State Representative David Bly, District 25B

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) is soliciting proposals from public, private, or non-profit entities engaged in workforce development, economic development, or education for a second round of FIRST (Framework for Integrated Regional Strategies) grants. Applications are due by August 27. DEED will award four FIRST grants in the amount of $50,000 each. This announcement is posted on their website.

The purpose of FIRST grants is to support new or existing collaborative networks of economic development, workforce development, education, and private business leaders who set and achieve strategies that grow the region’s economy. DEED will award four grants by September 12, 2008 for a time period of up to 18 months from the grant start date of October 1, 2008. The agency contact for more questions is Shelley Landgraf at Shelley.landgraf@state.mn.us , or by phone 651-259-7580.

On Sunday, July 13th, I launched my bid for re-election as representative of the people in Minnesota House district 25B. About 50 people attended my kick-off event hosted by Bob and Suzannah Ciernia of Northfield in their beautiful, backyard garden. Supporters were treated to lemonade and root beer, cheese and crackers, an assortment of olives, and of course my signature trademark - freshly baked pies.

The highlight of the three-hour event was the appearance of Senator Amy Klobuchar. After just arriving from Washington, she treated us with amusing stories of her early days in Washington. Sen. Klobuchar, who voted for the passage of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act, told how exciting it was when Ted Kennedy returned to the Senate for the first time since being diagnosed with a brain tumor, to vote in favor of the Act. Once again his booming voice echoed within the halls of the chamber and his presence caused nine Republican Senators to switch their vote in favor of passage.

Representatives Patti Fritz (26B), Carolyn Laine (50A), Shelley Madore (37A) and Paul Thissen (63A) were some of the invitees that attended along with our own Senator Kevin Dahle. Later in the evening, after several people had left unfortunately, Franni Franken, wife of DFL candidate Al Franken, dropped by and offered her support. She is an engaging woman who reminisced about her and Al’s days in New York writing for SNL and confirming what we already know, Al’s commitment to all Minnesotans.

As I start my campaign for re-election I continue to meet more and more people who are concerned about the state of our environment. They see their way of life slipping through their hands because of the rising costs of gas and health care. These two factors have a devastating effect on our farmers and small business owners as well as all Minnesotans. We in the Legislature will address these problems, along with a host of other issues, in the upcoming 2009 Legislative session. As Bob Ciernia reiterated, “Paul Wellstone said that we all do better when we all do better. That means a great deal to me and it means a great deal to David. That’s why I support David Bly.”

My sincere appreciation goes to Bob and Suzannah for their warmth and hospitality in hosting this event. I offer my gratitude to Sen. Klobuchar and Franni Franken and all the other representatives that attended for their support and I look forward to working with them in the future. And finally, I extend my appreciation to my campaign staff who are working so hard in organizing my bid for re-election.

Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) is seeking up to eight communities (a geographical community, a neighborhood, a county, groups of organizations, or any combination) to engage in asset based community development (ABCD) efforts leading to economic growth and prosperity.

 As part of the grant, SMIF will provide up to $15,000 for community projects along with training and coaching. SMIF’s asset-affirming approach, called the Town Meeting Initiative (TMI), puts a strong spotlight on collaboration, local assets, and creativity that generates long-term change. “Through TMI, we encourage communities and organizations to draw on their own assets to create change rather than looking to ‘outside experts’ for answers and assistance,” states Tim Penny, SMIF President & CEO.

TMI uses asset mapping as a tool for understanding community resources and engaging residents in developing a shared vision. Currently 23 communities within southern Minnesota are TMI partners. These communities are identifying and achieving goals, learning about and leveraging their assets, developing volunteer leaders, and experiencing increased citizen involvement.

SMIF believes that communities have many existing assets that can and should be recognized and aligned to support growth and vitality. SMIF is looking for TMI applications focused on one or more of the following key areas:

· Engaging Elders - Engaging older citizens in paid employment or volunteerism related to SMIF’s business and workforce interest areas

· Experiential Career Education for Youth - Providing opportunities for non-college bound students to succeed in the workplace

· New Immigrants - Capitalizing on the assets of new immigrants in the workplace and/or as entrepreneurs

· BioBusiness - Growing bio-medical, bio-agriculture and renewable energy business

· Entrepreneurs - Growing local entrepreneurs

Communities are invited to send a letter of intent (email preferred) to Elise Davis (elised@smifoundation.org) by July 15, 2008 noting the focus area(s) and reason for their interest in TMI . TMI applications are due by August 15, 2008 ; selected communities will be notified by September 15, 2008. For more information or to obtain a Town Meeting Initiative (TMI) application, contact Elise Davis and 507-455-3215 or visit our website.

