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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Sandy Layman (R)

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News From Representative Layman 3-29-2018

Thursday, March 29, 2018

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Dear Friends and Neighbors,

From my family to yours, Happy Easter!

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The holiday weekend means we’ve reached the second committee deadline, and the legislature will be on break next week. We’ve been hearing bills in lengthy committee meetings, and when we return, we’ll start to put together our larger finance bills. Prior to the break, I wanted to send out an update on some important topics like school safety, hearings for local bonding projects, and area visitors.

School Safety

You have heard a lot from me lately regarding school safety and today is no different. This is a priority for us this session. Earlier today, I joined my Republican colleagues at a press conference to talk about our push to increase school safety throughout Minnesota. In total, we’re proposing $50 million for mental health and school safety. I’m co-authoring a number of provisions including:

  • School resource officers, student support personnel, and other school security programs funded through increased Safe Schools revenue, including a floor level of funding for small schools.
  • School building security upgrades, and expanded use of Long-Term Facility Maintenance revenue for security projects, including emergency communications systems.
  • Physical security audit grants to provide state assistance to review facility security and crisis management policies.
  • School-based threat assessment teams established to assess, intervene, and report threats facing students, teachers.

One of the most important topics we’re working on this session is keeping our schools safe, and I’m happy to see provisions I’m co-authoring moving toward passage. These measures address mental health, help identify threats, and increase the physical security of school buildings. It’s my goal to have every student, teacher, and staff member feel safe when they step into their school.

Bonding Projects

I’m authoring a number of bills to fund needed bonding projects in our area. I had two more hearings for these local bills this week. While we’re still putting together our final bonding proposal, I’ll continue to advocate for local and regional projects that will benefit our district.

Area Visitors

On Wednesday, I met with representatives from ElderCircle, Grand Rapids, to discuss a range of senior issues including elder abuse prevention, adult day stay, and home health aide services. Renee, Rinna, and Lisa were in St. Paul for Leading Age Minnesota Day at the Capitol. ElderCircle does such great work for seniors in our area, and hearing from their employees helped me better understand some of the issues facing our area and programs delivered by ElderCircle to meet those needs.

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Please Contact Me

Though we aren’t in session next week, I’ll hope you will call or email my office to let me know your views on any state issues.

Have a good weekend and a Blessed Easter,

Sandy