MN Senate Majority Leader Discusses Goals, Priorities from Recent Legislative Session

Along with work at the federal level, Minnesota lawmakers made waves this past session. DFLer and Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic stopped by Lakeland’s Bemidji studio last week and spoke with Lakeland News about some of the new developments the state can expect in the coming months.

Sen. Dziedzic said at the beginning of the recent legislative session, the DFL caucus had a plan after consulting constituents from rural towns all the way to the urban metro. Some goals included safe communities, emphasis on schooling, more jobs, and a healthy environment.

“In the Minnesota Senate, in the Minnesota DFL Senate in particular, we were looking at, how do we help people afford their lives?” said Sen. Dziedzic. “We were looking at those common goals, working together, having conversations. Again, we represent diverse areas from small rural [ones] to the urban core, but finding, what do we have in common, because there’s a lot of issues across the state that people want addressed. We put our head down – people told use they were tired of gridlock, so we just went to work.”

Sen. Dziedzic also discussed the $17.6 billion surplus and how the funds were used for one-time payments, as well as the over $2 billion in bonding bills for projects across the state.