Minnesotans for More Homes Initiative I hear so often from long-term residents of St. Louis Park that they couldn’t afford their houses today, or that their kids can’t afford to live nearby. We need to build a lot more housing, but if we don’t build it in the right places, we will create more sprawl, make traffic congestion worse, and increase both air pollution and transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions. The lack of housing choices for Minnesotans can be so immensely frustrating, and that dream of owning a home is slipping away. That’s why this session, I’m a lead author on a key part of the Minnesotans for More Homes Initiative, legislation that would bolster the state’s “missing middle” housing supply and provide more affordable family homes. “Missing middle housing” refers to housing types that fall somewhere in between a single-family home and mid-rise apartment buildings – such as townhomes, duplexes, triplexes, and courtyard clusters. More than 600,000 Minnesotans are paying more than 30% of their income on housing costs, and the state has one the nation’s worst racial homeownership gaps in the country. Though the legislature passed a historic $1 billion investment to spark more development of affordable homes, the Minnesotans for More Homes Initiative will allow the state to address the root barriers that continue to prevent construction of the kinds of homes that Minnesotans want, but right now can’t find. Together, we can enact family-friendly housing policies and ensure families of all types and incomes can find homes. You can view our first committee stop here, including my testimony. We also did a press conference, which you can find here.  MPCA Small Business Environmental Loan ProgramIf your small business is looking to reduce on-site air emissions, clean up contamination, or generate less waste be sure to apply for the MPCA Small Business Environmental Loan program. The program offers zero-interest loans up to $75,000 to tackle these high-impact projects. You can learn more and apply here.  SROSEvery child deserves a world-class education and a learning environment that is safe, supportive, and healthy. That’s why Minnesota Democrats made free school meals a reality, are helping districts hire more school counselors and social workers, and reducing classroom sizes so more students can get one-on-one help from their teachers. In 2023, we worked to ensure school discipline practices reflect our shared commitment to ensuring schools are safe, healthy, nurturing environments. We continued to listen to law enforcement and school districts and went to work on crafting solutions to address their concerns. Earlier this week, the House voted for bipartisan legislation to codify guidance provided by the Attorney General’s office into law, DFL lawmakers are providing law enforcement and school districts the uniformity and clarity they’ve sought to ensure SRO services can continue in schools that choose to utilize them. We are ensuring officers have the specialized training necessary to do their jobs effectively while ensuring schools will be safe learning environments for everyone. We’re creating standards for relationships between school districts and SROs through a POST Board model policy that will incorporate broad input from Minnesotans, including those working in education, law enforcement and community groups. This approach will allow all stakeholders to determine the best way to create a nurturing school climate. We continue to listen to parents, students, educators, and law enforcement about how we can work together to make Minnesota schools safe and positive learning environments for everyone. I have an intern!This session I have the pleasure of working with a new intern! Will is currently a junior at the University of Minnesota. He is working toward a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science & Sociology. Will is interested in environmental and energy policy and the human dimensions which correspond to policy. Will specifically asked to work for me based on our shared policy interests. In addition to this internship, Will is an employee for the Minneapolis Parks district at Van Cleve Park and does marketing for Minnesota Hillel. Will is originally from rural northwestern Illinois and is a proud transplant to the Twin Cities. Will is proud to be working for a greener future. “I enjoy working at the legislature because of all the important work happening this session. It is inspiring knowing the DFL is working to create a better Minnesota for all”.  |