Dear Neighbors,
Freeborn County Relay for Life
I am looking forward to attending the Freeborn County Relay for Life’s kickoff event at 6:00 PM this evening at the Freeborn County Fairgrounds. If you have never had the opportunity to attend or take part in this event, I would encourage you to come. It is an amazing testament of courage for the many local people who have been touched by cancer, and a beautiful memorial to those who have lost that great battle. These local heroes, along with their family and friends, have raised thousands of dollars a year to help fight cancer. Well-known local writer and speaker Al Batt is this year’s honorary chair for the event. I am looking forward to hearing Al speak and share his story. Though it's too late to join a relay team, it's not too late to donate. You can find more information here. Hope to see you there!
Job Growth
This week, I wanted to pass along some of the main provisions we passed this year to encourage job growth throughout the state. In every corner of Minnesota, we need to make sure residents have access to better-paying jobs to support their family. We also see a need statewide that Minnesota businesses have openings for good-paying jobs, but can't find workers to fill them. Some of the highlights of our job growth plan include:
- Helping prevent displacement of blue collar workers in Greater Minnesota
- Provided grants to help these workers retain their full wage while retaining them for jobs that are available through businesses in their communities
- Encouraging more infrastructure
- We cut fees on construction-related permits and inspections
- Spurring economic development through broadband
- $20 million in grant funding to bring increased broadband internet access to residents throughout Greater Minnesota
- Returning unclaimed property
- Created legislation to help return over $700 million in unclaimed property back to Minnesotans
- Lowering energy bills for consumers
- Our legislation reduces and streamlines the regulation process for energy providers
- Helping veterans through job training
- A new Helmets to Hard-Hats program helps our servicemen and women get training they need to put their skills to work here at home and allows veterans to use their military experience to meet accrediting requirements
- Training in schools
- A new program helps schools offset the cost of establishing vocational tech and on-the-job training in our high schools to help more young people secure their professional certifications
- Bringing property tax relief for main street businesses
- As mentioned in my tax bill overview, we exempt the first $100,000 in property value from the extra statewide property tax and freeze the automatic inflator, which will help our local businesses be competitive
New Laws
Many of the new laws we passed took effect July 1, but a number of important provisions will start on Tuesday, August 1. If you’re interested, House Information has a great rundown of some of the laws taking effect next week.
Please Contact Me
If you can’t make it to the Relay for Life but would like to catch up, please call or email my office. I’d love to set up a time where we could meet in our area.
Enjoy the weekend!
Peggy