LARRY HAWS Minnesota House 15B
Your Friend. Your Neighbor. Your Advocate.
 

 

March 4, 2010

Friends,

 

I ‘m posting some information on how a failed GAMC override attempt will affect all Minnesotans, an update on our economic forecast and employment figures, notice that our state primary has moved from September to August, and an invitation to a 2010 Job Summit for Minnesota job seekers.

 

Sincerely,

 

Larry Haws, State Representative

 

No GAMC Override Will Affect All Minnesotans

As we all know by now, the Minnesota House didn’t have the votes to override the Governor’s veto of the legislature’s Modified General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) bill.

 

Less than two weeks ago, the Legislature approved a veto-override majority GAMC solution that created a reformed GAMC program at a lower cost to taxpayers. Minnesotans, taxpayers, and hospitals expected better than they got today from elected leaders who chose to uphold the Governor’s veto rather than give immediate attention to those in need.

 

The Legislature’s Modified GAMC bill would have provided health services to 38,000 Minnesotans per month at a cost of $457 per person. The Governor’s auto-enroll proposal which is twice as expensive on a per enrollee basis and even costs more than the original GAMC program at a cost of $937 per person.

 

We are seeking a sustainable solution to the state’s health insurance program for low-income adults who are struggling with mental illness, disabilities, and chronic illness. The Legislative GAMC solution is more cost-effective and efficient than the Governor’s auto-enrollment plan that will drain the Health Care Access Fund to the point of bankruptcy and exacerbate the state’s budget deficit. Minnesotans can’t afford the Governor’s plan or his veto pen. The clock is ticking and the poorest of the poor and sickest of the sick need us to breathe parliamentary live back into the GAMC solution. I will encourage House leadership to bring people back to the table.

 

Forecast and Employment Update

This week’s budget forecast and unemployment update emphasize the importance of a balanced approach to Minnesota’s budget and job creation.

 

Minnesota’s budget deficit is about $994 million in the current budget cycle which is an improvement of roughly $200 million from the November forecast. Our state employment figures also show an addition of over 15,000 jobs in January and a drop in our unemployment rate to 7.3 percent. These small, positive gains are welcomed signs that we are slowly moving to restore Minnesota’s economy.

 

According to a number of economic models, a $1 billion dollar bonding bill would create 21,000 private and public sector jobs that are “shovel-ready” projects that could start putting Minnesotans back to work immediately. Passing a GAMC bill is also considered an important part of balancing Minnesota’s budget and ensuring job growth.

 

The bonding bill and the GAMC are very much in line with our budget forecast that clearly highlights the need to make the most of every taxpayer dollar. We have these two bills in parliamentary limbo that need to be brought back with the least amount of modifications. This will keep us on the right track that will lead us to greater job creation and a balanced the budget.

 

State Primary Moves to August

On March 3rd, Governor Pawlenty signed a new law, moving the state primary to the second Tuesday in August to meet a federal mandate. Ten states and the District of Columbia will also have to change primary dates to meet the new law.

 

2010 Job Summit

The Minnesota Recruiting & Staffing Association (MNRSA) is hosting a job summit for Minnesota job seekers to learn strategies for finding a job and to meet with representatives looking to fill open positions at local companies.

 

The MNRSA Job Summit will be held on Tuesday, March 23rd, 8:00a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at the Mall of America, 4th Floor Executive Center (Park in the East Parking Lot). Attendance is free. For more information visit www.mnrsa.org or call MNSRA at 952-974-3760.

 


Feb, 2010 

Haws Receives Legislative Leadership Award from the Trust for Public Land

St. Paul, MN - State Representative Larry Haws, District 15B, was named one of the Trust for Public Land's first-ever Legislative Leadership Award recipients.

State Rep. Haws has brought a thirty-two year regional park history to the state legislative table. As Saint Cloud Park Director, Haws developed the Saint Cloud national recognized park system. Under his leadership the park system grew from 33 parks and 400 acres to 90 parks and 1,000 acres. Park Director Haws established the Minnesota original "Adopt a Park Program" that recruited an army of 2,000 volunteers to plant, paint and clean city parks, saving thousands of tax dollars. With this background Rep. Haws has been able to speak factually on the importance of regional city and county parks that serve citizens not served by state or metro parks. He authored and passed legislation that will develop a five-year plan and a 25-year framework for non-metro regional parks.

"The Trust for Public Land is pleased to present this leadership award to Rep. Larry Haws," said Minnesota State Office Director Susan Schmidt. "Rep. Haws has initiated efforts to insure that regional parks and natural lands throughout the state - areas such as St. Cloud - benefit from the new Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment funding."

