Dear Neighbor,
Congratulations to the SCSU Huskies men's hockey team for winning the NCHC postseason tournament championship last weekend, and good luck as they begin play in the NCAA West Regional this weekend in St. Paul.
As for news from the Capitol, legislation to start the process for bringing Minnesota into compliance with federal Real ID standards cleared the House Ways & Means Committee (which I chair) and is heading to the floor for a vote of the full body. This legislation, which was noncontroversial, allows the state to start researching the costs and ways of implementing Real ID in Minnesota without yet actually making the decision to go forward with it. A law passed in 2009 (when I was not in the Legislature) prohibited the state from even researching this issue. This new legislation would allow Minnesota to apply for federal permission for Minnesotans to use their current drivers licenses when visiting federal facilities such as military bases (to visit a son or daughter in the service, for example), which is currently prohibited by the federal government because of Minnesota law.
The formal adoption of federal Real ID standards is more controversial, and involves a number of decisions, since their are multiple options for how we can comply with them (if we comply with them - we could choose to not do so, but then people who wanted to fly would need a passport). This will require more thought, but the information that will be gained by the bill we passed this week will help us to make those decisions.
Bills I have personally authored continue making their way through the House as well. One noncontroversial bill I authored that passed committee this week will allow funeral homes with branches that don't have preparation rooms on site but instead use a prep room at a nearby facility to continue to stay open. This bill was brought to me by a local constituent. Otherwise, such funeral homes will be required to close by June 30, 2017 or add a prep room at a potential cost of $100,000 or more. Without a change, funeral homes in small towns that currently use a prep room in one central location but don't have one on site will be forced to close. This is one more example of over regulation by state government. People have viewings and funerals in churches, Legion Clubs, gymnasiums and other places that don't have prep rooms - why do we need to require that every funeral home location has one, as long as a licensed prep room is used?
I also continue to work on the Northstar Corridor extension legislation, and anticipate introducing it next week. I believe it will have very little if any cost.
In addition, I am also heavily involved as Ways and Means Chair in working on this year's budget.
On a personal note, I mentioned in my last update that my 21-year-old daughter was going to be attempting last weekend to become the youngest woman ever to do a double triathlon, which means swimming 4.8 miles, bicycling 224 miles, and then running two consecutive marathons totaling 52.4 miles. She was successful in this, and I am naturally very proud of her. Her time was 34 hours, 20 minutes, and 38 seconds. Click here to see a Times feature about her story.
Please stay in touch as these and other issues progress. The Legislature is not in session tomorrow because of Good Friday, which is why I am sending this update today. I wish you and your family a blessed Easter and weekend.
Sincerely,
Rep. Jim Knoblach