Dear Friends,
Over the next couple of weeks, the House will be working to pass our budget omnibus bills. It will mean long hours on the House floor as we piece together our 2016-2017 budget. The budget bills are currently working their way through committee. Here's an update on some of the bills I've been working on, and where they stand as of today:
Shell Rock River bill
One of the first bills I authored to designate the Shell Rock River as a state waterway is included in the Environment and Natural Resources omnibus bill. If passed, it would put the Shell Rock River on a list of some of Minnesota's most beautiful waterways, helping to attract tourists and boost recreation in our area. Our area Senator Dan Sparks is the chief author of a similar bill in the Senate.
K-12 Education Bills
I have two bills included in the Education omnibus bill. The first is my bill that would reduce state-mandated testing for K-12 students. The Governor has signaled his support for reducing the number of state-mandated tests, so it's my hope this will be an area of bipartisan agreement.
The second bill is my bill that would deny an appeal hearing to anyone convicted of a child-related sex crime who has had their teaching license denied or revoked. Under current law, if a teacher license is revoked, even those guilty of the most egregious sex offenses are entitled to an appeal hearing before the Board of Teaching, which can cost valuable staff and taxpayer resources. We already deny this hearing to those convicted of child abuse, so my bill simply extends that to include other crimes.
Teacher Shortage Bill
My bill that offers loan forgiveness for up to five years for teachers who have a license in a subject area where there is a shortage of available teachers, or in a designated geographic teacher shortage area is included in the Higher Education omnibus bill. Schools across the state, especially in Greater Minnesota, are struggling to attract and fill teacher positions, or find teachers who can teach certain subjects. It's my hope that this is one of the tools we can use to make sure we have great teachers for students in every classroom, no matter what part of the state a student lives in.
Avian Flu
On another note, the House voted yesterday to unanimously pass a bill that would provide $893,000 in emergency funding to help state and local officials continue to respond to the growing avian flu outbreak that's been impacting turkey producers in 14 counties in west central and southwest Minnesota. I'm so grateful that this crisis has not yet come to any of the farms in our community, and am hopeful that this funding will help health officials put a stop to this problem.
Yesterday the House held a joint hearing of the Agriculture Finance and Policy Committees to receive an update on the outbreak to discuss the outbreak, and the response by federal, state, and local officials. Health officials have stressed that the food supply is still safe, and the chances of it spreading to humans is very low.
I'm grateful to Governor Dayton and other state and federal officials for their well-coordinated response. I will continue keeping a close eye on this situation. If you have questions about the outbreak or the response, please don't hesitate to contact my office. I may not have all of the answers, but will work with state health officials to make sure your questions are answered.
As always, contact me any time on any issue at
rep.peggy.bennett@house.mn, or call
651-296-8216. You can also follow my updates on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/reppeggybennett or on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/peggyabennett.
Have a great weekend,
Peggy Bennett
State Representative, District 27A