Lakeville friends and neighbors,
Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your state representative. I am grateful for the trust you have placed in me as your voice in Saint Paul, and have appreciated hearing your feedback on many important issues. The opportunity to help you, Lakeville, and our state succeed is an honor.
Reflecting on my first legislative session, I am proud of the work that was done to help residents in our district. We worked tirelessly to protect the quality of life for aging and vulnerable adults, ensuring that care centers and care workers continue to be a strong legacy for our state’s commitment to our aging and vulnerable populations. We passed our public safety budget to protect Minnesotans and their constitutional rights, and passed disaster relief legislation that helps districts statewide that were impacted by heavy storms and avian flu. We also passed our education budget, which increased investments in our children’s future by an average of $205 per pupil. Our funding on the formula was greater than the governor’s request, yet he is choosing to veto our budget over his request to include universal pre-K funding. As many of you have expressed to me your concerns with universal pre-K, I want to reiterate my support for scholarships for school readiness programs, which are critical to narrowing the achievement gap. I will continue to advocate for scholarship programs that invest in our students while allowing parents the freedom to identify programs that work for their needs.
While we did great work in many areas of our budget, it is unfortunate that the Democrat’s insistence that we raise the gas tax prevented us from doing substantial work on transportation and tax relief. We know that an increased gas tax hurts lower income and middle class Minnesota families the most. A gas tax is unnecessary given the nearly $2 billion projected surplus. Since we would not raise your taxes, Governor Dayton and Senate Democrats refused to consider our long-term transportation proposal and a tax reform bill, which included $2 billion of tax relief for Minnesota families. These issues continue to be a priority, and I look forward to action on them as we reconvene in March 2016.
We also passed several great bills this session that will improve the quality of life for all Minnesota residents. As you may recall, the first bill we passed included tax relief for Minnesota families, conforming our state policies to new federal guidelines. We also passed a bill to ensure that the Commissioner of Public Safety studies the feasibility of a “Silver Alert” system, which would help us recover missing aging adults suffering from dementia. One of our top priorities was ensuring the safety of Minnesota citizens. We passed legislation to strengthen our child protection standards, bills to protect Second Amendment rights, and increased mental health services for Minnesota families.
Although the legislature is currently adjourned, I continue to serve as your state representative. I am looking forward to the opportunity to spend more time in Lakeville and meet with you to discuss ways that I can be of assistance. If you have any concerns or ideas for legislation for next session, please reach out to me at (651) 296-4375 or via email at rep.jon.koznick@house.mn. Please follow me on Twitter here for interim updates and Lakeville happenings.
Have a great week,
Rep. Jon Koznick