After a scant eight months in office, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) is breaking out of his shell and positioning himself as an aggressive liberal presence in the Senate — particularly when it comes to one of the most controversial topics in Washington, D.C.: health care reform.

“The first thing I wanted people to know was that I was there to be serious, that I would keep my head down and do my work,” Franken said in his first extended national interview since he was seated in July. “Part of keeping my head down and doing my work was, as a Senator from a state that does this pretty well … to study that and report back.”

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — All four federally supervised Indian schools in northern Minnesota failed to meet federal testing standards last year, yet they aren’t likely to see much of the cash being doled out to public schools across the country under the Obama administration’s signature education reform plan.

Two of them are also sorely in need of physical repairs or replacement, and have been for years. Yet, at current funding levels, the money to fix them may not arrive for years, possibly decades.

“No student in Minnesota should have to contend with mold problems or huge leaks, but that’s what kids in some reservation schools deal with every day,” said Minnesota Sen. Al Franken, a member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. “Students can’t be expected to achieve at high levels when their school building is falling apart.”

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U.S. Sen. Al Franken pushed the Obama administration last week for more federal funds to construct American Indian schools.

The administration increased funding to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, “but unfortunately it has come at the expense of the construction budget,” Franken said Thursday during a budget hearing before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, to which he is a member.

“Even accounting for the transfer of over $51 million from construction to operations, there’s an almost $9 million decrease in Indian school construction,” the Minnesota Democrat said.

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Cheers to U.S. Sen. Al Franken for supporting legislation to curb abuses that deprive employees and retirees of their earnings and retirement savings when businesses collapse.

The “Protecting Employees and Retirees in Business Bankruptcies Act” would make several changes to Chapter 11 bankruptcy law, putting workers interests near the top when companies file for bankruptcy.

“It’s critical that employees and retirees are protected when the company they’ve worked for ends up in bankruptcy,” said Franken. “Minnesotans don’t want workers to lose out when a company reorganizes. We’ve seen that happen too many times, especially on the Iron Range. In this tough economic climate, preserving jobs and retiree benefits must be a priority.”

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When U.S. Sen. Al Franken toured Bemidji’s J.W. Smith Elementary School on Friday, he was impressed when he saw third-graders reading to kindergarteners in the school auditorium. Their cheerful faces made him grin from ear-to-ear.

But in a meeting with area school leaders afterward, Franken found their concerns were no laughing matter.

Over-testing, unfunded federal mandates, special education and teacher pay came into the limelight as leaders turned to the senator, pleading re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also referred to as No Child Left Behind.

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Tensions have cooled since Sen. Al Franken’s heated questioning of NBC and Comcast execs several weeks ago. Remember, when he accused the companies of being downright dishonest?

But it seems the former NBC employee’s inquest into the two companies, which hope to merge, is far from over. Franken recently submitted a series of written questions to both companies, touching on Net Neutrality, unionization and a “terrestrial loophole.”

Perhaps most interesting, however, is Franken wrote that he wants the two execs to guarantee they will keep posting their current and future content online on Web sites like Hulu after the merger. On top of that, he asks them to promise that the content won’t be available only to Comcast cable subscribers.

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Sen. Al Franken wants to make sure other people besides Comcast cable subscribers will be able to watch 30 Rock and The Office online.

According to his written questions to Comcast and NBC Universal’s executives about their proposed $30-billion merge, Franken requested that they promise to put all their television shows online.

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MAHTOMEDI — A U.S. senator who also happens to be a famous comedian spoke from the pulpit of a new energy-efficient Mahtomedi church last week.

The 400 people who heard Sen. Al Franken (D-Minnesota) speak Feb. 17 at the White Bear Unitarian Universalist Church (WBUUC) got a little national policy, a little partisan trash talk, some Washington, D.C., insight and lots of laughs.

The Franken visit was part of a WBUUC Global Climate Committee monthly environmental speaker series. Global Climate Committee Chairman Dick Ottman, of White Bear Lake, orchestrated the visit and greeted the audience in the church foyer.

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St. Paul, Minn. — Hundreds of people rallied Sunday in support of passing comprehensive health care overhaul legislation.

The rally at union hall in Minneapolis was designed to coincide with President Obama’s televised health care summit scheduled for later this week. Business owner Diane Brennan, who owns a hair salon in St. Paul, said the cost of health insurance is making it tough for small business owners to compete.

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Timber availability, student financial aid access, banking regulations, veterans’ concerns — these were some of the issues Sen. Al Franken addressed during an economic development forum.

Representatives from Bemidji, Baudette, Blackduck and Park Rapids gathered Friday in the Beltrami Electric Cooperative community room to hear about Franken’s SEED Act — Strengthening Our Economy Through Employment and Development — and raise issues they want the senator to address.

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