While not exactly rising to the level of scandal, yesterday's 53-4 vote in the Minnesota Senate to designate the Honeycrisp™ apple as Minnesota's state fruit got us wondering: who were the four Senators who voted no?
The Pioneer Press reported this morning that "Teacher Laurel Avery's fourth-grade class at Andersen Elementary School in Bayport chose the Honeycrisp because it was developed through the University of Minnesota's apple-breeding program." Next they wrote their state Senator, Sen. Brian LeClair (R-Woodbury), who introduced SF 2302 last year. Rep. Mike Charron (R-Woodbury) introduced the companion bill in the House, where it awaits action in committee.
If you have never had a Honeycrisp apple, wait until this fall and visit one of the local apple orchards for a taste. It is absolutely the crispest, juiciest, tastiest apple you'll ever eat. You might pay a little more for a Honeycrisp, but what could be a more quintessential Minnesota experience than having a Minnesota-grown apple on a crisp fall afternoon at an apple orchard? And why not promote the U and Minnesota agriculture by designating the Honeycrisp the official state fruit?
So what where Senators Don Betzold (DFL-Fridley), John Marty (DFL-Roseville), Sandy Pappas (DFL-St. Paul), and Wes Skoglund (DFL-Minneapolis) thinking when they voted "no," even after Senate Majority Leader Sen. Dean Johnson (DFL-Willmar) designated the Honeycrisp bill a "special order," calling for an immediate vote?
Apparently, for some in the Legislature, everything is partisan politics.
POLITICS
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