Greetings,
Congratulations to a pair of senior Eden Valley-Watkins boys basketball players for recently recording their 1,000th career points just two days apart. Jacob Streit accomplished the feat Jan. 24 against Rush City and Reese Jansen did the same Jan. 26 against Pierz. Nice work, young men, and good luck to the Eagles the rest of the season.
Another local competitor, Kimball grad “Monster” Mike Schultz, recently won his sixth Winter X Games gold medal, taking the Snowmobile SnoCross Adaptive title in Aspen, Co. Congratulations, Monster Mike. Click here for video of his big win.
At the Capitol, the House this week approved a bill to replenish funding for a loan program that is popular among farmers working on start-ups or looking to upgrade their operations.
The bill (H.F. 14) appropriates $35 million to the Rural Finance Authority for loans to eligible farmers. The norm is for RFA funding to be provided through capital investment bills but, with no bonding bill approved in 2016, the pot is dry.
We needed to take care of this right away to help people plan for the upcoming season. This has been a very successful program over the years, so it really was a no-brainer that we had to get this funding piece in place to keep it going and time is too precious to wait around until the end of May to put it in a bonding bill.
The bill calls for $35 million in bond proceeds to be allocated for future RFA loans. These bonds are 100-percent user-financed, meaning the state will be paid back. More information on RFA programs can be found at www.mda.state.mn.us/agfinance or by calling (651) 201-6556.
On the committee side, two reports from the Legislative Auditor made news. One of them followed an investigation of potential improper use of U.S. Bank Stadium suites controlled by the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, including for Vikings games.
The Legislative Auditor’s office determined the MSFA officials violated core ethical principles but did not break the law when they gave free tickets to family members and friends, but they did violate a core ethical principle.
The Legislative Auditor recommends the Legislature exercise stronger control over the MSFA and, specifically, its use of complimentary tickets to stadium events.
One House bill would help make this happen by revamping the appointments to the MSFA and increasing transparency and accountability to the Legislature. That kind of reform should be a given after this inexcusable behavior where MSFA leaders used tax dollars to fund what amounted to their own friends and family program for attending events at the new stadium. A bill I am looking at drafting would require the MSFA to put their suites on the market instead of letting them stand as perpetual lost revenue.
Another committee discussion pertained to an earlier report from the Legislative Auditor, with an update on MnDOT practices presented to the Transportation Finance Committee on which I serve. The meeting largely addressed MnDOT’s process for determining the order road projects are completed. The Legislative Auditor has concluded there is not enough transparency and that overuse of the term “shovel ready” has caused some road work to be unnecessarily delayed, stacked up behind other jobs that were prioritized but not truly ready to go.
MnDOT presented a response to the report and, while they said some of the right things, certain practices need to be put in statute instead of simply being agency policy. Improved transparency is sorely needed, especially as it pertains to selecting and prioritizing projects.
Look for more news as it develops and, as always, your feedback is welcome.
Regards,
Jeff