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Minnesota House of Representatives

State Representative Tim O'Driscoll

357 State Office BuildingState Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-7808

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Posted: 2011-03-23 00:00:00
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Email update

Roundup from St. Paul

Dear Neighbor,

Committees have been hard at work with meetings going late into the night and on weekends as we work to finalize finance bills to go to the House floor for a vote. A couple weeks ago, my House Republican colleagues and I released our targets that will balance the budget without raising taxes. Our plan actually cuts taxes by $300 million for the lower and middle tax bracket. We’ve seen that the best budget solution is putting more money into the hands of consumers, not raising taxes and increasing government spending.

K-12 EDUCATION FINANCE BILL
This bill increases our state contribution to education to over $14.3 billion, relieves mandates and initiates significant reforms in a kids first, no exceptions, no excuses effort. Key components include:

· Increased per-pupil funding $126 by 2014.
· The creation of new enrollment options for low-income students in persistently low-performing schools in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth.
· Implementation of an A-F school grading system, making it easier for parents to evaluate and compare schools and reward schools that are innovative and effective.

JOBS/ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BILL
This legislation prioritizes spending through a focus on private-sector workforce development programs to help Minnesotans get back to work. Here's an overview:

· Creates Youth Workforce Development Competitive Grant Program. This program is a pilot project that can be applied to future pass through grants for business development and adult services.
· Continues funding for the Inventors Congress and Biobusiness Alliance, initiatives that spearhead innovation and lay the foundation for the future of Minnesota's marketplace.
· Uses a $60 million transfer from the Douglas Johnson Fund and a $13 million transfer from the Unemployment Insurance contingent account to fund jobs and economic development priorities.

STATE GOVERNMENT FINANCE BILL
The State Government Finance Bill implements sweeping reform initiatives designed to reduce costs, improve services to taxpayers, and prepare government for the challenges we face in the coming decades. These reforms promote fiscal stability, modernize state services and drive continued innovation. The particulars include:

· Total Funding of $602 million or a 33-percent reduction from base level funding.
· Increases funding for Veterans Affairs by 2.5 percent and Military Affairs by 7.7 percent.
· Reforms state government by strategically reducing the state workforce by 2015, implements a Sunset Commission, to review outdated programs, introduces a zero-based budgeting principle, allows for pay for performance and encourages innovation.

Green Acres:

One issue I’ve been working on is a fix to the Green Acres farmland preservation program. Changes were made in 2008 that didn’t have enough public input. The result was higher property taxes for some farmers. This session, we’ve held working sessions and public hearings on the program to come up with a fix bill that I have co-sponsored and has wide support. AgriNews has a good summary of the bill.

The bill passed out of House yesterday with wide, bipartisan support. On the House floor, one Democratic member called it a “clean bill” that sends “a clear message to farmers” and gives us a chance “to get the job done” for our constituents. The final tally was 98-24. I’m proud to have been cosponsor.

Appointment:

Last week, I was appointed by Speaker of the House Kurt Zellers to the National Conference of State Legislatures Committee on Communications, Financial Services and Interstate Commerce.

The National Conference of State Legislatures is a bipartisan organization that serves the legislators and staffs of the nation's 50 states found to improve the quality and effectiveness of state legislatures, promote policy innovation and communication among state legislatures and ensure state legislatures a strong, cohesive voice in the federal system.

I look forward to this opportunity to learn how we can improve government here in Minnesota by collaborating with folks from other states. This is a great bipartisan group and I’m happy to be selected for the assignment.

Meetings:

This was a busy week of meeting with constituents at the Capitol. I met with local AFSCME members, Education Minnesota teachers, and city officials and administrators from the Sartell/St. Cloud area. On Friday, Sen. Michelle Fishbach and I had the opportunity to meet with 250 students from Sauk Rapids – Rice Middle School on the House floor as they toured the Capitol and learned more about state government.

I would like to thank everyone who has emailed, called or stopped by my office in St. Paul. Your feedback is helpful as we take votes and work on our finance bills. You can provide further feedback via my online survey.

Sincerely,
Rep. Tim O’Driscoll

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