 "It is an honor to be a part of the great success of The Trust for Public Land that is evident in the advances being made in our parks and natural land and protection throughout Minnesota," said Rep. Haws.

Haws came to Saint Cloud as a math teacher and a coach. He worked in the Saint Cloud Park Department and was a Park Director for 18 years. Haws also served as Stearns County Commissioner for seven years and he is now our State Representative for the Saint Cloud area.

Rep. Haws will receive his Legislative Leadership Award from The Trust for Public Land on February 19, 2010 at an Annual Legislative Kick-Off Luncheon at Como Park Zoo and Conservatory at 12:30 p.m.

 

A GREAT START TO THE 2010 LEGISLATIVE SESSION: Feb 4, 2010

St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota House of Representatives introduced its Capital Investment bill (House File 2700) on the first day of the 2010 Legislative Session.

"The state of the economy and the number of Minnesotans looking for work inspired the early introduction of this year’s jobs-focused bonding bill that is aimed at stimulating economic growth and development across the state,” said State Representative Larry Haws.  “Early passage of this bill can positively impact our budget deficit as more Minnesotans return to work.”

Coming in just under $1 billion, the bill emphasizes three key priorities: higher education investments, transportation and transit improvements, and clean water infrastructure. St. Cloud proposed bonding projects in the 2010 House Capital Investment bill include:
Statewide Projects:

•Renovation dollars ($5.4 million) to remodel and furnish the recently purchased Allied Health Center for the St. Cloud Technical College to help create a state of the art medical training facility which will accommodate the growing regional demand for skilled allied health care professionals.
•Architecture dollars ($42 million) dedicated to the proposed Integrated Science and Engineering Laboratory Facility at St. Cloud State University (SCSU). The proposed new construction is for teaching and research laboratories, and student academic support spaces based on the model of designing flexible laboratories that can be reconfigured to meet changes in science and engineering needs.
•Requesting a $1 million to match federal funds for the North Star Commuter Rail Extension.

Local Projects:

•Expansion plans ($15.1 million) for the St. Cloud Civic Center that will match city funds.

"This bill is an important part of the House DFL’s job agenda; it could create 10,000 to 20,000 private and public sector jobs,” said State Representative Larry Haws. “It’s also perfect timing - construction season is almost here and an early passage of a targeted bonding bill will allow construction on shovel-ready projects to begin immediately.”

The bill will be heard in the House Capital Investment Committee next Tuesday and will be sent to the House floor for a full vote within the next two weeks.

 

 

01-06-2010

Greetings Neighbors,
 
To start the New Year off I thought I’d share some information on an Energy Saver Rebate Program for qualified Minnesota homeowners and some information on how you can help a local food shelf.
 
Sincerely,
 
Larry Haws, State Representative

Energy Saver Rebate Program for Minnesota Homeowners
A new rebate is available to Minnesota homeowners who complete energy-saving home improvements with Minnesota Housing Fix-up loan funds. The Energy Saver Rebate Program will provide qualified homeowners with loans of up to $10,000.
Interested homeowners should act quickly as these rebates are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
 
Energy Saver Rebates can be used for:
    • Replacement furnaces, boilers, and central air conditioners that are eligible for Federal Energy Tax Credit;
    • Replacement exterior doors that are eligible for Federal Energy Tax Credit;
    • Energy Star replacement windows;
    • Energy Star light fixtures;
    • Attic air sealing;
    • Wall and attic insulation in conjunction with attic air sealing; and
    • Water heaters if they are “orphaned” due to furnace replacement.
 
Improvements must be done by a licensed contractor, and the homeowner must submit the Energy Saver Rebate Application for the completed improvements to their lender within 120 days of the Fix-up Fund loan’s closing.  Fix-Up Fund loans are available to households with an income of less than $96,500. Check if you are eligible for the Federal Tax Credit for Energy Efficiency or a rebate from their utility company when doing energy efficiency improvements.
Additional information and a list of authorized lenders are available at: www.mnhousing.gov.
Make a Difference to Local Charities & Hunger Relief.
You can help local charities and food shelves by clicking once every 24 hours on this link: www.landolakesinc.com/company/corporateresponsibility/foundation. When you get to the screen all you have to do is click on “You Click, We Donate.”
You can click once every 24 hours and the Land O Lakes Foundation will donate to the local Food Shelf.

 

 

 

December, 01,2009

With the country’s current economy the holidays can be a tough time for families and individuals. Providing a warm, wholesome dinner and Christmas gifts may be a challenge for many parents throughout the United States and situations such as these hit even closer to home than some think. A 2008 report by the Children’s Defense Fund in Minnesota
determined that 140,000 children alone are living in poverty. What about the number of overall families who cannot provide for themselves? 

