Legislative Update – April 4, 2025
Dear Neighbors,
It was another busy week here at the State Capitol! There was a flurry of action on bills and budget proposals, but if you want to hear more about how the sausage gets made, you can check out my weekly radio interview with Rich and Ryan in the Morning in-studio on KYMN. Take a listen to the full interview here.
It was great to connect with constituents and community these past couple of weeks! I met with Northfield students who attend college on private school grants, Laurie, an AFCSME union member who is a constituent, and Northfielders who came up as part of a larger group from ISAIAH! I also spoke at the KYMN Save Our Tower fundraiser two weeks ago at the Grant Events Center in Northfield (Congratulations, KYMN on reaching your fundraising goal by the end of March!) and listened to area farmers at the Minnesota Farmers Union Town Hall on Monday in Oronoco.
Fighting for Rural Child Care
This week in the Children and Families Committee, I presented a bill to support providers of rural childcare. Child care costs and availability are a problem all across our state, but this bill seeks to tackle some of the challenges unique to rural areas and towns of 25,000 people or less.
This is an incredibly important conversation for us to be having at the Legislature, and I was glad to have Tawna from Little Village Early Learning Center in Dundas and Karen from Little Learners Ada and Westview to share their perspective and support for the bill.
Small Business Impact Survey
Amid additional federal tariffs announced this week, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development is gathering information from affected small businesses in Minnesota.
In this period of uncertainty, there may be a lag in data, so this survey is a way for District 58A business owners to communicate directly with the department now. The survey takes less than five minutes to complete. By collaborating with Minnesota's locally owned small businesses, which face significant challenges, we can proactively plan for the state's future needs.
Minnesota Department of Health Cuts
The Minnesota Department of Health announced last week that the Trump administration is unilaterally rescinding $226 million in federal grants related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The cuts amount to about 25% of MDH’s current budget, according to KARE-11, and are likely to result in the layoffs of around 200 employees. The actions are part of a broader nationwide effort to eliminate $11 billion in spending by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The recent federal funding cuts raise serious concerns about health care access for all Minnesotans and may exacerbate existing medical care disparities across our state. I will continue to fight for a health care system that is affordable and accessible to everyone—regardless of zip code.
Stay Connected!
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