To Kathy Green, the Republican candidate challenging Sen. Dan Sparks (D-District 27) for his state senate seat, very few issues are more important than supporting education and fixing the state budget deficit.

“I am so concerned about the state budget,” Green said. “The stability of our schools and the stability of our communities depends on a balanced state budget.”

Green, who has served on the Austin Public School Board since the year 2000, said that if she is elected she wants to see the legislature budget for education by April of session so extra expenditures don’t get pushed off on the school districts. She said school districts finish their budgets by April and are essentially budgeting for a moving target since the legislature does not complete its budget until late May.

The Republican candidate also said that legislators need to take a comprehensive look at expenditures and revenues, especially relating to small businesses, if they want to balance the budget.

“We need to ask ourselves what we can afford,” Green said. “You increase revenue by increasing private sectors; we need to support small businesses…by not hampering them with our regulatory system.”

Not only does Green think that regulations are hampering the small business sector, but she also said unnecessary school district mandates need to be lifted.

“If we rescind more of the 114 state mandates on school districts, schools will save money,” she said.

The state of local government aid (LGA) is another issue about which Green is concerned. LGA is money that the state appropriates to Minnesota cities as a way of equalizing the tax base.

“It would be a tremendous stressor to let LGA go, but everything has to be on the table,” Green said. “The choices that will be made in January will not be pleasant and it will take a lot of courage to make them.”

While Green is passionate about education and has several ideas for ways to fix the budget crisis, she is also concerned for agriculture, roads and bridges. She said that since agriculture is so prevalent in the Austin area, it is important to have roads and bridges that are safe and reliable on which farmers can transport products.

“(Farmers) need to have infrastructure that is bolstered to fit their needs,” Green said. “Agriculture is the economics of our private sector here in southeastern Minnesota.”

The school board member said she is looking forward to the opportunity to work with other rural legislators to improve the quality of life in the Austin area. This will include crossing party lines, which, Green said, is incredibly important to her.

“It’s absolutely imperative to cross party lines,” Green said. “We cannot have partisanship and solve the problems the state has. I truly am an independent thinker.”

As her campaign forges forward, Green is optimistic that she will win the election. She said she has been met with some anti-incumbent sentiment during her campaign, with some citizens welcoming her simply for the fact that she has a fresh perspective. Green said she believes the anti-incumbent thinking is due to the inaction of the legislature over the last two sessions.

Green is also confident that her career and community involvement background will allow her a victory over Sparks.

“I have a background in health care as a dental hygienist, I’ve worked with insurance companies at the professional and personal level, I’m a trustee for the state public pension fund and I have an understanding of education and public policy,” she said. “I think it’s going great.”