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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Dale Lueck (R)

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Productive MNsure meetings; glaring omissions in gov's bonding plan

Friday, January 22, 2016
Dear Neighbor,

Thank you to the many citizens and area staff health personnel that participated in our MNSure listening sessions last week. Fellow legislators and I received extremely valuable information, including a very professional and constructive critique of the problems that continue to vex both individual citizens and our professionals that deliver public assistance services that involve MNSure. This week's Age had in-depth coverage of the discussions, click here for that recap.

The 2016 session is only six weeks away. One of the top items for the session is a bonding bill which funds projects throughout the state. The governor revealed his bonding proposal late last week. There were some glaring omissions, even though it has a whopping $1.4 billion price tag.

Most notably, the governor's plan {C}included ZERO bonding dollars for local roads and bridges in rural Minnesota. MNDOT's request for $100 million to replace failing local bridges and $100 million for local road repairs was ignored by the governor.
 
The governor did include millions of dollars for permanent snow-making machines for a cross-country ski park in St. Paul and replacement of a new ski lift at the only state-owned ski resort in Minnesota, Giants Ridge at Biwabik.
 
I will continue doing my best to address our transportation needs, starting with state bonding for local roads and bridges. The governor's proposal, if unchanged, would especially hurt local transportation projects such as the city of Cross Lake's current proposal to replace the Dream Island Bridge. The bridge was damaged by beavers and is clearly in need of replacement.

Very soon I will be sending out a legislative survey in preparation for the 2016 session. It will include questions on the many issues we face here in the district. Look for that email and please let me know what is on your mind. Enjoy our nice warm weekend!

Sincerely,

Dale