Paul Thissen: Innovation in Action

Paul Joins Race for Governor 2010

Minnesota is at a crossroads.  As a state, we have beaten the odds time and again, creating a prosperous, engaged and forward-looking community in an unlikely place.

The people who handed down this state to us — people like my parents and grandparents  — succeeded because they had the faith to look beyond their immediate circumstances and build communities and institutions that would last and serve the next generation.  They succeeded by adapting to changing conditions and never, ever being satisfied with the status quo.

We need that same faith in the future and spirit of innovation today more than ever.

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Luverne Education Center for Health Careers

How do you generate good-paying jobs in small town Minnesota?  How do you attract and retain trained, high-quality medical professionals to rural communities?  And how do you use local resources wisely in an age of tight budgets?  These questions plague small communities across Minnesota.

The City of Luverne, a city of 4600 in southwestern Minnesota, offers one promising story.  City leaders collaborated with a large non-profit medical powerhouse, Sanford Health Systems, and a public, post-secondary educational institution, MN West Community and Technical College, to create the Luverne Educational Center for Health Careers.

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Minnesota’s State of Opportunity

To Be a Leadership and Innovation State, We Must Transform How We Pay for Long-Term Care

The long-looming, unprecedented “age wave” is no longer on the horizon.  It is here.  And it demands new solutions.  To be a fiscally healthy state, where people can successfully grow up and grow old, we must transform how we pay for long-term care – the diverse services that empower people and maintain well-being in the face of physical challenges.

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Rep. Thissen Reelected

I am deeply honored by the trust you have placed in me to represent you at the State Capitol.  Thank you to all the voters in Richfield and southwest Minneapolis.

Helping Minnesotans Build Assets

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is among our most effective tools for helping lift people out of poverty and supporting local and regional economies.  But in recent years, Refund Anticipation Loans (RALs) offered by commercial tax preparers and financial institutions have undermined the benefits of the EITC.

RALs — sometimes marketed as “Instant Money” or “Rapid Refund” — offer a way for a tax payer to get her tax refund more quickly.  But the “instant money” comes at a high cost.  With high interest rates (as much as 200% annualized or higher) and hidden costs, RALs divert money meant to help low-income working families and the local economies that benefit. Instead of going into the hands of the intended beneficiaries, this tax credit ends up in the hands of commercial tax preparers and financial institutions.

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