As hard as it is to imagine, in just over three months the holiday season will be over and the 2010 legislative session will be in full swing.

Again next year, we will be tackling serious state budget issues, including another projected deficit, persistently high unemployment levels and rising numbers of families who are losing their health insurance. Of all these challenges, job creation and retention will continue to be one of our top priorities.

One of the most important things the Legislature can do to stimulate job growth is pass a capital investment bill. There is agreement among economists, business leaders and policy-makers that bonding projects have some of the greatest potential to jump-start the economy and put people to work. The bonding bill has worked well in our district over the past few years, especially with regard to the Edgewater Park project. Two weeks ago, the Capital Investment Committee again visited our area, this time to consider a number of local projects.

With as many as $3 million bonding requests anticipated, including more than $2 million already submitted by the governor’s agencies, the selection process will be very competitive. High priority will be given to those projects that are “paint brush and shovel ready,” putting people to work as quickly as possible.

As we had hoped, a recent report confirmed that Minnesota workers benefited from the federal stimulus spending. Preliminary numbers show that through September, state agencies spent more than $1.6 billion in federal money, creating or saving 11,800 full-time jobs in Minnesota. This includes 5,900 education jobs and 1,200 public safety jobs, accounting for more than half the total. With almost two-thirds of the stimulus money yet to be spent, it is anticipated thousands more jobs will be created in our state.

In another effort to create job growth, I have been asked to serve on a newly created bipartisan House Jobs Task Force. Leading up to the start of session, we will meet with economists, business leaders, employers and workers, examining what job strategies work best and considering every tool available to get Minnesotans back to work. Our primary focus with new legislation will be to move bills forward that will create jobs, using every opportunity available to restore economic stability and growth to our state.

A small business caucus has also been formed to focus primarily on what the state can do to support small businesses, which employ about 50 percent of the workforce. This group recently launched a survey designed to hear directly from small business owners what obstacles they are facing, what opportunities may be on the horizon, and what state government can to do to help. The answers we glean from this survey will help us craft policy provisions next session to help small businesses. You can find the survey online at www.house.mn.

During any period of hardship, most of us find it is necessary to change some of our habits or ways of doing business. This is true of consumers and businesses alike, who over the past few months have made adjustments to help cope with this economic crisis. What is critical for the future is that instead of going back to business as usual when this crisis subsides, we retain the valuable lessons we have learned, not only to improve how we do business or run our households, but also to help us lay a solid framework for the future.

Finally, I believe we must also consider the successful history of our state to help pave the way to a better tomorrow.

Until recent years, Minnesota led the nation in job creation and ran well below the national average in unemployment. We now rank in the middle with regard to the creation of new jobs, and we consistently run close to the national average in jobs lost.

It is important that we look to the policies and programs that made our state strong — such as improving our investment in education from early childhood through higher education, exploring new job markets, such as bio-science and green jobs, and providing good roads, bridges and rail to help our private business sector grow and flourish.

As always, it is an honor to represent you. Please contact me with your questions and suggestions for the future of our district, and our state.

Robin Brown, DFL-Moscow Township, is the state representative for District 27A.