Legislative Update - Bipartisan Budget, Victories for St. Cloud

Dear Granite City Neighbors, 

The 2025 session is in the books!

Even in divided government (this was only the second time in state history with a tied 67-67 House) I’m proud of how we worked together to pass a bipartisan, balanced budget that supports Minnesota’s families – and brings home huge victories for St. Cloud!

We did a lot of great work this session, here are the bills we passed that I’m the most excited to share with you:

Updating the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center

Do you believe in miracles?! One of the final bills we passed this session secured $12.8 million in improvements to the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center!

These funds will go towards updating the center’s dying refrigeration system, which was endangering the hockey programs and community events that rely on the building.

Time to hang up the skates

Here’s the timeline for the project: It will take a full off-season for the work to be done, so the plan is to start after the 2025-2026 hockey season, and have everything completed in time for the 2026-2027 hockey season.

“The Herb” is a local icon for the entire region, and I’m so proud we were able to secure the funding to keep it “on solid ice" for generations to come!

Law Enforcement Scholarships

As the DFL Chair of the House Higher Education Committee, I was dedicated to using my position to ensure our students and schools have the resources they need, and fight to build a higher education system that best meets Minnesota’s workforce needs.

One area where I know our state is struggling is our shortage of police officers, which jeopardizes the safety and security of our communities. Currently, there are over 1,000 open positions in law enforcement, with approximately 2,300 officers set to hit retirement age in coming years. We are facing a crisis.

Working side-by-side with our police officers, I built a bipartisan coalition of House and Senate members to introduce the Law Enforcement Scholarship Act, which is inspired off of a program in Nebraska that saw great success, where police officers and their dependents would have their higher education covered if they studied eligible areas pertaining to law enforcement. This not only works as a retention tool that educates our current officers, but recruits more people to put on the badge and keep our communities safe.

Teaming up to get more cops on our streets

I’m proud to share that we were successful in passing this crucial scholarship program in our Higher Education budget!

This is a great victory to make sure our police departments are able to recruit and retain the number of cops we need on our streets to do their jobs in keeping our communities safe.

St. Cloud Medical School Residency Funding

Another victory I want to highlight in our Higher Education Budget: $1.5 million for the St. Cloud Medical School!

Celebrating funding for the St. Cloud Medical School with CentraCare CEO Dr. Ken Holman

We were able to pass this as a result of the strong bipartisan, bicameral support and leadership of my fellow St. Cloud colleagues, Sen. Aric Putnam and Rep. Bernie Perryman. Teamwork makes the dream work! This is the latest investment we’ve been able to secure for this partnership between the University of Minnesota and CentraCare.

The funding will go to establishing and operating new residency programs, administration, curriculum development, resident recruitment, training, and resident stipends.

When our future doctors study in Greater Minnesota, they stay in Greater Minnesota!

Attracting Businesses and Redevelopment to Downtown St. Cloud

Revitalizing downtown St. Cloud has always been one of my top priorities.

I’m proud to share that we were able to secure legislation in the 2025 Tax Bill to allow the city of St. Cloud to implement Tax Increment Financing, otherwise known as TIF, to provide property tax incentives for developers that will further the revitalization of downtown St. Cloud.

Some of the current sites that will now be eligible for TIF include:

• The Lady Slipper Lot
• The former Herberger's building
• The former Press/Cowboy Jacks lots
• The Ace lot

…and more!

We will continue to bring energy and momentum to making downtown St. Cloud the best place it can possibly be!

Stay Connected

I’ll be talking more about our accomplishments from this legislative session in the months to come. Now that the legislative interim is upon us, I’m grateful to be back in St. Cloud with my family and enjoying Rox games!

Although the budget work is done for the year, I continue to serve you every day. Always feel free to send me ideas, questions, or get in touch with issues most important to you. You can reach me at Rep.Dan.Wolgamott@house.mn.gov or 651-296-6612, and stay in the loop by following along on my official Facebook page.

Happy Father’s Day to all my fellow dads!

Go Rox!

Sincerely,

Rep. Dan Wolgamott

District 14B