Early Birds: Todd Anderson was the first to arrive at the Department of Transportation. It seems serendipitous. Next to arrive was Jerry Olson. The rest of the crew apparently couldn’t break in as easily as Todd did.
Jim Erickson, Solomon Strategies, played host for the day and was assisted by his colleague, John Quincy, and Amy Koch.
Guests: Erik Schindler brought Arman Ahmadi for a 3rd visit. Jim Christianson brought, Bill Manwarren, Tom Goodwin, and Larry Kouba. John Devine, Regent Emeritus, was also a guest of Jim Erickson.
Honorary Members: Mark Simon and Martin Peyer were in attendance.
Announcements:
- Get your foursome ready for the MBC Golf outing on June 17.
- Ice is out on Lake Minnetonka and Mike Palm is polishing the boat chrome for the MBC later this summer.
- Craft Talk update! We will be having 2 offsites in May, Staples on May 15 and Norcostco on May 22.
Business Networking: None today.
Business Exchange: None today.
Business Updates: What’s new in your business?
Table Introductions: None today.
Pot of Gold: We collected the cards and money today, but the drawing will be held next week. So, on May1, there will be 2 Pots of Gold.
Craft Talk:
Jim Erickson introduced our interactive mock conference committee session.
Senator Nick Frentz and Representative Paul Torkelson were there to assist us in the process.
We organized as a group of Senate Republicans, including Todd Anderson, Mike Palm, Chuck Shreffler, Martin Peyer, and Karen Holtmeier, and a group of House Democrats, including Mark Simon, Ed Crandall, John Quincy, Bill Manwarren, and Tom Goodwin.
The conference committee was given 30 minutes to reach a compromise on the topic of the Governor’s request for a 20-cent gas tax increase vs the Senate position of a zero-gas tax increase. Surprise, surprise the group met in the middle with a 10-cent increase phased in over 2 years.
Todd Anderson offered a tax of $1 per ride on ride share services like Uber and Lyft.
John Winston, Grass roots party representative, was an expert witness and went off topic about legalizing marijuana and taxing it to the extreme.
A good time was had by all.
For lobbying the State government on your favorite issue, give Jim Erickson a call.
Register to Jim Erickson at jim@solomonssg.com or 612-325-3009.
Looking ahead
May 1 will be Smilekeepers (Susanne Bonfe) at the Edina CC.
May 8 will be Windrider (Robert Sandberg) at the Edina CC.
May 15 will be OFFSITE at Staples.