Government Reform Town Hall Meeting, with Rep.'s Downey, Loon, Stensrud and Majority Leader Matt Dean

REP. DOWNEY AND LEGISLATORS HOST REFORM MEETING

ST. PAUL – Local legislators and House leadership will host a meeting in Edina to receive public input as they develop a package of bills designed to help Minnesota operate more efficiently.

The package of bills is called Reform 2.0 and it is being prepared for the 2012 legislative session, which starts in January. The meeting will be 1 p.m. Nov. 3 at the Hellmuth and Johnson law office, 8050 W. 78th St., Edina. The public is invited and a sign-up sheet will be provided to those who wish to offer specific reform ideas to the legislative panel at the meeting during the time of public input.

Reps. Keith Downey, of Edina, along with Eden Prairie Reps. Jenifer Loon and Kirk Stensrud, will attend the event. House Majority Leader Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, also will participate as he has at Reform 2.0 meetings throughout the state this fall. Edina and Eden Prairie chambers  of commerce are co-sponsoring the event and encourage their members to attend and provide ideas from the business community.

“One of our top priorities for the 2012 session is to find ways our state can provide better service at a better price to bring down the cost of state programs,” Downey said. “We made some forward strides in 2011, but there is much more we can do and, frankly, much more we need to do in order to put our state on a more sustainable fiscal plane. Public participation in this process is crucial.”

Much of the discussion during 2011 budget hearings centered on whether the state should reduce spending or increase taxes in order to eliminate a $5 billion shortfall. Loon said Reform 2.0 introduces a third option: doing more with revenue that already is available.

“We must take inventory to make sure we are making the best-possible use of our existing tax dollars before we even think of asking hard-working Minnesotans to pay more,” Loon said. " I look forward to hearing ideas from citizens who have been making their own dollars go farther. Government can learn from their example."

Stensrud is taking a businessman’s approach by identifying state practices that are unnecessary or inefficient.

“My objective is to find out what the state is doing that is obsolete,” Stensrud said. “Then we can decide if we can make improvements in these areas or if the state should stop the practice altogether. This will allow us to focus on upholding our priorities.”

Keith Downey represents district 41A which includes the city of Edina