 

Governor Tim Pawlenty authorized Minnesota’s participation in the Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Program. This federally funded program can provide up to 13 additional weeks of unemployment benefits to workers who have exhausted their regular state unemployment benefits.

Under the EUC Program, individuals who were unemployed the week beginning July 6, 2008; may apply for benefits the week of July 14. The EUC Program expires on June 30, 2009.

Not all applicants who exhaust regular state benefits will qualify for this federally funded extension. Federal law requires a certain level of past earnings in order to qualify for the extension, an amount well in excess of the amount necessary to qualify for regular state benefits. Approximately ten percent of applicants who exhaust state benefits will not meet the past earning requirement necessary to qualify for the federally funded extension. Additionally, federal law requires that if at any time an applicant qualifies for regular state benefits, they must apply for and collect those state benefits.

The Department will be notifying approximately 50,000 Minnesotans who may potentially be eligible for this extension. A number of these individuals will have already found employment and will not be eligible. Nonetheless, the unemployment insurance program workload is expected to double in one week. It is expected this increase in workload to have a substantial impact on the number of telephone calls received. Currently, unemployment insurance staff are handling over 2,000 operator-assisted telephone calls per day. While the wait time to speak with an operator currently averages less than two minutes, it is expected that will increase dramatically at least for a few weeks. Your patience is requested over this critical period. Most applicants will not find it necessary to speak with an operator, and will use the online system at www.uimn.org. The automated phone system is 651-296-3644 and the toll-free number is 1-877-898-9090.

State Auditor Rebecca Otto has released the Best Practices Review on Reducing Energy Costs in Local Government. The review is designed to be easy to use for local government. The online version has a user-friendly feature: It is interactive. “When we surveyed local governments for this review, they reported that an obstacle to reducing energy costs is financial resources. This review has live links that get them directly to financial resources. We get them to the money,” said State Auditor Otto. “It also contains links to information resources, and cost calculators to crunch numbers.”

The review features nine case studies that highlight best practices in reducing energy costs by cities, counties and school districts in Minnesota. The entities and technologies/services are highlighted in the case studies.

The complete review can be accessed here.

Several new laws went into effect this week, including many of the major budget bills we passed this session. Unless otherwise noted, enactment dates for any budget bills is always July 1^st of the year the bill passed. Enactment for policy bills is August 1^st unless otherwise noted.

Here are a few of the new laws now on the books in Minnesota:

- Our major budget-balancing bill is now law. The bill resolves a $935 million budget deficit with measured spending cuts, use of budget reserves, and closure of foreign operation companies tax loopholes. The bill also funds a $51 per-pupil increase to every school district in the state and increase funding for Minnesota nursing homes by $15 million.

- The Green Solutions Act of 2008 is now law, which calls for studies by the Commerce Department and the Pollution Control Agency on potential impacts of cap-and-trade. The law makes a one-time appropriation of $500,000 for the study.

- The Abigail Taylor Pool Safety Act is now law, which is named after the Edina six-year-old who tragically lost her life sustaining injuries due to an uncovered pool drain. The new law requires owners of public pools to provide information to the Health Department about their pools and the drain covers in order to renew or receive a license to operate

- Sixteen year-olds can now donate blood with written permission from their parent or guardian.

- Rights for domestic abuse victims were strengthened. An Order for Protection against a violent, repeat offender can now be issued for up to 50 years in certain situations where a violent domestic abuser has repeatedly terrorized their victim.

- The Board of Water and Soil Resources will receive a General Fund increase of $235,000, with nearly $500,000 going toward a cost-share program to help areas flooded in 2007.

- $180,000 is added to a “state navigator” position to coordinate state programs to help soldiers and their families during the reintegration process

- Spouses can use up to 12 semester hours annually of a National Guard member’s unused tuition reimbursement benefit if the member has completed at least 8 years of service.

For more information to review laws click here.

Two years ago the citizens of Minnesota District 25B elected me to my first term as their Representative at the State Legislature. This was an honor that I respected and enjoyed. On July 1, 2008, the first day of the re-filing period with Sec. of State Mark Ritchie (pictured at left) at the Sec. of State Office, I officially filed for re-election to continue to represent the citizens of MN District 25B.

Over the last two years, on the issues that you have said are most important - education, property tax relief, health care, environment, and transportation - we have achieved positive results. On education, we increased funding to our schools by $850 million to help them continue to recover from the devastating 2003 budget cuts and restored past funding cuts to critically important early childhood education programs like Head Start and ECFE. We passed nation-leading renewable energy legislation and made health care accessible to more than 100,000 Minnesotans and we made strides to keep property taxes in check. We were able to pass a Transportation bill that provided thousands of jobs for Minnesotans to build and maintain our transportation infrastructure.

