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State Representative Kim Norton
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-9249
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Omnibus Transportation Bill Passes House with Provisions from Rep. Norton
(ST. PAUL) — Today, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed the conference committee report on the Omnibus Transportation Bill (HF 2685). The bill contains provisions authored and supported by state Representative Kim Norton (DFL – Rochester).
The bill contains the language of HF 39, authored by Rep. Norton and Senator Dave Senjem (R –Rochester). The bill would rename Highway 14 in Minnesota as the Black and Yellow Trail. HF 39 was non-controversial and positively received throughout the process.
“The idea for this came from a constituent with a love of history," said Rep. Norton. “The Black and Yellow Trail is an old, historical name for the trail that started in Chicago and went through the Black Hills in South Dakota to end in Yellowstone.”
The “Safe Routes to Schools” program and funding was also included in the Omnibus Transportation bill. This grant program will enable children to more safely walk or bicycle to school, and is the key recommendation of the Minnesota Legislature’s Childhood Obesity Working Group, which Rep. Norton co-chairs with Rep. Bob Dettmer (R – Forest Lake).
Creating a Minnesota-based Safe Routes to School grant program will enable children to more safely walk or bicycle to school. Growing funding for this program to meet state needs remains a continued effort.
“We have advocated for this program because we believe that it will help Minnesota youth become more physically fit, active, and safe,” said Norton. “While the existing federal program has demonstrated success in many schools and communities across the state, it is currently unable to meet the demand in Minnesota for infrastructure improvements related to school safety.”
The safety issues associated with children who walk and bike are well known. Nationally, 25 percent of all children’s traffic fatalities and 15 percent of all children’s traffic injuries occurred when they were walking or biking. Safe Routes to School is designed to address these tragic statistics.
Finally, if left unchecked, by the year 2020 nearly 31 percent of the overall increase in Minnesota’s health care costs will be due to projected increases in obesity alone. And if current trends continue, treating Minnesota’s overweight and obese populations will cost an additional $3.7 billion by 2020.
“This program has the endorsement of so many organizations and received strong bipartisan support at the legislature,” added Rep. Norton. “Creating and funding this program for Minnesota will not only help to encourage more youth to walk and bike to and from school, and help to keep them safe while doing so, it will benefit taxpayers, health insurance policy holders and those who pay into the health care system.
“It’s seldom that any program has that broad of a positive impact on Minnesota and its people.”
The conference committee report on HF 2685 must now pass the Senate before being presented to Governor Dayton.
News Items
- Rep. Norton Selected as Vice Chair of House Health and Human Services Finance Committee - (Posted: 2012-12-14 00:00:00)
- It’s Time for Legislature to Get Back to Basics, Balance the Budget Honestly - (Posted: 2012-12-11 00:00:00)
- Second Saturday Coffee Meeting Date Changed to December 9 - (Posted: 2012-12-03 00:00:00)
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