Editorial Roundup: Minnesota

By The Associated Press The Associated Press

Minneapolis Star Tribune. April 30, 2024.

Editorial: State wisely mulls banning book bans

Legislation would require that key decisions be made by library professionals.

A good response to the troubling trend of restricting access to books is making its way through the 2024 Minnesota Legislature. Now part of the education policy conference committee bill, the smart legislation would ban book bans.

As amended this week, the measure would prohibit book bans in public and school libraries based on content or ideological objections. And it would require the key decisions about the books and other age-appropriate materials be made by library professionals.

School boards or other school governing bodies would be required to adopt policies that outline procedures for selection of and reconsideration of library materials. Parents, guardians or adult students could still request a curriculum content challenge to the material. But the ultimate decisions would lie with library professionals.

That’s as it should be. Book bans around the nation have increased so much that some schools and librarians worry about lawsuits, fines and even imprisonment if they carry books on their shelves that others want to ban. Already this year, lawmakers in more than 15 states have introduced bills to impose harsh penalties on libraries or librarians.

The American Library Association reports that more than 4,200 works in school and public libraries were challenged in 2023, a dramatic increase from nearly 2,600 books in 2022. And in 2023, 47% of the targeted books had LGBTQ and racial themes.

Minnesota is one of several Democratic-leaning states where lawmakers are now wisely pursuing prohibiting book bans. Legislators in Washington and Maryland have passed protections this year; Illinois did so last year.

Earlier this year, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a former high school teacher, proposed a ban on book bans, understanding the importance of student access. The governor told reporters that book bans are “the antithesis of everything we believe” and denounced what he depicted as a growing effort to bully school boards.

Still, there have been objections to the proposal. Some Republican lawmakers have argued that their colleagues should be focusing instead on student performance, with just under half of public-school students now reading at grade level.

“Every book is banned for a child that doesn’t know how to read,” said GOP Rep. Patricia Mueller, a teacher from Austin, told the Associated Press.

Yet as the Star Tribune Editorial Board has previously argued, access to a variety of materials is important to fuel student interest in reading. And it’s important for young people to see more of their own lives and cultures reflected in materials they find on the shelves.

Some experts consider the books that have been targeted for banishment to be lifeline for many underrepresented kids. Students like Shae Ross, a queer and out Bloomington high school senior who has worked on campaigns to preserve access to books dealing with sexuality, gender and race. Ross, 18, told the AP that she is encouraged to see her governor and leaders of other states are taking the fight statewide.

“For a lot of teenagers … literature becomes sort of an escape,” Ross said. “Especially when I was like sixth, seventh grade, I’d say reading books, especially books with gay characters … was a way that I could feel seen and represented.”

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Mankato Free Press. April 24, 2024.

Editorial: Bonding: Delaying investments will be costly

The best time to invest in state-owned infrastructure was two years ago, when the Legislature failed to pass a bonding bill.

Interest rates were lower at the time and so were construction costs. Now, both have skyrocketed.

The Legislature’s inability to agree on a bill will be much more costly if it fails again this year. And we must learn the lessons of the past inaction and pass a smaller, but still critically needed, bonding bill.

The $989 million plan proposed by Gov. Tim Walz in January would allocate about half to shore up state-owned assets like university buildings and prisons as well as consolidating State Patrol operations into one place. The plan also would provide $48 million for a new Bureau of Criminal Apprehension lab in Mankato.

Much of the funding addresses deferred maintenance at public buildings that should have been taken care of years ago. Walz and Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Erin Campbell said the investments in state buildings is necessary to keep the state’s Triple A bond rating.

Rating agencies don’t care about politics. If our buildings deteriorate, they are worth less.

The Walz proposal also allocates about $215 million for water and transportation projects including efforts to eliminate PFAs in drinking water across the state. And while a nearly $1 billion investment last year in housing met some of the needs, Walz has proposed another $45 million in housing infrastructure bonds to build multi-family housing for those facing homelessness.

Legislators have not yet released their bonding proposals, but any bill will need to be bipartisan as bonding requires a three-fifths majority to pass. So far, Republicans seem to be favoring more investments in local communities and things like water treatment plant upgrades.

The reality is that $1 billion a year to shore up state buildings and make sure water is clean and streets are safe is a necessary investment, even with last year’s bonding bill of $2.6 billion that involved catching up from years of neglect. About $1.1 billion of last year’s bill was surplus cash. This year, the bonding capacity is about $830 million, leaving about $150 million to come from the state’s $2.4 billion surplus.

We urge Republicans and Democrats to pass a strong bonding bill including many of Walz’s projects. Every year a bonding bill is not passed costs taxpayers in the long run and put projects further behind.

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