Our transportation system has been neglected for too long. The resulting congestion has itself become a tax, with longer commutes using more gas, and less time spent with family and friends.

As you may know, there is a transportation amendment on the ballot this fall that you will be voting on. It constitutionally dedicates the existing Motor Vehicle Sales Tax to only transportation. Currently, it goes into the general fund. Last year, only 55% of this tax was actually used for transportation.

Whether this amendment passes or not, I will work to see that all Motor Vehicle Sales Taxes go for transportation. This will provide $300 million dollars per year in revenue for transportation. We could advance projects such as completing Highway 610 in Maple Grove, or unweaving Interstate 694 at Highway 10 and Snelling. The Northstar Commuter Rail Corridor could be funded without additional taxes. And of course, let's finally fix the dreaded Crosstown Commons!

The Twin Cities is one of the least dense metro areas in the country. Urban sprawl has spread us out further. Yet we are stuck in traffic because the metro area has been built without adequate commuting capacity. A coordinated approach of expanding and building new freeways, increased bus service, and intelligent placement of rail in rapid-growth corridors will help our area by lowering the impact of commuter traffic.

Quality health care for every Minnesotan is important. It also must be affordable. Minnesota currently limits health insurance providers to companies that are non-profit. If we are truly looking to reduce costs in health care, why are we ignoring the private sector in Minnesota that could use competition to lower our premiums?

Second, we must increase portability of health insurance. That means when you change jobs, you shouldn't lose your health coverage. We also need to provide more options, including mental health coverage. You shouldn't be limited to the provider your workplace offers. You should be able to go to the doctor that you want.

Finally, we need an adequate health care safety net. Part of the reason why your premiums are so expensive is that insurance companies figure in the cost of potential catastrophic events. Even so, many who have insurance are still bankrupted when a truly catastrophic health event occurs. Some people avoid getting coverage all together because of the cost. Then who pays? We all pay. Either government picks up the rest, which you pay in more taxes, or the hospital pays for it by raising the cost of medical service for everyone else, which raises your premiums.

I suggest that poorer Minnesotans buy non-catastrophic health insurance, which could be significantly cheaper, perhaps by 50%. They can direct their own money tax-free to the provider of their choice for their day-to-day health coverage. The state would then pool their resources to cover those truly catastrophic events. We can avoid most having no coverage by making it affordable enough for them to buy a policy.

The most common thing you will hear from a politician is that we don't spend enough on education and we need to spend more. I see it as an issue of how you spend it. I'll give you an example.

Consider that we increased education spending by $1.3 billion for one biennium back in the Ventura administration. Schools were negotiating generous union contracts, adding new programs, and lowering class sizes because of the new money. Problem is, in the following state budget, schools wanted another big increase to fund all the new expenditures. Instead, they got a more typical inflationary increase of $489 million, and had to cut these programs, and cut teachers. Because they were locked into a union contract, they had to let more untenured teachers go than they gained in the first place. Class sizes became larger than they were before. Does simply more money help our schools? Does it help our children? No.

It is important to find ways to secure a stable funding source for education such as the state sales tax so that our schools are not put on this funding see-saw. More money is not the answer, a reliable amount that school boards can predict and budget for is.

Finally, I believe that teachers should be rewarded for great performance. Programs such as Q-Comp are a positive step towards reforming our education system. Promoting teachers into master and mentor teachers instead of principals and superintendents reflects their strengths and abilities. Good educators don't necessarily make good administrators, and vice versa.

While only 26 school districts have implemented Q-comp so far, Fridley Public Schools has been using Q-Comp for a year, and Saint Anthony-New Brighton Public Schools received $443,300.00 from the state to implement their program this fall.