Dear Neighbors,
Here’s a quick update from this week at the Capitol.
St. Paul Visit
As you know, helping our students and schools is my top priority in St. Paul. On Thursday, I had the chance to chat with ISD 719 superintendent, Dr. Teri Staloch, and Executive Director of Business Services, Julie Cink. It’s always great working with local educators and administrators to improve our area schools.
Transportation Funding
Heading into the final weeks of session, one of the most important topics we’ll discuss is how to expand and repair our roads and bridges. Rather than raising the gas tax - which hurts low income Minnesotans the most - I support a plan to invest $7 billion over the next 10 years without raising taxes on hardworking families. We have a $900 million surplus, why would we raise taxes to pay for this basic function of our state government?
Along with the debate around funding, we need to focus on our transportation priorities. I believe we need to invest in our roads and bridges, not another light rail train to Minneapolis that costs over $1 billion. For that price tag we could fund Metro Transit buses for four years, and repave six lanes of every single mile of interstate in Minnesota. Since legislators on both sides of the political aisle believe we need to fix roads and bridges, I’m hopeful we can work toward a sustainable plan to invest in our transportation infrastructure.
Coming Up
With just a month left in the legislative session, we’ll be debating our supplemental budget bills on the House floor very soon. You might remember from last week that a few of my provisions were included in these bills, and I’m hopeful they’ll be signed into law. As we debate these pieces of legislation, I hope you’ll contact me and share your opinion on any of the provisions. I’m always conscious of my constituents’ views when considering bills on the floor or in committee. If you have a second in the coming days, please reach out.
Have a great weekend,
Drew