ST. PAUL- Late last month, I was
able to continue my observation of Minnesota’s gubernatorial candidates when I
attended St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman’s campaign office opening just north of
the state capitol.
The event lasted a couple hours, and
I was even to able to chat briefly with candidate Coleman about some issues,
including healthcare. As
I’ve written before, healthcare is a vital issue for the state in terms of
access and affordability.
Unfortunately, Mayor Coleman thought
envisioning Minnesota with a single-payer healthcare system “unrealistic” and
felt resources would best be spent holding the line on Obama Care and trying to
expand access and raise affordability by other means. He cited the failure of
several states in passing single-payer healthcare as a major reason for this
mindset.
Ready for Launch
I didn’t leave that room of a few
dozen attendants completely at a loss though. An aide of the Mayor was helpful
in pointing out that Coleman would have a launch party Sunday, November 12 in
which more of his platform would be refined and revealed. In the new campaign office,
there was also a wall where we could place Post-It notes with issues important
to us.
I gladly added my square among
several other Post-Its declared “single-payer healthcare.” It was great to see
voters’ concerns about healthcare, but now it was time to wait.
Today is Sunday, November 12. I didn’t
attend the campaign kick-off for Chris Coleman, but I did check his website
during the evening now that his platform would be codified.
Of the five issues listed,
healthcare isn’t a major category. His campaign for governor website can be
viewed here: https://www.colemanforgovernor.com/
The Platform
The five categories, at least as
of the day of his campaign launch, are the economy; affordable and workforce
housing; education; transportation; and marijuana legalization.
They are definitely worth reviewing
as a voter, and Mayor Coleman outlined some steps he would take within them as
governor to reach his goals. For instance, Coleman advocates creating a “Job Opportunity
Strikeforce” to unite localized stakeholders for job creation across Minnesota.
With education, Coleman highlighted
the success of St. Paul’s
Sprockets program to illustrate the importance of learning outside the
classroom. With young learners, his website also expressed the need to “work to
close the equity gap that continues to limit opportunities for success and
equality.” A Pioneer
Press article by Christopher Magan from last summer stated that “Fifteen
years into a nationwide push to provide every student with an equal education,
Minnesota schools have grown more segregated and the state’s nation-leading
academic achievement gap refuses to close.”
On the issue of marijuana
legalization, as governor, Coleman would legalize and regulate the drug. His
website also said that “rather than spending millions fighting the war on
marijuana, as governor, Chris will invest those dollars in early education and
more affordable health care for all Minnesotans.”
Stay tuned voters! It will be important
to start seeing how the numbers and plans of the 2018 gubernatorial candidates
shake out as the campaign continues to heat up.
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