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IRRRB transparency provision searches for daylight
Over the weekend, Peter Passi of the Duluth News Tribune continued his coverage of Rep. Tom Anzelc’s bill to end an unusual privacy provision on the books at the IRRRB.* The rule was adopted without debate four years ago and shields much of this unique state agency’s loan agreement data from the public, something that…
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Shedding light on a dark chapter of Range policy
MPR has an informative update on the provision to shed more light on development deals under the purvey of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board. A law that effectively hides key financial details about companies that receive agency funds was tucked in a conference bill a couple years ago to protect Excelsior Energy and…
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Anzelc bill demanding IRRRB transparency advances
A bill by Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam Township) requiring more transparency for potential development projects by the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board has cleared a committee hurdle in the State House, advancing in an Omnibus civil law bill. The bill has no Senate counterpart, where Iron Range senators have been cool to the idea.…
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Anzelc introduces bill demanding IRRRB loan transparency
Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam Township) has officially introduced a bill demanding more transparency in the loans given by the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) to private companies. The IRRRB is the unique state agency that governs mining production taxes paid by iron mines in lieu of local property taxes. The agency’s economic development…
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Anzelc’s IRRRB daylight idea fails, for now
The news roundup from yesterday’s IRRRB meeting includes some valuable observations. The Duluth News Tribune‘s Peter Passi reports separately on the cuts to the mining production tax rebate program, with money diverted to public works projects. Passi also reported on Rep. Tom Anzelc’s motion for IRRRB support of legislation he’s drafting to repeal a 2008…
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Range board trims mine tax rebate, rebuffs transparency plea
I’ve gleaned two bits of news from today’s Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board meeting. First, the iron mining production tax refund (money paid back to mines after taxes for capital projects) was cut in half amid the record mining profits of the last year. The money kept will be dedicated to public works projects…
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The long money trail of Excelsior Energy on the Range
This is a quick update to the post earlier about the Duluth News Tribune investigation into Excelsior Energy on the Iron Range. Citizens Against the Mesaba Project (CAMP) released a response that includes this tidbit: The $1.46 million reported as spent on state lobbying does not include the $220,000 spent prior to 2005, or the…
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Duluth News Tribune details Excelsior lobbying, political contributions
Peter Passi continues his Duluth News Tribune investigation into Excelsior Energy, the start-up company that has spent 10 years and $41 million in public dollars without producing local jobs or any electricity. Today’s topic? The $1.8 million Excelsior and its officials have spent on lobbying and political contributions to state and federal officials of both…
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Range boondoggle now poses test of character, leadership
The implications of Peter Passi’s Duluth News Tribune groundbreaking investigation into the squandering of $41 million in public money by Excelsior Energy on the Iron Range continue to unfold. The story now appears to be the biggest fiscal disaster in Iron Range economic development history, but there’s more yet to explore. Karl Bremer at Ripple…
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A cruel joke on the people of the Range
History’s stage is both wide and deep. No entity with tendrils reaching as far into Iron Range political networks as Excelsior Energy can be expected to exit this stage quietly. The only question is whether the play itself is a comedy or a tragedy. I haven’t decided. This week saw two important developments regarding Excelsior…
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This Iron Range blogger is done apologizing for Iron Range cronyism
Well, they went and did it. Today I’m breaking with my party and conventional political wisdom in describing a great injustice being done to the people of the Iron Range. That’s not a light word, injustice. I aim to defend its use here. The matter, of course, is an old one, something I’ve railed on…