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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Julie Sandstede (DFL)

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Legislative Update - December 22, 2017

Friday, December 22, 2017

Dear Neighbors,

I’d like to wish each of you a Happy Holidays full of good cheer with your friends and family. This season gives us a great opportunity to spend quality time with loved ones, and reflect on the previous year. Merry Christmas!

Almanac North

In case you missed it, I recently appeared on the WDSE program Almanac North with Rep. Jason Metsa and Rep. Jennifer Schultz. We discussed the difficult, but important topic of recent sexual harassment allegations in and around the State Capitol. Proposals are already being floated to improve training, reporting, and investigation procedures, but that’s not enough. It’s clear the culture itself must change. We all have a responsibility to ensure the Capitol is welcoming to all, is an environment free of unwanted advances or other intimidating and inappropriate behavior. You can watch the program here.

Cliffs/Essar Steel

You may have seen the news that Cleveland-Cliffs recently acquired a sizable plot of property near the former Essar Steel site in Naushwauk. Since Essar’s bankruptcy, this has been a complicated situation with many moving parts, and this development is no exception. As a state legislator, I’m committed to strategies which create quality jobs both in the short-term and set a path for long-term diversification of our regional economy. There are plenty of players at the table in addition to Cliffs, including Chippewa Capital Partners (which has been seeking to move forward with the Mesabi Metallics project), the Minnesota DNR, and, of course, bankruptcy court. As this situation is constantly evolving, I continue to advocate for the best possible future for the Iron Range.

Hibbing Public Utilities

I recently met with Hibbing Public Utilities staff to receive an update about the buyout of Xcel Energy and the Laurentian Energy Authority’s biomass production agreement. This past session, the Legislature facilitated this buyout in order to more efficiently deliver power and protect the interest of ratepayers.

Since then, I’ve heard from many in the community who have concerns about the situation in light of HPU’s proposed rate increases for 2018 and potential staff downsizing. With HPU set to receive $10.5 million from the legislative buyout package, as well as $2 million from Xcel, in addition to moving toward less expensive energy production itself, ratepayers deserve lower costs reflecting this. I’ll be keeping a close eye on this process moving forward.

I have clearly expressed my expectation to the HPU that theymust create a long-range plan before any downsizing takes places or rates increase; this process needs to be done through attrition or early retirement incentives. If downsizing needs to take place outside of retirement, it should be shared among management and the workforce so the burden of these cuts does not fall solely on the backs of workers. To do something other than this would be putting the cart before the horse.

As the Duluth News Tribune points out, federal tax legislation could affect energy rates. Much of this tax package is targeted toward corporate tax cuts, with executives claiming that they will pass any windfall on to consumers and workers. This is one key example in which I feel any increased profitmust be passed on to consumers and reflected in energy rates. As Minnesota Power provides some power to HPU, I hope they will fulfill their responsibility to Minnesotans by offering lower rates.

On a closing note, it’s been a tremendous honor to serve as your State Representative the past year and is a responsibility I take very seriously. As 2017 winds down and we look ahead to 2018, I hope you will keep reaching out with your comments and questions. While there are certainly challenges along the way, I look forward to working to create more opportunities in our communities and keep Minnesota on track so all families can succeed.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and joyous Holiday Season,

Julie Sandstede

State Representative