From the desk of Representative Natalie Zeleznikar

Creating great com­munities requires in­vestments that sup­port core services and meet the needs of all citizens. When I be­gan my first term as a State Legislator in 2023, Minnesota had a historic $18 billion surplus. Yet, in just five months, this sur­plus was spent, and an additional $10 billion in new fees and taxes were introduced for Minnesotans.

With this unprece­dented opportunity, I hoped to see meaning­ful investments in:

• Public schools: En­suring our children and educators have the resources they need.
• Public safety: Sup­porting law en­forcement at every level—police, state troopers, and sher­iffs.
• Emergency medi­cal services (EMS): Funding ambu­lance services and non-medical emer­gency responses.
• Childcare: Stabi­lizing both fami­ly-based and cen­ter-based providers to help working families.
• Infrastructure: Fixing roads, bridg­es, and potholes, es­pecially in Greater Minnesota.
• Senior care: Sup­porting nursing homes and care fa­cilities hit hardest by the pandemic.

Despite the surplus, our communities now face:

• School budget cuts: Leading to millions in reductions or lay­offs in every district, including Lake Su­perior.
• Shortages in public safety: Our law en­forcement agencies struggle to fill posi­tions.
• Ambulance ser­vices underfunded: Greater Minnesota needed $120 million and received only a fraction of it.
• Ongoing childcare closures: Rising operational costs continue to outpace revenue.
• Neglected roads: While $194 million was allocated for a train from Minneap­olis-St. Paul to Du­luth, potholes persist and miles of road­way deteriorates.
• Nursing home closures: The re­imbursement de­lays—18 months behind real-time expenses—are deci­mating these essen­tial facilities.

Minnesotans de­serve more from their tax dollars. No new mandates should be implemented without clear and adequate funding, especially when the cost of living is already straining families. The state’s 40% government growth in recent years is unsustainable and is directly funded by you—the taxpayer.

It’s time to return to the basics — schools, public safety, health­care, infrastructure — and focus on getting resources back into our communities, not just St. Paul. Govern­ment should not have an open check book, or the ability to grow government by 40%. Instead, we need to see 40% growth in small businesses and housing development to ensure our commu­nities have high pay­ing jobs, and a strong commercial tax base.

Let’s make Minne­sota the shining star of the North.

Rep. Natalie Zeleznikar