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Dear Neighbors,
I wish you all a fantastic holiday season and end of the year. Legislative offices will be closed for much of the next two weeks, and we will return in January to prepare for the upcoming 2024 legislative session.
I would like to take a moment to congratulate South St. Paul resident and Fourth Judicial District assistant public defender Krista Marks for her appointment as District Court Judge in Minnesota?s First Judicial District. Marks will replace the Honorable Arlene M. Asencio Perkkio and will be chambered in Hastings in Dakota County. I know Krista will do a fantastic job and congratulate her on this accomplishment!
This week I was proud to join legislators from across the county at the Dakota County Legislative Forum to discuss legislative priorities for the 2024 session. As we look forward to next year?s session, I am committed to working with our local partners to ensure our county continues to grow and thrive.
Earlier this year, 22 state attorneys general, including Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, moved forward with a settlement with 3M over contamination of public water supplies with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances known as PFAS or ?forever chemicals.? The company is expected to pay between $10 and $12 billion to local governments over the course of a decade.?
Included in the settlement?s list of eligible public water systems are the cities of Inver Grove Heights and South St. Paul, but many eligible cities may not even know they are on the list. That?s why I released a statement encouraging eligible local public water systems to file claims.
PFAS chemicals are present in Minnesota groundwater and taxpayers should not have to bear the burden of cleaning up a mess created by corporate polluters. I encourage all communities included in this nationwide lawsuit to file a claim prior to the February 2 court hearing in order to ensure they are eligible for funds to ensure their water is clean and safe.
Finally, I?d like to share some of the results of work funded through the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR), which I co-chair and has been meeting throughout the legislative interim this year. The LCCMR is a great source of dedicated funding to protect the outdoors and support careers in the sciences, outdoor economy, and more.
One program we have invested in is the Increasing Diversity in Environmental Careers (IDEC) program. The program helps those interested in careers at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and the Conservation Corps of Minnesota and Iowa. It was great to see students talk about how the program helped them break into the field and get hands-on learning experiences.
Please continue to share your questions, ideas, and feedback throughout the year. 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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