Dear Neighbors, Happy Friday! I hope this email finds you well. Last weekend, I enjoyed the 2023 Carver County Pheasants Forever Banquet with Nels Paulsen, Rep. Jim Nash, and community members. Each of us brought home some great auction prizes but quite frankly, I scored big with my Barn Board Hockey Stick State of Minnesota art.  Kudos to the Carver County Chapter of Pheasants Forever, and others for all the work they have done to preserve and protect the wetlands and grassland habitat around Tiger Lake. March is Women’s History Month, a time to reflect on and celebrate the challenges women have faced and overcome, and the progress girls and women have made over the years.  On Monday this week, at the end of American Heart Health Month, a bipartisan group of legislators banded together by wearing red to bring awareness to and support for the women who are suffering from heart disease throughout Minnesota.  This week, I had the opportunity to present one of my bills alongside an incredible leader making history in our school district. Eastern Carver County Schools Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams is a former teacher at Nellie Stone Johnson School in Minneapolis and is a niece of former Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton. The Chaska Herald did a nice story on Superintendent Sayles-Adams in 2021 you can check out here. You can read more about the bill she testified on with me below.  Grateful for Superintendent Sayles-Adams' advocacy for our ECCE schools and students! Our work continues at the legislature. On Monday, we received an updated financial outlook for Minnesota’s state budget. For the first time in nearly twenty years, this state economic forecast included inflation, which gives us a clearer picture of the one-time funds we have available to lower costs for and invest in Minnesotans. Ensuring we have accurate numbers when we’re crafting a significant budget blueprint is the responsible thing to do, and I was glad to support the bill that makes this a requirement moving forward. Here's what I'm working on for our communities at the State House: Transportation Safety (HF 933) This week, a couple of my bills were heard in the Education Finance Committee. The first would authorize Eastern Carver County School District to levy the lease costs of a student transportation hub. Currently, the facility housing our schools’ buses and vehicles is significantly dated and structurally deficient. Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams testified to the need and what it would mean to provide adequate shelter against the inclement winter weather to keep our bussing and student transportation safe.  In related news, the Minnesota Department of Transportation announced this week that the city of Chaska will receive $28,605 in state grant funding from MnDOT’s Safe Routes to School Program. Our students face significant transportation challenges, and I look forward to continuing the partnership with the department and our community to make needed improvements to keep more people safe. You can read more about how these investments will be used here. Supporting our Public Libraries (HF 1917) I presented a bill I’m carrying to invest in our regional public library system across the state. Public libraries are a vital part of our communities. I’m excited to build on our strong public library systems because we know how much they mean to our neighbors in Chanhassen and Chaska; the important services they provide for our seniors, students, child care providers, parents, and the resources they make available and accessible to all learners. I shared this quote from a New York Times article, which features photos of Minnesota libraries, in my opening remarks: "We all know that books connect us, that language has quiet power. To see the concentration, curiosity and peace on faces lit by words is to know — beyond a shadow of a doubt, in a time rife with shadows — that libraries are the beating hearts of our communities. What we borrow from them pales in comparison to what we keep. How often we pause to appreciate their bounty is up to us.”  Green Energy & Efficiency Savings (HF 1983) I also presented another one of my bills this week to the House Climate and Energy Committee. HF 1983 would build on the Next Generation Energy Act of 2007 and get us on a path to assist homeowners and businesses with energy reduction and lower efficiency costs. You can read more from the nonpartisan office of House Public Information for more details here. Keep in Touch Please continue to reach out anytime at rep.lucy.rehm@house.mn.gov with questions or to let me know how I can be of assistance. You can also reach my Legislative Assistant, Zehra, at the contact number listed below. Thank you for the great honor of representing you at the State Capitol. Have a great weekend. Sincerely, Lucy Rehm
State Representative |