Alan Oberloh, mayor of Worthington and current president of the Greater Coalition of Minnesota Cities, presents Rep. Tim O’Driscoll with the coalition’s award for “Legislator of Distinction” for his work in helping repeal a state law regarding a three-tiered city water-pricing system.
by Dennis Dalman
news@thenewsleaders.com
Rep. Tim O’Driscoll (R-Sartell) has recently been honored with three prestigious awards for his work in the Minnesota Legislature.
His most recent honor is the “Outstanding Legislator of 2012,” which is an award from the Minnesota School Board Association for his extensive work on school-land trust reforms – a bill for which O’Driscoll was instrumental in authoring and in garnering legislative approval.
O’Driscoll’s bill reformed the school-land trust system so that more money will flow from leases on those lands to help school districts throughout the state. For many decades, Minnesota, like other states, has had what is known as school-land trusts, which are parcels of land set aside for the benefit of schools. Any revenue generated by those lands is used for education. O’Driscoll maintained the lands – most of them in northern Minnesota – were being underused and underdeveloped under the Department of Natural Resources. The bill loosened restrictions and created a new advisory board to manage those lands, an action that is expected to bring millions of dollars more to divide up among financially strapped school districts.
O’Driscoll will be given his award in late September at an honors banquet.
The League of Minnesota Cities has also honored O’Driscoll as a “2012 Legislator of Distinction” for his work on city issues and pension issues. A third award was presented to O’Driscoll by the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities. The honor is the “Legislator of Distinction Environment Award,” given to O’Driscoll for his work on repealing a state law that would have required cities to adopt a mandatory tiered water-pricing system, which would have penalized large-water users, such as schools and hotels.
“I’m honored to receive these awards,” O’Driscoll said. “We’ve been working hard and have accomplished a lot in the first two years I’ve been in St. Paul.”
O’Driscoll has also been widely honored for his work in support of veterans and their rights.
Raised in Sartell, O’Driscoll has served as a city council member and as the mayor of Sartell. As a House representative, O’Driscoll represents District 14A, which includes parts of Stearns and Benton counties. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2010.
In the State Capitol, he serves on the following committees: Commerce and Regulatory Reform, Education Reform, Government Operations and Elections and the State Government Finance Subcommittee for the Veterans Services Division.
A graduate of St. Cloud State University, O’Driscoll earned a degree in the fields of business education, office administration and real-estate planning and development.
O’Driscoll is also a corporate trainer and former real-estate agent.
