Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day Weekend, as we took time to remember those who lost their lives in service to our nation. I attended the Memorial Day program in Erskine where Captain Travis Kolden spoke. Here is an update from the Capitol.
2017 Legislative Session Concludes
We concluded the 2017 legislative session last Friday after reaching a bipartisan compromise between the Republican Legislature and Governor Dayton. There were a number of great accomplishment this year that will positively impact the lives of folks across the state, and I think overall this year was a win for Minnesota.
One of the big highlights this session is something that House Republicans made a top priority—meaningful, middle-class tax relief. Our bill will provide more than $650 million in tax relief to hardworking folks across the state including seniors on social security, families, farmers, college graduates with student loan debt and Main Street businesses. This is the largest tax cut in nearly twenty years.
Transportation funding is another key highlight of the 2017 session, and we passed a large road and bridge investment without a tax increase or tab fee increase. Our focus on transportation infrastructure also includes $16 million in FY 2018-19 for the Small Cities Assistance Program for local projects in communities with fewer than 5,000 residents.
Our students and schools also came out winners of the 2017 session. We passed education legislation that will increase the per pupil funding formula by 2 and 2 percent, putting more money into every classroom. Also included in that legislation was reforms to overhaul our broken teacher licensure system which will help tackle Greater Minnesota’s critical educator shortage, as well as the repeal of the “last in, first out” LIFO policy in state statute. We are working to help attract, hire and retain more world-class educators right here in Minnesota.
Another highlight of the 2017 session was a $995 million bonding package that includes funding for a number of key projects in Northwest Minnesota. Lab renovations at NCTC in East Grand Forks, funding for the sewer interconnect between East Grand Forks and Grand Forks, and a grant for the Polk County solid waste management system were included in the bipartisan bonding bill.
Finally, other important highlights signed into law by Governor Dayton include policies to help with the expansion of Digi-Key in Thief River Falls, policy that prohibits executive rulemaking from expanding driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants, tuition freezes at MnSCU campuses for the 2018-19 school year and the expansion of home and community-based scholarships and loan forgiveness to help recruit and retain quality staff.
Overall, I think this was a positive session for the people and priorities of our state, and I am glad we got our work done, passing important bills including historic transportation and tax relief legislation.
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Sincerely,
Deb
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