Priority Issues

Peggy will work hard for you on these issues and more…

“I believe big government too easily strays from a people driven agenda to a politically driven agenda. Political power should never become more important than PEOPLE! I want to continue to move toward the goal of a more responsible, common-sense government with focused priorities – a government that serves the people.”

Help people afford the high cost of living

If there is one thing I hear most about, it’s that families are concerned in these high inflationary times about being able to afford to put food on their tables and gas into their vehicles. Families are stressed with the high costs of everything, farmers are worried about affording critical items like fertilizer and fuel for their farm equipment, truckers can’t afford to haul their freight, and businesses can hardly afford supplies.

We can help Minnesotans keep more of their hard-earned money in their own pockets to help pay for the high cost of living.  We can lighten the load on Minnesota employers and allow them to do business without government being in the way and micromanaging every aspect of business life.  I have authored, voted for, and will continue to fight for common sense money saving initiatives like these:

  • Eliminate Minnesota’s tax on Social Security
  • Reduce property taxes
  • Common sense income tax reduction
  • Common sense reduction of regulations

Education Needs To Go Back To The Basics

As a longtime former elementary school teacher, I know how important education is for success in life.  Minnesota’s governor-imposed school closures (which, by the way, hardly any other country inflicted upon their children) took a huge toll on the mental, social, and academic health of our youth.  FEWER THAN HALF of Minnesota students are now proficient in math, and only just half proficient in reading. I am not OK with this. Are you?

We are failing the basics like math, literacy, and basic science and history.  The fact of the matter is teachers are overloaded.  Most teachers want to focus on the basics and simply teach – but they don’t have time.

Here are some educational action items I am working on:

  • Return the focus of education to the basics –– not on pushing controversial political propaganda into the classroom.
  • Reduce paperwork and mandates for teachers and schools, especially for special education teachers who are forced to spend much of their day working at their desks instead of teaching kids.
  • Encourage strong bonds between parents and teachers. Parents need good teachers and teachers need good parents.  Curriculum transparency is an important part of this and will help parents be necessary partners in their child’s education.
  • Innovate and diversify education to meet student and family needs. Universal one-size-fits-all education does not work.  I have bills ready to bring more educational alternatives for families whose students are struggling and that would give our public schools more local control to innovate and meet students’ needs.

People Deserve to Feel Safe

One should have to worry about getting hit by a stray bullet while barbecuing in their backyard or getting carjacked while driving down a city street.  Sadly, violent crime has skyrocketed under this current administration’s policies.  The people who remain in our inner cities feel abandoned with little law enforcement and are left to protect their homes and families themselves.  With some politicians actively attempting to make it difficult for law abiding citizens to own and purchase guns, what will these people be left with?

Criminals feel emboldened and know they won’t be held accountable.  Liberal prosecutors let criminals get by with little to no consequences for their bad choices.  This sends the wrong message to lawbreakers.  Criminals aren’t the only ones getting by with bad choices.  Cities that chose to stop spending money on police now want the state to come in and protect them.  That is not fair to the Minnesota cities that DID fund their police.  The citizens of the cities that made the right choices shouldn’t have to subsidize the bad choices of those that did not.

I support our police officers – not de-funding the police.  I am ready to support and vote for:

  • A well-funded law enforcement to keep our communities safe
  • Meaningful training and support for law enforcement personnel
  • Stronger penalties to hold repeat and violent criminals accountable for their actions
  • Reforms to make sure judges and prosecutors are sentencing offenders according to the laws on the books.
  • Public safety funding accountability… one bill I am working on would require cities or counties that receive any state dollars for crime prevention to fund the police at minimum to the same rates they had in 2018 plus inflation.

A Government In Need of Reform

Our way of legislating is broken.  One of the biggest issues is omnibus bills – those giant bills full of a huge number of smaller bills.  They are the reason we get so much junk legislation passed and the main cause of the huge impasses at the end of session.  Omnibus bills poison the ability of legislators to work together on the things they can agree upon.

We need to reform these giant bills:

  • I have offered omnibus bill reform legislation multiple times in the past and will continue to push on this issue.
  • There is more than one way to solve a problem and I am open to new ideas. I have been collaborating over the interim with fellow like-minded legislators to find new ways to reform this process.  I won’t give up until it’s done!

Everyone Should Come Away from an Election Feeling Like It's Fair & Secure

Over the last decade or so, both sides of the aisle have accused the other side of fraud in elections, whether state specific or nationwide.  There are many issues that come into questions concerning fraud… ballot harvesting, the vulnerability of mass mail-in ballots, circumventing election laws in states, and more.

No voter should walk away from an election feeling that his/her vote doesn’t matter.  This is critical to election integrity.  Right or wrong, if the perception is there that a vote doesn’t count it will create anger and erode the trust between people.   Everyone, no matter what political party, should come away from an election feeling like it’s a fair election.  This is why it’s critically important to address election integrity in our state and nation.

I was an author on two election reform bills last session and am committed to work on this issue until it’s fixed.  Among the election reforms needed:

  • Require a photo ID to vote. We need a photo ID for just about everything in our society… even to cash a check, buy cigarettes, drive a car, and get a fishing license.  Why shouldn’t we require an ID for something as important as voting?
  • Establish provisional ballots for those voters whose eligibility to vote cannot be proven at the polls on Election Day
  • Get rid of mass mail-in ballots and make sure our absentee ballot process is tight and secure
  • Assure that our Secretary of State can never bypass Minnesota voting laws again.