Monday, October 8, 2012
Two House races and a Senate race will be on the ballot this November.
With the Nov. 6 election fast approaching, Patch wants to give you the chance to pose a question to the District 46 candidates. In the Senate District 46 race, incumbent Sen. Ron Latz (DFL) is taking on Republican challenger Paul Scofield. There are two local House races—in 46A, Democratic incumbent Rep. Ryan Winkler faces Republican John Swanson, and incumbent Rep. Steve Simon (DFL) takes on Republican challenger David Arvidson in 46B. In the comments below, we welcome you to post your questions. If you'd like to just question one particular candidate, please note that. Otherwise, we'll assume all questions are intended for all the candidates. Please keep questions civil and respectful. We'll gather some of the best questions we receive …
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
At a Tuesday night forum, local politicians said more funding needs to go to districts.
Local DFLers are making one thing clear—if they're elected into office this November, they will push to get more money to schools. At a Tuesday night forum in Hopkins, House members John Benson (District 43B), Steve Simon (44A) and Ryan Winkler (44B), along with candidates Yvonne Selcer (48A) and Paul Rosenthal (49B) said shifting funding back to school districts after last year's shutdown diverted money is a primary goal this session. "To me, the state's responsibility (to funding education) has been woefully lacking," Benson said. The deal that ended the two-week government shutdown in July 2011 included delaying $700 million in K-12 payments statewide. Winkler said that if he wins his reelection campaign against John Swanson, he'll …
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
A "Men for WomenWinning" fundraiser was held in a resident's backyard Tuesday evening.
St. Louis Park resident Brian Shekleton is most certainly a man, but that doesn't mean he doesn't support women political candidates. Quite the contrary, in fact. In the backyard of his home in the 2600 block of Toledo Avenue South, Shekleton hosted the first-ever "Men for WomenWinning" fundraiser on Tuesday evening. The event supported WomenWinning, a 30-year-old statewide PAC that advocates for—and recruits—pro-choice women candidates. “Women candidates often win when they run, they work hard, this organization does a really good job of marshaling resources strategically, and the staff are super competent," Shekleton said. Shekleton, who has worked in public affairs for the past 20 years, said he's gotten to know a lot of the …
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Not surprisingly, Republicans disagreed with the decision, while Democrats have applauded it.
Reflecting the liberal-conservative split evident in the Supreme Court's historic health care ruling Thursday, local Democrats applauded the decision while Republicans chided it. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the "individual mandate," the centerpiece of the Affordable Health Care Act that President Barack Obama signed into law last year. Five of the nine justices agreed that the key to the act—the requirement that people either buy health insurance or pay a tax penalty—is a kind of tax, which Congress is allowed to impose using its taxing power, according to the Bloomberg News-operated SCOTUSblog. In a joint statement issued with fellow Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Rep. …
Monday, June 18, 2012
By a unanimous vote, council members said they oppose the amendment question that will be on November's ballot.
This November, Minnesota voters will decide whether photo IDs should be required the next time they go to the polls. Count the five members of the St. Louis Park City Council present at a Monday night meeting among those who will be voting against the proposed constitutional amendment. By a 5-0 vote, the Council passed a resolution that opposes the amendment (see full text below). Jeff Jacobs and Sue Santa were absent Monday. "I think our constitution is really about protecting people, not taking away rights,” councilwoman Julia Ross said. Aggie Leitheiser, president of the St. Louis Park chapter of the League of Women Voters, applauded Council's decision. “Our organization was founded 92 years ago with the vision of fair and open …
With the filing deadline behind us, Patch looks at the local candidates for legislative offices.
Editor's Note: This week, Patch will be running bios on the candidates for District 46 seats. These races will be decided during the General Election on Nov. 6. Today, we look at Rep. Steve Simon, the Democratic incumbent in House District 46B. Tomorrow, we'll profile his challenger, David Arvidson. Party: DFL District: House District 46B Elected: 2004; re-elected in 2006, 2008 and 2010 Committees: Civil Law, Data Practices Subcommittee, Government Operations and Elections, State Government Finance Occupation: Attorney Education: B.A., political science, Tufts University; J.D., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Home: St. Louis Park Age: 42 Family: Wife, Leia Simon Proudest accomplishments in office:
Friday, May 18, 2012
Patch asked the legislator his session goals in January—today he takes a look at how he did.
At the start of this year’s session, Patch asked local legislators what they wanted to accomplish. After the session ended, we returned to the legislators to see how they thought they did working toward those goals. Below are the thoughts Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-District 44A) shared with Patch. The conversation doesn’t end here, though. We want to know what you think about the performance of your state senator and representatives. Did they make progress toward their stated goals? Were they stymied by the opposition? Were they working toward the right goals? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Here’s what Simon had to say: Goal: "First and foremost, I will focus on job creation and retention. A good start is the capital investment plan…
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
The plan passed by a 38-28 margin late Tuesday.
Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-District 44) joined 37 other senators in passing a Vikings stadium bill late Tuesday. With the 38-28 vote, the plan will now head to a House-Senate conference committee so differences can be ironed out. The Star Tribune reports that both the House and Senate bumped up the amount the Vikings would pay—the House to $532 million, the Senate to $452. The team has proposed $427 million. In addition to changing the state's overall contribution, the Senate also tweaked how that money would be raised, adding a series of user fees on things like tickets and parking that would supplement money raised from expanded gambling, the Star Tribune notes. The conference committee will be responsible for reconciling the two bills and …
Saturday, April 28, 2012
The legislation will allow liquor stores to sell T-shirts and other merchandise.
It's official—Jason Alvey can sell T-shirts. Alvey, the owner of St. Louis Park craft beer store The Four Firkins, saw the "Four Firkins bill" receive Gov. Mark Dayton's signature Friday as part of a larger liquor omnibus package. The legislation will allow liquor stores to sell store-branded T-shirts and other merchandise. The Four Firkins bill first came forward during the 2011 session when Alvey approached Rep. Steve Simon (DFL-District 44A) and Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-District 44) with his desire to sell store-branded gear. It was included in last year's House omnibus package, but didn’t make the cut in the Senate, ultimately killing the bill. After last year's failure, Simon said he was optimistic about his chances during the 2012 session…
Thursday, April 19, 2012
The local legislators voted against a bill that would have renovated the state Capitol.
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Thursday, April 19, 2012
Editor's Note: The following is a joint press release from DFL Reps. Ryan Winkler and Steve Simon. The two voted against a proposal today that would have allocated $221 million for Capitol building improvements. The plan ultimately failed. Today, the Minnesota House of Representatives rejected a $220 million bonding bill that funded the restoration of the Minnesota State Capitol instead of important economic infrastructure projects throughout Minnesota. Rep. Steve Simon (DFL – St. Louis Park) and Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL – Hopkins) voted against the bill. Rep. Winkler says the bill doesn’t provide the statewide and regional investments that Minnesota needs. “Minnesota needs a comprehensive bill that invests in Minnesota’s statewide …
Pam Rykken
4:41 pm on Tuesday, October 9, 2012
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