Stoneage Ramblings

By John R. Stone

Governor Tim Walz  and DFL leaders outlined some proposals for the Minnesota Legislature going forward. Some look more practical to me than others.

I’m generally in favor of education spending as long as we can show that it will get results. I know there was a setback when students studied from home during COVID and we have some making up to do.

I also feel that we should be making affordable educational opportunities for people who want to attend our public universities and colleges. I would hope that in all of those state sponsored institutions that we are giving people skills they will need and can afford.

One of the problems with the student debt issue is that students have been allowed to accumulate debt they have no reasonable expectation of paying back if they pursue the career their education steers them toward. We need to do better.

And, as Tim Horner suggested in a recent piece in the StarTribune, state colleges and universities need to look at their program offerings to make sure they are meeting the needs of society and business today and tomorrow. And that would include eliminating programs that do not meet today’s needs.

I’m also in favor of some kind of 4K program, a precursor to kindergarten. 4K is designed to narrow the gap students face when they enter kindergarten and give them the base they need as they learn to read and write and communicate.

It has the double advantage of allowing some who care for children at home the opportunity to work at least half a day. Given our shortage of workers it could be a big help.

Minnesota has the highest high school graduation rate in the nation at about 93% Some states are in the 60% range. Having educated workers can be an edge we need to compete for businesses in our winter climate. People who grew up here know what it’s like. Those who grew up in warmer climates might be less interested in working here. Let’s work to keep our kids here with good, interesting and well-paying jobs.

The governor has also proposed some kind of paid leave program primarily for maternity. I realize that this is an ideal situation for parents but, as a person involved in small businesses, I would hope that it wouldn’t discriminate against small businesses.

The theory, I think, is that the state would help support a new parent economically for taking up to six weeks off work. This can work fine for the parent.

I have worked my entire life in the newspaper-printing business in small businesses. The nature of the businesses was that we had a number of skill positions but only one person in each skill position. Writers, ad sales people, bookkeepers and photographers require very different skills. Writers have different skills, there is a lot of difference between writing sports and covering a county board meeting.

Why not have two people in each position? The businesses were too small to afford that much overlap.

It was a stretch to give people vacation time because everyone else has to pick up the slack. Having to cover for a stretch of six weeks as opposed to two weeks is a big difference for those who have to do the covering.

In a big business you may have 30 people doing the same thing in the same place so it is easier to cover for a person who is gone. In small business where others have to cover means a substantial additional time commitment from others. It may also mean their job doesn’t get done as well as it should.

So my question is this, if a small business were required to allow a person an extended leave for child birth or severe illness would it make sense to pay the business employees who end up doing the work extra as well?

There will be more coming from this legislature. I hope that rural Minnesota is not left out and that we don’t stifle job-creating businesses. And I hope we don’t add so many new programs it creates financing difficulties in the future.