There has been a lot of discussion lately about oil train safety in Minnesota. As the oil boom continues in North Dakota, more and more oil from the Bakken makes its way through our state as it is shipped across the US. These oil trains present a growing public safety concern that we need to address quickly.

Last month, a train that traveled through our Minnesota communities spilled nearly three million gallons of oil in a train derailment in West Virginia, leading to major fires and the evacuation of hundreds of families. Just last week, another train that had run through Minnesota derailed and exploded in Illinois, leading to major fires. There have been five oil train explosions in the last five weeks in the US and Canada. According to the US Department of Transportation, these accidents are likely to become more frequent, as more and more oil is shipped by rail.

A proposal has been introduced to reduce the likelihood of an oil train disaster, improve public safety and fire preparedness along rail corridors, and provide property tax relief to communities confronting issues of rail safety. While we don’t have any oil trains running directly through our community, this is a common sense safety issue and I strongly support these preventative safety measures.

Sunday Liquor Sales

Each year at the Capitol there is a renewed effort to allow liquor sales on Sundays in Minnesota. Millions of dollars leave our state’s economy every year due to a law forbidding Sunday sales. Minnesota’s neighboring states all allow alcohol sales on Sundays, and only 12 states in the US do not. I have heard from countless constituents that this law needs to be updated to reflect today’s consumer driven economy.

Legislative Survey

Please take a few short minutes to fill out my legislative survey. I look forward to hearing from you! You can access the survey here: www.surveymonkey.com/r/48a.

It is important that I hear directly from you.  Last year various groups spent an astounding $61 million lobbying the Legislature on a variety of issues.  While good lobbyists serve a useful function and highlight the concerns of various important constituency groups, I feel strongly that individual citizens need to have their voices heard.  I appreciate you taking a few moments to let me know your views!

Bipartisan Small Business Caucus

As a member of our House Bipartisan Small Business Caucus, I have had the opportunity over the last three years to listen to the concerns of a number of small business people, and to tour their facilities. Small business is the backbone of our Minnesota economy, and I invite you to contact me with your thoughts and concerns.  I am also available to tour your business, and see and hear firsthand about accomplishments and the challenges you face.  It is in this way that we can bring forward informed legislation that will help to provide an environment in which our small businesses can succeed.  In the last biennium, I coauthored legislation that has provided funding to businesses to attract and train employees, to provide investment incentives, and to streamline regulation.

Education and Transportation

As you know, transportation and education continue to be “hot topics” over here at the Capitol.

Education

Our Minnesota teachers and schools continue to work hard to provide the best possible education to our students.  Although we are finally making good progress toward closing the achievement gap, there is much to be done.  This session will probably see significant investment in early childhood education, an area research shows has an incredible return on investment.  Right now there is a discussion going on as to the best way to deliver that education, but in the end our youngest learners will benefit.

I am happy that this session in the Education Innovation Policy and Education Finance committees I serve on we continue to examine ways to eliminate unnecessary paperwork for our teachers so that they can spend their time on and with children, and I am pleased that some of those initiatives are moving forward.

Our schools continue to look for ways to provide post-secondary opportunities for our students while they are still in high school.  In the legislature we are considering legislation which I support to expand these opportunities and to ensure that our high school students receive post-secondary credits for successfully completed AP classes, College in the Schools courses (I authored HF 217 to expand College in the Schools world language courses to academically ready 9th and 10th graders), IB and other concurrent enrollment opportunities.  With student debt sky-rocketing, we need to continue to look for ways to ameliorate that untenable situation.

Transportation

As many of you have told me, we need sensible solutions to fund the repair of our roads and bridges as part of our multi-modal transportation system.  I have authored legislation to bond for the state’s portion of the Southwest light rail, which will help alleviate some of the congestion and wear and tear on our roads while helping to meet the fast-growing needs of the start-up and expanding businesses in our area.  I have also coauthored legislation to give our important Southwest Transit bus system more of a voice in regional transportation planning.  Southwest Transit not only provides our much-appreciated express service to down town Minneapolis, but is also looking to expand important city-to-city and other arterial bus routes.

Other transportation legislation I have authored includes HF 1848, which will allow a new non-profit transportation service in our area to provide affordable rides to our elderly and visually disabled, and HF 1492, which will over time modify traffic and parking signs to remove the word “handicap” from them, a term many in our disability community finds degrading, as its origin comes from many years ago when the poor with disabilities begged in the streets with their caps in their hands.  This legislation was brought forward by a wonderful 18 year old young woman with spina bifada who is determined to empower other teens with physical challenges to be recognized as people first.

Please contact me anytime with your input on legislative issues.  I can be reached by phone at (651) 296-3964 or by email at . And, as always, thank you for the honor of representing you at the Capitol.

Best,

 

 

Yvonne Selcer
State Representative

education · HD48A · House District 48A · legislative survey · Railroad Disaster Act · Rep. Selcer · Sunday liquor sales · transportation · Yvonne Selcer

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