State Representatives Natalie Zeleznikar and Roger Skraba held a Town Hall meeting last Sunday, at Two Harbors High School. About 40 to 50 people braved winter storms to listen to and ask questions of the two legislators. Subjects up for discussion included funding for the Highway 61 Project, tax relief, and Paid Family Medical Leave, among other topics.
Regarding the Highway 61 Project, Zeleznikar and Senator Grant Hauschild have been working to find solutions to the funding shortfall. It is clear that Zeleznikar, Hauschild and Skraba are all keenly aware of how important resolving the funding issues are to North Shore communities and to the tourist industry. There is significant bi-partisan effort in Saint Paul to find the needed funding to complete the project in a timely manner. Both legislators at Sunday’s Town Hall indicated that they support bonding bills as a way to raise funds for infrastructure projects. Skraba said that local municipalities don’t have the capacity to fund projects as extensive as Highway 61. That being said, Zeleznikar acknowledged that completing the project will benefit the entire State. With the construction season rapidly approaching, hopefully their efforts will bear fruit.
Both Representatives voiced support for property tax relief and the elimination of taxes on Social Security income. Both also oppose the increase of fees for State Parks, fishing and hunting licenses, and other outdoor activities. “Why increase fees with a $17 billion State surplus? That seems like a slap in the face and will hit people of lower income levels the hardest,” said Zeleznikar.
Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) is currently an important topic in Saint Paul. Both representatives expressed some concern about the current bill as it does not address all the issues about how paid leave will be funded. The U.S. is one of the only countries to not offer any kind of paid family or medical leave. Since there are models for this kind of benefit out there in the world, and since the benefits of having access to PFML are good for business and for people, perhaps we can learn from other capitalist democracies how to design a system that will benefit both employees and employers.
One Town Hall attendee voiced opposition to the recent Bill passed in the House of Representatives establishing Minnesota as a Sanctuary State for people seeking gender affirming health care. Under current Minnesota law, families of trans-gender children can access some medical interventions for their child like puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone treatments. More extensive surgical treatments can only be sought for individuals who are 18 years or older. This is a complicated and deeply personal issue and in the opinion of this writer, one wonders why lawmakers, rather than medical professionals and families, should be in a position to determine the type of healthcare people have access to. All the States that surround Minnesota have either banned gender-affirming care or are considering such bans.
Personally, I’m proud to live in a State where we are creating space for trans-gender citizens to live authentic lives without fear of violence, abuse and political attack.
