Dear Neighbors,
We are less than a month away from opening day of baseball and soon the sounds of spring will be flowing from our kitchen and garage radios in the form of balls and strikes. Spring is the time to refresh and reconnect with our neighbors. Tulips are surely not far away.
At the legislature we are only a couple weeks into the session; however, in this short time a number of issues have already emerged.
Rural Broadband
Having reliable high-speed broadband access in Morrison and Todd continues to be one of my priorities. I am working closely with the telecom companies and other rural legislators to find solutions to improve our high-speed infrastructure in Greater MN. I am working with telecommunication companies in a public-private partnership to bring competitive prices and access.
Early Learning
If you follow my newsletters, you know education is a passion of mine. I am a coauthor of HF 2381 that will clarify and improve our Early Learning Scholarships program. This bill seeks to offer better proportionality of scholarship grants in Greater MN. The bill passed the Early Childhood Youth Development committee last night and I am hoping we can continue to offer early learning opportunities to families.
Unfortunately not everything is moving in the right direction. There is still much debate on the 90 million dollar Senate Office Building. As you may know, this building was "slipped" into the tax omnibus bill last May and has drawn criticism. I have been opposed to directing this money towards an unnecessary government building. If you have visited the Capitol, you know great history and majesty radiate from the beautiful Capitol building. This Senate office building shouts out the excessive nature of uncontrollable spending.
Cheers!
Ron