It's always great to catch up or meet folks from home when they come to St. Paul. Thanks for meeting and grabbing a bite to eat with Senator Farnsworth and I! More meetings and policy Meeting Deann Stish this week was a real treat! Deann is the new Legislative Liaison for the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation and comes to us with an impressive background in governmental affairs and policy work, and I look forward to working with her.  Rep. Steve Gander (East Grand Forks) and I attended a Legislative Breakfast with Cathy Blaeser and Ellie Cox from the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, held in the Governor’s Dining Room, which is a small room just down from the historic Rathskeller in the basement of the Capitol. It’s always great to connect with the people that are working hard to protect all lives in our great state. Laskiainen It was an absolute blast to go to Laskiainen last weekend – it felt like the whole East Range showed up! I had a great time connecting with folks at the Loon Lake Community Center and seeing everyone enjoying the outdoor festivities. Giants Ridge Last Friday I was privileged to meet IRRR Commissioner Rukavina at Giants Ridge to tour their facilities and see progress. Construction is underway on their new pool and sauna house, which will be a great addition for the Iron Range. I was also able to go up into the drive house on the Sarajevo Express chair-lift and see how it all works – very impressive! Another crucial component at the Ridge is their grooming equipment, and I very much enjoyed checking out the newest machine and seeing how technology is driving the maintenance of the slopes. Giants Ridge is an amazing attraction in our neck of the woods, and it was super cool to see their operations up close. Tax CommitteeWe have been meeting in working groups in lieu of our committees for the past few weeks, but full committee work starts on Monday. As a member of the Tax Committee, it was great to get together with other legislators and get ourselves educated in preparation for the official session. We are focused on bipartisan issues and I look forward to collaborating with the entire body of the House to pass critical legislation out of this committee. |