Legislative Update
Dear friends and neighbors,
I hope you were able to dig your way out of the massive snowdrifts that came from last weekend's storm. I'm sure you were as shocked as I was to open up the front door on Sunday morning to a foot and a half of snow and a snowdrift 3/4 of the way up the front door. Anyways, back in St. Paul I have very exciting news to share about an important piece of legislation that I have been working on this session.
Ready to Pass HF3436
After a lot of hard work, committee hearings, and conversations across the aisle, HF3436 will be up for a vote on the House floor on Monday. This is an extremely important bill that closes a loophole in current law which puts children in danger everyday when they get on and off the school bus.
As the law is now, vehicles on the road must stop for school buses when the stop arm at the front of the bus is fully extended. Even though the red lights begin flashing and the stop sign goes out prior to the stop arm fully extending, drivers are not legally required to stop until that stop arm is all the way out.
My bill, HF3436, closes this loophole by changing the law to be that vehicles must stop for the school bus as soon as the red lights begin flashing. This is a step in the right direction for school safety and giving our kids the opportunity to make it to and from school with adequate protections from reckless drivers.
I am very thankful for the work that we put in behind the scenes, from my local sheriff making me aware of the issue, conversations with legislators, and getting the bill through the committee process. As it stands, this bill will be the first bill that makes it to the Governor's desk this session, as it has cleared the Senate already. I am honored to have been able to carry this bill and make a positive change to protect our students. I am excited to get this bill passed off the floor on Monday!
Community Shoutouts
 Check out the next Pancake Breakfast at the Rice County 4H Building on Sunday, April 12th!
Support the MSU Mankato Men's Hockey team this evening as they face off against St. Thomas for the Mason Cup Championship!
Best of luck to the Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton boy's basketball team as they advance to the state tournament next week!
And finally, shoutout to the following wrestlers for advancing to the state wrestling tournament recently:
JWP: Kayle Langford, Trenton Huber, Brady Murphy, Aiden Gruber, and Kavan Sheehy
Kenyon Wanamingo: Liam Sommer (Champion), Ryan Lacanne, Bryan Jacobson (3rd place), Luke Johnson, Brennan Flotterud, and Myles Thompson
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