The 88th Minnesota Legislature Begins

On January 8, 2013,  the 88th Minnesota House of Representatives convened.  This first meeting is mainly ceremonial and administrative.   The roll call and most of the votes taken require verbal responses.  Representative Paul Thissen was elected to be the  Speaker of the House.  Decisions on administrative staff, rules and other similar items are made so that the House is officially ready to work.  

That evening,  I attended a meeting that the Eagan City Council scheduled to meet their legislators and present their priorities.   The list included opposition to reinstating the Market Value Homestead Credit, funding for improvements for the Cedar Avenue Bus Rapid Transit, and modifications to data center legislation so that it allows for multi-tenants.

On Wednesday,  One Minnesota, the 2013 Legislative Policy Conference took place at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.   We were honored to have Walter Mondale and Gil Gutknecht give the introductory speeches.   There were excellent speakers on budgets, education, leadership, and other topics that will be addressed during this session.  

The annual event sponsored by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce took place that evening at the Xcel.    Highlights of their priorities were presented in a variety of formats. One point is to better align postsecondary offerings with employer needs/demands.  Another is reform fiscal systems to have long-term fiscal stability.

On Friday, the Association of Metropolitan School Districts sponsored an event that gave an overview of the education priorities.   That included strengthening education funding, closing the readiness gap with investments in early learning, and fixing special education funding.

 

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