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State Representative Rick Hansen
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-6828
For more information contact: Christina Gosack 651-296-5524
Press/News Releases
PROTRACTED SESSION YIELDS POSITIVE RESULTS
On Wednesday July 13th, Representative Rick Hansen joined his legislative colleagues in passing the last four major bills of the 2005 session and adjourning for the year. The Education, Health and Human Services, Taxes and Transportation bills that passed Wednesday were the product of a final budget agreement reached July 8.
"The key to ending this session was compromise, compromise, compromise," Representative Hansen stated. "The session lasted far longer than any of us would have wished, and was sometimes very frustrating. At the same time, I believe the outcome was a good one. This was made clear today by the wide bi-partisan majorities by which each of these bills passed."
Thanks to the tireless persistence of education advocates such as Hansen, this year's education funding bill provides the biggest increases to schools since the 1980s.
The school districts of South Saint Paul, Eagan, and Rosemount/Apple Valley/Eagan will receive millions in additional funding above their 2006/2007 budgets.
· South Saint Paul (ISD 6) - $2,623,720 increase
· Eagan (ISD 197) - $4,357,660 increase
· Rosemount/Apple Valley/Eagan (ISD 196) - $21,631,889 increase
The funding increases are based primarily upon the number of students enrolled in each district.
Another positive result of the compromise was $48 million in additional local government aid (LGA) funding, including increases for South Saint Paul, West Saint Paul, Lilydale and Mendota.
"This new local aid money is a first step toward restoring the severe cuts of two years ago," Hansen said. "Not only will this provide property tax relief, it will also put additional dollars into the top-notch public safety services our communities already enjoy."
A final important element of the budget compromise was additional funding to help metro transit fill its current budget shortfall. The funding will likely keep many suburban bus lines operating that were slated to be cut.
With special session and the first-ever partial state government shutdown behind him, Representative Hansen is setting out to work with other members to ensure that this type of impasse never happens again. As an active participant in bi-partisan groups that met outside of leadership negotiations recently to broker a budget solution, Hansen is hopeful that the culture and procedures can be improved.
"The state can simply not afford to go through this kind of gridlock again," added Hansen. "The citizens expect better of us. I am committed to changing the system so that democracy works for the people of Minnesota."
News Items
- Rep. Rick Hansen chosen as leader of Great Lakes Legislative Caucus - (Posted: Dec 27 2012 8:34AM)
- Need Holiday Gifts? Consider DNR Gift Cards - (Posted: 2012-11-27 00:00:00)
- Looking Forward to Serving, Getting the Job Done - (Posted: 2012-11-14 00:00:00)
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