Minnesota House's Redesign Project
Your chance to move your redesign idea from the kitchen table to the committee table
Dear Minnesotan,
Thank you for visiting the Minnesota Legislature’s Redesign Website. This is your opportunity to change the way Minnesota does business. Welcome aboard!
The state of Minnesota is facing a $1.2 billion budget deficit for this year and a $5.4 billion deficit in the next two-year budget cycle. While each year we meet our constitutional obligation and balance the state budget, it has become increasingly more apparent that neither spending cuts nor new revenue alone are a solution to continuing our Minnesota tradition of innovation and excellence in the future.
The budget deficit is more than numbers - it's about people. If we do not think about the sustainability of our long-term budget dilemma, we risk seeing a lower quality of education for our children, a less effective and more expensive healthcare system for families and senior citizens, and higher property taxes for homeowners and businesses. The state must take a new and different approach to our budget problems and we are asking for your help.
Simply put, to maintain Minnesota's greatness into the future we need to do things differently. We need to look at every spending area of the budget and come up with reform and redesign ideas that will improve the quality of services or increase results while lowering costs for residents. This will take bold and innovative ideas. We are confident that your experiences with state and local government will generate many helpful ideas.
We are so serious about listening and using your ideas that we will take up to six of the best reform and redesign ideas that we receive from you and put them into a "Citizen Redesign Bill" that will receive a hearing before a committee of the House of Representatives. We will bring your ideas from the kitchen table to the committee table. If your idea is selected you will be able to testify before the committee if you wish.
So here is the charge: Pick an area of state or local government and then come up with an idea that will improve the quality of services or increase results while at the same time lowering costs. It is not enough to just point out where to make cuts or how to increase taxes. This new approach will keep Minnesota a great state into the future.
Thank you so much for your time and contribution in this very important project!
Sincerely,
Rep. Paul Marquart
Chairman of the Property and Local Sales Tax Division
Please share your ideas below: