Dear Neighbor,
The 2014 session is now underway in St. Paul. We face a number of important issues and I continue to welcome your correspondence. Email me your thoughts any time and I welcome visitors from District 9A to stop by my office at the Capitol to share their thoughts in person. You can call my assistant, Amanda, at
(651) 297-5601 to set up an appointment.
Below is a news release my office issued to local media today, highlighting the start of the new session.
Sincerely,
Mark
NEWS RELEASE:
ANDERSON BACK AT CAPITOL AS 2014 SESSION STARTS
ST. PAUL – State Rep. Mark Anderson was among the 134 members of the Minnesota House to return to the Capitol Tuesday for the start of the 2014 legislative session.
The Lake Shore Republican is starting Year 2 of his first term in this, the 88th Legislature. He will continue serving on civil law, education policy and transportation policy committees.
Even-numbered years are non-budget years, meaning the focus in 2014 mainly will be policy-driven. A capital investment bill that would borrow money to fund projects throughout the state is likely to be among the most important issue legislators tackle this year. Anderson said he is taking Gov. Mark Dayton at his word in tabbing this as an “Unsession” in which ineffective, wasteful, burdensome or otherwise ineffective laws are stripped from the books.
“We will be discussing hundreds of bills this session and I will be taking a similar approach with each of them,” Anderson said. “We should be asking ourselves the same questions as we hear each bill: ‘Is this bill necessary? Will this help Minnesotans, or just cost taxpayers more and add expensive bureaucracy?’”
Proposals to raise the state’s minimum wage, enact new anti-bullying measures, allow prescribed marijuana use and provide final approval of $90 million to build a new Senate office building and adjacent parking ramp are in the works. Anderson said he opposes each of those initiatives.
Improvements to Minnesota’s faltering state-run health insurance program – MNsure – could be up for consideration this year. So could allowing liquor sales on Sunday and the repeal of three taxes passed into law last year: telecommunications, warehousing and equipment repair. Anderson said he favors repealing those taxes, backs a free-market approach to Sunday sales and is seeking a complete overhaul of what he sees as a constitutionally misguided MNsure.
“We are coming off a session where Democrats in St. Paul raised spending by historic limits and hiked taxes and fees by around $2.5 billion,” Anderson said. “People in our district tell me they want a more responsible approach and that is what I continue advocating at the Capitol. It concerns me we will see more of the same this year, where they push government expansion and add layers of bureaucracy that commit taxpayers to larger costs in the future.”
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