Addressing College Affordability

I am a longtime supporter of making college more affordable for Minnesota families. Unfortunately, for many kids in Minnesota today, going to college means making tough choices and facing huge debts. And, the information about how much college can cost or how much financial aid is available isn’t always clear. That’s why I’m a strong supporter of the Financial Aid Shopping Sheet, a White House initiative that would create a standardized financial aid award letter so students could easily compare how much different colleges would cost them. Students and their families should have all the tools they need to make sure their decision is as well informed as it can be—and that includes understanding exactly what each school is really going to cost them. A standardized financial aid form would help them do just that.

Managing Our Wolf Population

Last year, I worked with Sen. Klobuchar to get the Gray Wolf taken off the endangered species list because they exceeded their population recovery goals and had become a threat to Minnesota livestock and family pets. But when they were finally delisted in December, the federal government stopped funding the wolf management program, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) had to pick up the whole tab. That’s why last week I called Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to press him to help fund the program and share the costs with the Minnesota DNR. I’m hopeful that going forward the state can organize an appropriate hunting season for the wolves and use the permit fees to offset the costs of the wolf population management program. Until the state program is fully set up, I’m going to keep working towards a solution.

Back to Work Minnesota- Retrofitting Initiative

I recently spoke with more than 100 Minnesota business leaders and local government officials at the University of Minnesota St. Paul Campus to talk about retrofitting buildings. Renovating buildings to make them more energy-efficient – called retrofitting – saves money, improves real-estate values, strengthens our infrastructure – and could be the next big thing for Minnesota's economy. Energy-efficient retrofits will also create badly-needed jobs in both the construction and manufacturing industries. It’s win-win-win.

As a member of the Energy Committee, I’ve been traveling around the state bringing together local government authorities, businesses, and financiers to make retrofitting a reality. Retrofitting is a commonsense business practice, and by partnering with business and city leaders, we can overcome the barriers to making buildings more energy efficient.

Responding to the State of the Union

I was pleased to hear the president reinforce that reinvigorating our manufacturing industry is one of the key ways to get people back to work and rebuild the middle class. I just returned from my statewide manufacturing tour and it’s clear that manufacturing remains instrumental to Minnesota’s economy, accounting for one in seven private sector jobs in our state. Unfortunately, employers told me that they have jobs going unfilled because they need workers that are better trained. The president understands that challenge, and I was glad to hear that he’s committed to investing in job training and education to make certain our workers can compete in a 21st century economy.