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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes August 9, 2011 Page 2 IV. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION AND STAFF. None. V. GENERAL BUSINESS OF COUNCIL. A. Presentation from Congressman Keith Ellison. 10 Congressman Keith Ellison thanked the City Council for inviting him and stated his goal is to 11 visit with the cities in the 5t° Congressional District at least once a year in order to touch base 12 and share what is going on in Washington DC. He provided a brief explanation of the Federal U debt ceiling situation, efforts to reduce the Federal budget deficit, and the negotiations that led to 14 the deal struck on August 15` providing for $917 billion in cuts by capping discretionary spending 15 each year through fiscal year 2021. He stated that certain programs have been held harmless 16 from any cuts, including Social Security, the food stamp program, and Medicare, while Stafford 17 loans will be reduced so the expense of borrowing money for college will go up. He explained 18 that a twelve member joint bipartisan and bicameral committee will be formed with the 19 responsibility to find $1.5 trillion in deficit reductions and this committee will produce a bill 20 which will be voted on by the House before December. He noted there will be no amendments 21 to this bill and it will simply be a straight up or down vote on the package that the joint 22 committee produces. He stated if Congress fails to pass the joint committee's recommendation, 23 a mechanism will be triggered which provides 50% cuts from discretionary spending and 50% 24 cuts from the military over a ten year period totaling $2.5 trillion. He stated that he will work 25 with his constituents to find savings and to make sure the bill does not cut into the ability to 26 create jobs and to make sure the middle class does not bear the burden of all cuts. He advised 27 that there has been very little movement on the transportation bill due to strong opposition to the 28 imposition of a gas tax increase during this difficult economic time. He discussed the recent 29 credit downgrade by Standard & Poor's and indicated that if the country's unemployment rate 30 was 5% instead of 9.1 %, the country's deficit would be half of what it is. He stated that he wants 31 to stay in communication with the City about its priorities and offered his office as a resource to 32 anyone. He then introduced Bass Zanjani from his staff and stated that he is honored and 33 privileged to represent the 5a` Congressional District. 34 35 Mayor Faust asked Congressman Ellison to share with his colleagues what the State of 36 Minnesota has gone through with the recent government shutdown and the impact of the 37 shutdown on the wellbeing of the residents of the State of Minnesota. He expressed his thanks to 38 Congressman Ellison for his service. 39 40 B. Presentation from Freshwater Society. Peggy Knapp, Director of Programs, Freshwater 41 Society presenting. 42 43 Ms. Peggy Knapp, Director of Programs, Freshwater Society, discussed the organic clean -up 44 program being proposed to clean up several of the City's streets in the fall, intended to 45 supplement the work that the City does in cleaning its streets. She explained that the program is 46 a partnership with the City and MWMO to organize groups of volunteers to clean leaves out of