THANK YOU!
I would like to thank all of the people who supported me in this
re-election campaign. Thanks to the many volunteers and to those
who voted for me. I'll continue to work to make Minnesota a great
place to live for all of us.
- Bernie
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hello and welcome to the Lieder 2008 campaign website.
I am seeking your support for re-election to the House on
November 4th, and I appreciate your help in the campaign
over the next few months.
2008 SESSION PRODUCED A HOST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS
When legislative leaders reached a final budget agreement with the Governor, the last minute, early-morning agreement allowed the Legislative session to end on time. It also capped what will go down as one of the most productive sessions in recent history.The final agreement not only balanced the budget, but also included increased funding for schools and nursing homes, ground-breaking health care reform and significant property tax relief.When you consider that we were facing a $965 million deficit, those accomplishments are fairly remarkable. We were able to do all that by reprioritizing state spending, which allowed us to invest close to $50 million more in our kids' education and another $15 million in our nursing homes.We also made significant progress on reforming our health care system and those reforms are going to not only help slow the rise in health care costs, but also improve care.We sent $25 million in direct property relief to homeowners, another $60 million in property tax relief to cities and counties and 10,000 more homeowners will qualify for refunds. When you combine that relief with increased funding for transportation and bonding, the pressure on local property taxes is going ease significantly.In addition to the budget balancing deal, the session also produced a number of important measures. On the economic front, we passed jobs-producing transportation and bonding bills. Those two bills alone are expected to create 30,000 new jobs in the next year alone. We've spent the past two decades neglecting our transportation system and state infrastructure. These two bills are going to help bring our system of roads and bridges into the 21st Century and protect the investment past generations made in our state, particularly our higher ed system.In agriculture, we established a nation-leading standard for biodiesel and created a Livestock Investment Grant program to help Minnesota's livestock producers remain competitive. We also invested in the emerging bioscience industry. After years of trying, we finally were able to put a constitutional amendment to funding for the outdoors on the ballot this fall. When you combine that with the more than $45 million we passed last year to clean up our lakes, rivers and streams, we've made huge strides in preserving wildlife habitat and cleaning up the state's waters over the past two years.Alone, all of these accomplishments are significant, but together they represent real change. Two or three years from now, we're going to look back at the past two sessions and see the first signs of our state getting back on track after a decade of floundering. I think the biggest change is the renewed focus on what's really important for our state – a great education for our kids, reforming health care, providing property tax relief and creating jobs. This budget reflects real progress on those priorities.Of course, the job isn't finished. It never is. But we're in a better position today than we were when the session started.State Rep. Bernie Lieder
VOTE FOR BERNIE LIEDER ON TUESDAY, NOV. 4th -
"Working for Northwest Minnesota"
Prepared and paid for by the Lieder Volunteer Committee
website maintained by
"Working for Northwest Minnesota"
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