Gene Dornink, R-Albert Lea, is running for the District 27 Senate seat.

Humans are creatures of habit. We love our ruts and routines. In general, we gravitate toward the same friends, like to order the same types of food and do ordinary tasks in the same way time after time. From mowing the lawn to folding clothes, we have a system for how we do things and continue to follow that pattern without even thinking. Having a routine promotes efficiency and gives structure and stability to everyday life.

If a routine is producing more havoc than good, the average person will recognize that and take steps to correct it. Everyone knows that it does not make any sense to keep doing a task in a way that is clearly not working. If it’s not working, then it’s time to change it.

Our government could learn something from this principle. As jobs continue to be exported from our state, health insurance costs continue to rise, maintenance of basic infrastructure continues to be stalemated and educators continue to see inadequate funding to meet their budgets, it is clear that something needs to change.

Raising taxes and spending more money has been the solution of choice, but it’s not working.

It is time for fresh ideas and new strategies.

Three key elements that government tends to lack are transparency, accountability and responsibility. My background is in the carpenter’s union, and I worked on countless large commercial projects where there were plumbers, electricians, painters and carpenters who had to communicate and work together to accomplish the job. It would not have been good business, or effective problem-solving, for each separate trade to wait until the last minute to coordinate efforts and work out kinks.

This also applies to government. On this scale, it is not the paychecks of the crew members at stake. It is the money of the taxpayers. Your money. The responsibility of government is to wisely invest and utilize the resources of its citizens in a way that best serves the people’s needs. Communication and transparency will go a long way in prioritizing what those things are. Since it is not the legislators’ money, they must make themselves accountable to you for how they spend it.

Two projects our current senator has backed with his vote that are costing his constituents a lot of money are Southwest Light Rail and MNsure.

The Southwest Light Rail 14.5-mile train route is projected to cost $129 million per mile. To put this massive expenditure in perspective, the money needed to build one mile of track is equal to what it would cost to replace every bridge on MnDOT’s local bridge waiting list and still have $50 million left. That’s 135 bridges verses one mile of unfinished track.

An audit of MNsure showed that the program has lost almost $1 billion in fraud and waste. That is not including the personal costs to families, business owners and farmers, who have watched their premiums and deductibles skyrocket. Sen. Sparks said during a recent KAAL forum that he thought Minnesota is “lucky” to have our own program, and that Minnesota has “done a great job.” Does that sound like a legislator who is in-touch with the experiences of the people?

A current practice of government is omnibus bills. Countless spending projects are packed into one bill, and everyone has to vote on it as a whole. If it passes, everything in it gets the stamp of approval. Such a routine of doing business at the Capitol does exactly the opposite of making our elected officials transparent in what they support and accountable for how they spend our money.

An overhaul is needed. What if each bill had to be voted on separately? Our elected representatives would have to choose their votes wisely — not based on party politics, but on what is truly best for the people of Minnesota. Voting on each bill individually would slow down legislation, but spending other people’s money should not be taken lightly or rushed into haphazardly.

I believe it is time for our government to be intentionally accountable to the people it claims to serve. It is time to re-evaluate the way things are being done and to find new “ruts and routines” that best meet the needs of the families, farms and businesses of our great state. It’s not about partisanship and political games; it’s about the men and women whose daily lives are impacted by the decisions made at the Capitol. Those making the decisions have a responsibility to communicate and coordinate their efforts with each other. They have a responsibility to use our resources wisely, and to answer to the people for their actions.

I will bring fresh ideas to St. Paul, and I won’t forget where I’m from, who I represent and whose money we are spending.