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Best Life Alliance requires support By DAVID BLY Guest columnist Our 10-week legislative session is now almost half over. Most of this week consisted of long hours in committees satisfying what’s known as the “first deadline.” For many bills to remain alive, they must have been heard in either the House or Senate by the […] Dear Neighbors, The 10 week legislative session is moving along quickly. We’re now in the third week and legislation is being introduced and heard in committees. Here are a few items I would like to update you on: Legislative Survey and Column I had my session preview column published in the Northfield News entitled […] 
It was the summer of 1969, my brother was getting ready to head off to college; I experienced a political and cultural transformation and so did my community and the country as a whole. We had survived the tumultuous revolutionary year, 1968: The murder of Martin Luther King Jr., the race riots across the […] Earlier this month we celebrated Lincoln’s birthday, the President who many consider our greatest President. Ralph Waldo Emerson once called Abraham Lincoln, ‘our first middle class President’ because he advocated a government that helped open a path to prosperity for all, and he advocated a government for, by and of the people. The notion of […] 
As Minnesotans are planning holiday travel and winter get a ways, I wanted to update you on REAL ID. I’ve received a lot of questions about Minnesota’s noncompliance with REAL ID. To help clear up any confusion, I thought I would share this information with you. People are genuinely concerned that they won’t be able […] Dear Neighbors, I hope the fall has been treating you well. For those of you with children, I hope the kids are back into full swing at school and you’re ready for parent teacher conferences. Education Policy Next Week Next week I’ll be attending a joint meeting of the House and Senate education committees to […] 
I hope you’ve had a good summer and are starting to enjoy the fall colors. I spent much of this summer visiting with people in our community and hearing what issues matter the most to them. Also in order to do a more informed job at the legislature, I’ve been touring Minnesota looking at various farming and industrial sites to discuss issues surrounding land and water use.
Minnesota has been a pioneer in farming techniques and agricultural stewardship. As large-scale industrial farming has replaced family farms, we’ve seen many changes on the rural landscape over the years. Those changes include both economic and environmental impacts that some argue have made farming while preserving soil and water quality more challenging. Many of the places I’ve visited in rural Minnesota shared these concerns and highlighted efforts being made to mitigate these negative impacts. I get frequent calls from my friend David who reminds me that people who work at the nursing home he lives in are underpaid and struggle to make ends meet. I hear from MNDOT contractors who’ve conducted layoffs that decrease their ability to take on the many repairs that our state desperately needs. College students […] 