Greetings from the Capitol-
Committees are beginning to hear budget bills in both the House and Senate as we take a closer look at Governor Dayton’s proposal for the next biennium. Legislators will be updated on the state revenue situation next week with our February forecast which will help us plan for the road ahead.
We were excited to welcome new State Representative Tama Theis after she was elected to represent St. Cloud in a special election last Tuesday. I was asked to help Rep. Theis (R) get oriented in the Minnesota House as I was with first-term Rep. Zachary Dorholt (D). Rep. Theis is a small business owner and will serve on the Higher Education, Commerce, and Government Operations Committees.
I am happy to announce all appointments have been made to the Legislative Permanent School Fund Commission for the biennium and will begin advising the management of school trust land use throughout the state. The Commission was formed after legislation I authored was signed into law last year. The school-land trust reform aims to increase the amount of money on those lands realized through a wider effort in land investments. The resultant funds are then divided up among school districts to be used for education. As an example, in 2012 the Sartell-St. Stephen School District received $104,349 in school-land trust funds.
Visitors are always welcome at the Capitol, and this week, I welcomed two teachers to join me for session in the House Chamber. Cindy Fitzthum, Sartell resident and Social Studies teacher at Princeton High School, and Rochelle Arellano, Social Studies teacher at Sartell-St. Stephen High School visited on Monday.
Congratulations to State Representative Jeff Howe (13A) on his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army. It is a pleasure serving with Rep. Howe in the House as we work in tandem for the interests of central Minnesota.
As always, feel free to contact me with any thoughts or concerns you may have. I can be reached at 651-296-7808 or by e-mail at rep.tim.odriscoll@house.mn.
Sincerely,
Tim