Friends,
Welcome to 2018! It's been a cold start to the year and it looks like that's going to continue for a bit. The good news is we do have a little bit of snow on the way so we may get to enjoy some winter fun!
The new year also brings the next legislative session, which begins February 20th and we must be completed by May 21st. It's a quick one this year so please bring me any thoughts or ideas for bills that you may have.
Clean Up of Valley Ridge Site
The Dakota County Community Development Agency (CDA) was awarded $50,000 from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) in investigation funding for the Valley Ridge 6.65-acre site. Past uses include a gas station, shopping center, and two dry cleaners. This site will be redeveloped with a gas station and 27 owner-occupied townhomes. The project is expected to create 20 new jobs and increase the tax base by $153,908. Matching costs will be paid by Dakota County and the Dakota County CDA.
This is great news for our area and I am excited to see the new development that springs up!
New 2018 Laws in effect January 1
While much of the great work we did during the 2017 Session went into effect later in 2017, a few laws went into effect on January 1st, 2018. Among the new laws were uniform election dates, more specialty license plates, and two health-related reforms -- one will make it easier for patients to refill their prescription eye drops and another will allow home health care workers to count training for those who are hard of hearing towards their annual training requirements.
The full list of new laws from the 2017 Session is available here.
Contact Me
If you ever have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding any issue related to state government, please feel free to contact me at either 651-296-5387 or rep.roz.peterson@house.mn.
Sincerely,
