Dear Neighbor,
Greetings from the House of Representatives, where we are roughly halfway through the 2022 legislative session. We continue spending most of our time in committee meetings to move bills through the process. May 23 is the deadline to adjourn and longer floor sessions with thorough debates and votes on bills from the full body will become more of the focus as we move toward that date.
For now, here are some other notes:
MAT Scholarship Program
I encourage high school juniors to look into the Minnesota Association of Townships Scholarship program, which is designed to heighten awareness among young people about Minnesota’s grassroots township government. There will be five total scholarships of $2,000 awarded. The application includes a written essay using critical thinking to discuss this year’s topic of promoting township government.
More details on this program and the application process are available at this link. There is a May 1 deadline for applications to be postmarked and I encourage you to share this information with any juniors you think may be interested in taking a shot at winning some scholarship money.
Energy Resolution
I have co-signed a House Resolution (HF 4558) “urging the President of the United States to consider the current geopolitical tensions and support policies and take measures to ensure America’s long-term energy affordability, security, leadership and progress, including actions that result in the continued operation of existing oil and natural gas pipelines, the construction of new pipelines, and an end to restrictions on developing our nation's onshore and offshore oil and natural gas resources.”
The current global instability only serves to underscore the importance of energy independence for our state and nation in an all-of-the-above approach.
As HF 4558 reads, in part: “oil and natural gas are vital components of our nation’s economy, providing more than 11 million jobs nationwide, including 172,900 total jobs and $23 billion in gross domestic income in Minnesota alone … the world is looking to America for energy leadership and stability as current geopolitical events pose potential economic disruptions when inflation already affects households, both in the United States and across Europe”
And, of course, we need to make sure our tax dollars aren’t being used to fund the atrocities being committed by Russia.
Have a good weekend and, as always, please stay in touch.
Sincerely,
Lisa