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Dear neighbors,
On Wednesday, I joined Governor Tim Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flannagan, Representative Larry Kraft, and our department commissioners to celebrate this session's historic investments in our environment and climate! The event was held in our district at Kaposia Education Center in South St. Paul Public Schools. Kaposia has solar panels on its roof partially funded through the legislature?s Solar for Schools Program and uses the panels for power and as a part of its science education curriculum!
 I also went on a Mississippi River tour by boat with the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators, Audubon Great Lakes, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service! We were joined by other state legislators who border the Mississippi and learned about floodplain forest loss, the importance of natural infrastructure for habitat preservation, water quality, lessening soil erosion, and flood damages. #RiverTour2023
This session we passed the strongest transportation budget in a generation, which makes investments in roads, bridges, and transit systems across the state and prioritizes curbing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.
Our budget also includes my bill to establish a Highways for Habitats program that uses green space along our state highways for pollinator habitat and living snow fences. This is a common-sense change we can make to increase biodiversity and will lead to safer roads by less snow drift on state highways. You can read more in the Star Tribune: Corridors of native pollinator plants to sprout along Minnesota's state highways.
I was proud to lead a group of more than 270 state legislators from 39 states and territories with the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators who submitted a letter to the EPA strongly supporting the regulation of (PFAS) in drinking water under the authority of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
Nobody wants PFAS in the water they drink or in their own bodies. I applaud the EPA for taking action to regulate these toxic forever chemicals and these national standards are an important first step. We must take action now to prevent PFAS pollution everywhere we can?prevention is better than clean-up. The full text of the letter and a list of signatures is available here.
Please continue to share your questions, ideas, and feedback throughout the legislative session. You can reach me by email at?[email protected]?or by phone at 651-296-6828. You can contact my Legislative Assistant Sam O'Neill at 651-296-3305 or via email at?[email protected].?
Sincerely,
Rick Hansen
State Representative
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