Greetings District 10! Happy Spring—wishing you great joy this Easter season!
Youth Outdoor Shooting Range Capacity Legislation
Back on March 23, 2014 I attended the Lakeshore Conservation Club Wild Game Dinner to raise money for the Pequot Lakes High School Trap Team.
It is appropriate that exactly seven years later, my bill SF2128 to increase outdoor shooting range capacity for youth shooters was heard in the Environment and Natural Resources Finance Committee this week. Shooting sports have been growing at such a fast pace, some of our shooting sports facilities cannot keep up. This bill ensures grant funds to help facilities meet the needs of additional demands.
Grants for Meat Cutting and Butchery Programs for Two Year Colleges
This week, I presented a bill SF2196 in the Senate Agriculture Committee that would provide an appropriation of $2 million to two-year colleges in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system for meat cutting and butchery programs.
There is currently a processing shortage in the livestock industry, as well as a shortage of workforce to meet demands in the retail markets. These problems were further exacerbated by COVID-19. Currently, there are only seven training programs in North America, none of which are in Minnesota.
This bill presents an exciting opportunity for growth in the industry and for Central Lakes College. In this line of work, training for students coming out of high school is extremely important, and not everyone wants to attend a four-year college. This funding helps open-up the new program so we can train students and keep these bright entrepreneurs in our State. This is an exciting tri-partisan bill that provides a new opportunity to our colleges, students, and anyone looking for a new line of work.
This issue is a top concern for family farmers and those in the agriculture industry. If this bill passes it will address the following issues: processing shortages experienced by livestock producers; workforce shortages facing processors; and inclusion of slaughter in the workforce training program.
Senate approves bills to help students, parents & teachers recover from Covid-19
This week, the Minnesota Senate approved a series of bills aimed at supporting kids, families, and teachers as they attempt to recover from learning loss suffered during school closures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bills would provide an accurate measure of how Covid-19 has affected student progress by requiring all students to be administered annual Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs); give students an opportunity to regain lost ground by pausing the creation and implementation of new educational standards; address teacher shortages by opening the door to more qualified substitutes; and ease budget pressures by granting local schools more flexibility.
After a year of disruption and hardship, we need to put our time and energy into ensuring the success of our kids in the classroom. Our kids have really suffered for the past year, and we need to provide support to make up for any potential learning losses. These bills are necessary in allowing our schools the time to slow down and figure out their next steps.
SF628 will guarantee that families, teachers, and policymakers have an accurate measure of student regression from Covid-19 by requiring the Department of Education (MDE) to administer statewide MCAs during the spring of 2021.
SF438 allows students, families, teachers, and MDE to focus their effort and energy on recovering from Covid-19 by suspending until 2023 the development or implementation of any new state-mandated academic standards.
SF710 grants school districts with the authority, for this school year only, to redirect any reserved or restricted revenue to another purpose. The relaxed restrictions will give school districts more flexibility to manage potential budget pressures.
SF819 addresses the shortage of substitute teachers for Minnesota schools by widening the pool of qualified applicants for “short-call” substitute teachers. Teacher shortages have been an issue, particularly for rural communities, even prior to the onset of Covid-19. The gap has been exacerbated by quarantines and other health-related absences, threatening schools’ ability to offer in-person instruction.
Thank you for the meetings this week!
Aitkin County Peat Technology, Brother Justus Distillery, Community of Minnesota Resorts, Lutheran Social Services, LeadingAge Minnesota, Crow Wing County Soil Water Conservation District, Minnesota Soil Water Conservation District, Aitkin County Public Health and Minnesota Telecom Alliance.
This week, I toured Brother Justus Whiskey Distillery, and it was a wonderful experience. Brother Justus is partnering with Aitkin County’s American Peat Technology to develop a “Cold-Peated” Whiskey. They have named this the “Aitkin County Process,” which will use Minnesota’s peat bogs to create the world’s first “cold-peated” whiskey. This partnership opens-up endless possibilities for responsibly using our local peatlands in Aitkin County. If you are interested and have five minutes to spare, I highly recommend looking into the history of Brother Justus who was a monk that showed Minnesota farmers how to bootleg the Benedictine Way—very cool story.
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As always please feel free to contact my office with any questions you might have. My office can be reached by phone at (651) 296-4913 or at sen.carrie.ruud@senate.mn.
Talk to you soon!
Carrie Ruud