Friends,
Tonight the Wayzata Trojans head to Eagan to take on the Wildcats,the Maple Grove Crimson Football team will host the Edina Hornets in a west metro powerhouse match up, and the Osseo Orioles take on Anoka all three games begin at 7:00pm. Good luck boys! The Maple Grove & Wayzata girls' soccer teams were each the top seeded team in their sections and cruised through the early section games. The Trojans will take face Cretin-Derham hall in their section semi-finals on Saturday and the Crimson will take on Centennial on Tuesday the 17th in the section finals. It's been a great fall sports season for the teams in our area!
REAL ID Update
As chief author of House File 3, the REAL ID implementation bill that was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Dayton earlier this year, it was fantastic news to hear today's news that Minnesota has been granted a grace period by the Department of Homeland Security that will ensure Minnesota drivers licenses can continue to be used to board airplanes and enter federal buildings until at least January 22, 2018.
Minnesotans can rest easy knowing that their current licenses can be used to board airplanes and enter federal facilities until early next year. I’m confident that we will continue to receive extensions necessary until we have REAL ID-compliant licenses available to Minnesotans. I want to thank the Department of Homeland Security and the Dayton administration for their work to secure this important extension as REAL ID implementation continues.
Click here to see my interview with Channel 12 News or read my comments in the Star Tribune here.
ADA Lawsuit Reform
My bill to stop frivolous ADA lawsuits under Minnesota law was signed into law during the 2017 Session by Governor Dayton but, unfortunately, similar fixes have not been made to the Federal Law. This has left an avenue for similar attacks against businesses across Minnesota to continue. I wrote a recent column in our local paper about this and the effort in Congress to model the changes we made to Minnesota law. You can read that here.
High School Page Program
The Minnesota House of Representatives High School Page Program is now accepting applications. Over the last 40 years the program has provided high school juniors with hands-on access to our state government in action. I encourage any high school junior who may be interested in learning more about the legislative process to apply for the page program by December 1st. Click here to apply!
Please continue to share your thoughts with me about our state government; bill ideas and concerns are welcomed! I am honored to serve you at the Capitol. My email address is Rep.Dennis.Smith@house.mn, phone number 651-296-5502, and by mail: 375 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155.
Have a great weekend!
Dennis