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Dear neighbors,
I hope you and your loved ones have been able to get outdoors and enjoy the beautiful weather we’ve had recently.
Free Admission to State Parks
All of Minnesota’s state parks and recreation areas will offer free admission on Saturday, June 12. If you haven’t visited one of them recently – or even if you have, it’s a great opportunity to explore all our state has to offer! A map of all of the state parks is available here; if you’re interested in learning more about one of them, just click on the name for more information.
Update on Chronic Wasting Disease
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a serious threat to our wild deer population. Unfortunately, this highly infectious and fatal brain disease has spread to northern Minnesota. Investigators believe animals from a deer farm in southeastern Minnesota – the epicenter of CWD – spread the disease to a captive herd in Beltrami County. Since carcasses from the farm were dumped on nearby public land, it’s possible wild deer were infected as well.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has issued an emergency ban on moving captive deer, but we need to do more to stop the spread of CWD. The Environment and Natural Resources budget we passed in the House takes several steps to address this growing issue, such as:
- Prohibiting the importation of deer carcasses
- Strengthening fencing requirements for deer farms
- Requiring deer that are killed be tested for CWD
I’ll keep advocating for these critical measures as we negotiate with Senate Republicans.
Legislative Audit Commission Selects Topics for Evaluation
Minnesota’s Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) reviews state agencies and programs to determine if they’re working effectively. The Legislative Audit Commission – a bipartisan group that I’m a member of – selects topics for the OLA to review. We selected five topics during today’s meeting:
- The Commerce Department’s oversight of insurance fraud
- The Minnesota Department of Education’s role in addressing the achievement gap
- Medical emergency ambulance services
- The Petroleum Remediation Program
- Unemployment Insurance fraud
You can find background information about each topic and what questions the OLA will be looking at here.
Congratulations Graduates
Last but not least, I’d like to congratulate our local high school seniors! All of you should be proud of reaching this milestone after more than a year of unprecedented challenges. I wish you all the best as you prepare for the future.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or if I can be of assistance. You can contact me at rep.rick.hansen@house.mn or 651-296-6828.
Sincerely,
Rick Hansen
State Representative
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