Hello Northlanders,

I hope you and your family are doing well, and that your Memorial Day weekend will be safe and relaxing. Here’s an update from the Capitol.

Memorial Day

Without question, this year’s Memorial Day will be different. Due to social distancing guidelines, instead of ceremonies taking place in person at our State Veterans Cemeteries, the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs will produce a Virtual Memorial Day Program entitled “Always Remember: A Minnesota Tribute to Veterans We’ve Lost,” to be broadcast across the state on TPT’s Minnesota Channel at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. TPT will also stream it on their website. Minnesotans will still be able to pay tribute in person, and the State Veterans Cemeteries will remain open. Visitors are encouraged, however, to follow the StaySafeMN order and limit groups to 10 or fewer.

Throughout the course of our history as a nation, men and women have answered the call of service. In the course of their duty, many of them have made the ultimate sacrifice toward the betterment of this country. This weekend, please take time to reflect upon the loss of our fallen heroes.   

Legislative Session Concludes

This past Sunday evening, the 2020 legislative session adjourned for the year. Looking back, we came together to accomplish some good, bipartisan work in addressing COVID-19’s immediate impacts. We delivered funding for public health, resources for health care workers, aid for child care, housing and food security, small business assistance and more.

However, the session ended with much more important work left to do to protect Minnesotans’ health and safety and prepare our economy for recovery. One such area is broadband expansion. In the House we approved my legislation to increase funding in Border-to-Border Broadband Grants, and invest in two new programs to expand distance learning tools for students and telemedicine infrastructure that more folks are counting on. Unfortunately, we adjourned without an agreement with the Senate on these important investments.

We also still need to reach agreement on a Jobs and Local Projects plan with investments in public infrastructure across the state. There’s no better time to invest in these priorities than now, giving us the opportunity to take advantage of low interest rates to protect our assets and create good-paying jobs. In our region, our bill in the House included projects like the Silver Bay Trailhead Center, the Ely Regional Trailhead, International Falls Airport, Vermilion Community College, the Soudan Underground Mine, the Van Lynn Road railway overpass south of Ranier, and others. I’ll keep advocating for a bipartisan agreement on key issues like these to strengthen the way of life for Minnesotans, both during this pandemic and into the future.

Please continue to visit the state COVID-19 Dashboard and the House of Representatives website which also has links to helpful resources. If I can be of help, please contact me at rep.rob.ecklund@house.mn or 651-296-2190.

Have a good Memorial Day Weekend, and be sure to take some time to think about those who sacrificed for our nation.

Sincerely,

Rob Ecklund
State Representative