While you will learn a good deal about me through the blog, sometimes I will want to communicate to you with longer positions on key topics to me. I currently have three short papers in .pdf format:

• Zero based budgeting
• Education
• Jobs

Click those links to view my positions (you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them; a link to a free reader is here.)

I consider the two most important issues to be the budget and jobs. Here are some thoughts on these and other issues:

• We have a spending problem in this state. The key issue in our campaign is not how to solve a budget deficit but should be posed as how big should our government be? I favor spending no more than the revenues forecasted in the next biennium, which is an increase of more than $2 billion from the previous biennium. See here for more ideas on how to control our spending.
  
  
• There are many St. Cloud workers still seeking employment. While the recession may be over, the rate at which workers are finding jobs hasn't increased, and some firms are still reducing their workforces. We need to reinvigorate the private sector to create jobs. See my ideas here.
  
  
• Minnesota has a magnificent record in K-12 education. We have good teachers and a good system that provides public school choice and some help for tuition for those who choose private schools. My goals are to expand some of those choices for children from lower-income families, and to improve the accountability of our school system. My ideas on education are here.
  
  
• We have a difficult situation in higher education. There is pressure on student tuitions, faculty and staff are being cut, and there are threats to athletics. I have already worked on textbook costs.  We need to better coordinate the existing loan programs available to students to help them afford their educations. We also need more flexibility for public universities to explore sources of revenue beyond tuition and state support. This should include more local community involvement in state colleges and universities.
  
  
• Seniors are a vital issue as our baby-boom generation ages and the number of workers supporting our pension system declines relative to the number of seniors. This will naturally be a priority in future legislatures. However, we need plans that do not overly burden our younger generations; reducing the amount of state debt future generations must repay for us should be a priority.
  
  
• St. Cloud State has been a leader in providing education to our veterans, who deserve our thanks and support for their post-service lives. One reform I would seek would be to welcome any veteran, from any state, to our state universities as if they were in-state residents, and therefore pay in-state tuition.