With my former student Derek Tweeten who was in Saint Paul for Landscapers Day at the Capitol
With Darrin Smedsmo for Hospitality Day at the Capitol. He owns the AmericInn in Roseau.
With Kevin Berg, Lucas Speath, Darryl Tveitbakk, Rod Otterness, Dalene Monsebroten and Don Morterdam with the Northern Municipal Power Agency who were in Saint Paul for the MMUA Legislative Rally and Conference
With East Grand Forks city leaders Mark Olstad, Steven Gander and Chad Grassel
With Estel Jaszczak from Lancaster who came to Saint Paul to student shadow with the FCCLA
With Dave Beito from Thief River Falls for Banker Day at the Capitol
Dear Neighbors,
It’s been another busy week in Saint Paul. Here is an update with the latest news from the Capitol.
More Health Insurance Choices for NW MN
There was some encouraging news for Northwest Minnesota this week. Medica decided to re-open enrollment for 2017, providing an additional choice for folks in our area. Included in Medica’s options is the Medica Altru plan, which covers a large number of hospitals and providers in Kittson, Marshall, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, and Roseau counties.
This announcement is good news and may help folks, who may have otherwise been planning to skip coverage in 2017 due to limited network access, find a health plan that works for them. I would encourage people to look and see if these newly-available plans make financial and logistical sense for your family. Open enrollment has been extended through February 8th.
Environment Committee Hearings
We had a busy week in the Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee.
On Tuesday, we talked about the management of School Trust Fund Lands which are constitutionally dedicated lands across the state that are managed by the DNR. The land helps fund public schools statewide, contributing an average of $17 million to the permanent school fund annually. Over the past few years, the legislature has reformed how lands are managed and reduced administrative fees charged by the DNR on the lands to maximize profits for our schools. A vast majority of the revenue from School Trust Lands comes from mining, followed by forestry. It was great to hear from Aaron Vande Linde, School Trust Fund Administrator, about the progress that has been made toward improved management goals.
On Wednesday, we discussed an issue that concerns many counties, particularly in Northern Minnesota—the ownership of non-School Trust Lands by the state. There is a strong sentiment among many folks that the state owns too much land, and that more of it could be better used in the hands of private owners, contributing to local property tax revenues. I am a strong proponent of limiting state acquisitions and returning more state lands to private ownership through sales by the state.
Finally, on Thursday, the committee reviewed a base budget produced by the DNR. In 2015, legislation required that agencies including the DNR and MPCA provide a more detailed base budget report than what had previously been presented to legislators in the past. These reports help shed more light on how they spend money, and will help when we craft and pass a responsible budget out of our committee later this session.
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My door is always open to the needs and priorities of our area. Please feel free to let me know if I can be of assistance to you and your family. I am here to serve you!
Dan
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