State Office Building Renovations + More!

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December 1, 2023

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and you were able to spend some quality time with your loved ones! We had all of our girls home for the holiday and enjoyed eating too much, playing games and spending time with friends and family! 

I wanted to provide some updates this week on a few key items. Keep reading to learn more about the latest on the State Office Building renovations and more!

Executive Summary

• State Office Building Renovation Update

• Study Shows Cost of Living Skyrockets

• Maple Grove Middle School Featured for Phone-Free Policy

State Office Building Renovation Update

This week I offered a resolution in the Rules Committee to rescind the House’s approval of the renovation of the State Office Building. Democrats know that Minnesotans do not support a $730 million palace for politicians when they are struggling to pay for gas, groceries, and energy bills. Unfortunately, the Majority refused to debate the motion, immediately ruling it out of order claiming that it had not been pre-filed. There is no prefiling requirement in the Rules Committee, as the Chair later admitted – they simply didn’t want to discuss or vote on spending three-quarters of a billion on renovating an office building. 

You can watch this exchange, starting at 26:34, here.

The Majority may not have wanted to take this motion up this week, but I have already pre-filed it for our next meeting and hope the Chair will allow the discussion to go forward.

As you all know, despite a $17.5 billion surplus, the Democrat Majority raised taxes on hardworking Minnesotans by $10 billion last session to grow state government by 38% over two years – yet even that wasn’t enough. Now families and seniors are expected to pay $730 million to renovate and expand a building. That money would be much better spent on reducing the burdens families are facing (more on that below).

It’s time we pause this exorbitant renovation of the State Office Building until we can find a solution that is more cost effective. There has been no public discussion of viable alternatives or any attempt to ensure we are being good stewards of Minnesota’s tax dollars. 

We are already hearing from school districts, teachers, hospitals, the U of M, and the Dept of Corrections that the historic spending increases they got last session were not enough. How can the Majority justify spending $730 million on ONE office building that is only fully utilized 5 months out of the year?

Minnesotans want state government to function, but they do not want it to be lavish.  We need to pause the current construction until we do what should have been done in the first place:

• Conduct an audit of available state office buildings and current utilization (most state workers are still working from home and many state office buildings are virtually empty)
• Conduct a cost/benefit analysis of available options and have a public debate/vote on the decision.

Study Shows Cost of Living Skyrockets

A new study was released this week showing that Americans are forced to spend $11,434 more in 2023 in order to maintain the same standard of living they had in January 2021. In Minnesota, that number is even higher at $12,978! 

A similar study from Bloomberg came out this week that also showed that since the pandemic (Jan. 2020), groceries and electricity prices are up 25%, used cars are up 35%, auto insurance is up 33%, and rent is up by 20%.

Despite the prices of every day goods continuing to climb, Minnesotans have received no relief. During the 2022 campaign, Democrats promised $2,000 rebates to all of our hardworking families. But despite a record surplus, the Governor and the Majority only gave a small number of Minnesotans a $260 rebate, while raising taxes by $10 billion on everyone. 

Minnesotans are already spending an extra $12,978 to keep up with inflation.  They cannot be asked to also keep funding an ever-growing state government. As costs continue to rise, Minnesotans need permanent tax relief to support their family budgets.

Reports are already suggesting that we will have another budget surplus heading into next session. We cannot pass any additional spending until we have given all Minnesotans the tax relief they need to deal with the skyrocketing cost of living. 

Maple Grove Middle School Featured for Phone-Free Policy

I have met with all of the superintendents in our district and advocated for all of our schools to go phone-free during the school day. I shared with them an article by New York University Professor Jonathan Haidt, which made the case for phone-free schools last summer. Additional great research has come out this fall, which highlights the detrimental impacts of social media on kids’ mental health and ability to focus, which impacts their academic achievement.

I also had the privilege of meeting Maple Grove Middle School Principal Patrick Smith this fall. He has shown incredible leadership on this issue by having the entire Middle School go phone-free this year and the results have been fantastic!

I have been sharing his success whenever I talk about this issue. We have a terrific example in our district of how a phone-free policy can make a difference.

This week, Principal Smith and I were both interviewed by WCCO as they looked at the benefits of schools banning cell phones. 

Students and teachers at Maple Grove Middle School are having a great year – it is much easier to implement building-wide so everyone is free of the distractions from phones. If only a handful of courageous teachers do it, it is much harder to enforce and the kids don’t get the benefits.

This is an effective way to support kids’ mental health and achievement right now. It doesn’t take a statewide mandate or a new program – it just takes the courage of local leaders and the support of parents. 

I strongly encourage all parents to urge your schools go phone free!

Photos

This week, representatives from Maria's Voice stopped by my office at the Capitol. It is always a great honor to work with them to support and protect victims of domestic violence and educate our communities on the signs to look for.

Please Contact Me

Many of you have already been in touch to discuss your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you. Thank you for sharing your ideas! Please continue to contact me to discuss any matters to which I can be of assistance.

The best way to reach me while we are out of session is by email: rep.kristin.robbins@house.mn.gov. For occasional updates, you can follow my Facebook Page at @RepKristinRobbins. You can also leave a voicemail on my office number, 651-296-7806, which is checked multiple times/week.

Have a great weekend!

Kristin

239 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, MN 55155
ph: 651.296.7806