The 2007 House DFL Were Bad and Self Serving Managers for Our State

Starting today I will be writing informative posts on the destructive mentality of the democrats in the House and how they, and in particular, my opponent Rick Hansen, have been involved in an ever expanding state government bent on taxing and spending as well as infringing upon our civil liberties through a slow but continual erosion of our freedoms. How's that for a run-on sentence! Listed below is just a few things that the democrats and Representative Rick Hansen pulled in 2007.

• They raised the Legislative Budget by 17.8% while raising state funding of K-12 education by only 3% over the next two years (2% in 2008, 1% in 2009).
• They raised their "per diem" payments by 16.6% without taking a Floor vote. The average House DFLer added over $10,000 to a $31,000 salary, and blocked efforts to require them to show receipts for these "daily expenses" which are taxed like salary.
• One DFL Senator took over $22,000 in "per diem" even though she lives less than three miles from the Capitol. She claimed "daily expense" payments for 229 days, even though the Legislature was only in session for 76 days in 2007. One DFL House member took $18,234 without receipts.
• They also added year-round housing payments of up to another $14,400 for Representatives who live at least 50 miles from the Capitol, even though Legislative sessions in even numbered years last less than four months.
• They doubled the budget for House Committees to nearly $700,000. They increased the number of committees from 27 standing committees under the House Republicans in 2006 to 101 committees, subcommittees, divisions, task forces, working groups, and other panels under the DFL in 2007.