ST. PAUL -- The busiest shopping day of the year is history, and many gifts remaining to be bought will be gift cards -- and a new Minnesota law ensures that most cards don't lose value over time.
"Expiration dates and fees eroded the value of the cards, sometimes leaving the recipient with nothing," Rep. Joe Atkins, DFL-Inver Grove Heights, said.
So this year's Legislature passed a law that forbids most expiration dates and fees for a gift card recipient.
A National Retail Federation gift card survey showed Americans will spend more than $26 billion on gift cards this holiday season. It also showed 27 percent of those who received the cards last year still have not cashed them.
Cards issued by banks and credit cards companies -- even if they look like they came from a business -- still may expire or require further fees. Atkins suggested that a gift card giver, and recipient, look over the fine print on a card to make sure it does not lose value over time.
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Wants certification
A Minnesota lawmaker wants state emergency transportation workers to be better trained.
Rep. Jeremy Kalin, a Chisago County Democrat, said none of the five current and one former staff members of the Minnesota Department of Transportation emergency management office has professional certification.
Sonja Morphew Pitt of Red Wing recently left the department after information surfaced that she was on the East Coast when a Minneapolis bridge collapsed on Aug. 1, and did not return to Minnesota for 10 days. She has been accused of making trips, like the one this summer, that were not needed.
"The problems in MnDOT's Department of Emergency Management extend beyond personal abuse of public funds," Kalin said. "There is the larger issue of training and professional certification in emergency management."
The state legislative auditor plans to release a report on the Pitt situation this week, and it is to include whether her bosses did an adequate job of supervising her.
Seifert named
The top Minnesota House Republican will be honorary chairman for presidential candidate Fred Thompson.
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Rep. Marty Seifert of Marshall took the post last week. He called Thompson, a senator and actor, "the only real conservative in the race."
Planting SEED
Supporters of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's Strategic Entrepreneurial Economic Development initiative will stop in several communities soon.
Known as SEED, the initiative that the governor wants lawmakers to approve next year is designed to improve rural economies. It would invest $70 million in programs to encourage new businesses and help existing ones to grow.
