Friends and Neighbors,
The 2013 Legislative Session kicked off yesterday as every state representative and state senator took an oath of office. I’m glad to be back at the Capitol and I look forward to continuing my work to represent the people of our area.
For the next two years I will serve on four committees:
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Agriculture Policy
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Education Policy
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Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Finance
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Property and Local Tax Division
You’ll notice that the Ag Finance companion to Ag Policy does not stand alone. Instead, it seems to be tacked at the end of the Environment and Natural Resources committee—only the third time these areas have been combined!
What’s more, the newly appointed Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Finance chair is an extreme environmentalist Democrat from Minneapolis (only the second representative from Minneapolis or St. Paul to chair an ag committee in nearly 150 years). This member is known for consistently voting against bipartisan ag bills and voting in favor of the metro at the expense of Greater Minnesota.
This is a budget year, which means rural Minnesota will not only have to worry about costly, burdensome regulations put in place by an inner-city chair, but we will also have to worry about the de-funding of economic programs and ag-related education programs.
I believe that the House of Representatives should appoint chairs that adequately represent each of its committees. I even wrote an opinion piece for the Grand Forks Herald on our lack of representation (read here).
Yesterday I took a stand for our district. I joined my colleagues and authored an amendment to combine Ag Finance with Ag Policy, a committee that is chaired by a Greater Minnesota member. Every single Democrat voted against the motion—even the rural DFLers who told us they wanted to vote in favor of our amendment, but were pushed to side with their caucus.
We still have time. Please contact the new DFL leadership and request that they combine the ag committees. We cannot afford to have agriculture pushed to the side in favor of a bigger government, larger DNR, and increased regulations.
Over the last two years we really regrouped as a state. A $6.2 billion deficit was turned into a projected $2.5 billion surplus for 2012-13. High unemployment dropped to 5.7 percent, far below the national average. The growth of a bloated government was tamed, and nearly 61,000 new businesses and 55,000 new jobs were created in Minnesota last year!
If we want to keep the state on track, we need to have proper representation on the committee level. I look forward to working with the new DFL majorities and Gov. Dayton to develop legislation that benefits Minnesotans, but we must not forget that Minnesota goes beyond the Twin Cities!
As your state representative, it is an honor to serve our area at the Capitol. Please feel free to contact my office at any time. You will find my contact information on the left-hand side of this email, or you can click here to visit my official House webpage.
All the best,
Deb
**Encourage your neighbors and friends to sign up for my email updates at www.house.mn/1B