Dear Neighbor,
Hope you will be able to attend any of the five town hall meetings I will be hosting in District 16A cities along with Sen. Gary Dahms this Monday.
The meetings will provide area residents with opportunities to weigh in on the issues in advance of the 2018 legislative session, which begins Feb. 20 in St. Paul. The input we receive from constituents at these meetings will be very helpful as we prepare to face another set of tough challenges at the state level this year. I look forward to discussing a wide range of issues, pretty much whatever is on people’s minds.
The meetings scheduled for Monday include:
- Marshall: 7:30 – 8:30 a.m., MERIT Center (1001 W. Erie Road)
- Canby: 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. at the City Administrative Office Building, (110 Oscar Ave. N.)
- Madison: 11:30 a.m. - noon at the City Hall Auditorium (404 6th Ave.)
- Dawson: 1-2 p.m. at the City Building (675 Chestnut St.)
- Granite Falls: 3-4 p.m. at the City Hall Council Chambers (641 Prentice St.)
MNLARS UPDATE
On a separate note, work continues on what has so far been an error-plagued implementation and rollout of the new Minnesota License and Registration System (MNLARS). Backlogs and errors have caused major headaches for both citizens and DMV registrars throughout the state.
Legislative committees have met in St. Paul and put the heat on state technology officials over this issue. There is new leadership at Minnesota IT Services (the agency responsible for managing the MNLARS rollout) with Brigadier General Johanna Clyborne just today appointed to take over as commissioner. Also, the private firm (FAST Enterprises) was hired to bail out the state so our new system can be fully functional before the October 2018 deadline to comply with new federal Real ID standards. The increased federal ID standards are being implemented in an attempt to heighten security after the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
The House has established an online comment site where citizens can provide feedback on this issue. Click here for that page if you’d like to file comments for the record, and also feel free to weigh in during the upcoming town hall meetings.
Sincerely,
Chris