2010 will be a challenging year. Minnesota remains enmeshed in a global economic recession starting to show a few glints of hope. We face an additional $1.2 billion state deficit as unemployment and underemployment erode previously predicted tax receipts. Combine these challenges with a looming election year and one might ask whether Minnesota has the foresight and commitment to fundamental principles to see us through the shoals.

Thankfully, we do.

We simply need to listen to our children. Reading their holiday wishes in Sunday’s Mankato Free Press, I am warmed and energized by our children’s simple articulation of principles all Minnesotans share — and which should serve as our North Star to guide policy and budget decisions in St. Paul.

Education is essential. Zachary reminds us that we need “books to give knowledge to kids and poor people.” Payton’s wish for his mother to get her master’s degree reminds us of America’s centuries-old belief that education improves lives. Payton’s mother “works really hard … [and] usually is in the kitchen working on an assignment” and he hopes that “all her hard work pays off.”

Blake understands that strong schools fuel Minnesota’s research-and-development engine that, in turn, creates jobs. His wish: to be “the smartest person on earth” so that he can “get a good job” and “invent new things … [like] a hover craft.” Jobs are essential.

William wishes that “people could have a job.” “Many people are having a hard time with the economy,” Brianna recognizes. The link between education and our economy, the fundamental partnership of the 20th century in our state, is clear to our children. If our economy is to rebound and remain competitive—if families are to put food on the table—then Minnesota must fully support education.

Health care is essential. Our children’s letters do not resort to rancor: They remind us of the real people in their lives who desperately need medical care. Katelyn wishes “to make cancer stop so everybody would live.” Maeslik’s “mommy…is always sick and has to go to the doctor office…all I want is her to feel better again.”

Nine-year-old Abbi offers a simple wish that will stay with me throughout the legislative session in 2010. She writes, “If I could have one holiday wish, it would be that my brother wouldn’t have cancer anymore. ... He has been really sick, and it makes me cry sometimes. I am sad a lot when he looks sick.”

Health care will remain a contentious challenge in 2010. Our children’s letters offer a reality reminder: Siblings, parents, friends bravely face health care crises that are not served by partisan rhetoric. We honor the real-life struggles of Maeslik’s mother and Abbi’s brother only by creating serious solutions.

Helping people is essential. Sophia hopes that “everyone who is having a difficult time this season to receive some kind of help,” including those who are “having trouble supporting themselves.” Emily encourages us to “donate things to people that are poor.”

Danielle would “stop world hunger.” Global crisis has a Minnesota face that our children see clearly and that we would be wrong to deny. Comprehensive collaboration between public agencies and private organizations and individuals will fulfill Sophia and Danielle’s wish in 2010.

A home is essential. Our children understand the wretchedness of homelessness. Travis wishes that “everyone will have a nice home to live in because they will stay warm in the winter.” As Jordan observes, “We’re the richest country, and we still have homeless people.”

Supporting our veterans is essential. Christian, Jasemine, and Nathan and others wish for our troops to be home and safe on Christmas. And when our troops return, I add, we must help them return to the workforce they left when they served our nation.

Understandably, our children might not think to offer Christmas wishes for well-supported police and fire departments, for safer roads and bridges, for improved rail and transit, for fair and efficient courts, and more. I am confident, though, that our children would approve these wishes for Minnesota.

Working together is essential. Thad puts it simply: “I wish everyone could be nice to each other.” “I wish people would respect each other,” writes Makenna. These wishes would certainly enhance dialogue in St. Paul.

“This is the time of year when everyone comes together to celebrate something we believe,” Ryley writes. This year, I celebrate our children’s wishes. They reflect what they have learned: Minnesota’s fundamental principles and priorities. In 2010, let us commit to making these wishes come true.



Rep. Terry Morrow, DFL-St. Peter, represents District 23A, and is an assistant majority leader.