Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer. I can’t believe that it is almost time for the State Fair! Even though the Legislature is not in session, there is always something going on to talk about.
First, the festivities for the Capitol Official Reopening start in August – a worthwhile trip for you to make. Lots of fun events and the building is stunning. See more
Second, two court cases have seen action in the last couple of weeks. First, the litigation against the Speaker of the House for not accepting the pay raises, which it seems are required by the Constitutional amendment, was dismissed, followed by a bipartisan suit brought by members of the House. Finally, on Friday the Speaker agreed to accept and implement the pay raises, an action that the Senate had already taken.
The Governor’s action to veto funding for the House and Senate to get leadership back to the bargaining table was ruled a violation of the separation of powers clause of the constitution. The Governor has indicated that he will appeal to the Supreme Court.
The MACVB Public Policy Committee met on July 14, and will continue to meet monthly. If you have topics for that group to consider please contact the Chair, Stephanie Busiahn.
The development of the Policy Statement on Lodging Tax was very useful during the last session and the group will be developing additional similar documents on key issues going forward. A CVB Value Statement is also being developed and would be available for members to use to communicate about the value that a CVB provides for their community.
A burning issue for the CVB community currently is the short- term rental of property. This topic is under serious discussion by Minneapolis and St. Paul, as they prepare for the Super Bowl, and once there is a clear message from those two cities, the Public Policy Committee will review on behalf of the association members.
Please come prepared to discuss public policy matters of importance to you at the Annual Meeting. If there are topics you want to make sure we discuss at that meeting, again, please contact Stephanie Busiahn so that we might add them to the Agenda.
The City of Sleepy Eye is working on activating their Visitor Bureau and hopefully they will join the Association. Conversations are ongoing in Woodbury and the Chisago Lakes Area, as each area seeks to implement a visitor bureau to promote their communities. Finally, there was another city attempting to divert the use of lodging tax funds from the stated statutory purpose, but thanks to the efforts of the local CVB Director, Dan McElroy and myself, efforts of city staff face some serious challenges to their efforts. More on this at the Annual Meeting.
As always, I am available to assist you with any issues that pop up in your community – just contact me.
Luci Botzek, JD/Capitol Connections
Public Policy Consultant
651-293-9295 Office
651-283-4512 Cell
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