Back to School

Neighbor, 

I hope you’ve all been enjoying your summer. It’s hard to believe Labor Day weekend is almost upon us, and students are heading back to school. After the struggles of the past year, it was a high priority of the DFL House to ensure that when our students go back to school, they do so with the support they deserve. 

The compromise we reached in funding education makes big investments to help all of our students realize their full potential with a per-pupil funding increase, the largest in 15 years. We’re also preserving over 4,000 pre-k slots and addressing our shortfalls in special education and English learner programs with critical funding.

For the school districts that serve our community, the Osseo School District will see a $208 per-pupil funding increase this year, and a $351 increase the following year; and the Robbinsdale School District will see a $423 per-pupil increase, and $593 increase the next year. 

New District Maps

Minnesota goes through redistricting every ten years, after the U.S. Census is conducted. Using the latest data, legislators work together to draw new political maps. Minnesota was projected to lose a congressional seat last year, but thanks to the incredible turnout by our community, that didn’t happen. That means we’ll be redrawing the boundaries of the state’s eight congressional districts, 67 state senate districts, and 134 state house districts. At the end of this process, each district should contain about the same number of residents as others of that kind. The new maps should reflect how Minnesota’s population has changed as well as the growing diversity of our state.  

The House Redistricting Committee officially began this important process last week. The bipartisan group met on Wednesday, August 18 to review Census data and discuss related legislation. Over the next few weeks, they’ll be hearing from Minnesotans from each of our eight congressional districts. Residents of the 2nd Congressional District are invited to testify on Monday, September 15. If you’re interested, you can find details here. 

Stay Connected

Though we’re currently in the legislative interim, we are preparing for a brief special session, likely in the coming weeks. An influx of federal funds need to be allocated to the Minnesotans that serve on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, and there’s also a need to assist Minnesota’s farmers that had to deal with this summer’s devastating drought. I’ll be sure to keep you updated on our upcoming work. 

If you have any questions you have about the bills we passed this year, or ideas you may have for our community, please feel free to reach out. You can contact me through email (rep.michael.nelson@house.mn) or phone (651-296-3751). I appreciate hearing from you.

Sincerely,  

Rep. Michael V. Nelson