Flaherty & Hood’s legislative team staffed the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities’ Fall Conference Nov. 12-13 at Arrowwood Resort & Conference Center in Alexandria. More than 85 city leaders from throughout Greater Minnesota attended the conference, which focused heavily on the importance of the Local Government Aid (LGA) program and the need for increased funding for it.
State Auditor Rebecca Otto provided the dinner speech on Thursday evening, where she discussed Minnesota’s infrastructure needs and demonstrated a new interactive mapping tool that her office is developing to help get a better grasp on the age of infrastructure across the state. The conference also featured a speech by Rep. Paul Marquart on the political dynamics surrounding LGA, a presentation by Flaherty & Hood lobbyist Bradley Peterson on where LGA legislation currently stands at the Legislature, and a presentation on the “do’s and don’ts” of lobbying legislators by former House Minority Leader and current Flaherty & Hood lobbyist Marty Seifert.
In preparation for the upcoming legislative session, Flaherty & Hood staff also provided presentations and led discussions on the CGMC’s 2016 legislative policy positions on the topics of annexation and land use, transportation, environment and energy, local government aid and property taxes, and economic development.
