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Tuesday, February 05, 2002

U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn.) thinks that pumping billions of extra dollars into defense and anti-terrorism initiatives doesn’t mean giving up on careful oversight of spending. He also offered his perspective Monday on funding for special education programs and portions of the 2002 farm bill.

In a question and answer session with the media after his visit to Halverson Elementary School in Albert Lea, Gutknecht gave his opinions on the $2.13 trillion budget proposal made by President George Bush. He thinks that the proposal will get a fair hearing, but he feels that the House has primary responsibility for setting budget priorities.

Gutknecht sees one of the priorities of the government as ensuring a stable economy, and would like the emphasis to be on returning to a balanced budget as quickly as possible. Given the politics involved, he thinks there won’t be many cuts made to existing programs.

&uot;I don’t know of any specific program getting cut, but there will likely be smaller increases,&uot; Gutknecht said.

One proposed increase already causes concern for Gutknecht. Bush is asking for an extra $37 billion for the military, on top of the $20 billion Congress authorized last September, he said.

&uot;We gave them that $20 billion last year and they weren’t able to spend all of it,&uot; said Gutknecht. He wonders whether they are prepared to handle all the extra money.

Gutknecht also thinks that it’s time to consider selling war bonds to help pay the bills for the war on terrorism. The administration has been cool to the idea so far, but Gutknecht thinks it would find support.

&uot;People would be willing to buy war bonds, with a higher degree of likelihood than some people think,&uot; he added.

On education, the problems with funding special education are more difficult to solve, he said. Gutknecht thinks it’s time to look at those needs again, to find out why they are such a drain on both local schools and federal coffers. It’s time to set up a national task force to take a closer look at the original intentions of the federal special education mandate, and what the commitment was supposed to be, Gutknecht said.

The federal government has required schools to offer certain special-education programs, but has not supplied all the funding to pay for them.

&uot;We have not lived up to our end of the bargain, but at the same time maybe we need to reevaluate who is a special education student in the first place,&uot; said Gutknecht.

&uot;Up to now I don’t think anyone has had the courage to stand up and say that we need to take a closer look at this,&uot; he said.

Gutknecht also spoke favorably of a rural telework provision in the Senate’s version of the 2002 farm bill that would encourage expansion of the high-tech business sector in rural communities like Albert Lea.

But caution is important, he said, because he has seen how other states have wedded themselves to specific technologies that haven’t turned out to be the right choice. Gutknecht is especially interested in seeing an expansion in the wireless technology market.

He is optimistic, despite what happens or doesn’t happen in the Senate.

&uot;I would like to see it happen. Even if it isn’t in the farm bill in the end, it’s going to happen – with or without federal support,&uot; he said.