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Legislative Update from Rep. Steve Green (Jan. 15, 2013)

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

GREEN BEGINS FIRST TERM

 

A week ago today, I had the honor to be officially sworn in as the state representative for House District 02B Tuesday in St. Paul in the chamber of the Minnesota House of Representatives. I’m proud to be able to represent the people of Becker County, southern Clearwater County, southern Hubbard County, Mahnomen County, northeastern Otter Tail County, and northern Wadena County. I plan to get to work quickly to represent the values of rural Minnesota in the legislature.

 

I’m excited to dive into my committee work. My committee assignments include Capital Investment, Environment & Natural Resources Policy, Housing Finance & Policy, and Legacy.

 

As this legislative session moves forward, my priorities include working to create a business friendly environment for rural Minnesota, pushing for lower property taxes, and advocating for a comprehensive energy policy for the state. Rural Minnesota turns out the best work force in the country. We need to allow our existing rural businesses to expand and allow new ones to spring up so that we have opportunities for our young people to stay in the area.

 

I’ve already met with executives from Lamb Weston, one of the largest employers from our area, to discuss what the legislature can do to help the company grow and expand its workforce. I’m also doing some work to see how we can help our vocational and technical schools with training so that employees can be up to speed on the newest technology.

 

Another one of my priorities is protecting and supporting the agriculture community. I’m concerned about the legislature is minimizing agriculture’s importance with a significant change to the committee structure in the House of Representatives. Traditionally, the agriculture finance and policy divisions have been under the jurisdiction of a single committee focused exclusively on agriculture issues. Now, the agriculture finance division has been moved into what has been named the Environment, Natural Resources, & Agriculture Finance Committee. This committee is being chaired by a DFL legislator from Minneapolis. I believe it’s important that agriculture has a single unified voice in the committee structure and should not be separated into policy and finance divisions. Furthermore, agriculture funding and policies should be in the hands of rural lawmakers. I plan to monitor this situation closely as agriculture bills are moving through the legislative process.

 

Now that the legislative session has begun, please feel free to contact me on any state issues that matters to you. I can be reached via email at rep.steve.green@house.mn. To contact me by phone, call (651) 296-9918. Mail can be sent to Rep. Steve Green, 231 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, Minnesota 55155. Please feel free to share this update with friends and family and encourage them to sign up for my email updates by clicking the link (http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/join.asp?id=15395) and putting in your contact information.

 

Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Sincerely,

 

Steve