Dear Neighbor,
The election has passed and now the focus is on preparing for the 2023 session to start Jan. 3 in St. Paul.
There is a ton of logistical work for the House to complete over the next six weeks, especially with time for the holidays in the mix. There also is much on my own plate – especially since my colleagues recently elected me to serve as House Minority Leader for the new biennium.
This is an incredible, humbling honor that will allow me to be at the forefront of advocating for our top priorities. This includes tax relief to help families struggling with inflation, public safety investments, fighting waste and fraud in our public programs, and helping students catch up from learning loss.
Members of the House majority have said they support a Social Security tax cut and favor investments in public safety, and I look forward to working together on those matters. It will be a productive and collaborative session if they join us by walking the walk so we can make real improvements for Minnesotans.
That said, House Republicans will dig in our heels to oppose the majority’s bad ideas. We have fundamental disagreements about policies that will raise costs for businesses as a recession looms. We also disagree with the notion that simply putting more money into schools is the answer to educational declines. (Funding has increased the last 10 years, but results stayed flat and then declined sharply after the pandemic-related school closures.)
And we are calling on the DFL to finally take fraud seriously after they have ignored this issue in various forms for years. The Feeding our Future scandal is just the latest glaring example of how we must better protect Minnesotans' tax dollars.
I am eager to start the new session and welcome the challenges we face. As always, your input is extremely helpful to me as I continue doing my best to represent the people of District 13A. Please email me any thoughts, ideas or concerns on whatever issues matter most to you.
Sincerely,
Lisa