Dear Neighbors,
This morning, I had the pleasure of giving a legislative update to the Little Falls Chamber of Commerce at the Little Falls City Hall. The event was attended by about 50 people, and it was a good discussion about the Governor's tax plan and the concerns surrounding the potential impacts it would have on small businesses in our rural area.
I hope this will be the first of many legislative update events, and will be sure to let you know as they are scheduled as session continues.
MCCL Breakfast
On Tuesday, January 29th, I attended the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) Legislative Breakfast Open House and heard about the group's priorities and activities to promote the pro-life cause coming up this session in Saint Paul. I appreciate all of the hard work they do on behalf of such an important cause.
Dairy Day at the Capitol
On Wednesday, I met with Ron Miller and Greg Blaine from Little Falls as a part of the Minnesota Milk Producers Dairy Day. Dairy Day provided legislators with an opportunity to see just how important this industry - and agriculture in general - is to Minnesota's economy.
Dairy production was up 4 percent last year, even though we experienced drought conditions. There are 455,000 cows in Minnesota on 3,900 licensed dairy farms. Each provides about 25,000 of economic activity to the state and Minnesota exported $218 million in dairy products last year, 13 percent of the national total.
Gun Bill Hearings
Next week, the Public Safety Committee will be holding hearings on several gun-related pieces of legislation. If you are interested in attending the public committee hearing, it will take place on Tuesday, Feb 5th. Interested 2nd amendment supporters are meeting in 400S of the State Office Building from 8:30-9:30 and then will go down to Room 10 for the committee hearing.
Information regarding parking around the MN State Capitol is available on the following link: http://www.admin.state.mn.us/pmd/4-2_public_parking.htm#metered_lot_parking
The Week Ahead
Next week, Senators and Representatives will hold a join legislative session to hear the Governor's State of the State address where he is expected to further discuss his budget plan and other legislative priorities. The House will also continue to hold committee hearings on the Health Insurance Exchange bill, which continues to make its way through the committee process.