Dear Neighbors,
I wanted to take a moment to share with you some of the highlights from this year’s state budget—which went into effect on July 1st.
Now that we have entered into a new budget cycle, I’m pleased that we have the funding in place to stabilize nursing homes funding, invest in roads and bridges for small cities without burdening Minnesotans with a higher gas tax, and direct more dollars into classroom learning for our children. While there’s more work to do next session, I’m proud of our efforts to work in a bipartisan way to make these priorities a reality for Minnesotans.
The following numbers represent the annual change in Medicaid and estimated private revenue for the 2016 rate year for local nursing homes:
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Faribault – St. Lucas Care Center: $696,834 (18% increase)
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Faribault – Pleasant Manor Inc.: $591,584 (20% increase)
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Faribault – Faribault Care Center: $325,647 (14% increase)
Cities in Steele, Dodge, and Rice counties with populations under 5,000 will also benefit from new transportation dollars to help fix their roads and bridges. As part of the transportation bill passed during the 2015 Legislative Session, $12.5 million in new funding is available for small cities for road and bridge aid.
As it pertains to education funding, the school districts of Blooming Prairie, Faribault, Hayfield, Kasson-Mantorville, Kenyon-Wanamingo, Northfield, NRHEG, Owatonna, Triton, Waseca, and Waterville-Elysian-Morristown will receive an average increase of $352 per student.
Additionally, I was successful in securing funding that provides necessary upgrades of hardware and software in classrooms, computer labs, and server rooms at the Minnesota State Academies for the Deaf and Blind in Faribault.
I also want to invite you to an “In-District Office Hours” event that I am hosting this Saturday, at 9:00 am at Bernie’s Grill in Faribault. Feel free to swing by, have a cup of coffee and discuss ways we can make state government work better for you and your family!
I hope you are enjoying your summer and I look forward to seeing you at parades and community events in the coming months!
As always, do not hesitate to contact me if I can ever be of assistance to you or your family in an issues related to state government. It is an honor and privilege to serve you!
Sincerely,
Brian