Above, Kimball Area High School students visit the House of Representatives at the Capitol in St. Paul. A scheduling conflict unfortunately prevented me from meeting with the group, but Rep. Tony Jurgens of Cottage Grove was gracious enough to join the students during their tour of the Capitol and even posed for a picture with the group. Kimball Mayor Tammy Konz also not only made the trip, but she even drove the bus. Thanks for getting our children to St. Paul and home again safely, Tammy.
Greetings,
Hats off to Midwest Machinery, a Paynesville John Deere dealership, for recently being named the 2016 Store of the Year and 2016 Parts Department of the Year among 13 locations in Minnesota.
Congratulations to the Eden Valley-Watkins boys basketball team for winning the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association academic team championship with a combined 3.743 grade-point average! Also, congratulations to Jacob Streit of the Eagles for being named the Central Minnesota Conference Player of the Year for a second consecutive season.
Conference committees are the order of the week as far as legislative work goes. The House and Senate both passed complete packages of omnibus finance bills that start the process of establishing our new two-year state budget. The conference committees are now responsible for working out the differences between House and Senate bills so they can come back for votes on final approval from the full bodies and then move on to the governor.
It is important to note that changes do occur from the shape the finance bills are in now compared with what they may look like in the end. I certainly hope that the governor’s staff will be involved in the process now and not wait for the bill to reach his desk so that we can be on the same page as things come together and we can adjourn on time next month.
Speaking of the governor, it is good to see he is coming around to the House’s position on transportation funding. He publicly stated this week that he recognizes there is no appetite for the double-digit gas tax increase he proposes. The governor added that he’s more willing to accept something along the lines of what the House proposes with its bill providing $6 billion over the next 10 years for transportation without raising taxes.
On a separate topic, buffer-zone law which passed in 2015 remains a topic of discussion both in our district and at the Capitol. There seems to be a misconception that the House is trying to eliminate them. That is not the case.
What the House is looking to do is delay implementation by a year to allow more time to get things right. Local governments and citizens alike have expressed concerns, confusion and questions on a number of fronts, including funding and public/private determinations. Those things need to be resolved and it does not appear that will happen before enforcement is set to begin in November. A one-year delay would reduce those headaches and give a better chance at smoother implementation.
Look for more news soon as we move into the home stretch of the session.
Good luck,
Jeff
Rep. Jeff Howe
527 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155
651-296-4373
rep.jeff.howe@house.mn