Dear Neighbors,
Here is an update from St. Paul.
Governor’s Budget Recommendations Which Include Large Fee Increases
This week in committees we heard from several agencies including the Department of Agriculture, the MPCA and the DNR who all shared proposals in Governor Dayton’s budget recommendations that would increase fees.
I have heard over and over again from folks in my district that they are fed up with state fee increases.
Tied in with this is the MPCA’s plan to increase regulations on emissions from wood burning stoves. Not only would this new emission regulation increase costs to Minnesotans who, by a local manufacturer’s estimates, would see increased retail costs of between $1,000 and $3,000, and anything more by the MPCA would be unattainable.
In response to the proposed changes, I am a coauthor of a bill, HF 483 which would prevent the MPCA from implementing these additional regulations. Commonsense tells folks that these unnecessary additional regulations are intrusive, bad for Greater Minnesotans who rely on wood burning stoves, and could cut into jobs with manufacturers.
I will continue to fight against these needless mandates placed on individuals and businesses by government agencies.
New Bills
This week, I introduced two new bills in the Minnesota House.
The first bill, HF 799, protects property owners from frivolous lawsuits by stopping trespassers from filing if they are injured on private property. Much of the language in this legislation was set by precedent from previous court rulings, and it makes sense to clarify the law.
HF 833, the second bill I introduced this week is a bipartisan initiative that is seeking to address one of the main concerns of Minnesota county commissioners and engineers relating to 404 permitting. Because the Army Corps of Engineers experiences many lengthy delays in the processing of these permits, costs increase as a result of these delays. In addition, it makes it very difficult to plan road construction and repair. We are seeking state assumption of this permitting process.
In short, the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources would be responsible for administering the permitting and wetland banking programs instead of the Army Corps of Engineers.
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My door is always open to the needs and priorities of our area. Please feel free to let me know if I can be of assistance to you and your family. I am here to serve you!
Dan
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