Friends,
Thank you to everyone who braved the weather and came to my March Town Hall last weekend. It was another great event and I truly appreciate the fantastic discussion that we have together. Hope you can all make it to the next one this month! Stay tuned for details.
New Passport Office in Maple Grove!
Earlier this week, the Maple Grove Hennepin County Service Center began to process passport applications and renewals. This is great and convenient news for those in our area who will need to renew or get their first passports. You can read more about the new service options here.
More good news is that thanks to the REAL ID law I authored and that was passed last session, you won't need to use that passport to fly domestically. An interview I did with WCCO TV did a great job summarizing the future of REAL ID and what happens next.
Clean Lakes
The Maple Grove City Council reauthorized the Maple Grove Lake Improvement Grant program. The city reaffirmed their commitment to keeping our lakes clean and improving the quality of water for generations to come. In line with these goals, I have co-authored a bill to encourage businesses to limit the amount of salt they apply during the winter. Unnecessary and over application of salt flows into our lakes and has an extremely negative impact on the health of one of our most iconic assets in this state.
Legislative Break
Every spring the Legislature takes a brief recess for Easter and Passover. For me, it's a great opportunity to visit with family and friends. The best part? Getting to spend time having dinner with my daughter Lillian.
Rep. Smith and his daughter, Lillian, out to dinner this week
School Safety Package
Before the Legislature took a brief recess for Passover and Easter, we unveiled a legislative package aimed at putting student safety first. We have taken a multifaceted approach that includes more resources to meet the needs of students and schools statewide which includes everything from hiring more school resource officers, student counselors and mental health professionals to making critical building security upgrades.
We have listened to school officials, teachers, students, and parents in our local communities to bring forward this multi-faceted approach to making our students safer. As a co-author on many of these bills to make our schools safe, I am proud of the work we have put forward and will continue to insist we put our student's safety first.
The following solutions, authored by numerous House members, are currently advancing through the public committee process:
- School resource officers, student support personnel, and other school security programs funded through increased Safe Schools revenue, including a floor level of funding for small schools.
- School building security upgrades, and expanded use of Long-Term Facility Maintenance revenue for security projects, including emergency communications systems.
- School-linked mental health programming to ensure better outcomes for all kids.
- Physical security audit grants to provide state assistance to review facility security and crisis management policies.
- Suicide prevention training for teachers to help educators learn how to engage and assist students experiencing mental distress.
- School-based threat assessment teams established to assess, intervene, and report threats facing students, teachers, and staff.
Please continue to share your thoughts with me about our state government; bill ideas and concerns are welcomed! I am honored to serve you at the Capitol. If you are going to be at or around the Capitol, please stop by or schedule a meeting. My email address is Rep.Dennis.Smith@house.mn, phone number 651-296-5502, and by mail: 375 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155.
Have a great weekend!
Dennis