Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Voting Record Grid

1	MN 2009: Civil Justice #1,	CIVIL JUSTICE: HF 417, Insurance Recovery - Zellers Amendment: This is the amendment that would have eliminated the one-sided loser pays system for awarding attorney fees in commercial coverage disputes and changed the prejudgment interest rate to 7 percent. The Chamber supported the amendment. It failed on a vote of 60 to 71.

2	MN 2009: Civil Justice #2,	CIVIL JUSTICE: HF 417, Insurance Recovery - Final Passage: The insurance recovery bill included a one-sided loser pays system for awarding attorney fees in commercial coverage disputes and a prejudgment interest rate of 12 percent. The Chamber opposed the bill. It passed on a vote of 75 to 56.

3	MN 2009: Education #1,	EDUCATION: HF 2, Omnibus K-12 Finance Bill - Final Passage: This is the House omnibus K-12 finance bill which contained a delayed phase in of The New Minnesota Miracle and eliminated Q-Comp, the performance-pay-for-teachers program. The Chamber opposed the bill. It passed on a vote of 85 to 48.

4	MN 2009: Education #2,	EDUCATION: HF 2, Omnibus K-12 Finance Bill - Conference Report: This is the conference report on the omnibus K-12 finance bill which waived the Graduation-Required Assessment for Diploma (GRAD) math requirement for high school students to receive diplomas. While there were positive aspects to the bill, the Chamber continued to oppose the bill because the moratorium on the GRAD math assessment outweighed its positive aspects. It passed on a vote of 85 to 49.

5	MN 2009: Energy #1,	ENERGY: SF 550, Energy Omnibus Bill - Faust Amendment: This amendment would have removed Minnesota�s ban on new nuclear generation. The Minnesota Chamber supported the amendment. The amendment failed by a vote of 60 to 72.

6	MN 2009: Fiscal Vote #1,	FISCAL: HF 2323, Omnibus Tax Bill #1 - Ward Amendment: The Ward amendment eliminated from the bill the provision that would have let cities use lodging tax revenue for general fund purposes. The Chamber supported the amendment. It passed on a vote of 96 to 37.

7	MN 2009: Fiscal Vote #2,	FISCAL: HF 2323, Omnibus Tax Bill #1 - Final Passage: The omnibus tax bill included a net tax increase of $1.5 billion. The Chamber opposed the bill. It passed on a vote of 68 to 65.

8	MN 2009: Fiscal Vote #3,	FISCAL: HF 2323, Omnibus Tax Bill #1 - Conference Committee Report: This is the conference committee report on the original omnibus tax bill. It increased taxes by about $1 billion by creating a 4th personal income tax bracket, a new tax on interest income and increasing alcoholic beverage taxes. It also contained the up front exemption for capital equipment purchases, an angel investor tax credit and the K-12 education shifts. The Chamber opposed the bill. It passed on a vote of 82 to 47.

9	MN 2009: Fiscal Vote #4,	FISCAL: HF 885, Omnibus Tax Bill #2 - Conference Committee Report: This bill increased taxes by about $1 billion by creating a 4th personal income tax bracket, a new tax on interest income and increasing alcoholic beverage taxes. The Chamber opposed the bill. It passed on a vote of 86 to 45. [A: Representative Carol McFarlane did vote against adopting the conference committee report on HF 885, but was absent for the vote on its final passage.]

10	MN 2009: Fiscal Vote #5,	FISCAL: HF 885, Omnibus Tax Bill #2 - Veto Override: This is the veto override attempt on the second omnibus tax bill. The Chamber opposed the override. It failed on a vote of 85 to 49 (90 votes are needed to override a veto in the House).

11	MN 2009: Health Care #1,	HEALTH CARE: HF 705, HSA Preventive Care - Final Passage: This bill would have increased the cost of health insurance by requiring high deductible health savings plans to cover preventive care. Purchasers of high deductible HSA plans are generally more price-sensitive to any increases in costs. The Chamber opposed the bill. It passed on a vote of 71 to 62.

12	MN 2009: Labor-Management #1,	LABOR-MANAGEMENT: SF 2081, Omnibus Employment and Economic Development Bill � Downey Amendment: This amendment would have removed the increase in the workforce development fund fee. The Chamber supported the amendment. It failed on a vote of 58 to 70.

13	MN 2009: Transportation #1,	TRANSPORTATION: HF 1309, The Omnibus Transportation Funding Bill - Final Passage: The bill allocated revenue for road and transit projects statewide and eliminated Met Council�s transit operating budget shortfall without new taxes. The Chamber supported the bill. It passed on a vote of 103 to 30.