Dear Neighbors,
With such nice weather this weekend, I hope to see you out and about. With a busy final stretch of the legislative session, the fresh air and sunshine will certainly be savored!
Local Projects
The Stables sewer project has been a big issue in our area for many years. This has been something I’ve been working on since coming into office in 2015, and was excited to see this initiative included in last year’s bonding and transportation bill. Sadly, the clock ran out on that legislation at the last second. This year, I reintroduced the Stables bill and am happy to report the project has again been included in this year’s House bonding proposal. If passed into law, this bill would award a grant to the Stables neighborhood via the Public Facilities Authority. It’s an encouraging first step in seeing this local need become law.
This week, the House and Senate came to a compromise on a transportation plan. I was happy to see a $20 million investment in that plan for the Small Cities Assistance Program for the next two years. This fund was set up so cities under 5,000 residents, which rarely see transportation money come directly to them, could receive much-needed road and bridge funding. This will positively impact many cities in Greater Minnesota, including our area. Cities like Clarks Grove, Wells, Hayward, Glenville, and more would see an increase in state investment for local roads and bridges. This gives more control to these cities to prioritize the local projects in need. I’ve supported this program since its inception, and hope to see it stay in the final bill.
There are other local projects that we all care about which, unfortunately, have not been included in our initial proposals. Projects like funding for the Riverland Community College initiative and the completion of the Blazing Star Trail are also important to our area. Although these are not in the current proposals, there is still time for me to advocate for these and other local interests in the last few weeks of session, as well as next year, and I will continue to do that.
There’s still a lot more to the legislative process in these closing weeks of session, and a long way to go before these bills become law. Thankfully, the legislature is ahead of schedule for a budget year, and I’m confident we’ll finish our work.
National Day of Prayer
Yesterday was such a beautiful afternoon for the National Day of Prayer event. Thank you to all those who came to the Capitol to pray for our country, our state, and our state leaders. Pictured here is a bipartisan group of representatives and senators who came to take part in the rally. I sure appreciate and cherish the prayers sent out on my behalf and others. I look upon it as an absolute necessity for my job as state representative. Thank you to all who pray for us!
Please Contact Me
I hope you enjoy the warm weekend weather. If you don’t see me around town, please don’t hesitate to call or email my office.
Happy Cinco de Mayo, and have a great weekend!
Peggy