Minnesota Agencies

The commission shall study and investigate the functions, jurisdiction, organization, and procedures of the Railroad and Warehouse Commission, the law administered by it, and such related matters as the commission deems proper. The commission shall report fully to the Governor and to the legislature on the methods and efficacy of the Railroad and Warehouse Commission, the need for change in its organization and jurisdiction, the sufficiency of present regulation of carriers of person and property, warehouses and public utilities, and of marketing and inspection of coal, grain, and livestock, the advisability of transferring any of its functions to any other division of government and of making it a part of any other division of government, and on any other matter which such commission believes should be reported in the public interest, and its recommendations in respect to matters reported.

The forward of the Commission's report reads: "The ten members of the Railroad and Warehouse Study Commission held their first meeting on July 14, 1955, for purposes of organization. Senator John A. Johnson was elected chairman, Representative Clifton Parks vice-chairman, and Representative Leonard E. Lindquist secretary. An Executive Committee, consisting of the chairman, vice-chairman and secretary was established. The Study Commission, in February, 1956, retained Dr. Edmund A. Nightingale, Professor of Economics and Transportation, School of Business Administration, University of Minnesota, as consultant. Mr. Ralph L. Norgaard, a lawyer and supervisor of the Bus and Truck Division, was asked in March, 1956, to advise the Study Commission on carrier laws, outside of his regular duties and hours. We met a total of 60 days. A number of these meetings were public hearings at which representatives of the regulated industries, members and heads of departments of the Railroad and Warehouse Commission, and other interested parties, appeared and testified. We authorized the attendance of two of our members and the consultant at the annual meeting of the Midwest Association of Railroad and Utilities Commissioners in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 24-26, 1956. Three members and the consultant attended the annual meeting of the National Association of Railroad and Utilities Commissioners in San Francisco on July 24-27, 1956."

The commission shall consist of five members of the Senate to be appointed by the Committee on Committees of the Senate and five members of the House of Representatives to be appointed by the Speaker.

Those appointed were: Senators John A. Johnson, J.R. (Jim) Keller, Louis A. Murray, Gordon Rosenmeier, Donald O. Wright, and Representatives Clifton Parks, Leonard E. Lindquist, Joseph E. Karth, Arne C. Wanvick, and Lawrence Yetka