Dear Friends,
I hope you and your families have had a happy and safe holiday celebration. I am thankful we bring in a New Year and new legislative session. The 2017 Legislative Session kicked off with the announcement that Minnesota had a $1.65 billion surplus. The structural balance of the state budget was something that remained at the top of my mind this session and throughout the days-long special session. Locally, our communities received Local Government Aid for the first time in years, the 610 Corridor is completed, and new businesses have moved to our area bringing well-paying jobs and improving our tax base.
The bonding bill brought much needed capital to development in the Champlin Mill Pond and the Hanson Boulevard in Coon Rapids. As the Chief Author of both those local funding bills I did so in a bi partisan manner that reflects the needs of the communities I serve. As I look toward the coming year I know we must not just look at what has been accomplished, but rather what must be done going forward. I believe that we should not be making tough cuts to critical areas of the budget that affect our seniors, education and roads and bridges. I will work every day to keep our fiscal house in order, create good jobs that support families and addresses transportation infrastructure needs with balanced funding for roads, bridges and transit. In education, I will continue to work for early childhood funding and initiatives to close the achievement gap which is essential to our very diverse Anoka-Hennepin and Osseo school districts. I will have several initiatives supporting the needs of people with disabilities and older Minnesotans. The most vulnerable in our families and communities must share in our improving state economy and an improved measure of their quality of life should be essential to all Minnesotans.
Despite promises of accountability and accessibility, these values were not the hallmark of this past session and special session. I was disappointed by the lack of transparency in many different budget areas. There were many instances this session in which I was asked to
vote on a bill that I, nor our research staff had time to read through to identify any problems. This isn’t what Minnesotans want from their government. The Governor initially vetoed all the major budget bills, but after a second round of negotiations agreement was reached on nearly all areas excluding a line-item veto of the legislature’s funding. This isn’t the ending to session we hoped for – but I am hopeful all parties can come to the table and learn to work and trust one another for the good of Minnesotans across this state.
It is a privilege to serve the people of Champlin, Brooklyn Park and Coon Rapids in the Minnesota Senate and I thank you for the opportunity. I welcome your input, advice and initiatives as the session gets underway. Working together gives us the best opportunity for superior results. I’m thankful we will ring in a new year and new legislative session.
Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
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Senator John Hoffman
