Legislative Report
Budget Picture Coming into Focus
On Tuesday, the Governor, DFL Speaker of the House, and DFL Senate Majority Leader released joint budget targets. These targets represent an agreement on how much new money they plan to spend in 2023 and the framework for doing so.
The agreement calls for a $17.9...
Legislation authored by State Rep. Mike Wiener, R-Long Prairie, received a hearing today in the House Human Services Finance Committee. House File 1845 has bipartisan support and would provide grant funding to Wellness in the Woods, a local organization dedicated to improving access to mental...
Dear Neighbors,
You are invited to a Second Amendment town hall meeting on March 18 in Osakis at the Osakis Community Center. The event is set to begin at 2 p.m., and I will be joined by local state representatives, senators, and Todd County Sheriff Michael Allen. Please join us to discuss the...
Legislators are back from spring break and bills are quickly moving along in committee.
This week, I set out a letter urging the Democrats to take action on the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fun legislation. This has been going on for months and sadly, the deadline is days away. I am hopeful we...
Friends,
Congratulations To Upsala’s Kristine Biniek for scoring her 1000th point during her final game as a high schooler—impressive record!
This week we finally got to open the doors of the State Office Building to the public once again. I have loved seeing the smiling faces, and the office is...
Dear Neighbors,
One of the requests I hear often from constituents is to exempt forgiven paycheck protection program loans from taxes. We are the only upper midwest state that has not passed a bill to exempt PPP loan income from taxes, and if we don’t act soon, many of our local businesses that...
Last week we learned that in contrast to November’s projected deficit of over $1 billion, we are ow projected to have a nearly $1.6 billion surplus in the state’s budget. This is great news for our state’s economy, showing that we are beginning to grow again after the incredible hardships our...
I want to congratulate Will and Tiffany Threlkeld, owners of Falls Ballroom in Little Falls, which was named Business of the Year. This year has been incredibly hard, especially for community and event spaces like Falls Ballroom. The Threlkelds, though, faced that hardship head on and used their...
This year’s Teacher of the Year will be chosen from a field of 75 teachers, among them our own Alice Nevins of Pierz Public Schools and Ann Hutchison of the Pillager School District! Our community’s teacher have worked valiantly to make this past year a productive and educational one for our...
Session Update
Last week I offered an amendment that would end the severe restrictions on wedding venues imported by Governor Walz’s executive order earlier this month. Currently, indoor wedding venues are limited to 10 people or two households if food is served, while restaurants and bars can...
