Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1939-02-02
Voice From Senate
BY SEN. c. ELMER JOHNSON,
From Pine and Chisago Counties
Civil Service.

From Pine and Chisago Counties
Civil Service.
The Senate has been in session II
days. In all 3O2 bills have been in
troduced, practically all of which are
yet under consideration in the var
ious committees. Among the more
important measures are three bills,
the A. F. L., the League of Women
Voters and the Bar Association bills
for a state civil service. The A. F.
of L. measure is the most popular.
1t has the support of practically all
labor groups and veterans associa-
tons. This bill contains veterans
preference section and favors con-
firming present employees upon a
qualifying examination. 1t is thought
that employees who have served eff
ficiently and faithfully for number
of years should be given conSidera-
ton, and results from experience
with civil service examination do not
warrant the expense of putting all
present employees through the reg
ular civil service examination. / am
very anxious to protect the rights
of those state employees who now
are working under a splendid civil
service law. 1t may be month or
more but, eventually, l believe a
fairly good civil service law will be
enacted.
Departments Have New Heads.
Believe it or not, business at the
capitol is going on as usual. OF
course, there are lot of new faces
and some delay is occasioned by the
change in personnel. The Governors
budget message has been held up so
the new commissioner of the budget
could become familiar with the needs
of the various departments. 1t is in
teresting to note that while we here
in Minnesota are struggling to keep
the budget from being increased, the
majority of the Senate applauds the
action of Congress in cutting the ma
tional budget on relief My humble
opinion is that if the national budget
is cut, it almost necessarily follows
that the states share of the burden
will be larger. The same rule applies
to the state in its relationship to the
counties. In this respect, let me
report that we have introduced bills
in the Senate and House asking for
the right to refinance Pine county's
outstanding obligations and to en-
power the county governing body to
levy sufficient taxes to meet their
budget We have also asked for an
appropriation of S250,000 to pay the
states equity where the bonded in
debtedness in school districts and
townships are over SO percent in
debt, etc.
Dog License Indemnity Fund.
The Seth Legislative district is
quite prominent in sheep and poultry
raising and the sheep and other live
stock breeders have taken a lot of
interest in efforts of the legislature
to establish a fund to insure the
payment of claims from destruction
of sheep, cattle and poultry by dogs.
There is a law on the books but it
is unavoidable and am studying the
programs of Iowa, Wisconsin and
Illinois and feel confident that we
can pass law that will take care
of this vexing problem. 1 am also
interested in securing legislation that
would insure the farmer against dam
age caused by protected wild animals
The members of the House have
passed a resolution absolving the
state from any liability as to losses
sustained from such losses.
At its session Friday the Senate
recommended for passage renewal
of the mortgage moratorium law for
another two years.
Convention and Carnival Week.
Friday and Saturday of last week
were busy days in st. Paul with the
Farmer-Labor Association convention
and the opening of the Ice Carnival
with its parade and ice frolic. The
Farmer-Labor convention was most
successful, and judging by the enthu-
siasm of the delegates that party is
very much alive, with the new consti-
tuition barring Communists and affili-
ates except regular labor unions the
leaders seem very hopeful that the
Farmer-Labor party will continue
strong vital progressive force in
Minnesota politics.
Diversion of Income Tax.
There is a move on in the state
to finance relief and other state costs
at the expense of the school funds.
This is a new menace that the rural
counties must face. During the cam
paign we were led to believe that all
parties were for paying state aids in
full. Now we find some leaders of
the majority party supporting move
to divert more of the income tax into
the general revenue expense fund.