Dear neighbor,
I am incredibly honored to be representing St. Cloud at the Capitol. I look forward to hearing from you over the next few months as we work to better our state.
We begin this legislative session facing many challenges. Economic forecasts revealed early last month that we’re facing a $1.1 billion budget shortfall this year. When the money still owed to schools is included the shortfall rises to over $2 billion.
Despite this challenge I believe that we can responsibly balance the budget without spending shifts or gimmicks. I look forward to working on bipartisan legislation to better our state’s economic future.
This session I will serve as the Vice Chair of the Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee, and as a member of the Government Operations, and Transportation Policy Committees. I am very excited about getting to work on these important issues for our community.
I am the coauthor of three bills introduced last week to improve education, provide property tax relief and create jobs. These were some of the top priorities heard in our district during the election, and are some of our main priorities this legislative session.
HF 1 would make a $550 million payment towards the $1.1 billion that is owed to our schools due to borrowing from the previous legislature, HF 2 would expand the Renter’s Credit and create the Homestead Credit Refund to provide direct property tax relief to Minnesota homeowners and renters and HF 4 would expand funding for the Minnesota Trade Office to promote Minnesota’s competitiveness globally. This funding is intended to expand economic opportunities to small and medium-sized Minnesota businesses.
Please feel free to get in touch with my office as we move through the legislative session. Your input will help me to better represent St. Cloud. I can be reached by phone at (651) 296-6612 or by email at rep.zachary.dorholt@house.mn.
Sincerely,
Zach Dorholt
State Representative