Happy Sunday!!
I hope you and your family fared well in last week’s brutal weather!!
This is also the first email you are receiving from my official Rep. Tabke email account!! My goal is to send this out every Friday during session now that I’ve got my feet under me a little. We’ll use it to answer questions, talk about issues, make announcements and get your feedback on items coming before us.
As always, if you have any ideas, questions, or concerns, please let me know!!
Here we go:
TOWN HALL Senator Eric Pratt and I will be holding a joint town hall this Thursday, February 6 in Downtown Shakopee at the Turtle's Social Centre. The doors open at 6:30 pm and we’ll get started at 7 pm. Our intent is to have opening statements and updates about what is happening at the Legislature and then open it up to a Q&A.
There will be light appetizers and the back bar will be open for you (cash bar, obviously). Facebook Event
EVENTS We will be having events in Shakopee every week in February and the first half of March to hear your opinions, thoughts, and ideas for the state. I’m proud to say we’ll have Committee Chairs and other leaders coming to Shakopee to hear directly from you. Watch for an email next week with the announcement for upcoming events.
EMAILS This email is sent from my official Rep. account - Rep.Brad.Tabke@House.MN. This will only be used for official communications and never for campaign purposes. Please forward it to your friends that want to know what is happening but don’t want to get campaign emails. You can sign up here.
BILLS I get a lot of questions about bills that I’m working on and what I am doing / why am I not doing this, etc. My approach to getting started as your Rep. has been to sit back, watch and learn for a bit on how things work around here. Generally I’m in the back row seeing where the relationships are and figuring out who I need to talk with to get things done. It is pretty exciting and on Friday, I submitted my first bills!!!
BILL INTRO PROCESS Bills have both authors and co-authors. The author is the person who is in charge of the bill and working to get it signed by the Governor. In the House, there can be up to 35 co-authors on a bill. These are just people who have signed their name indicating that they support the bill. My first five bills were put into “The Hopper” on Friday. The Hopper is a not-so-glamorous basket where you put the paper copies of your bills with signatures to have their First Reading.
FIRST READING My five bills will be introduced on the House floor and have their First Reading during the floor session on Monday at 3:30 pm. My five bills are:
1 - BLOOD TRAIL TRACKING A group of constituents asked me to author a bill allowing the use of leashed dogs to track the blood trails from deer or bears. This will help colorblind hunters find big game if they lose them. I have been working with the DNR on this bill.
2 - TEEN PARENT TRANSPORTATION This is a technical bill to allow school districts to aid in the transportation of pregnant and parenting teens on existing buses. This bill came from the Southwest Metro Intermediate School District.
3 - BODY SCANNERS Will allow the Shakopee prison to use body scanners to check for foreign objects and drugs. This fixes a technical issue that doesn’t allow corrections officers to use the body scanners they already bought. If this is signed it will mean no more cavity searches.
4 - MN Racing Commission Another technical bill passed last year and was vetoed in the massive Omnibus Prime bill (I’ll talk more about this in a later email). It fixes language to make the Racing Commission more efficient. This is co-authored with Rep. Tony Albright and the Senate version is being carried by Sen. Eric Pratt.
5 - Racing Commission Lights On Bill The MN Racing Commission is funded completely by racing industry fees (Canterbury Park and Running Aces) and doesn’t use any taxpayer funds. This bill would keep CP and RA open if there is ever a government shutdown. Also co-authored with Rep. Tony Albright and the Senate version is being carried by Sen. Eric Pratt.
OTHER BILLS I have some other bills I am working on that will be dropped in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned.
IDEAS? Have an idea of things we should be doing from the State? Let me know and we’ll talk.
NEED HELP? If you are having any troubles or issues where you need help, I’ve discovered there is a HUGE network of people here willing to help you. Just shoot me an email at Rep.Brad.Tabke@house.MN and we’ll get it moving. We’re here to help.
CONNECT Here are the best ways to connect:
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Office (You are free to visit any time!!) - 377 State Office Building,
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Phone (this rings to my Legislative Assistant, Addie - SHE'S AMAZING!!!!) - 651.296.8872
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Email - Rep.Brad.Tabke@House.MN
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Facebook (Official Rep Facebook Page) - Facebook.com/RepBradTabke
Thank you so much for reading to the end!!! I feel like we’re starting to get our head above water over here and work on some really good bills for you. It is an honor to represent you and our community in the Minnesota House.
Brad
PS: Don’t forget to come to Sen. Pratt and my Town Hall on Thursday!!