Friends,
Had an interesting visitor yesterday when the House convened for the second time this session. Norwood Teague, athletic director at the University of Minnesota, was on hand to display the Little Brown Jug and Floyd of Rosedale, two highly prized trophies the Gopher football team plays for each year against the universities of Michigan and Iowa. This past season, for the first time in many years, the Gophers defeated each of those rivals and therefore gained possession of both trophies. I am pictured above with each.
Action during the first week of this 2015 session was mostly ceremonial. Committees don't start meeting until next week when activity picks up. I attended the annual Minnesota Chamber of Commerce dinner Wednesday evening and heard Gov. Mark Dayton outline his plan for increased transportation funding. It includes a 6.5-percent sales tax on gasoline, which could prove to be a pretty sizeable number if/when the price of gas goes up again. Republicans came out the next day with legislation dealing with our top priorities, and a gas tax increase was not among them. We feel enough additional revenue can be raised for transportation without resorting to a tax increase.
As always, I can be reached at 651-296-4317 or rep.paul.anderson@house.mn.
Paul