Issue Position: General

Issue Position

The 2011-2012 legislature shut down state government and emphasized divisive constitutional amendments. In contrast, the 2013-2014 legislature focused on the right priorities during my first term.

For the first time in a decade, the legislature balanced the state budget without shifts and gimmicks. We focused on education and I was able to keep promises I made during my 2012 campaign. For the first time, Minnesota students are guaranteed all-day kindergarten. We paid back the school shift and froze tuition at Minnesota's public colleges and universities.

Our work will help improve life for the middle class. We enacted the Women's Economic Security Act, which will end many unfair practices in the workplace. We invested in middle class job creation. We enacted tax cuts that will benefit the middle class. One of the bills I authored was part of our property tax relief package. It will extend a sales tax exemption to local governments operating as joint powers organizations, such as the West Metro Fire Rescue District, which serves Crystal and New Hope.

But our work is not done. The 2015-2016 legislature must focus on transportation, particularly mass transit that can serve inner ring suburbs like ours. Although we made some important investments in early childhood education, more needs to be done to ensure that all children have access to quality pre-K education. Nothing has been shown to be more effective in reducing the achievement gap than early education.

I look forward to discussing these issues further during the upcoming campaign.

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