STATE-OWNED PROPERTY
Get it on tax rolls
Someone once said, "If we see things only as they are we may never see what might have been!"
As our legislators in St. Paul discuss funding of transportation and whether to tax, borrow or bond for needed projects, one has come up with an alternative proposal.
Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Wabasha, proposes selling state-owned properties, providing money available without going to the overburdened taxpayer one more time.
Minnesota is the sixth-largest landowner in the nation, nearly 1.5 million acres of which are forest lands. Drazkowski's bill would not put wildlife management areas, state parks or trails on market, only surplus forest areas. The state could acquire funds from a sale plus gain by not having to manage this property.
Thinking outside the box, refreshing!
CATHERINE HUISMAN, RED WING, MINN.
FROM THE FRONT LINES
Whither Minnesota?
In your Feb. 10 Opinion Exchange section, four intelligent, knowledgeable leaders of grantmaking foundations (Sandra Vargas, Kate Woldford, Peter Hutchinson and Carleen Rhodes) advised Minnesotans that there was a need for affordable health care for everybody (85,000 children without health care) and that too many kids are living in poverty (more than 152,000). They also said that addressing those challenges, and increasing investment in education to ensure that students graduate from high school to secure an educated and self-supporting workforce in Minnesota, were all necessary to this state's future.
Our legislators, both state and national, have tried to pass legislation to the effect. Both our governor and our president have vetoed these bills. What does that tell us?