Dario Anselmo will bring real-world life experiences to the MN House.  His stance on key issues is based on those experiences.

Economy:  Dario intends to reduce the tax burden on Minnesota families, businesses and entrepreneurs, to encourage economic growth.  Minnesota has the 7th highest sales tax rate and 3rd highest corporate income tax rate in the USA. To reduce state spending he’d work to end the state’s auto-pilot budgeting process by instituting a zero-based budgeting system.  Government programs would have to make the case for funding every two years.

Education: As father of 3 school-aged children who attend public schools, Dario understands the importance of improving educational outcomes for students statewide. Policy changes will help ensure Minnesota children are able to meet the demands of a global economy.  These include giving every family the opportunity to choose the best school for their child, and allowing schools to keep their best teachers based on performance, not seniority.

Energy & the Environment:  Dario’s committed to a diversity-of-sources approach to meeting our energy needs.  He points out that Minnesota is ahead of the curve with nuclear, wind and natural gas resources that make for cleaner, cheaper locally sourced energy.  The market price for solar panels have come down 70% over the last 10 years making this form of energy much more cost effective.

Maintaining good water quality is a key environmental concern to Dario.  This has little to do with pumping never-ending amounts of money into bloated state government agencies. Actions like encouraging use of economically viable cover crops will alleviate farm runoff while delivering returns for the producers.  In urban areas, he points out the cumulative importance of household rain gardens in keeping pollutants out of the streams. 

Senior Citizens, Healthcare:  Dario’s website and printed materials more fully describe his position and strategies. Some key points:  “I will work to reduce the state tax on Social Security, so the investment you made is there when you need it.” 

Transportation: Transportation needs to get people (and commerce) quickly and reasonably directly where they want to go. It’s important to consider how to use better communication and planning technology among agencies and the public, to coordinate and anticipate complications from multiple projects within an area.

Dario has supported the multi-model transportation model in general.  Light rail made some sense 10 year ago for transportation to concentrated areas like Minneapolis & St. Paul downtowns and the airport. If the government needs more money to fund transit needs, they should look to reduce costs in other areas of their budget so people are not just looking at tax increases every time a new project comes online.

More than 70% of roads and bridges are used for commerce – getting goods and services to people whether or not they own a vehicle. “These are the arteries that move our local economy and fuel jobs.” Tax funding priorities for transportation need to reflect that.   

As a legislator, Dario Anselmo pledges to be a good steward of Economic growth, Education, Energy, the Environment, and our tax dollars.