Please join Senator Newton and the MN House Transportation Committee to discuss road safety improvements in Anoka County.
All members of the community are invited to attend, and the committee welcomes public testimony.
Legislation will be presented to make road safety improvements on Trunk Highway 47 (HF 1310/SF 1493) and Highway 610 (HF 1697/SF 1795). Continue reading “Sen. Jerry Newton (SD37) Update: February 27, 2019”
Legislative Deadlines
Last Week, Governor Tim Walz, Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman, and Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka announced additional deadlines for the legislature. The House and Senate always have deadlines for bills to move through the committee process, but these new and additional benchmarks will help ensure more of the end of session negotiations happen earlier, and provide more transparency for the public.
Under these new rules, fiscal targets will be provided to conference committees by May 6th. In past years, the Governor, Senate leader, and Speaker have failed to provide fiscal targets to conference committees in time for the conference committees to complete their work in open committee by the end of session. Conference committee reports need to be completed by May 13th, and the 2019 legislative session must adjourn by May 20th at Midnight.
Too often in recent years, the budget process has ended in what looks like a high-stakes poker game with the state’s top leaders making decisions behind closed doors. Minnesotans deserve better. The announced agreement puts us on a path to have more of the budget conversations in public, to have more legislators involved in the bill drafting process, and to end session on time. Continue reading “Sen. Jerry Newton (SD37) Update: February 22, 2019”
Dear Neighbors,
As we approach the end of the second month of the legislative session, I’m encouraged by many of the great proposals introduced so far. While there are many months of work ahead, we’ve begun making progress on several important issues. I have been very busy getting bills heard and passed through committees. You can keep track of the bills I am working on here.
Public Hearing for HF 281
Dan Buchholtz, the city administrator of Spring Lake Park, and Cathy Sorenson, the city clerk of Blaine, testified on behalf of one of my bills earlier this month. HF 281 would allow city council members to participate in council meetings via Skype if they are deployed for military services or have a medical condition that doesn’t allow them to be exposed to the public. Currently, local elected officials are not permitted to call in if they place the are calling from is not open to the public. The bill passed and is on its way to becoming law.
Continue reading “Rep. Erin Koegel (HD37A) Update: February 21, 2019”
Dear Neighbors,
Clara and I were featured in a recent MPR article about legislators balancing work and family! Check it out here.
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Sincerely,
Erin Koegel
State Representative
Minnesota’s School Counselor Crisis
Friends and Neighbors,
I introduced a bill this week to increase the number of counselors and cap the counselor to student ratio for Minnesota’s students. The legislation, S.F. 431, addresses the persistent challenges faced by thousands of students in Minnesota who are unable to get necessary counseling support.
This legislation is a vital step in ensuring our students have support services available to them if they are experiencing personal and emotional turmoil. It is essential that these students have somewhere to turn if they face a mental health crisis. The shortage of these support services affects thousands of students in not only their class work, but in their home lives and can prevent them from reaching their full potential. More school counselors will have a tremendous positive effect on our students.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in five children nationwide shows signs or symptoms of a mental health disorder such as anxiety, depression or even substance abuse. While the average counselor to student ratio in the United States is 450-to-1, Minnesota’s ratio is 748-to-1, one of the worst ratios in the nation. This bill mandates a ratio of 400-to-1 and would increase funding for school counselor aid, bringing more counselors into each school district, allowing more students to meet with them to discuss a wide variety of issues; issues that right now are frequently going un-addressed.
If you have any questions or wish to unsubscribe from this Newsletter please feel free to contact my office at 651-296-2556 or by email at sen.jerry.newton@senate.mn.
Thank you and have a great weekend,
Jerry Newton
State Senator
District 37
Dear Neighbors,
Earlier this month I was sworn into the House of Representatives with my two favorite people by my side. I’m honored to be representing our community for a second term!
Continue reading “Rep. Erin Koegel (HD37A) Update: January 25, 2019”
Minnesota has five state veterans’ homes housing 850 residents, located in Silver Bay, Fergus Falls, Luverne, Hastings and Minneapolis. In the last legislative session, $32 million was set aside to meet the state’s required portion of a building request for three additional 72-bed veterans’ homes in Montevideo, Preston and Bemidji. The Veterans Administration (VA) would be responsible for the remaining two-thirds of the construction costs.
The VA has strict prioritization criteria that must be met before federal funding is provided. The requested homes would be at the bottom of the priority list, and it is very doubtful that they would be approved for VA funding before the $32 million in state bond authorization expires. Continue reading “Providing care for veterans is essential. How and where are critical questions.”
Senator Jerry Newton responds to expected budgetary balance
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) announced last week a budgetary balance of $1.544 billion in the new biennium and $456 million in the following biennium. MMB experts warn economic growth will start to slow in the years ahead.
“While I am happy to see the state doing so well, a large portion of this budgetary balance is one-time money,” said Sen. Jerry Newton, DFL-Coon Rapids. “We cannot afford to make ongoing investments with one-time money. Instead we should be discussing where we can spend one-time money that will make a real difference – places like the Minneapolis veterans’ home and our veterans’ homes across the state that are in need of repair.”
“This budgetary balance allows us to have meaningful discussions about strategic investments that help all Minnesotans. We owe that to Minnesota’s seniors, students, working families, farmers, and veterans across the state,” continued Senator Newton. Continue reading “Sen. Jerry Newton (SD37) Update: December 10, 2018”
The DFL will control the Minnesota House of Representatives in the 2019-20 biennium.
Winning a number of key races in the Twin Cities suburbs, the DFL picked up 18 seats in Tuesday’s elections and will hold a 75-59 advantage when the House convenes Jan. 8, 2019.
Much of the change occurred in the Twin Cities suburbs, especially near and just off the Interstate 494-694 corridor, where DFL candidates beat incumbent Republicans in places like Burnsville, Eden Prairie, Edina, Lakeville, Plymouth, Rosemount, Stillwater and Woodbury.
Three races were within 250 votes: Rep.-elect Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn (DFL-Eden Prairie) beat Rep. Jenifer Loon (R-Eden Prairie) by 241 votes with 20,577 votes cast; Rep.-elect Kelly Morrison (DFL-Deephaven) beat Rep. Cindy Pugh (R-Chanhassen) by 216 votes with 23,372 cast; and Rep.-elect Shelly Christensen (DFL-Stillwater) beat Rep. Kathy Lohmer (R-Stillwater) by 137 votes in a race where 22,630 votes were cast.