The 2008 legislative session was considered by many to be the most productive Legislature in years. But our work is not done. I want to continue to keep Minnesota on the right path toward prosperity. Providing health care for all Minnesotans, developing and utilizing various means of alternative energy, and creating a 21st Century Transportation system are all major issues that the citizens of District 25B have expressed to me that are important to them.

In the coming months, I look forward to talking about the issues with people in District 25B from Nerstrand to Belle Plaine. I’ll be out and about quite a bit, so if you have any questions, comments, or ideas, track me down and I’d love to talk with you.

Bridge Square in Northfield has always been a place for the local community to gather to observe many social events. On Thursday, June 19, once again people from all around gathered to take part in the “Taste of Northfield.” Local chefs and owners of restaurants provided people with a sample of their culinary fare. I came early to visit with members of the community and from my perspective everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. We are lucky to have a place like Bridge Square to use as a center of attention.

Not far from Bridge Square is the Northfield Library. While the vast majority of people were enjoying the “Taste of Northfield” festivities, Sen. Kevin Dahle, Rep. Shelly Madore , and myself hosted a forum on Special Education for special needs children. Nowhere near the amount of people attended this forum as did the “Taste of Northfield,” none-the-less the attendees here were all families of children with special needs, such as autism, handicapped, Cerebral Palsy, blindness, to name a few.

During this event, a young girl by the name of Erin Carlson-Donohoe, who happens to be a huge girls’ basketball fan, read a letter written by our own Brianna Zable, current record holder of career points scored at Northfield High School, given to her a year ago. Erin cherishes this letter like you or I would an autograph signature by Babe Ruth. Erin talked about her experiences as the manager of the girls’ basketball team and her adoration of Bri. Few people will go through life and be fortunate enough to have the positive impact on an individual’s life that Bri has had on Erin’s.

Many other parents attending talked about the challenges their children face every day. They discussed problems they encountered with certain programs and evaluations they are required to complete for their children. They expressed concerns about a “no accountability” policy at the county level. Incidentally and according to Rep. Madore, Dakota County has a very well designed and more adequate funded procedure in place for special needs families. Parents talked about the “lack of funding” response they receive when they try to discuss their concerns regarding their children’s education. Although I understand that lack of funding will always be a roadblock, we must adopt a more positive attitude to address these concerns and how we can make consistent small strides rather than none at all.

In upcoming blogs I intend to discuss more and more the challenges some of these individual families face and why we must address their needs. Each and every one of these mentally challenged individuals is different. Many of you know one or more families that have a son or daughter with disabilities. My hope through this forum will be to make members of this community more aware of the challenges they face.

Instead of having these forums in a secluded room at the Library, we should reconsider and have them in Bridge Square. Making this a social event will provide the community the opportunity to meet the families and the children. I am convinced that when you meet them you will understand their frustrations and their joys.

A society is judged on how it treats its most vulnerable. It is important we show that everyone matters and that we care about creating opportunities for all to participate in our community and contribute in ways they can.

The parade celebrating Heritage Days in Faribault, MN on Saturday, June 21, turned out to be a wonderful time as predicted. The weather was perfect, sunny and in the high 70s and not a cloud in sight. The number of visitors and parade watchers that were present surprised me. It was a great opportunity to meet and shake hands with so many. When you visit and participate in these small-town, local events, what impresses me is the hometown feeling you experience. Memories of past parades flood you with sentimental feelings that you as a young child felt when you first saw a parade.

People from all over come to these events for the fun and the excitement. But seeing the effortless smiles on the children lining the parade route is all the evidence you need as proof of why we participate in these local events - for the parade is mostly for them. Hundreds if not thousands of young faces lined the parade route gathering candy and stickers. Ray Coudret, a member of my re-election committee, brought a young dog named Sofie and, heard all along the parade route, was the children’s gleeful cry “Can we pet your dog?”. Sofie was rather timid at the start of the parade but by the end she really seemed to enjoy all the attention. Ray’s young son Trey has to be nominated as one of the cutest children who ever carried a “David Bly” campaign sign. Pretty adept on a scooter, young Dallas Miller raced feverishly along the streets during the parade while his mother Cindy handed out stickers.

Visiting from California, my mom, Mary Bly joined in the parade too. For being 81 years old, and using a cane, she nearly walked the whole parade route waving frequently to the crowd. Two blocks from the end though, with the renewed energy of a 2 year-old toddler, she bolted from the parade when she spotted the “Cheese Curd” booth, thereby satisfying a long suppressed craving for good-old Minnesota Fair food.

The committee for organizing the Heritage Days festival deserves our thanks. It was truly a memorable time and we as participants appreciate the opportunity to join in celebrating the history of Faribault. Let me offer special thanks to the members of the Re-elect David Bly campaign committee, particularly to Mike Fitzgerald and family and Judy Kutulas for participating in this event. Your help and dedication is always appreciated.