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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Jeff Backer (R)

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Legislative Update from Rep. Backer: Town Hall Invitation

Friday, March 16, 2018

Dear Neighbors,

Senator Torrey Westrom and I will be hosting a series of town hall meetings on Friday, March 23rd and Saturday, March 24th at locations around the district.

I strongly encourage you to take time to attend if you are able. These town halls give me the chance to hear directly from you about the issues and priorities that matter most to you and your family.

The schedule for the day is below:

Friday, March 23

8:00 am-8:45 am
Lake Community Center
115 Central Ave. North
Elbow Lake, MN

9:30 am-10:15 am
Evansville Care Center
649 State St
Evansville, MN

11:15 am-12:00 pm
Public Library
102 E 6th St
Morris, MN

1:15 pm-2:00 pm
Berkner Pizza
205 2nd St NW
Ortonville, MN

3:00 pm-3:45 pm
Public Library
901 1st Ave N
Wheaton, MN

4:30 pm-5:15 pm
City Hall
420 Nebraska Ave
Breckenridge, MN

Saturday, March 24

10:00 am-10:45 am
Starbuck Event Center
307 E 5th St
Starbuck, MN

The events are free of charge and I hope to see you there!

On Monday, the House Ways and Means Committee approved a bill that allocates $10 million in emergency funding for the broken MNLARS system. The Governor’s administration insists that the $10 million is needed for any fixes to proceed.

The $10 million will come out of the Department’s Driver Services and Vehicle Services Operating Account. The bill would then require executive branch agencies to reduce General Fund spending by an identical $10 million to backfill the account and would require MN.IT and the Department of Public Safety to meet performance measures.

This is an important first step in fixing this debacle and I am committed to ensuring that Minnesotans will soon have the licensing system they deserve.

Bill Hearings

I had a number of bills heard in committee this week. Here is a brief recap of a few of them:

House File 3441 provides that certain emission control standards no longer apply to facilities that use portable equipment to handle grain stored in a temporary storage facility at ethanol plants or other agricultural commodity facilities.

What this does is push back against a rule that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is considering that would classify what is essentially biodegradable corn dust as a pollutant. If they were to classify corn dust in this manner, it would have serious negative impacts on farmers and the industry during harvest time.

House File 2887 prevents the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) from rulemaking as it relates to nitrogen fertilizer under authority of the Groundwater Protection Act unless the proposed requirements are specifically ratified by the House and Senate.

House File 3442 changes the eligibility requirements for the Advanced Biofuel Production Incentive Program. The minimum amount of advanced biofuel that a facility must produce would decrease from 23,750 MMbtu per quarter to 1,500 MMbtu per quarter.

Constituent Visits

I was visited by a number of constituent groups this week. 

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On Thursday I visited with Kalli Kremer of Wheaton. She is an active member with FCCLA. FCCLA's Mission is to promote personal growth and leadership development through Family and Consumer Sciences education.

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I appreciated visiting with Thomas and Jenifer Paulson of Wolverton in St Paul. We discussed flood mitigation projects in Wilkin county.

Staying Connected

That’s all for this week’s update. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me to share any thoughts, concerns, or questions you may have. I can be reached by phone at either 651-296-4929 or 701-361-1909. I can also be reached via email at rep.jeff.backer@house.mn.

Have a great weekend,

Jeff