Dear Lakeville Neighbors,
I hope you’ve been able to enjoy the warmer temps as we have turned the calendar to March already. Remember to set your clocks ahead one hour on Sunday as daylight savings time officially begins on March 8th!
Updated Budget Forecast
Last week, we received updated numbers from state economists that revealed the state’s budget surplus has grown by almost $200 million since the last budget forecast in early December. In total, Minnesota now has a $1.5 billion budget surplus, and full “rainy day” reserve funds.
The positive surplus shows that Minnesota’s economy has remained strong as tax revenue continues to come in at higher rates than initially projected. With a consistently robust surplus, it’s time to pursue tax relief for Minnesota families and I expect House Republicans to unveil a tax relief proposal soon.
Ideas include ending the unfair tax on Social Security that hurts so many of our seniors living on fixed incomes, helping families struggling with rising childcare costs through a childcare tax credit, expanding tax relief for college graduates with student loan debt, and delivering tax relief to shop owners and main street businesses.
Stay tuned for more details on this in the coming weeks.
March Madness
This is an exciting time of year for high school athletes around Minnesota as many winter sports have held or will be holding their respective state tournaments this month. With that said, I wish all of our Lakeville student athletes the best of luck as they compete in state tournaments this month, especially South Hockey this week.
Protecting Student Athletes
To help ensure our student athletes are healthy, I am co-author of a bill that ensures youth athletes are screened for undiagnosed conditions possibly associated with sudden cardiac arrest as a component of Minnesota State High School League athletic physicals.
Medical providers can screen for these conditions with a quick, non-invasive double-cuff blood pressure measurement device.
Cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in young athletes, yet the incidence of these tragic events remains low. Some estimates say that 1 in 300 youth athletes may have some type of undiagnosed condition that puts them at risk for sudden cardiac death. This bill presents a commonsense way we can screen young people, who seem otherwise very healthy and to avoid a possible tragedy.
Student Driver License Exam Stations Issue
Last week, I officially introduced legislation I am authoring that would make a significant difference in helping speed up and streamline the driver license exam process.
This summer and fall, we saw countless news reports detailing the long wait times at exam stations. Parents have had to drive children to all corners of the state and wait months just to get a driver's license exam appointment.
Simply put, it shouldn't be this frustrating or aggravating to schedule a driver's license exam.
The government needs to deliver better services.
Here’s a story from KSTP (click here or the photo below) that details the situation.
My bill would allow third-party entities or individuals to administer the driving road test. To become qualified, an individual would need to undergo a rigorous training process. Once a third-party tester satisfactorily completes the training, the third-party tester would then be authorized to conduct behind-the-wheel examinations.
With a limited number of spots available at state-sanctioned testing locations, this is a commonsense way to improve access for folks that have had difficulty scheduling an exam as well as alleviate some of the workload exam stations are experiencing.
In addition to training, the bill requires third-party testers to undergo a background check and would provide several accountability and oversight measures to ensure the testing process with a third-party individual would be identical to that with an exam station.
The bill has bipartisan co-authors and I am looking forward to working hard this session to see it become law.
Youth Skills Training
I am glad to see that the Lakeville School District was the recipient of the 2020 Youth Skills Training Grant. The $90,000 grant will help the school district partner with local employers and the “Lakeville Works” program to develop and implement safe, healthy, and meaningful paid work experiences for students 16 years of age and older in our community.
This grant program follows a fair and established process that vets programs on their merits as opposed to a proposal that directly awarded funds to groups and appeared as political pandering. I am pleased to see that, as expected, Lakeville is included in this year’s round of grants!
Staying in Touch
Please be sure to reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns related to state government. I am always eager to learn about the issues that matter most to you and your family
Jon Koznick
Assistant Minority Leader
State Representative, Lakeville, 58A