Morgan Throws Support to Bill to Create the '13th Grade' Pilot Program

District 56B Rep. Will Morgan (DFL) has cast his support behind a measure that would create a "13th Grade" pilot program for young adults who are not employed, enrolled for any post-secondary education and who do not have a defined career pathway.

The bill, if approved, would require the state's education commissioner to select sites for the pilot program by Dec. 31, 2013. Graduating seniors in each of teh pilot sites would proceed through a 12-month nonresidential college readiness and career pathways program focused on skill-building.

In other political news around the county:

District 20 (Northfield)

District 20B Rep. David Bly (DFL) has joined a crowd of Minnesota legislators in their support for a bill prohibiting law enforcement from using unmanned aircraft in to gather evidence or other information, with several exceptions for emergency situations.

The proposal, authored by District 60B Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL), would also prevent private residents from using a drone for surveillance purposes and prohibit federal agencies from operating drones in Minnesota airspace.

District 51 (Eagan, Burnsville)

The Lower Minnesota River Watershed District needs a new place to put all the sediment dredged from the Minnesota River.

And several local legislators, including District 51 Sen. Jim Carlson ( DFL), are supporting a bill that would appropriate $4 million for the creation of a new dredge dump site and the rehabilitation of current dump sites. The bill, SF 1471, would appropriate the necessary funds from state bonding proceeds. The river dredging is related the maintenance of a navigable channel on the Minnesota River.

District 52 (Mendota Heights, Inver Grove Heights)

District 52 Sen. James P. Metzen (DFL) wants to appropriate $1.5 million from the state's bond proceeds fund to help replace aging heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems in indoor ice arenas across the state. The money would be distributed by the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission for grants to local governments. The goal of the replacement program is to improve indoor air quality by reducing carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide.

District 57 (Apple Valley, Rosemount)

Want year-round schooling?

District 57 Sen. Greg D. Clausen (DFL) believes the question should be put to a district-wide referendum vote. Clausen authored a measure that would allow a school board to implement year-round schooling as long as it has the approval of its voters at a referendum called by the board. Districts would still be required to have a minimum of 935 hours of instruction for first- through sixth-grade students and 1,020 hours for seventh- through 12-grade students.

District 58 (Lakeville)

Civil unions accomplish the same thing as marriage, without getting into matters of faith or sacrament, according to District 58R Rep. Pat Garofalo (R), one of several Republican legislators backing a new bill to legalize civil unions in Minnesota.

Under the proposal, authored by District 21A Rep. Tim Kelly (R), any two consenting individuals 18 years old or older could obtain a civil union. On Wednesday, Kelly told reporters that the civil union bill would give gay couples all the benefits of marriage but keep government out of the debate, according to a KSTP report.