Local lawmakers hit, miss on House and Senate floors
Freshman lawmaker Rep. Peggy Scott, R-Andover, saw her legislation concerning lowering the speed limits in growing suburban areas pass the House yesterday (May 5).
The bill would allow city officials to lower 55 mph speed limits to 35 mph in suburban areas where homes are 300 feet or less apart. The bill, Scott explained, has no cost to the state.
Over on the Senate floor, Sen. Amy Koch, R-Buffalo, offered an amendment that would have cut the number of Minnesota Senate seats from 67 to 45.
Koch argued that Minnesota has one of the biggest Senates in the United States while the state ranks about 23rd in population.
The senator, in part, argued reducing the size of the Senate could save money.
She proposed that the size of the Minnesota House be increased by one, so each senate district would contain three House seats.
“Technology has made it so much easier to have contact with constituents,” argued Koch on the Senate floor, noting that the size of the population within a Senate district under her proposal would indeed increase.
Koch’s amendment failed on a 24 to 27 vote.
Local lawmakers voting in favor: Doll, Gerlach, Jungbauer, Koch, Koering, Limmer, Pariseau, Robling, and Vandeveer.
Voting against: Betzold, Carlson, Chaudhary, Erickson Ropes, Fobbe, Olseen, and Rummel.
