Dear friends,
As you probably already know, the first year of the two-year legislative biennium is the budget year. It is our job as legislators to prepare a balanced budget that respects taxpayers; government shouldn’t be growing faster than family budgets. My goal for this budget is to make sure it’s based on common sense proposals to fund core state functions responsibly such as education, roads and bridges, and caring for our most vulnerable residents.
Right now, in my committees, we are getting a lot of background information to prepare us for the future bills we will begin hearing soon. I serve on the Education Finance, Agriculture Policy, Capital Investment, and Education Innovation committees. We’ve heard reports on many important subjects ranging from special education in our schools, technical and career education, and even the dairy industry. I look forward to sharing information on the upcoming bills we’ll hear in committee in future updates, as well as the individual bills I’m working on right now!
I had a number of local visitors this week, from bankers, to firefighters and community leaders. I sure enjoy getting visitors from our hometowns. It not only warms my heart to see you all, but it gives me an opportunity to listen to the issues from a local perspective. That is so important, as I am convinced that the best ideas and solutions come right from home where people are living and working.
Below is a photo of some of our local firefighters who came to visit the Capitol on Thursday. I sure appreciate these local heroes and those like them, as they provide such a necessary service to us in protecting our lives and our property. In the other photo is a great group of ladies from Albert Lea. They were in St. Paul earlier this week for the Explore Minnesota conference. Each of these women have a passion for promoting our city and area. We have so many wonderful people in Albert Lea who are working hard to highlight and promote our great city.
I can’t believe it’s already February; time flies! As we’re speeding through session, please don’t hesitate to reach out and contact me if I can help you in any way.
Have a great weekend!
Peggy