Wills Wants $25 Million to Reconstruct Rosemount Interchange

District 57B Rep. Anna Wills (R) wants to appropriate $25 million in bond proceeds for the reconstruction of the intersection of Hwy. 52 and Cty. Rd. 42 in eastern Rosemount.

Wills is listed as the chief author of the proposal, which was introduced on March 7 and referred to the House Transportation Finance Committee. The appropriation would cover the cost of environmental studies, engineering, purchase of nearby real estate and construction.

In other political news around the county:

District 20 (Northfield)

The Mill Towns state trail may get an infusion of cash, if a proposal from District 20 Sen. Kevin L. Dahle (DFL) is signed into law. Late last month, the Northfield senator authored a bill, SF 747, that would appropriate $550,000 in bond proceeds for the construction of the state trail. The trail would link the existing Cannon Valley Trail and Sakatah Singing Hills Trail. The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

District 51 (Eagan, Burnsville)

Like looking through the foreclosure notices, public meeting announcements and meeting minutes in your local newspaper?

Those days may soon be at an end, if a bill co-sponsored by District 51B Rep. Laurie Halverson (DFL) is signed into law. The bill, HF 1286, would allow municipalities, like your local city or county government, to publish public notices on their own websites, in place of or in addition to a community's "newspaper of record."

A municipality that chooses this method would still have to make print copies of its notices available for review, and publish a notice once annually in a local newspaper alerting residents to the website address.

District 52 (Mendota Heights, Inver Grove Heights)

District 52A Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL) is listed as the chief author of a recently introduced bill that would outlaw the sale and use of coal tar sealant on Minnesota—with limited exceptions. The product, which is traditionally used to protect asphalt and other paved surfaces, is a suspected carcinogen that can accumulate in stormwater ponds and waterways in urban areas.

District 56 (Burnsville)

Should children as young as 14 be required to register as predatory offenders?

District 56 Sen. Dan Hall (56) thinks so. The legislator is listed as a co-author on a bill that would require juveniles to register as predatory offenders if they are being tried as an adult on a felony crime. But the proposed law could also require a child to register even if he or she isn't being tried as an adult, if the court decides the nature of the child's crimes warrant registration. The bill was authored by District 65 Sen. Sandra Pappas (DFL) and was introduced on March 5.

District 58 (Lakeville)

The Minnesota Legislature has too many politicians, according to District 58B Rep. Pat Garofalo (R).

The legislator has authored a proposal that would cut the number of House representatives from 134 members to 50 members, and the number of Senators from 67 to 25. If passed, the law would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023. Under the proposal, the state would be divided up into 25 senate districts and 50 House districts.

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