FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 22, 2004

REP OTTO RATED AS ST CROIX VALLEY’S STRONGEST LEGISLATIVE ADVOCATE FOR CHILDREN

ST PAUL, MN – The non-profit, non-partisan Children’s Defense Fund has rated Representative Rebecca Otto as the St Croix Valley’s strongest advocate for children in the State Legislature.

“When it’s budget-cutting time, children can’t stand up for themselves,” the Children’s Defense Fund Action Council said in a report entitled ”the child defender” released last week. “Make sure those who represent you stand up for them.”

Otto, who ran for the Minnesota House based on her strong record of experience as a public school teacher, school board member, levy committee chair, mother and business woman, said she was proud of the rating.

"Children are not only our most precious asset and resource, they are the center of our hearts," said Otto. "Putting energy into children is the best return on investment of anything we can do. Strong youth stabilize our communities, provide responsible workers, keep crime and drug use low, and prevent teen pregnancy. They are our hope for tomorrow, and a measure of our stability today."

Other area legislators – among them Senators Michele Bachmann and Brian Leclair, and former Representative Eric Lipman, all scored among the state’s lowest rankings among Democrats and Republicans.

The final votes included bills that expanded access to concealed handguns, cut funding for child care programs, and dropped thousands of children from health insurance coverage. Another key vote cut Head Start and School Readiness programs, a decision Otto spoke out against and was backed up by fiscal conservative and Federal Reserve Bank Vice Chairman Art Rolnick, who called Head Start "the best return on investment" of any state program. "We have to remember that government isn't just about taxes," said Otto. "It's about addressing our shared priorities. All taxes are is how we pay for those priorities, and cutting blindly is sometimes penny wise and pound foolish."

Last year, Otto received similar kudos from the group, while her fellow St Croix Valley Legislators again all scored among the lowest of legislative rankings. Senator Bachmann at that time argued that the CDF was a partisan organization.

“You won’t find many Republicans who believe they get a fair shake from the Children’s Defense Fund ... You would think that spending on such programs as child-care assistance had been ended rather than being brought more into line with our neighboring states.”

But Representative Otto disagreed. "Children are not a Republican or Democrat issue, they’re children,” she said. “We’re not striving to be average. We’re trying to make Minnesota the best. That’s what it’s all about. Excellence. And part of excellence is recognizing we have an obligation to support positive outcomes in children and to prevent faulty outcomes. It’s cheaper, it’s more effective, and it’s more humane.”

According to information posted to its Web site at www.cdfactioncouncil.org, the CDF Action Council was founded in 1969 as a private, non-profit organization, organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, and has “never taken government funds... It is a non-partisan organization that educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventative investments before they get sick, into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown.”

Bachmann, however, said that she believes The CDF Action Council is a “sister organization to Marian Wright Edelman’s Children’s Defense Fund,” and that “CDF wouldn’t survive without government money.” It did not surprise her, she said, that the CDF “praises the hand that feeds it.” To that end, she asked “What should the answer be? More money for families or more money for government?”

But CDF Public Policy Director Minh Ta disputed that. “CDF in its 30-year history has never received any government funds,” he said. “CDF is a private, non-profit organization supported ONLY by foundation grants and individual donations.”

He went on to say “CDF has supported tax cuts, but it believes tax cuts should be family friendly and targeted to working families and children. In fact, Rep. Lipman voted against a family friendly amendment to a 2001 tax bill, which would have increased the value of the personal and dependent exemption. Both the conservative Minnesota Taxpayers League and CDF supported this amendment.”

“Through its history, CDF has worked successfully with Republicans, Democrats, and Independents,” Ta said. “For example, this past legislative session CDF worked closely with Republican Rep. Ron Abrams (Chairman of the House Tax Committee) to pass legislation to crack down on predatory lending practices that rob low-income families of their hard earned tax cuts.”

“CDF strongly believes that all children deserve loving parents and strong families, that’s why it advocates for legislation to support families. But in instances where children don’t have loving parents, but rather neglectful families, CDF believes that the broader society - including government - can play a major role in caring for children by strengthening families and communities.”

For more information on the CDF, call 651-227-6121, or visit the CDF website at www.cdfactioncouncil.org.