Text: December 1, 2015The Honorable Kurt DaudtSpeaker of the House of RepresentativesRoom 463, State Office BuildingSt. Paul, Minnesota 55155Dear Speaker Daudt:I write again to respectfully urge your Caucus to agree to a Special Session of theMinnesota Legislature to begin to address the serious disparities affecting Minnesotans of color andto provide an extension of unemployment benefits to mineworkers on the Iron Range.As you know, a recent U.S. Census Bureau report highlighted the many troublingeconomic disparities facing Minnesotans of color, specifically Black Minnesotans. The reportshowed that from 2013 to 2014, the median income for Black Minnesotans fell by 14 percent --dropping from $31,493 to $27,440 in a single year. The report also showed that the poverty rate forBlack Minnesotans rose from 30.5 percent to 34.7 percent -- compared to an 11 percent poverty ratefor the state overall.I have added reducing Minnesota's racial disparities to my proposed Special Sessionagenda, because we cannot ignore these problems any longer. There are a few urgent issues that wecan address in a Special Session, which will lay the groundwork for a broader discussion during theRegular Session. The time is now for our state to invest in programs and policies that will improvethe social and economic futures for Minnesotans of color.Toward that goal, I request that the Special Session include a $15 million investment toimprove economic outcomes in communities of color. I will make a specific proposal for the use ofthose funds, after I have consulted with impacted communities. I fully recognize that more needs tobe done, and look forward to working with you to make additional investments during the 2016regular session to begin to close the economic disparity Minnesotans of color are facing in our state.In addition to people of color, mineworkers on the Iron Range are facing significanteconomic hardship as a result of the global steel market and depressed prices as a result of steeldumping. As of December 1, 2015, an estimated 1,433 workers affected by mine layoffs on theIron Range applied for unemployment insurance benefits with the majority of applications filedbetween May and August of this year. You will remember the layoffs were expected to be recalledthis fall. However, rather than workers being recalled, the Iron Range is facing additional layoffs asNorthshore Mine in Babbit and Silver Bay and Magnetation Plant 2 in Bovey stop operations. Asyou know, unemployment benefits for hundreds of mineworkers, through no fault or choice of theirown, will exhaust before the 2016 Legislative Session.The layoffs and subsequent benefit exhaustion are having a crippling effect through IronRange communities. Not only are the mineworkers and their families struggling to determine howto survive in the face of an uncertain future. The many industries that support the iron ore minesare struggling to retain their staffs and operations. Each mining job creates an additional 1.8 jobs in the region. It is critical that that the state extend unemployment benefits to support mineworkerswhose benefits have exhausted while we also continue to pressure the federal government to doeverything in its power to protect the U.S. steel industry.Regarding the proposed Sandpiper and PolyMet projects, neither I nor anyone in myadministration has attempted to obstruct either of those proposed projects or to prolong thetimetables for their review. I have long been on public record in support of the Sandpiper pipeline.I want it to be approved and routed as soon as possible, so as to reduce the even greater risks to ourcitizens and to our environment from the rail transport of Bakken oil.However, by law the responsibility for the determination of need for, and the routing of,the Sandpiper pipeline rests entirely with the Public Utilities Commission, which is, also by statute,completely independent of my administration in its decision-making process.Regarding the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mining operation, years of delays in itsreview preceded my taking office, including the federal Environmental Protection Agency rejectingits first Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Since I became Governor, however, theDepartment of Natural Resources has proceeded apace with the two responsible federal agencies intheir determination of the adequacy of the current EIS.That entire review has been conducted on a timetable, which accords with applicablefederal and state statutes and previously established rules and procedures. It was recentlylengthened by the over 58,000 public comments to the Draft EIS, all of which by statute required --and deserved -- individual responses. The DNR is presently receiving public comments to the FinalEIS, and Commissioner Landwehr will issue his determination on its adequacy just as soon as thatprocess is completed. If the Final EIS is determined to be adequate, the necessary permittingprocesses will begin.I have not taken a position for or against the PolyMet project and I will not until all ofthe permitting reviews have been completed. Over a year ago, several of my then-Republicangubernatorial opponents voiced their full support for the project, before any of the environmentaland financial reviews, which I believe are crucial to a responsible determination, had even begun,much less were completed. I said then -- and I repeat now -- to insert electoral politics into adecision of this enormous magnitude for northeastern Minnesota and our entire state is, in my view,irresponsible.Nevertheless, to clear the slate for your agreement to a Special Session, I hereby assureyou that neither I nor anyone in my administration will act to impede or delay the environmental orfinancial reviews of the PolyMet project, if the Final EIS is determined to be adequate. Neither willmy adMinistration be rushed into short-circuiting and short-changing any of those careful reviews.Again, I ask your Caucus to agree to a Special Session to address the economicdisparities of some of the most vulnerable Minnesotans. I look forward to your reply in the verynear future regarding this critical matter. Sincerely,Mark DaytonGovernor