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Rep. Keith Downey (R-Edina) had a prolific first week back at the Capitol, authoring three bills himself and serving as co-author on another 10. Downey started out his second term in office with a bang, beginning the 2011 legislative session by attempting to tackle a number of issues.

"We've been getting down to work, trying to improve the business climate," Downey said.

One thing in particular Downey said he believes will help lessen the burden on taxpayers down the road is a bill he authored that would see the state workforce reduced by 15 percent by June 30, 2015.

The bill suggests a combination of early retirement, furloughs, layoffs, a hard hiring freeze, a wage freeze and restructuring state pension programs to defined contribution plans would help winnow down the number of state employees by 15 percent.

"The sense in my mind with public sector employment being flat, is that there's a ripe opportunity to reduce our workforce," Downey said. "My goal is to not just reduce the number of employees, but do it by making things more efficient as well. We'll provide the same or a better level of service going forward."

The proposed early retirement program would give state employees whose combined age and years of service are more than 70 the option to retire prior to reaching the normal retirement age. To qualify, employees would have to be at least 50 years old and have been working for the state for a minimum of eight years.

"We won't get there entirely through attrition," Downey admitted. "We're just saying from a management perspective, a 15 percent workforce reduction over a four-year period is a reasonable benchmark. It's up to the executive branch to get us there."

Here’s what’s happened this past week with other bills authored or co-authored by your legislators:

Rep. Keith Downey:

• Proposed altering the permitting process through the Department of Natural Resources. HF0001, introduced Jan. 10.
• Co-authored legislation creating a priority-based state budget process and establishing a sunset process for state agencies. HF0002, introduced Jan. 10.
• Proposed a bill which would abolish a handful of local government mandates. HF0007, introduced Jan. 10.
• Co-authored a bill establishing a Healthy Minnesota contribution program. HF0008, introduced Jan. 10.
• Proposed legislation modifying the state's Environmental impact statement process. HF0020, introduced Jan. 10.
• Helped create a bill which would see the Senate drop from 67 members to 56 and the House of Representatives reduced from 134 to 112 following the 2012 election. HF0029, introduced Jan. 10.
• Co-authored bill to establish lifelong learning account, allowing tax credits to employers and employees for contributions to the accounts. HF0040, introduced Jan. 10.
• Proposed the removal of outside contracting agency restrictions. HF0053, introduced Jan. 10.
• Co-authored legislation amending teacher licensure provisions and establishing an alternative teacher preparation program as well as limited-term teacher licenses. HF0063, introduced Jan. 10.
• Proposed designating English as the official language of Minnesota. HF0064, introduced Jan. 10.
• Proposed limiting general fund expenditures in the 2012-2013 biennium to forecasted revenues as well as any revenue above that expected for 2010-2011. HF0067, introduced Jan. 13.
• Authored a bill repealing the teacher contract deadline aid penalty. HF0092, introduced Jan. 13.

Sen. Geoff Michel: Authored bill aimed at creating jobs, reducing business taxes and altering the permitting process within the Department of Natural Resources. SF0001, introduced Jan. 10.

Rep. Pat Mazorol: Has not authored any legislation so far this session.