Dear Neighbors, This week the Rules Committee held a meeting, during which Republicans offered a resolution to rescind the House’s approval of the renovation of the State Office Building. As you may know, the renovation will cost at least $730 million dollars and could go much higher than anticipated. As it is, just the interest on the renovation will cost almost as much as the entire State Capitol renovation cost just a few years ago. Unfortunately, Democrats refused to even debate the resolution. The DFL chair claimed it needed to be pre-filed, even though he admitted that there was actually no pre-filing requirement. You can watch the exchange about rescinding the approval starting at 26:34, here. This just goes to show that even the DFL leadership knows that Minnesotans don't want to pay nearly a billion dollars for an extravagant office building for politicians, especially when prices for gas, groceries, and energy are still soaring. In spite of a $17.5 billion surplus, Democrats raised taxes on Minnesota families by another $10 billion last session to pay for pet projects and wasteful spending. On top of that, Minnesotans will be on the hook for a $730 million office building. This is so disrespectful to Minnesotans, and ignores the fact that while government spending is growing by leaps and bounds, family budgets are tight and the holidays are just around the corner. Visiting St. David's Center Child and Family Development This week I visited St. David's Center Child and Family Development in Minnetonka. They have partnered with the United Way and CentraCare on their successful youth mental health model. I had a great time discussing their model and the good it can do in our area with the staff at St. David's! |