The 2002 legislative session is officially off and running, with dozens of news reporters covering its high profile issues in painstaking detail.

Saturday, February 02, 2002

The 2002 legislative session is officially off and running, with dozens of news reporters covering its high profile issues in painstaking detail. In fact, by now most citizens have heard the state’s list of top concerns enough times to recite it in their sleep: budget deficits, stadium debates, and anti-terrorism efforts. But as this latest session fires up, how much do you know about the issues your local officials are personally working on? All lawmakers become actively involved in the top concerns – protecting school budgets from the governor’s red pen and carefully balancing the state budget without causing undue harm will consume most of our time. However, we each also have a list of personal priorities and local projects we’re committed to work for. Some of the issues that hit close to home for me this session include:

Education. Sending a former school board member and a mother of three school aged children to the Capitol has a predictable outcome – a fierce commitment to education issues. My top education goal this year is continuing efforts to make school funding more fair. Currently, there is a great deal of inequity in education funding from district to district, which results in our children receiving almost 25 percent less funding than kids in the Twin Cities. I will work again this session to correct these funding formulas. Second, I have proposed relief assistance for the Albert Lea school district to cover the loss of funds and the decline in enrollment associated with the Farmland Foods fire. Finally, I am introducing a bill that would replace cumbersome new high school tests from the state department with a single assessment that will let students know how prepared they are for college.

CrimePrevention and Security. Safeguarding our families is a top responsibility of government. As a member of the Senate Crime Prevention Committee, I listened to hours of testimony this fall on Minnesota’s homeland security preparedness, learning firsthand our state’s strengths and weaknesses. Now, I am proud to serve as the chief Senate author of the House Republicans’ anti-terrorism package to correct those flaws. This important plan creates new safeguards to deter terrorism, increases surveillance and anti-trespassing laws, develops a new training program at Camp Ripley, and improves statewide radio communication systems.

I am also sponsoring $20,000 for a local crime prevention project – the Freeborn County Community Crisis Response Team. The CRT is a group of dedicated and well-trained volunteers who travel throughout our county and region to help communities who have been traumatized by disaster. Their services have been invaluable both in cases of natural disasters and violent crimes and I would be honored to help this non-profit group succeed.

Bonding. The Legislature seems likely to take advantage of Minnesota’s excellent credit rating by borrowing for bonding projects totaling more than $1 billion. I will push to include several local projects: $141 million for county highway construction projects, including our Highway 46; $2.5 million for the Blazing Star Trail, a 16-mile pedestrian and bike path from Myre Big Island State Park to the western city limits of Austin; and $700,000 for Mower County’s Shooting Star Trail.

EconomicDevelopment. Last year’s Farmland Food’s fire devastated the city of Albert Lea, our local, and even regional economies. I will do what I can this session to help our community rebound, including extending Farmland workers’ unemployment benefits to help them stay on their feet as they search for new jobs in this tough economic climate.

While this is only a handful of the issues I’m involved with and concerned about, I hope it provides you with a brief progress report on my work in the Senate this year. As always, please feel free to share your opinions or questions by calling (651) 296-9248 or writing to 151 State Office Building, St. Paul, MN 55155.