Dear Neighbors, It’s been an incredibly busy week in St. Paul as most of our days have been spent on the House Floor until midnight debating and voting on several omnibus supplemental budget bills. Despite the long hours and late nights, I remain as committed as ever to serving you, your family, and our Lakeville community in the legislature. I appreciate all your support, your messages of encouragement, and the questions, comments, and concerns you have shared with me. Please continue to reach out to me, my contact information can be found at the bottom of this newsletter. Supplemental Budget BillsLike any omnibus bill, many of the large supplemental budget bills that have been voted on this week contain many individual provisions that I support. Unfortunately, most of these omnibus bills included various “poison pill” provisions that made it difficult for me to support. Take for instance the Education bill. There was a lot to like about this bill including many initiatives that I think will help schools, students, and teachers. Unfortunately, there were also many new unfunded mandates that will place additional burdens on our local school districts. Because of this, I was unable to support the entire education bill. Remember, last year’s education bill included more than 65 new mandates that have caused significant financial hardships for school districts across Minnesota—including right here in Lakeville. This year’s bill does more of the same. I was proud to support an alternative education proposal last year that would have invested significant funding into our schools in support of students, teachers, and families. You can see how our proposal compared to what was approved last year in the graphic below. It was important to make sure these new dollars were flexible—giving local districts the ability to spend them as they saw fit.  Our local school district would have received an additional $6.72 million in flexible funding or $561 per-pupil under our plan. As always, I am doing my best to listen and learn directly from teachers, administrators, and parents to determine how best we can support education. Despite being unable to support many of these bills, I am happy to report that both the Legacy Bill and the Omnibus Pensions Bill earned my vote and passed with broad bipartisan support. The Legacy Bill allocates funding for a variety of outdoor projects across Minnesota and right here in our backyard. As a lifelong lover of the great outdoors, it was nice to be able to cast a vote that will help improve water quality, maintain our rich natural resources, and make sure the outdoors remain accessible for all Minnesotans. The Pensions Bill makes several changes to public employee pensions here in Minnesota, including teachers, to further strengthen them to ensure their long-term solvency. This bill was unanimously approved by the House. |