Dear Neighbors,
I hope you are enjoying your summer with friends, family and neighbors. About one month has passed since the Legislature adjourned for the year. As you probably remember, the session ended under a cloud of chaos and confusion, and in the hurry to complete our work before the constitutional deadline, bills were rushed to the floor for votes. This process and lack of scrutiny resulted in some significant errors, especially in the tax bill (to the tune of $101 million) and the bonding bill. Other matters, such as a comprehensive transportation bill, didn’t even make it to the finish line.
Because such significant work was left undone, Governor Dayton has kept the door open to a special session, and he has been periodically meeting with legislative leaders in recent weeks to reach an agreement. Unfortunately, these talks haven’t yielded much progress. All sides will need to come together in the spirit of compromise so we can take care of important issues such as bringing our transportation system into the 21st century, building upon our public infrastructure by passing a bonding bill, and enacting some tax relief for ordinary Minnesota families.
I remain hopeful this can be accomplished and I remain at the ready to contribute to these discussions and actions in any way I can. I also hope you will stay in touch throughout this process to share your own input as well.
This weekend is the annual Kaposia Days celebration in South St. Paul. I’ll be out and about participating in the activities and I hope to see you there too. For more information and a full listing of the festivities, check out the official website here.
It’s an honor to represent you at the Capitol; feel free to reach out anytime if I can be of assistance.
Sincerely,
Dan Schoen
State Representative