Friends,
Next Tuesday, August 1st is National Night Out, which is a great time to have fun and meet your neighbors. In 2016, Maple Grove placed second in the nation for their National Night Out campaign! I am looking forward to traveling across the city and dropping in to as many get togethers as I can. Hope to see you out there!
Another fun event in our community are the Friday night Movies by Moonlight series every week through September 1st. I will be at tonight's showing of Momma Mia and hope to see you there!
2017 Legislator of Distinction Award
I was honored to be named a Lawmaker of Distinction by the League of Minnesota Cities for my work during the 2017 Legislative Session. The League of Minnesota Cities recognizes legislators on an annual basis based on the following criteria:
- Demonstrates the importance of partnership between the state and cities.
- Is generally and reasonably accessible to League representatives.
- Seeks input on issues of importance to cities.
- Listens to League concerns and is receptive to the League providing information on issues.
- Sponsors and/or supports League initiatives.
- Speaks out on behalf of the interest of cities.
I am honored to serve the people of Maple Grove and Osseo and will continue to work to make our cities a great place to live, work, and raise a family.
Rep. Smith at the Osseo City Council meeting this month
Capitol Retort
Starting in this month's issue of Minnesota Lawyer, I will be a featured guest on their political panels where we give our analysis on the hot local and nation issues of the day. There is a pay-wall for the full version but here is a snippet of my answers to some of this week's questions:
- Question 1: Gov. Mark Dayton is heading to the Supreme Court to appeal a district court decision to undo two line-item vetoes that zeroed out the Legislature’s budget. Is this a righteous fight, or a quixotic quest that can only waste the taxpayers’ money?
- Dennis Smith, GOP House member, attorney: I agree a little bit more with the latter. This is a clear attempt by the governor to try to eliminate a coequal branch of government simply because something happened in the negotiations that he didn’t like. The governor has every right to veto a bill, and if the governor doesn’t like a bill, the governor should veto it. But taking a coequal branch to court because of a failure of your own negotiations is simply not the way that our government is set up. I am 100 percent convinced that the Supreme Court will quickly agree with the lower court.
Between the Lines
It was a pleasure to join Al Travis on his political talk show, Between The Lines. We had a great conversation about the very productive 2017 Session, the lawsuit over Governor Dayton vetoing legislative funding, and much more. You can watch the entire show by clicking here.
Reminder: Capitol Grand Opening Celebration
To commemorate this special occasion and to invite Minnesotans back to the People’s House, there will be a Grand Opening Celebration held from Friday August 11th through Sunday the 13th. The celebration will have something for everyone – fireworks, concerts, demonstrations by the artisans that worked on the restoration, behind the scenes tours, and much more. Most of the events are free, or offered at a very low cost. Please mark your calendars and plan to celebrate the People’s House this summer!
Please continue to share your thoughts with me about our state government; bill ideas and concerns are welcomed! I am honored to serve you at the Capitol. My email address is Rep.Dennis.Smith@house.mn, phone number 651-296-5502, and by mail: 375 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155.
Have a great weekend!
Dennis