Legislative Update from Rep. David FitzSimmons (R-Albertville)

Dear neighbor,

With the adjournment deadline about a month way, it’s getting busy here at the Capitol. The House DFL leadership has unveiled several of their omnibus bills. Yesterday, House Democrats released their tax plan that includes higher income taxes and increases taxes on alcohol and tobacco. I continue to believe that we do not need to be imposing higher taxes on hard-working Minnesotans to balance the budget. We need to ensure that every dollar is spent wisely and cut the waste before asking Minnesotans to pay more in taxes. My goal is to have a more effective and efficient government – not a bigger government.

I’m pleased to report that the House today passed a bill I co-authored. House File 450 extends the limit to bring a civil cause of action or indemnity to two years within 14 years of substantial completion of the project and the warranty date of the project. I worked with DFL Representative Joe Atkins, chairman of the House Commerce Committee, on this project to fix a problem with a law in the legislature passed in 2007 that placed no time limit for bringing an action for contribution or indemnity. I had several engineers and subcontractors in my district contact me about this issue and I’m glad we were able to work in a bipartisan way to address it.

Recently, I met with members of the Elk River School District Legislative Action Team. We were hopeful that legislation – House File 830 and House File 831 – I had co-authored with Representative Nick Zerwas of Elk River that would have granted the Elk River School District its share of the metro area equity funding for all students attending Elk River schools was going to make it into the K12 education omnibus bill. However, we discovered last week that those provisions were not included. I plan to support those bills as amendments on the House floor when the K12 education omnibus bill comes up for debate.

I also met with Scott McBride, engineer with the Minnesota Department of Transportation who is assigned to our region, on issues relating to the logistics of expanding I-94. I continue to push the department to make expanding I-94 a top priority.

The House is in session every day this week including Saturday. I’ll continue to keep you updated as the legislative session moves forward.

As your voice in St. Paul, I am interested in your feedback. Please feel free to contact me by e-mail at Rep.David.FitzSimmons@House.MN or contact my office at 651-296-1534. You can also send me mail to my office address: 227 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155. Please feel free to share this e-mail with your family, friends, and neighbors so they can sign up and stay in touch.

Sincerely,

David