A bipartisan House Jobs Task Force held its first meeting today at the State Capitol, hearing from economists, experts and business leaders how to create jobs and help speed Minnesota’s economic recovery. State Economist Tom Stinson, State Demographer Tom Gillaspy, and Art Rolnick from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and others, described Minnesota’s economic situation and the challenges ahead. The new task force will use what it learns to develop a jobs plan for the 2010 legislative session.

State Rep. Terry Morrow, St. Peter, serves on the House task force and spent the day at the Capitol.

We heard again today that Minnesota and our nation are experiencing the largest, deepest, broadest recession ever. While we are almost certainly emerging from that recession, our state economist said the recovery will be slow and may take until 2012 for our economy to be fully back. We cannot sit idly by and wait for that to happen, but must instead look for every possible tool to create jobs and help put Minnesota on the path to economic recovery.

Morrow said testimony given today reaffirmed his belief that an educated, well-trained workforce is the key to recovery.

Looking to Minnesota’s long-term economic strength, it is essential that we preserve our tradition of highly productive workers. Investing in education - especially early childhood education - job training and re-training, and research and development are necessary steps for Minnesota’s future.

Morrow said he also heard several times today that Minnesota needs good infrastructure – roads, bridges, rail and more.

The evidence is clear that in order to sustain and grow private business, our state needs to protect and strengthen our infrastructure.

Morrow asked the panel of experts to comment specifically on Minnesota’s farms and the economic harm our farm families are suffering. While no specific answers were provided, the panel did agree to look more deeply into agriculture’s impact on a wide range of businesses and workers.

Last session, the Legislature made jobs a top priority, according to Morrow. Legislation was passed designed to generate new jobs, retrain workers for new skills and educate workers for a new economy.

With 240,000 Minnesotans out of work, much more needs to be done, however. We heard from the experts today that the state has a limited range of possible responses it can take. That being said, we need to focus on the things we can do – prioritizing labor-intensive, capital investment projects that preserve and maintain our public assets is one key step we should take in 2010.

The Jobs Task Force will meet at least two more times before the 2010 legislative session. It is anticipated that as a result of the Task Force’s work this fall and winter, the legislature will be equipped to move quickly to put in place programs and policies that will create jobs and have a lasting impact on our state economy.