St. Paul—State Rep. Jeanne Poppe (DFL-27B) was recognized by the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities (CGMC) for her positive impact on the state’s environmental policy on July 25 during the Coalition’s three-day summer conference in Bemidji.
Poppe, a Democrat from Austin, is serving her eighth term in the Minnesota House. The Legislator of Distinction Award is given to legislators who played key roles in advancing CGMC’s policy during the preceding legislative session.
As chair of the House Agriculture and Food Finance and Policy Division, Poppe is a strong leader on rural issues, particularly the need for new and improved water and wastewater infrastructure. This session, she was the chief House author of legislation to allocate $67 million in state bonding funds to the Public Facilities Authority (PFA) for clean water infrastructure grant and loan programs. Although the Legislature failed to pass a bonding bill this year, Poppe’s efforts highlighted the need for more PFA funding and helped set the stage for the issue to be major part of the bonding discussions heading into the 2020 session.
“Clean water is vital to a healthy community, but it is extremely expensive for cities to upgrade their water treatment plants,” said Ron Johnson, CGMC President and member of the Bemidji City Council. “Rep. Poppe has worked tirelessly to bring attention the need for more state funding to help cities make these necessary improvements. She has a long history of being supportive of Greater Minnesota initiatives, and we look forward to continuing to work with her to make sure this critical funding is included in the next bonding bill.”
CGMC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization representing 97 cities outside of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The Coalition educates legislators about issues important to Greater Minnesota.
As published in the Austin Daily Herald.
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