Established in the late 1800s by Captain Joseph McFee, The Salvation Army has been helping people throughout the world and has been accepting donations via their famous red kettles, which have strewn across the world to places such as Chile, Japan, and Korea.  The donations collected throughout the years have provided thousands of families Christmas dinners and wonderful memories. But it is The Salvation Army volunteers who make this tradition possible. Hundreds of ordinary people take time out of their hectic lives to ring the bell, raising money for local families. Volunteers are always welcome and encouraged.

If interested in making a difference,

 contact Brandi Greenly, the Saint Cloud Kettle Coordinator at (320) 257-7423 or visit
salvationarmycollege.org

 

11/09/2009

Greetings!

 

A newly-formed bipartisan House Small Business Caucus has been established to make Minnesota more competitive in small business start-up and sustainability. A key part of the Small Business Caucus is to gather high quality and accurate information about the state of Minnesota’s economy, employment, and the weaknesses and challenges of the state and its policies from the perspective of businesses that operate here or that would like to operate here. Small business owner’s input is wanted by legislators – I encourage you to complete a survey that is available on the Minnesota House of Representatives web site by November 30th.

 

http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/smallbusinesssuggestions.asp

 

Sincerely,

 

Larry Haws, State Representative

 

 

 

 

Greetings Neighbors,

 

I will be hosting a House Capital Investment tour in St. Cloud on October 20, 2009 to visit sites in the community with proposed bonding projects for 2010. The House Capital Investment Committee is responsible for approving money for capital projects and state infrastructure, so we will make be making the most of this opportunity and invite members into our community to have a first-hand look at our resources and project needs.                                   

                    The tour will begin with a stop at the St. Cloud Technical College where members will have an opportunity to listen to project needs of the Technical College Library innovations and renovation plans for the Allied Health Center. This will be followed by a visit to St. Cloud State University to hear a presentation on proposed new construction for an Integrated Science and Engineering Laboratory Facility that will be used for teaching, research, and student academic support spaces configured to meet changes in science and engineering needs. Later in the evening legislators will hear from community leaders, business owners and developers about expansion plans for the St. Cloud Civic Center and land acquisition of the St. Cloud Regional Airport Property. The tour will also include an acquisition update on Dehler property and the Quarry Park/Nature Reserve.

It's important for members of the St. Cloud community to have an opportunity to engage with members of the Minnesota House Capital Investment Committee. The chair of the committee, Representative Hausman, and I have had numerous productive conversations about St. Cloud bonding projects in preparation for the 2010 Legislative Session. One-on-One visits like this only help to clarify the importance and purpose of projects planned for our community.

 

Sincerely,

 

Larry Haws, State Representative

 
 
 
 
9-07-2009
Greetings Neighbors,
 
It’s that time of year when fairgoers at the Minnesota State Fair had an opportunity to participate in the House of Representatives State Fair Poll and share their concerns and opinions. Nearly 9,000 fairgoers took an informal, unscientific survey conducted by nonpartisan House Public Information Services to let their elected officials know where they stand on the day’s issues.
 
The 2009 House of Representatives State Fair Poll included 13 questions that covered such topics as funding for a Vikings stadium, unallotment, medical marijuana, early voting and budget cuts versus tax increases. While the entire survey and poll reults are available at http://www.house.mn/ I’d like to highlight some issues that may be topics of discussion in the upcoming session.
 
Exactly 47.5 percent of polltakers support cuts to balance the state budget and nearly 44 percent support tax increases.  More than three-quarters of polltakers believe the legislative process should be more transparent by requiring public budget negotiations between the governor and legislative leaders. By nearly eight percentage points, polltakers stated the governor should not have the power to use unallotment to prevent an anticipated budget deficit.
 
Nearly 57 percent of the voters believe the state should allow voters to cast ballots as early as two weeks before Election Day, and 51 percent support the idea that registration for a driver’s license or state identification card would automatically allow the applicant to vote.
 
Almost 70 percent voted for the use of medical marijuana to ease the suffering of terminally ill patients.
 
The big loser of the survey - by a 2-to-1 ratio, polltakers said voter approval should be required before any public money is used for a new or refurbished Minnesota Vikings stadium.
 
Participating in this poll is a wonderful opportunity for Minnesotans to share their concerns and opinions. Frankly some of the best ideas come from listening to the suggestions of the people we serve at the State Legislature.
 
Sincerely,
 
Larry Haws, State Representative

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 
 

Prepared and Paid for by Larry Haws Campaign Fund; Faye Haws, Treasurer.