Accessibility menu
State Representative Leon Lillie
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-1188
For more information contact: Christina Gosack 651-296-5524
NEWS COLUMN
Session Ends With Real Accomplishments for Maplewood and North St. Paul
In the final hours of the 2006 Legislative Session, we succeeded in finishing the most important bills of the year and completing our work on time. This smooth end to the session allowed us to pass important building projects for the Maplewood/North St. Paul area, expand the state program to keep sex offenders off the streets, provide some modest income tax relief to married couples and middle class filers, and provide more support for our childcare centers and early childhood education programs. We even designated a new state fruit - the Honeycrisp apple.
One of the biggest wins for our area this session was approval of a bill I sponsored with Senator Chuck Wiger on the Senate side to renovate the Bruentrup Heritage Farm in Maplewood. Credit for this success belongs with the Maplewood Historical Society members, the City of Maplewood, Friends of the Bruentrup Farm and former Rep. Scott Wasiluk who all worked for years to support this project. Bruentrup Heritage Farm is the last remaining complete set of farm buildings in Ramsey County. The Bruentrup Farm was established in 1891 on 40 acres that were given to the family as a wedding gift. In 1999, the Bruentrup family donated the farm buildings to the Maplewood Historical Society, which were then moved to their current site. It is used as a historic, educational, recreational, and arts center with tours, demonstrations, and exhibits. This funding will allow for renovations at the farm to bring the buildings up to code.
The Bruentrup Farm project was included in this year's Capital Investment Bill, also known as the bonding bill. The bonding bill funds public works projects through state borrowing. This bill was our main task in the short 2006 session, and I'm pleased to say that we passed the bonding bill on time and with little dispute. We also passed nearly $20 million in funding for Century College in White Bear Lake to construct a new building to include science labs, classrooms and a library. This new building will be a great asset to the many students from our area who attend Century College.
The bonding bill also included key transportation projects for the Twin Cities. Engineering will begin on the Central Corridor light rail transitway between downtown Minneapolis and downtown Saint Paul. In addition the bonding bill provides $3.5 million to once again make St. Paul's Union Depot an important regional transit hub. As the Twin Cities grow, a comprehensive, modern transit system is going to be key to easing traffic congestion in the metro for suburban residents.
We approved this year's Supplemental Budget in the final days of session. While it was not a budget year, we did approve emergency spending in a few key areas. We passed increased support for the important state Sex Offender Program, which gets dangerous sex offenders off the streets. In addition, a number of new laws to support veterans that I discussed recently in these pages passed in the supplemental budget bill. These include unpaid leave for military family members to attend a sendoff or homecoming ceremony, support for newly returned veterans on college campuses, and improved care at our state Veteran's Homes. I'm particularly proud that we were able to increase support for childcare centers and the Early Childhood and Family Education program in this bill.
Finally, we were able to pass important income tax cuts for the middle class. Married joint filers will no longer be subject to the "marriage penalty" and will get the same deduction as single filers, and the Alternative Minimum Tax will be reduced for thousands of middle-income tax filers.
I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day weekend. Have a fun and safe summer. Get out and watch one of the youth games of softball, baseball or soccer this summer - it's the best deal in town. And always feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Even though session has ended, my office is always open.
You can reach me at (651) 296-1188, by e-mail at rep.leon.lillie@house.mn, or at 353 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Saint Paul, MN 55155.
News Items
- SUPPORTING RESPONSIBLE HOMEOWNERS AND STABILIZING NEIGHBORHOODS - (Posted: 2012-03-01 00:00:00)
- Email Update -- Feb. 16, 2012 - (Posted: 2012-02-16 00:00:00)
- 2012 LEGISLATIVE SESSION PREVIEW - (Posted: 2012-01-26 00:00:00)
- Archived News Items
- Subscribe to RSS News Feeds
- Read more about RSS.