From cradle to grave, Pawlenty budget hits home

(AP)- The beginning of life, and the end, would cost more. Extra effort would be made to get federal headcounters to count every Minnesota head. And $2 million would be set aside for a birthday bash. Sprinkled throughout Gov. Tim Pawlenty's proposed budget are changes that won't draw much attention from legislators. But Minnesotans - from farmers to funeral directors and hardened criminals to history buffs - would sure feel their impact.

In laying out his $34.4 billion budget, Pawlenty put the spotlight Monday on efforts to boost classroom spending, ease pressure on property taxes, promote renewable fuels and expand public health insurance programs.

The hundreds of budget pages reviewed by The Associated Press reveal a much broader reach, such as added expenses for anyone who wants to get behind the wheel or pitch a tent in a state park.

After rising $3 in the last budget, driver's license fees would be bumped up another 75 cents to make a standard license cost $22.25. Roughly 1.7 million license and ID cards are issued annually. There's another 75 cents in added vehicle title fees and $1.75 more to purchase a license plate, except for collector-car versions; they'd jump $15.

"The fees are going up just to meet operational expenses," said Pat McCormack, who leads the Division of Driver and Vehicle Services. The increase will help the office maintain its two-week turnaround for mailing out driver documents, she said.

Enjoying the outdoors could cost a bit more, too. Campground fees at state parks - now used by 750,000 people a year - would climb an average of $2 in 2008.

Fishing tournament organizers would have to pay a new, undetermined fee to cover the $108,000 a year the Department of Natural Resources now spends to oversee them.

Being born and dying also comes with added expense. A fee for screening the estimated 72,000 newborns a year for health disorders would rise for the second time in four years, going from $61 to $81. Funeral homes, crematories and morticians would pay more to be licensed and reports related to pre-paid funerals would carry a higher fee.

Pawlenty's budget would change the cost of doing business for other professions as well. Temporary employment agencies that help deliver social services would pay more for worker background checks, people who dispense hearing aids would pay higher certification fees and health care providers would be charged $10 more to submit specimens to state labs for disease testing.

Minnesota farmers who want to use the "Minnesota Grown" logo on their produce would pay four times more for the privilege. Administration officials said the new $20 annual fee is needed to help fund promotional campaigns and expand the program to livestock producers.

On the flip side, fees would fall for occupational therapists and aquatic pest control applicators. Pawlenty insisted Monday that the overall fee increases - an ongoing source of controversy given his resistance to general tax increases - were low compared to past budgets.

Pawlenty tackles other business matters in the budget. He seeks $315,000 to maintain a legal presence in the Northwest Airlines bankruptcy proceeding; the attorney would keep watch over a multimillion-dollar loan the state once gave the struggling carrier. He earmarks $850,000 for a study of minority- and female-owned businesses to determine whether they are getting an adequate share of state contracts.

Crime-fighters get a lift with a Pawlenty plan to add 20 more forensic scientists at the state crime lab, which officials say are needed to deal with greater DNA demands and cut wait times for evidence analysis from three months or more to one.

For current inmates, the budget includes $2.5 million extra to cope with rapidly rising costs of prison health programs.

Visitors to the state Capitol could notice a heavier security presence if the governor's proposal to add 20 guards and more security equipment holds up. The neighboring Minnesota Judicial Center, currently metal-detector free, would get unspecified fortification under a $500,000 boost in security funding.

"Unfortunately, court decisions produce winners and losers," the budget narrative reads. "Often the loser or those frustrated throughout the court process can act out in dangerous ways."

Schools that need help planning for emergencies could turn to a new state school safety center. And the budget includes $138,000 to coordinate security for the 2008 Republican National Convention, the only direct dollars Pawlenty spends on his party's party.

When it comes to parties, there's another big one approaching in 2008, the state's 150th anniversary. Pawlenty devotes $2 million toward Minnesota sesquicentennial events.

That recognition of the state's past is also evident in his request for $308,000 to preserve 21 battle flags from the Civil War and Spanish American War that are now on display in the Capitol Rotunda.

But there's also a keen eye on Minnesota's future, with a plan to prep for the 2010 Census.

The once-a-decade national population count determines how much representation Minnesota has in Congress and how federal highway dollars and Medicaid money are doled out.

Pawlenty asks for $300,000 to kickstart outreach and promotion campaigns to keep people from being missed - especially among minorities, immigrants and the elderly.

Much is on the line. "Minnesota will be on the cusp of losing its 8th congressional seat by 3,600 people to Florida," the budget documents state. "This initiative will actively promote the full count that Minnesota will need to retain this congressional seat."