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| | Email this article • Print this article | Kelly vs. Wollschlager for Minnesota House
Provide a general statement about your qualifications, your personal priorities, and why you are running for office.
KELLY: I have served on the Red Wing School Board the past five years and am proud of how our board has dealt with financial issues and been prudent with tax dollars. We established trust with the community by a continual examination of the resources we had and by implementing programs as efficiently as possible without affecting our children's education. As a result, voters approved a two-part referendum to aid in the improvement of our schools.
As a financial advisor, the state of the economy is something I work with on a daily basis. I think it is important that the individual you elect has a firm grasp on the workings of the business world. We have to look at our budgets and make tough decisions. I believe that is what must happen at the state level.
The answer to every question cannot be to raise taxes. Our government needs to prioritize and live within their means.
I also believe that your representative must listen to all perspectives and actively solicit input from the voters.
The communities in this district have worked together in many ways to make their towns and cities great, but many things are out of our control, and that's why I decided to run. We all work hard to pay our fair share of taxes and we should expect that the State of Minnesota will administer services and programs in an efficient and fair manner.
WOLLSCHLAGER: I have served in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2006; served on the Cannon Falls School Board from 1997-2005; serve on the Mississippi River Parkway Commission as a Minnesota Legislative appointee since 2006 and as a national appointee to the marketing committee for the commission since 2007.
People are most worried about the health of our economy and the availability of good paying jobs with benefits, in the area. The rising costs of health care and insurance are their secondary concern. As vice chair of the tax committee, lowering property taxes remains a priority of mine and an issue for my constituents.
I've worked hard for the citizens of this district over the past two years, and it is an honor and a privilege to represent you.
I understand that citizens want the best representation possible, and that the job needs to be done in a timely manner. I met those goals before, and I will meet them again.
Do you support the"new" Minnesota Miracle bill which proposes to increase state spending on K-12 education by $2.5 billion a year, or about 35% above current levels? Why or why not? If you support the increase, how do you propose raising the necessary money?
KELLY: On the surface, this bill suggests that we can finally give every student all that they need to succeed if we just give $2.5 billion. Solutions seem rather easy when you decide that money is no object.
This newest piece of proposed legislation does not address the real problem. It continues the Minneapolis-first bias that's in the current formula. Cannon Falls School district receives more than $5,000 less per pupil than a Minneapolis district. The new plan nearly doubles the compensatory formulas that benefit large urban districts.
This bill does nothing to make schools more accountable and there is no incentive to control costs. Our education funding formula is broken and needs reform, but we need a solutions-based model that addresses the needs of all districts. Pouring massive amounts of money into an old system will make it bigger, but will do nothing to close the achievement gap or improve test scores.
WOLLSCHLAGER: Achieving equitable school financing is a top priority. The bill changes formulas for distributing funds among school districts, and promises to lower property taxes by $400 million. It is scaled to allow for phase-in over time.
One aspect of the bill that I particularly support is approving the same state aid for both elementary and high school students. Until now, more state aid has been given for high school students than elementary students.
I don't like the provision that provides a cost-of-living increase for metro area schools. This will increase teacher turnover in our area schools.
At this point, I am monitoring the bill closely, but have not signed on to support it.
The candidates responded to several questions about health care issues.
KELLY: The Legislature expanded public programs significantly in the last two years. However, this will also create sustainability issues. We need more health reform.
We should be promoting coverage options that enhance consumer choices, increase competition, and reduce overall health care costs. Consumer-driven, market-based solutions with unlimited provider access should lower coverage costs.
I do not support a constitutional guarantee, which would have the government dictating what an individual's health care should look like. The same government would have to define what is, or isn't affordable.
I do not believe individuals are ready to give up that control.
WOLLSCHLAGER: 1) In 2008 I helped pass a Health Care Reform Act that focused on uniform billing and electronic records. 2) Over the next two years, county public health systems will receive an additional $47 million to help reduce obesity and smoking rates. 3) The state is introducing "health care homes," a new way to manage public program enrollees with complex or chronic conditions, such as coronary artery and heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and depression. Enrollees will receive more day-to-day monitoring by nurses and rely less on doctors, lowering costs by 12-15%. 4) Over the past two years, we increased the pay of long-term care workers by 4%.
The Health Care Reform Act set a 2011 goal to insure an additional 37,000 children through MinnesotaCare, the state's program for working families whose employers don't offer health insurance. Currently, there are more than 100,000 without insurance.
The Health Care Reform Act passed an affordability standard that limits the cost of health care to 8% of a person/family's income, no more than $5,100 for a family of four with an income less than $63,000.
I have not yet decided to support health care constitutional guarantee bill.
Family, hobbies and other personal information.
KELLY: I am a financial advisor and partner in Discovery Financial Centers. I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Mankato State University with a triple major in marketing, management, and industrial relations, and a minor in economics.
I have served on the Red Wing School Board since 2004, and was board chair in 2006-2008.
I am involved in Blandin Leadership Group, United Way, Red Wing's youth football, basketball, and baseball associations, St. Joseph Church council, am a YMCA volunteer, Red Wing school volunteer, and a member and board member of Noontime Kiwanis.
My wife Sue and I have four children-Jessica, Cole, Macy, and Tait.
WOLLSCHLAGER: For the past 28 years, I have been a chemist working on environmental, health, safety, and regulatory law for 3M.
I earned a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from Augsburg College and a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University.
I have been married to Joe for 32 years, and am the mother of two children-Lindsey, 26 and Carl, 22. We are members of Vasa Lutheran Church in Vasa.
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