Last month we were very excited to recognize two outstanding lawmakers for their passion and dedication to the Safe Routes to School issue this past year legislators for their work this year during the American Heart Association volunteer event in Minneapolis. Read more about the winners below:
Legislators of the Year: Rep. Melissa Hortman and Sen. Melisa Franzen
Rep. Melissa Hortman and Sen. Melisa Franzen were honored as American Heart Association Legislators of the Year Award for their determined leadership to establish and secure funding for the Minnesota Safe Routes to School Program. Sen. Franzen was elected to the Senate in 2012 representing Edina, West Bloomington, Eden Prairie and Minnetonka. Rep. Hortman has served in the legislature representing Brooklyn Park and Coon Rapids since 2004 and has led the charge for Safe Routes to School at the Capitol for the past three years. Thanks to her leadership, each year we have made great progress. This year, we saw a significant new appropriation for the Minnesota Safe Routes to School program and we became the third state in the nation to invest state funds in the infrastructure to make it safe for our children to walk and bike to school. Forty years ago, over half of children walked and biked to school but today just 13 percent of our children are walking and biking to school. We are grateful to Rep. Hortman and Sen. Franzen for leading the charge to make sure more of Minnesota’s kids can walk and bike to school (uphill both ways in the snow).
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