State Fair Poll results

The Minnesota House of Representatives has tallied the results of their annual, unscientific, self-selected State Fair Poll. The results are here. Some thoughts:

Two-thirds of people support the constitutional amendment to dedicate the Motor Vehicle Sales Tax to transit and transportation. That's good news. However, 52% of people oppose raising the gas tax by ten cents per gallon. We need more revenue for roads and transit, or events like pushing the Crosstown reconstruction out another year will become more commonplace. I hope those 52% of people aren't complaining about traffic.

A plurality of people oppose lengthening the school year. I'd like to see it made long so kids can get more edumacated.

No on a Vikings stadium. How many polls will it take before politicians get it?

No to allowing pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions due to ethical reasons. In fact, No by a huge margin (75% to 22%). The electorate is much more sane than MCCL would like.

Yes to a health-impact fee on alcohol. That's an interesting proposal, one I hadn't heard before. Smokers must think that misery loves company.

Yes to restricting underage passengers for drivers under the age of 18. Good idea. Countless studies show how dangerous it is for 16-year old kids to drive around a car full of other 16-year olds.

Yes to requiring farmers who use fertilizers and pesticides to notify adjacent landowners of when they do it and what they use. Another interesting idea, one that sounds good but one that probably has a lot of opposition among farmers.

No to the Dream Act, which would give non-citizen high school students in-state tuition rates at college. I'm sorry, but opposing this is just stupid. These people are residents by any stretch of the imagination: they went to school here, they pay taxes here, this is their home. To deny them in-state tuition because of their parents' legal status is grossly unfair. We want these people to get an education, put down roots in Minnesota, create high-paying jobs, and pay taxes.

Yes to encouraging doctors and dentists to practice in rural Minnesota through the use of incentives. This is a huge problem, one that is probably going to get worse as more baby boomers retire.

Yes to exempting military pensions from state income taxes. A no-brainer.

Favorite food on a stick: Pronto Pup. I'd have to go with "None of the above", not a big fan of the foods on a stick variety.

Since this is not a scientific poll, you can't draw too many conclusions from it. But on balance, these results show that extremism is not in.