by a stern message from Vice President Dick Cheney, who asked him to step aside to allow Norm Coleman to challenge Paul Wellstone without primary opposition. Wellstone died in an airplane accident, and Coleman went on to defeat former Vice President Walter Mondale in the election.2002 gubernatorial campaign
Following the termination of his Senate campaign, Pawlenty decided to run for governor. His main rival was veteran DFL state Senator Roger Moe. Complicating matters, former Democratic Congressman Tim Penny ran on the Independence Party ticket, with polls at times suggesting a very tight three-man race: for example, in September, the three were essentially tied. Pawlenty campaigned on a pledge not to raise taxes to balance the state's budget deficit, requiring visa expiration dates on driver's licenses, a 24 hour waiting period on abortions, implementing a conceal-carry gun law, and changing the state's education requirements. Dogged by ethics complaints surrounding the campaign,[link] but buoyed by President George W. Bush's post-Sept. 11th popularity and the failure of either of his challengers to gain a solid lock on the votes of Democrats, Pawlenty hurtled ahead of both challengers at the very end of the campaign. Analyses afterward indicated that his largest gains were among voters in the suburbs of Minneapolis-St.Paul.As governor
Budget and economy
Pawlenty was elected on a platform of balancing the state's budget without raising taxes. Estimates of his success have varied. One one side, during his first year as governor, Pawlenty balanced a $4.3 billion dollar deficit without raising taxes, mainly by reducing funding for state services. He likened this to giving the state a "haircut," which in some circles became a derogatory nickname.The more controversial part of his approach to the budget came from his attempts to raise taxes by raising "fees" instead. As members of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities board complained, student shares of tuition increased by double-digit percentages in that year and the years following. Some felt that such tuition hikes unfairly burdened students and their parents with future debt for an education that they had long been encouraged to pursue as if a basic right. Others defend the maneuver by pointing to the pattern of rising tuitions across the country.
In his third year as governor, a government shutdown resulted from a deadlock between the governor's office and the legislature.
In light of his anti-tax pledges, Pawlenty has made a priority of finding alternative revenue resources for the state. One ambitious proposal was to enhance the Canterbury Park horse track into a "racino", which would be operated in cooperation with Native American tribes from the northern part of the state. This plan was poorly received by Native American tribes and was zinged by attacks on the morality of expanding gambling in Minnesota; it eventually broke down.
Pawlenty offered a 75 cent per pack tax on cigarettes that he called a "health impact fee," to the derision of his critics, including his supporters at the Minnesota Taxpayers League, as one way to balance a $404 million dollar budget deficit. Republicans and Democrats alike protested, arguing that there was no real difference between the proposed fee (which would have been assessed on every pack of cigarettes sold in Minnesota) and a tax. But the measure carried. Cigarette wholesalers sued on the grounds that, under the terms of the 1996 tobacco settlement, the state reserved the right to raise taxes on cigarettes but not fees.
On November 30, 2005, a $701 million projected surplus for the 2006-07 biennium was announced, the first budget surplus for the Minnesota state government since 2001. This figure, however, took a hit on December 21 when a District Court judge struck down the Pawlenty tobacco tax. And it did not include over $700 million for budget deferments owed to the educational system under agreements negotiated during the 2002-04 and 2004-06 biennia.
In another reversal of his "no new taxes" pledge, throughout 2006 Pawlenty worked for funding a controversial Minnesota Twins baseball stadium using tax dollars and signed the resulting Minnesota Twins-Hennepin County ballpark bill at the Metrodome. The legislation exempts Hennepin County from a state law that normally requires a referendum for any new local taxes. In June of 2006 he also signed a $999.9 million public works bill that included funding for additional work on the Northstar Commuter rail line, an expanded Faribault prison, a bioscience building at the University of Minnesota and science facilities at Minnesota State University Mankato. The bill also funded an 26 million dollar expansion of the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. [Legislature passes $1 billion public works bill] Accessed 06/26/06
Education
During his term, Governor Pawlenty created the Minnesota Academic Standards and new graduation requirements but was also the first Minnesota Governor ever to cut education funding. Cuts included $50 million from higher education and $27 million from K-12. Pawlenty argued his policies ensured accountability in education, yet critics point to education bureaucratization and a movement towards more privatized schooling.Transportation and agriculture
During Pawlenty's term, urban traffic congestion has come up as a significant concern. Pawlenty has favored raising fees and imposing tolls on roads as the primary means of discouraging excessive vehicular traffic, rather than to build more roads and improve the current roads. Under his watch, the carpool lanes of Interstate 394 leading into downtown Minneapolis were converted into high-occupancy toll lanes. He does not support expansion of the metro area's "Light Rail" system, or other high-occupancy public transportation, in the foreseeable future, in spite of widespread support by Metro residents.
In Washington D.C., Governor Pawlenty has lobbied Congress to mandate higher ethanol use[link], despite the uncertainty over whether corn-base ethanol requires more energy to produce than it yields. Minnesota has mandated a 10% mixture of gasoline and ethanol (gasohol) since 1997, while most cars are designed to safely handle 15%. Pawlenty signed into law in May 2005 a bill that will raise the minimum mandated mixture to 20% in 2013.
Foreign relations
Since the 1980s, some Minnesota governors have increased their travel abroad, ostensibly to increase Minnesota's visibility around the world. During his term as Governor, Pawlenty has made trips to Bosnia (2003), Kosovo (2004), Poland, Iraq and the Czech Republic visiting Minnesota troops. Critics insist these trips are unnecessary and do little beyond elevating Pawlenty's personal image on the national stage, at the expense of ignoring Minnesota's real problems at home. Governor Pawlenty was the presiding official at the departure ceremony for over 2,600 Minnesota National Guard soldiers deploying to Iraq in March 2006 for a one year tour. However, Pawlenty's military experience has been limited to photo opportunities such as this. He has never served in the military. Most recently Governor Pawlenty took a delegation of nearly 200 Minnesotan business, government, academic and civic leaders on a voyage to China in mid-November, 2005. The objective of the weeklong trip was to provide a forum for companies to acquire market information, assess market potential, evaluate market entry strategies and identify potential business partners, as well as promote Chinese investment in Minnesota.
He also welcomed Mexican President Vicente Fox in 2004 in an effort to strengthen trade. The president announced that his country would open a consulate in Minnesota the next year, removing the need for Mexican residents in the state to travel to Chicago for identification papers and other materials.
2006 re-election
Governor Pawlenty is seeking re-election in 2006 where he will likely face candidates from multiple parties, most notably the DFL and perhaps the Green, Independence, and Libertarian. The most prominent DFL member to announce a candidacy is current Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch. Other candidates include Becky Lourey and Sue Jeffers. Sue Jeffers, who began her campaign as a Libertarian, will be challenging Pawlenty in the Republican primary on September 12, 2006. Jeffers' primary plank is the removal of the smoking bans in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Presidential speculation
Governor Pawlenty was considered a potential candidate for President of the United States by some Minnesota bloggers after the re-election of President George .W. Bush.[link], but that interest never went beyond the level of a handful of over-ambitious supporters. After formally announcing that he would seek a second term as Governor of Minnesota, however, Pawlenty announced that he would not seek national office in the next four years, providing that he won re-election [link].Electoral history
- 2002 Race for Governor
- *Tim Pawlenty (R), 44%
- *Roger Moe (DFL), 36%
- *Tim Penny (IPM.), 16%
- *Ken Pentel (Grn), 2%
External links
References
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