On the issues…

Healthcare:

As a licensed mental health professional, I have spent most of my career working with individuals impacted by serious and persistent mental illness, including many of those whom society often deems to be living in the “shadows” of life. Too often, it is our most vulnerable who are left falling through the cracks, as Hubert Humphrey once stated, "The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life—the sick, the needy and the handicapped." Sadly, our federal government is failing this test, miserably, and it will be up to us here in Minnesota to be our “brother’s keeper,” and make sure we don’t let more people fall through the cracks with the cuts coming from the federal government. Additionally, people who work for a living shouldn’t have to pay such extraordinary costs for health insurance, and until we have a true genuine universal coverage system, we need to take every step possibly in order to make sure people get the coverage they need, and to make sure hospitals and providers are reimbursed for the care they provide.

Education:

Minnesota is home to more Fortune 500 companies per-capita for a reason; we invest in education, and not just K-12, but in Early Childhood Education, Vocational Education, and World Class Research and Development Universities known throughout the globe. We also know that we are in a period of great change when it comes to education, too many students are falling behind for many different reasons, and making this a partisan fight is nothing but counter-productive to the well-being of our state and it’s economy; we need to be open to new ideas and concepts that allow for us to both meet our students where they’re at, and push them towards being the best educated our country has to offer.

Environment:

Whether you see it as a blessing, or a burden, it is up to us here in Minnesota to set the standard when it comes to clean water and agricultural initiatives; as the headwaters of the Mississippi, we know that nobody down-stream from us is going to work harder than those sending the water their way. Additionally, if we’re going to make mandates, we need to back them up with funding and not pass the costs along to our farmers and consumers.

Veterans:

Once again, we are seeing more and more failures from the federal government and it’s promise to our veterans. Both of my grandfathers fought in WWII, my father served in the Army Reserves and had over a dozen parachute jumps in an airborne unit, my great uncle spent several years as a POW in Vietnam (including in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton”) after his plane was shot down, I have lost friends who served in Iraq, and I have worked with dozens of Veteran’s as a mental health counselor. Their stories and experiences will never leave my side, and we owe them more than broken promises.

Transportation:

Minnesota lost too many opportunities to make the right investments in multi-mode transportation options under previous leadership, but this cannot stop us from building a system that works for everyone; we cannot continue to be a strictly car-based transportation society. There are many, many examples of how to do this across the globe, trains and rail can and must work here, and the people of Central Minnesota deserve rail as an option. We also must continue focusing on making sure we are efficient with our tax dollars when it comes to road infrastructure; currently Minnesota ranks anywhere from 5th to 11th in it’s efficiently standards, and usually in the top 5 for quality.

So many more; stay tuned for updates. I would love to hear what is on your mind, and what you believe our state should be focused on.

E-mail: Info@zacharydorholt.com