Legislative Update
Hello All!?
The cold has temporarily returned but the sunshine feels great.? This weekend I will be stopping by Green Prairie Lake for the BeachFest. Usually this is the Sunny Zwilling Memorial Ice Carousel Extravaganza- ICE Fest, but we don?t need to be testing the ice conditions this year.? Thanks to Chuck Zwilling and all the volunteers who make this a great event. ?
As with the deteriorating ice conditions, we are dealing with poor legislation and fixing issues that were pushed to fast last year.? First and foremost, the School Resource Officer legislation needs to be repealed. Last year the majority party passed regulations that has prompted law enforcement agencies to remove school resource officers from schools.? As a result, we have seen an increase of school related fights.? I am advocating to repeal the onerous regulations and trust the great officers who work in schools.
The next bill we need to fix is the tax corrections bill.? Because last session pushed legislation too fast, we have to fix the 2023 tax bill so people can correctly file the 2023 Minnesota Taxes. Unfortunately, we cannot stop the Federal Government from taxing the rebate checks; however, the Governor could?ve fixed that last year.?
Another issue we are helping the majority party fix is the reading program that was pushed through to schools without the necessary thoughtful deliberations.? The GOP Education team attempted to bring reasonable amendments to help schools with the implementation, but those suggestions were ignored. Finally, on the school front, it is clear the 65 plus mandates put on our educators is causing financial strain.?
The last issue I am working on this year is long-term care funding.? We are still underfunding our long-term care facilities and need to provide help to the people who care for the elderly.? I am committed to finding a solution for our care givers.
The most important solution for the future of Minnesota is for everyone to get involved and make their voice heard. As we saw last year, when Minnesotans show up and make their voice heard we can force some decisions on the single-party controlled legislature and governor. Some upcoming ways you can get involved are precinct caucuses on February 27th and the presidential primary on March 5th. You can find your caucus location here and your presidential primary location here.
This weekend the ?Church of Cash? is taking the stage at Great River Arts on Saturday, February 17th.? The band founded in 2010, covers a variety of Johnny Cash songs from his impressive catalog. Doors open at 6pm and tickets for what will likely be a sold-out show can be found at Great River Arts (GRA), Little Falls Minnesota ? Great River Arts - Little Falls, MN (greatart.org).
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