Dear Neighbors,
I hope you have all had a good week and aren’t too discouraged by the additional snow. We are about halfway through the legislative session and we are as busy as ever. Here is what I’ve been working on:
Town Hall Recap - Community Coming Together to Discuss Highway 65
- Thank you to everyone who attended my first town hall last Saturday! It was a great event and I was happy to see so many in our community show up to discuss our district.
- I want to give a special thanks to House Transportation Chair Frank Hornstein and our local partners Councilmember Jess Robertson and Commissioner Julie Jeppson for joining me. We’re working across levels of government to get Highway 65 fixed!
- This won’t be my last town hall. I’ll be sure to let you all know when the next opportunity is.
Several Bill Hearings - No Rest 'Till Session Ends!
- This has been another non-stop week for me as I’ve had several important bill hearings. Here is a quick rundown of my week:
- Making housing more affordable by incentivizing cities to adopt policies that reduce the cost of building new homes with my Comprehensive Housing Spectrum Act.
- Protecting survivors of domestic abuse, harassment, or sex or labor trafficking from coerced debt they were forced to take on by an abuser.
- Encouraging entrepreneurship and investment in Minnesota startups by reviving the Angel Tax Credit.
- Increasing the efficiency of government by allowing counties like Anoka to pilot providing their own in-house training for new employees rather than having to wait for state-run training that is delaying start dates for new county employees by 4-6 months.
- Protecting our firefighters from PFAS by studying how to eliminate these “forever chemicals” from their turnout gear and establishing a voluntary state biomonitoring program.
House Passes Capital Investment Bill - Investing in our Community
- Early this week the House voted to pass a capital investment bill to fund projects across the state, including the National Sports Center in Blaine.
- The National Sports Center is the economic engine of our community, so I’m proud to pass this legislation that will deliver a down payment on the state’s obligation to maintain a word-class facility. While this funding is significant, it’s just the start of what’s needed to address years of backlogged maintenance at the NSC
- The bill provides $9.6 million for the National Sports Center. There’s approximately $40 million in deferred maintenance on the facility. The NSC is the second biggest tourist attraction in the state of Minnesota behind the Mall of America!
Stay in Touch
Please feel free to reach out to me by email at rep.matt.norris@house.mn.gov or by phone at 651-296-2907. If you have a friend, neighbor, or relative who wants to receive updates about the Legislature, let them know they can subscribe to my email list here, and follow my Facebook here. It’s an honor to represent our community. Please stay in touch!
Sincerely,
Matt Norris, District 32B
507 State Office Building
St. Paul, MN 55155