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State Representative Dan Fabian
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-9635
For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
News from Representative Fabian
On Thursday the 6th grade class from the Lancaster school made a trip to St. Paul to visit the Capitol. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with them and answering the questions they had.
HF 2775, the brake bill I authored, was signed by Governor Dayton this week. This new law gives farmers and farm machinery implement dealers greater ability to drive and tow farm equipment.
Current Minnesota statutes governing the towing of implements of husbandry (farm implements) on public roads, we have discovered, are out of date when it comes to towing heavy implements that are not equipped with brakes. So out of date, in fact, that it is virtually impossible to legally move heavy implements, such as air seeders and large tillage equipment, on the road if they are not equipped with brakes, no matter what you are towing them with!
The law said that if an implement of husbandry is over 24,000 pounds, and is not equipped with brakes, it cannot be towed on the road at all, regardless of what is towing it – even if it is a farm tractor that would pull it in the field!
As you well know, many of the implements today (large field cultivators, air seeders, etc.) are over 24,000 pounds and the manufacturers are not offering brakes as an option. It would be impractical to put brakes on these implements and tow them in the field. The dirt would quickly ruin the brakes. In effect, there was no way for a dealer or farmer to move these implements on the road legally. A dealer cannot legally deliver the implement to the farmer and a farmer cannot legally pull these implements from one field to the next if they have to move them on the road.
This bill will remove the reference to specific weights and would update the current statutes to accommodate the towing of these implements on roads while at the same time providing braking requirements to assure that a towing vehicle has the capabilities of safely stopping the load. The Department of Transportation and the State Patrol have agreed to and support these changes to the current statutes.
This is good news for farmers and implement dealers across Minnesota; this will give our farmers and implement dealers greater ability to tow farm equipment.
I’d like to thank Bruce Guy, Brent Lunke, Rich Strom of the implement dealers association, and everyone involved from the Department of Transportation and the State Patrol for their help in moving this bill along. This bill will greatly benefit many Minnesotans.
Over the Easter recess last week I hosted 12 town halls across District 1A. I am very thankful to everyone who came to participate. I appreciate hearing from each of you, your ideas and concerns are what I bring back to the Capitol with me and share with the other legislators.
The people’s House, also known as the State Capitol building, is in great need of repair. The exterior is beginning to crumble, and the interior is in great need of updating the infrastructure. The bill that would repair the building was defeated on the House floor today. I am disappointed this bill did not pass. Bonding bills need a total of 81 votes in order to pass and the bill received 80 votes.
During my time back home last week I was able to visit the Thief River Falls Care Center with Mayor Steve Nordhagen. Thanks to Michele Halvorson for her hospitality during the open house.
As we begin to wrap up the legislative session soon, please don’t hesitate to contact my office with any concerns or questions you may have.
Have a great weekend!
Dan
News Items
- REP. FABIAN EXTENDS GRATITUDE TO TRAILS4TRANSPLANTS ORGANIZERS IN WARREN - (Posted: Jun 11 2013 2:46PM)
- June Town Hall Meeting Schedule - (Posted: Jun 3 2013 2:28PM)
- REP. FABIAN: MINNESOTANS DO NOT WANT FORCED DAYCARE UNIONIZATION AT THIS TIME - (Posted: May 20 2013 2:42PM)
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