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Representative Johnson recaps 2026 session, cites $10 million for food banks and bonding fix affecting Lake Elmo project
Summary
State Representative Johnson told the Lake Elmo council that legislative changes preserved bonding eligibility for a local Lake Elmo project, highlighted $10 million for regional food shelves, hospital relief measures and technology investments, and urged continued local engagement with the legislature.
Representative Johnson updated the Lake Elmo City Council on the recently completed 2026 legislative session, saying it produced a mix of single-subject bills and targeted investments that he said will benefit Lake Elmo.
Johnson told the council legislators corrected bonding-language problems that had threatened the Lake Elmo '36 project and said last-minute wording changes preserved the city's access to bonding for the project. He explained that without the correction the city’s local share could have been “anywhere from 5 to $10,000,000” but that the city’s portion is expected to be about $2.5 million as presented during earlier municipal-consent materials.
Johnson cited several statewide items he said were wins for constituents: a $10,000,000 appropriation to food banks and food shelves; funding to address uncompensated hospital care and to shore up hospital capacity; investments (he cited $70,000,000) for technology updates in social services; and school-safety measures, including anonymous tip-notification and school-linked mental-health supports. He also described ongoing work to secure better cooperation from the DNR on water-permitting and water-appropriation issues affecting Lake Elmo.
The mayor and council thanked Representative Johnson for attending. The council noted the need to continue local engagement with state representatives and to provide data to legislative offices as work on the bonding and DNR matters continues.
Next steps: staff and council said they will continue coordinating with Representative Johnson and Senator Seaburger and follow up on bonding-language and DNR water-appropriation issues.
