As the session progresses, Senate Republicans have been focusing on our 2021 session priorities, placing an emphasis on safely reopening Minnesota’s schools and businesses while helping the economy recover. The caucus has also focused on keeping life affordable for Minnesotans by balancing the budget without raising taxes. That means no new gas tax, no income tax, or sales tax increases. At the same time are ensuring that government will also tighten its belt and stop spending from ballooning.

This year, I have had the honor to serve as the Chair of the newly formed Senate’s Technology and Reform Committee. This committee has been serving a vital role in the legislature, and our energies have been focused on reviewing how Minnesota is using your tax dollars to fund state operations. The legislation we have been working on has been focused on pushing all our state agencies to review how they deliver critical services to Minnesotans and ask the question of how they can operate more effectively.

The importance of this committee cannot be understated. With the pandemic and the continual administrative failures by our agencies, our state should be focused on improving the quality of services while cutting costs. We are also committed to ensuring the state has adequate cybersecurity, preventing data breaches by departments while also protecting the security and integrity of our elections. We should be able to do both without ever asking Minnesotans to give more.

As we approach the first deadline in the legislature, I wanted to outline some of our bills and progress on these efforts this year.

One of the pieces of legislation I am moving forward with is SF1174 which will establish a Legislative Commission on Cybersecurity. After a recent slew of hacks and the growing threat from technologically savvy criminals, the commission will serve an essential role in providing oversight of the state’s cybersecurity measures reviewing the agency’s policies and preparedness. While Minnesota has a Blue Ribbon Council on Information Technology, the recommendations are not always easily adopted. The commission creates continuity and will ensure efficiency when taking ideas and transforming them into practices.

The second bill is in an overhaul of the Office of Minnesota Information Technology Services. 
This is a technical bill aimed at modernizing Minnesota’s IT Services. The legislation clarifies that MN.IT’s role and objectives and is designed to ensure the department provides improved IT services to our state. Originally brought to me by the department, I gladly agreed to author it due to the thought-out approach. It is great to see when our departments realize their shortcoming and inefficiencies and develop reform that will help resolve those problems.

Finally, I want to discuss is SF 1914. Think of it like “Undercover Boss.” When you think of a company, you usually think management understands the operations, has been involved in the process since day one, and knows how to lead effectively. When it comes to our state agencies, that often is not the case.

This legislation creates a pilot to implement an experimental training  program for some state managerial positions. The program’s essence is to ensure that upper-level managers of state agencies understand their departments and the effect of the policies they are implementing. Often, these choices have a cascading impact that is felt by employees at every level of the organization. Too frequently, when policies are implemented, our upper-level managers don’t understand the consequences their choices create, nor do they know the limitations of the current staff to achieve certain goals, thus creating inefficiency and waste. By prioritizing a better understanding and emphasizing buy-in from management, we can improve government efficiency, inspire creativity,  and ensure that leaders are using the best methodologies to develop policies that impact the lives of the residents of Minnesota.

These are just a few important pieces of legislation moving through my committee at the time. Our state government must continue to focus on increasing our efficiency and delivering a better return on investment for Minnesota’s taxpayers. Doing so will allow us to free up dollars for other promising programs and will help us ensure that our institutions are best serving the people of the state.