Accessibility menu
State Representative Tom Hackbarth
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-2439
For more information contact: Austin Bleess 651-296-5529
NEWS COLUMN
Rep. Tom Hackbarth’s 2006 Legislative Survey Results ---------- WHAT CONSTITUENTS TOLD ME
By State Rep. Tom Hackbarth,
District 48A
I want to thank the almost 1,000 constituents in my Minnesota House district who completed and returned my 2006 legislative survey that I sent throughout the district earlier this year. I mailed the 6-question survey to households in Elk River, Burns Township, Oak Grove, Bethel and East Bethel.
My legislative survey isn’t a scientific poll by any means, but I believe the responses do give a pretty good snapshot of public opinion here on a few issues, from stadiums to commuter rail. Percentages shown represent all those who answered “yes” or “no” to a particular question.
HUNTING & FISHING. I first asked respondents if they supported a constitutional amendment I am authoring that would set aside 1/8th of 1 percent of our current state sales tax revenues for hunting & fishing conservation and habitat programs. A large majority – 78 percent -- agreed; 22 percent said no. At this writing, my bill was headed to the House Floor.
VOTER ID. When it comes to voting, 88 percent of you believe Minnesotans be required to provide photo identification as a requirement for voting; 12 percent said no.
WELFARE REFORM. Many – some 96 percent – said they support measures to tighten residency requirements for anyone seeking Minnesota welfare benefits. Just 4 percent of respondents were opposed. A bill in the Minnesota House was considered to do just that.
STADIUMS. And as talk about stadiums heats up, a majority of respondents – 85 percent -- agree that voters in affected counties be allowed to vote on a referendum whether or not to raise local sales taxes to fund stadium construction (current Minnesota law); 15 percent disagreed. At this writing, the House Tax Committee approved an amendment that would allow Hennepin County to raise local sales taxes without a referendum to build a Twins stadium.
COMMUTER RAIL. A majority of respondents – 71 percent – also said they support continued state spending on light rail and commuter rail, including the Northstar Corridor; 29 percent were opposed. There is funding for the Northstar project in the House and Senate bonding bills.
Finally, I asked voters what they believed were the most important issues facing Minnesota, and I provided them a list of 26 issues to choose from. Here are the top ten concerns (in order of importance) as identified by survey respondents:
1. Marriage (1 man, 1 woman)
2. Make health insurance competitive
3. Cut state government spending & programs
4. Cut state taxes
5. K-12 Education
6. Improve current roads
7. Welfare reform
8. ProLife
9. Eminent Domain
10. Build more roads
I hope the survey results are as informative for you as they are for me. Again, I want to thank all those who took the time to complete and return the survey.
Rep. Hackbarth is the state representative for House District 48A which includes Elk River, Burns Township, Oak Grove, Bethel and East Bethel
News Items
- Our state is pointed in a better direction - (Posted: 2012-05-17 00:00:00)
- DNR's implementation of new wolf season falls short - (Posted: 2012-06-13 00:00:00)
- Gov. vetoes good bills - (Posted: 2012-05-09 00:00:00)
- Archived News Items
- Subscribe to RSS News Feeds
- Read more about RSS.