St. Croix Bridge, and 49er Lobby Day -- It's about jobs.
St. Croix Bridge Progress
We have had to report a lot of bad news on the jobs front in the last few weeks. We finally have some good news to report thanks to Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senator Al Franken.
Yesterday, the Senate unanimously passed the “St. Croix River Crossing Authorization Act”
that will build the St. Croix River Bridge. You didn’t read that wrong, the bill passed unanimously. I’m not sure I have ever seen a bill that appropriates money pass unanimously.
Senator Klobuchar authored this bill and did incredible work to make this happen. She worked tirelessly to gain support of her Republican and Democratic colleagues, and the fact that it passed with no opposition speaks volumes about her ability as a Senator.
Senator Franken was a co-sponsor and his support helped make this happen as well.
This is a big hurdle for this project as the Senate was the major holdup for the bill. The House has said it will take up and pass the bill soon. We have heard nothing from President Obama on this, but his Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has been involved and has expressed support for the project which is a good sign.
There are some outstanding issues to be resolved locally, but we are confident that the bill will be signed by the President soon which will clear all the federal hurdles. We are hopeful that construction can begin this summer.
We have been talking a lot about politicians that are killing your jobs, this is an example of two Senators rolling their sleeves up and trying to make sure you get work this year.
Please take a second to call their offices and thank them for getting to work on getting you back to work.
Senator Amy Klobuchar (202) 224-3244
Senator Al Franken (202) 224-5641
Lobby Day
- Just a quick note on Lobby Day 2012. We have set the date of March 6th. We will be sending a flier to the outstate offices very soon so people can start signing up. We will also get the information on the website and send around another update when final details are done.
We are working with other trades this year and need to iron out a few things yet, that is the reason for the delay.
But put March 6th on your refrigerator calendar – if you are not working, plan to be at Local 49 Lobby Day.
More details to follow
Jason George
Legislative and Political Department