Greetings from the Capitol!
Congratulations to my son, Marc, on being named U.S. Marine Corps Defense Counsel of the Year! I appreciate his service, as well as the service of all others who are, and who have, served our country.
Town Hall TOMORROW:
Senator Jason Isaacson and I will be co-hosting a town hall meeting tomorrow from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM at Shoreview City Hall (4600 Victoria St. N.). I encourage anyone who is interested in the legislative process to attend. I hope to see you there!
Misuse of U.S. Bank Stadium Suites:
This week the Legislative Auditor, Jim Nobles, released a report regarding the misuse of taxpayer funded suites at U.S. Bank Stadium by officials of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority. The audit discovered that nearly half of the tickets for the suites went to family and friends of these officials, instead of their intended purpose of using them as a marketing tool to private businesses in order to pay for ongoing expenses of operating the stadium.
To quote some of the findings by the Auditor: “The Authority’s claim that it needs two suites rather than one is not supported by facts or logic.” “The Authority failed to comply with state law by not maintaining a record of who received tickets to its stadium suites.” “We concluded that the Authority’s use of the tickets violated a core ethical principle.” “Given these and other findings, we recommend that the Legislature exercise stronger control over the Authority and, specifically, its use of complimentary tickets to stadium events.”
The legislature is currently working to reform the Authority to make them more accountable to the taxpayers of Minnesota and ensure this unethical behavior does not continue.
Java with Jessup:
I am pleased to announce a series of Saturday morning meetings during the legislative session called “Java with Jessup” at select coffee shops. The first one will take place in Mounds View on Saturday, February 18th from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM at Caribou Coffee (2585 Mounds View Boulevard). Feel free to stop in, grab some coffee, and discuss any issue important to you.
Contact Me:
For any questions, comments, or concerns regarding any issue related to state government, please feel free to contact me at either 651-296-0141 or rep.randy.jessup@house.mn. Thank you again for allowing me to represent you at the Capitol.
Sincerely,
Randy