Health & Fitness
Fighting the Frustration
It is time to make our state government more effiecient, more accountable, and ensure that we keep Minnesota moving foward.
Frustration is a word that I have been hearing a lot of as I speak with people in our district. People are frustrated with the economy; they are frustrated with the government; they are frustrated with the rhetoric. I agree and I am frustrated as well.
As someone that watched the legislature everyday over the past two sessions I was frustrated to see ideas that would make Minnesota a stronger state politicized; I was frustrated with roadblocks to eliminating inefficiencies in state government. It was frustrating that the budget was balanced with money borrowed from schools, but funds were available to build a football stadium.
Because of this frustration, we lose sight of some of the positives that have happened over the last two sessions. The most important factor is the turnaround in the budget; we went from a deficit of over $6 billion to a surplus today of over $1 billion. Every report that has come out of the Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) office is more good news of increased revenues and increased cash flow. Since January of 2011 Minnesota has added over 53,000 jobs – 7,200 of those in June alone! Minnesota’s economy is moving in the right direction, but there is more to do to make sure we continue in the right direction.
Find out what's happening in Northfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
We need to pay the debts we owe. We currently owe over $2 billion in delayed payments to our schools, the bulk of which was accumulated by the legislature prior to 2011. The legislature this year tried to pay back some of the money owed to the schools, but the governor vetoed it.
We need to continue to work hard to build an environment in which employers can add jobs and get Minnesotans back to work. The continued positive news coming from MMB shows that revenues are positive; if revenues are continuously positive raising taxes for the sake of raising taxes makes no sense.
Find out what's happening in Northfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
It is time to make our state government more efficient, more accountable, and to ensure that we keep Minnesota moving forward. I do not want to return to an era of deficits and borrowing to balance the budget and the people that I have had a chance to speak with don’t either. Let's work together and make Minnesota better and moving in the right direction.
