Dear Neighbors,
It was an honor joining others today to reflect on and remember our fallen heroes who gave their lives defending our freedom.
The Saint Michael American Legion Post 567 lead Memorial Day observances at:
• Saint Albert's Cemetery in Albertville
• Saint Michael South Cemetery
• Saint Paul's Cemetery in Hanover
• Salem Lutheran Church Cemetery in Greenfield
I trust you are enjoying the nice days we’ve been having the last several weeks!
As you are aware, the regular legislative session adjourned back on May 18. Since that time, Gov. Dayton vetoed three bills: the K-12 Education finance bill, the agriculture, environment and natural resources finance bill, and the omnibus jobs and energy bill. Many have been puzzled by the Governor’s vetoes because the bills were bi-partisan in nature having passed both the Republican House and the Democrat Senate.
Since the veto of the bills, Speaker Kurt Daudt and others have been meeting with Governor Dayton to negotiate changes to the vetoed bills in order to take new bills up in a special session. In addition to the three bills listed above, two other bills are expected to be taken up in a special session: the Legacy bill, and a Bonding bill. Therefore, it is expected there will be a total of five bills voted upon in the special session.
During the course of the negotiations, I have been working hard continuing to communicate to House leadership/negotiators the importance of Equity in Education. My goal is to keep Equity in Education on the minds of House Leadership in order to begin closing the funding gap between urban/suburban school districts and our rural school districts.
As I type this update, an informational walk through of several of the bills is taking place which can be viewed live at the following link: https://events.qwikcast.tv/QwikCast/QwikCastEventById?eventKey=56ec96c7-941e-4bbb-a2c4-fd790b514e1f&eventPageId=1366
PDFs of the Education Finance, Agriculture/Environment/Natural Resources Finance, and Bonding bills have been posted at the following link: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/cmte/Home/?comm=89026 The PDF links are located on the right hand side of the web page.
There was talk earlier Gov. Dayton would potentially call a special session tomorrow (Saturday). However, it appears unlikely at this time.
Take care for now, have a good weekend, and I will send out an update next week on the special session developments.
Sincerely,
Eric Lucero
State Representative
District 30B
Albertville, Hanover, Otsego, Saint Michael, and the Wright County portion of Dayton