Dear Neighbor,
Here is a last call for people to participate in the legislative survey I am conducting online. Please take a minute to click here and weigh in on the issues if you haven’t already done so. The survey only takes a few moments to complete and the more participation we have, the better. We plan to tabulate the results next week and share the findings.
As for work at the Capitol, I am pleased to announce a bill I authored to help military veterans has made its way through the committee process and now is ready for a vote from the full House.
The bill (H.F. 2117) stipulates that local governments absorb costs for a hearing when they issue a veteran a notice of discharge, the need for this bill became apparent after a veteran was reinstated after the hearing and the government employer sued the veteran for the cost of the hearing. Both parties still would be responsible for their own attorney fees, but at least local governments would not be putting veterans on the hook for hearing fees. My bill brings clarity to the system and alleviates a lot of headaches. We have not received word as to when it might come to the House floor, but I’ll keep you posted.
This bill is a start, but there is more work we can do in this area to assist veterans. I will continue working with all parties to continue to improve the hearing process.
There also were interesting recent developments in the House Transportation Finance Committee. After the Majority party proposed $750 million in annual tax increases mostly for transit spending, they introduced a more modest bill this week that would spend $50 million in General Funds and $50 million in Trunk Highway Funds.
However, the bill adds more regulations and assessments on private industry, railroads and pipelines at a time when we should be encouraging greater build-out of these systems to transport energy and heating sources to Minnesotans who need them. There are some good pieces, but I believe it goes too far too fast.
Our focus should be on fixing our roads and bridges statewide, but this bill diverts trunk highway funding to other areas. For example, the bill puts $6 million in trunk highway funds toward dedicating the old Stillwater bridge to exclusive use by pedestrians and bicyclists.
Another provision requires railroads to light their rail yards with “Made in Minnesota” solar panels, despite objections from neighbors, railroad companies and surrounding communities.
Notable spending items:
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$15 million to the Met Council, largely for bus rapid transit
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$10 million for winter-related trunk highway repair
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$5 million for railroad grade crossing safety
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Nearly $4 million for winter-related county state-aid road repair
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Tens of thousands of dollars for free statewide transit on Election Day
Please keep sending me feedback on these and other issues. The anti-bullying letter I sent earlier this week elicited a huge outpouring of response from local folks that found the school policy provided on the link an example very sound guidelines. Thanks for the correspondence!
Good luck,
Jeff