Issues

Eagan TV interviewed Patrick! Take a look!

Respect and provide exemplary & safe training for our police professionals, and they will be proud to safely represent the communities they have chosen to serve.

FACT! The Minneapolis/St. Paul area has seen the third-lowest wage growth of the 15 metro areas tracked by Department of Labor. It is unacceptable. It is time for a change. It is time to vote for someone with the plan to reverse those numbers  ~ SOMEONE WITH THE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE TO DO SO.

PLAIN & SIMPLE:  On the chart to the left, our Minneapolis Area is shown in red. The United States is indicated in the black dotted line! 

I am running for the 51A legislative position because I believe I have the background to focus on economic development.  When you drive along the HWY. 13 corridor, we have several manufacturing and distribution facilities that are sitting empty.  We need to be working with companies in electronics and health care to bring manufacturing and operational facilities here in 51A.  These are the types of jobs that we need in our district to help increase property values.  There is no reason why we can’t bring well paying jobs to 51A.  We have a knowledge base that represents exactly what tech-based companies are looking for.  We also represent the midway point between University of Minnesota and Mayo clinic, we need to promote the fact that Minnesota needs to play a leadership role moving forward in the health care industry and the center of that leadership is right here in 51A.

Medicare for all is not the answer.  Currently Medicare billing runs 10% below cost and private insurance billing runs at 45% above cost.  Medicare for all would put a strain on our health care industry.  It would also jeopardize the health care that is available to the citizens that have paid into it their whole life.  We need to protect Medicare for the citizens that have funded the Medicare system, but we also need to make sure that health care is affordable.  We must be very careful coming out of the coronavirus event.  Based on anecdotal evidence we are already seeing to 10-12% increases in insurance rates.  We should be capping insurance premiums where they were in 2019 with monitored increases coming out of the coronavirus event.  Insurance companies should not be allowed to profit based on the fear of the coronavirus event and we need to make that we maintain affordable health care.

As a resident south of the river for 30 + years, I have continually served the youth of this community, and I have seen first hand the importance of the bond between the youth and their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and extended family. There isn’t anything much better than seeing a child’s face light up, when they look over to the stands and see their grandparent cheering them on.

THERE IS STRENGTH IN FAMILY, and it is our responsibility as adults and leaders of our extended family – our community, to build and support this growth and enable it to prosper.

One of the things that is very concerning, and ties directly economic development is the fact that Burnsville is considering increasing class size and looks like it will be adopted at their budget meeting in June.  That is unacceptable.  The projections that are being used show a decrease in population over the long term.  That is a trend that we need to change.  Economic development will change that direction.  We must work on decreasing class size.  The education of our children needs to be priority one. 

We also need to bring teaching trades back into schools.  Students need to believe that there are other alternatives that can lead to well paying jobs outside of college.  A four year College is not for everyone, providing for trade opportunities by starting in high school and then technical colleges provide opportunities for a large and growing number of students.  We also need to make sure college is affordable.  We cannot have students graduating college with mounds of debt that buries them when they graduate.  The amount of debt needs to correspond to the opportunity that is offered upon graduating.