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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Dennis Smith (R)

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REAL ID Update, New Bus Routes, Maple Grove Award

Friday, January 15, 2016

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Before we prepare for another blast from the arctic this weekend, stop in to Osseo High School to watch some of the best boys high school basketball in the state. The undefeated Orioles are hosting the #4 ranked Maple Grove Crimson tonight at 7:30. No matter the sport, when our two high schools meet up, it is exciting – and tonight will be the same. Good luck to both teams!

Here are the highlights from our capitol this week;

  1. REAL ID Update
  2. Suburb-to-Suburb Bus Service
  3. Maple Grove receives #1 National Night Out Award

REAL ID Update

You may recall from my update last week, the Department of Homeland Security announced that 28 states would have until 2018 to comply with REAL ID, with extensions granted until October 2020. Despite the extra time to gain compliance, this is still an issue we intend to address early in the regular legislative session. The REAL ID Working Group met again this week, and we will keep working to finding a legislative solution to this issue.

New Suburb-to-Suburb Bus Transit

Starting January 19, Maple Grove will be connected to various other Twin Cities suburbs via the new Suburb-to-Suburb bus transit system. Maple Grove continues to be a growing, thriving community, and Suburb-to-Suburb bus service will help continue this trend. Last session, I was proud to support a bill to create a program where residents have the option of working or visiting other thriving Twin Cities suburbs. The flexibility and cost savings of these bus routes compared to costly light rail that is permanent shows how bus transit can be affordable and effective.

Here is a link for more information on routes and times.

Maple Grove #1 in National Night Out

Recently, Maple Grove won first place in the country for their National Night Out celebration! Our city won the top prize for cities with populations between 50,000 and 99,999. Our sense of community, and care for our neighbors is a large part of what makes our area such a great place to live and raise a family. This past year I was fortunate to attend eight neighborhood celebrations – it was no surprise to me that we won! Congratulations to Maple Grove, and thank you for doing your part to help win this award!

As we close in on the March 8 legislative session, please continue to send me your bill ideas, thoughts, and concerns. It is my privilege to represent our great community, and I want to continue to hear from you. I can be reached at Rep.Dennis.Smith@house.mn, by phone at (651) 296-5502, or US mail at 13570 Grove Drive, #370, Maple Grove, MN, 55311.

Have a blessed weekend!

Dennis