Dear neighbor,
For the past week, the House has been in session every day – including last Saturday – debating several different omnibus spending bills including the Jobs, Commerce, & Housing omnibus bill, the Environment and Agricultural omnibus bill, State Government Finance omnibus bill, the Judiciary omnibus bill, and the Public Safety omnibus bill.
With the exception of the Public Safety omnibus bill, I voted against final passage of these spending bills. The “jobs” bill has several wasteful spending items including $5 million to bail out St. Paul with loan forgiveness for the St. Paul River Centre. The Environment and Agriculture bill imposes higher fees on water permits for cities, businesses, farmers, and agricultural processors that will dramatically increase costs for everyone. It also spends $300,000 on a bee habitat with $50,000 for bee habitat signage. Putting more taxpayer dollars into wasteful government programs will not grow jobs for our state. I’ll continue to fight higher taxes and wasteful spending as your voice in the legislature.
Last Thursday, I was honored to receive the Excellence in Local Government Award from the I-94 West Chamber of Commerce, special thank you to Beth Schaefer and North Hennepin Community College for sponsoring the award. Jack Hines from Decimet Sales did a great job as keynote speaker. I also want to congratulate other award winners, Graco Inc., Marksman Metals Company, Signature School of Music, Missing Grace Foundation, and Shorty Dorweiler of Farmers State Bank of Hamel. I appreciate all the work that the Chamber does to promote job growth in our communities.
We’re expecting another busy week at the legislature. I’ll continue to keep you updated.
As your voice in St. Paul, I am interested in your feedback. Please feel free to contact me by e-mail at Rep.David.FitzSimmons@House.MN or contact my office at 651-296-1534. You can also send me mail to my office address: 227 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155. Please feel free to share this e-mail with your family, friends, and neighbors so they can sign up and stay in touch.
Sincerely,
David