ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Our View: Small stuff matters, too, in St. Paul

Rep. Liz Olson

Smack dab in the middle of hammering out a state budget compromise, extending health care funding for thousands, protecting aging Minnesotans from abuse, and more this past legislative session in St. Paul, Duluth’s Rep. Liz Olson received an unexpected contact. A child-care facility back home had been fined because its children were found sipping from reusable water bottles during a field trip. This was in violation of a state regulation, Olson was told.

Considering the growing backlash against single-use plastic water bottles, the ability of child-care centers to wash reusable containers, and, well, common sense, Olson responded immediately, “We should change that.” She set aside the larger issues for a few moments and — working with the Duluth daycare, the Minnesota Department of Human Services, the Minnesota Department of Health, and others — led an effort to write and pass a bill.

“Things like that you don’t hear enough about. You seem to only hear the politics. But sometimes the small stuff is good for Duluth, too,” Olson said in an interview last week with the News Tribune Editorial Board. “It’s about improving people’s lives. … That was one victory this session.”

While lesser-heralded successes can be just as important and impactful, plenty of bigger victories were won for Duluth this year. Among the most notable were the authorization of a half-percent sales tax in the city to fix streets, a $98.5 million allocation for public improvements in support of the coming nearly $1 billion in private investments by St. Luke’s and Essentia to get bigger and better, and the restoration of local government aid. The long-sought LGA fix means an additional $700,000 a year returning to Duluth from the state and $1.5 million more per year for St. Louis County.

Even more notable this year was the lack of chaos, especially at session’s end, and the dueling press conferences, partisan infighting, and other pocks of political ugliness that have marred lawmaking in the past.

ADVERTISEMENT

This session had more transparency, even though openness must remain a priority for our elected leaders. There also were more hearings and public testimony; earlier deadlines; timelines being more closely followed, allowing more work to get done; and a commitment to compromise in both the DFL-majority House and Republican-majority Senate.

“We wanted to show the country that, yes, you can work in a divided government. You can have bipartisan support for bills. That was a big undertone of the session,” Rep. Jennifer Schultz said in the interview. “I was amazed, the amount of work we had to do from January until May, and we got it all done.”

Well, not quite. A one-day special session was necessary to wrap up everything. But Schultz’s sentiment can be appreciated by most Minnesotans.

And most Minnesotans can hope now that all of the apparent positives this year carry over to 2020. It’ll be a bonding year, with ongoing seawall repairs, Depot repairs, and University of Minnesota Duluth improvements among expected funding priorities in Duluth.

So if there is indeed a new, more-productive tone in St. Paul — if this year wasn’t just an anomaly — it can be built on in the name of better serving all Minnesotans. Big issues and the small stuff alike deserve effective governance.

Jennifer Schultz.jpg
Rep. Jennifer Schultz.

ADVERTISEMENT

Jennifer Schultz.jpg
Rep. Jennifer Schultz.

ADVERTISEMENT

What To Read Next
Get Local

ADVERTISEMENT