As we head into the final weeks of the legislative session, I am so grateful to hear from Minnesotans who are standing up and fighting back. In St. Paul, I carry your stories and experiences with me, and I’m ready to finish strong so Minnesota is on the best footing possible to deal with the uncertain future caused by the federal government. Right now, we’re in the process of passing the various House budget proposals. We passed our Agriculture budget yesterday - which I helped craft as part of the committee - and we’ll pass our Legacy, Public Safety and Judiciary budgets today. The nature of a tied Minnesota House is that these bills aren’t perfect. They require buy-in from Democrats and Republicans, so while my DFL colleagues and I are preventing a lot of really bad bills from becoming law, Republicans are also able to block the kind of progress Minnesota deserves. Still, these bipartisan proposals aren’t without merit. There are some good things in these bills that’ll make our state better - but we’re not done yet. After the House passes our budget proposals, we’ll start the process of negotiating with the Senate to craft the final versions in conference committees, which are made up of House and Senate members specializing in the respective budget areas. These committees will work together to craft a final bill that will need to pass the House and Senate a final time before being sent to Governor Walz. This work will take up the majority of our time, likely right up until our constitutional adjournment date of May 19. I’ll be sure to keep you posted as these budgets move through the legislative process. Before I get into some helpful resources for our community, I wanted to leave you with some words from Governor Walz, who delivered his State of the State address this week in the House Chamber: “If you say you love freedom but you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love is not freedom, it is privilege.” That’s a sentiment I’ll take with me as we wrap up our work this session. If you’d like to watch the Governor’s entire speech, you can do so here.
Paid Leave Employer Engagement Session
A program my DFL colleagues have fought hard to protect is Minnesota’s fledging Paid Family & Medical Leave program, which was passed last biennium but won’t take effect until January 1, 2026. Everyone deserves the opportunity to look after themselves or a loved one without risking their livelihood, and that’s what this program will ensure. To make sure employers are prepared for the program’s implementation, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development is hosting a series of Employer Engagement Sessions, with an upcoming one in Shoreview!
Northeast Metro Employer Session 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Shoreview Community Center 4580 Victoria St. N. Shoreview, MN 55126 Register for the event
To help employers prepare for the new program, Paid Leave staff are partnering with local chambers of commerce for a series of in-person engagement sessions. At these sessions, they will provide an overview of the program, share recent updates, answer your questions, and help you get ready to meet your responsibilities under Paid Leave. Light refreshments will be served.
If this applies to you, I encourage you to check it out!
Federal Response Update - Ramsey County
In addition to our work in St. Paul, I also want to share efforts taking place at all levels of government when it comes to Minnesota’s response to federal policies. Earlier this week, I received an update from Ramsey County (the recipient of over 90 federal grant totaling nearly $150 million) I thought you might find interesting:
How have federal cuts affected Ramsey County? In March, the federal government terminated $226 million in grants to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). This cancellation led to Ramsey County losing over half a million dollars in MDH grant funds for promoting vaccinations, addressing COVID-19 impacts, and preparing for future outbreaks. Some impacts include: - Ending current funding for free community vaccine clinics for vulnerable populations.
- Canceling a planned educational video addressing common fears associated with measles vaccines and explaining the importance of routine vaccination.
- Canceling a planned vaccination media campaign to promote back-to-school shots in August. The end of this campaign will reduce access to health information for families with school-aged children.
- Canceling plans to purchase a 3-month supply of personal protective equipment (PPE). This PPE is regularly distributed to protect families, elders, and others in a variety of community and congregate living settings to help prevent infectious disease outbreaks.
- Canceling planned contracts with trusted community messenger organizations to support COVID-19 recovery work in our most socially vulnerable communities.
What is Ramsey County doing to respond? - Creating internal communications and planning systems to ensure that we are prepared to respond to further funding disruptions.
- Analyzing potential impacts to the county budget.
- Assessing not only direct, but indirect and collateral impacts.
- Engaging with state legislators and congressional delegation to share the impact that these cuts are having on Ramsey County residents.
Fish Consumption Guidance This was another interesting piece of information that came across my desk that I wanted to forward to you - updates to the Minnesota Department of Health’s fish consumption guidelines. With fishing opener coming up, I wanted to pass this along. The updates are largely due to the PFAS contamination found in fish from some waterbodies in the metro and other counties throughout the state (Douglas, Martin, McLeod, and St. Louis). The updated guidelines primarily focus on PFAS data but are also protective for mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). If you plan to fish at a lake in one of these counties, and if you plan to eat the fish you catch, check LakeFinder on the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) website to see if there is a fish consumption guideline in effect for that lake. Lakefinder includes fish consumption guidance for all Minnesota lakes. If you plan to eat fish from a river in one of these counties, review the updated list of Waterbody-Specific Guidelines for rivers at the Fish Consumption Guidance website.
Stay Connected Regardless of whether you were able to attend our Town Hall, always feel free to reach out with any questions, comments, or ideas you have on how to make our community and state better, especially as we get into the final weeks of the legislative session. You can reach me at rep.david.gottfried@house.mn.gov or 651-296-7153. You’ll either hear back from me or my Legislative Assistant, Isabel. To keep up with my work in the House, you can either check out my legislative webpage, or follow along on my official Facebook page. Thank you again for placing your trust in me. I can’t wait to see what we can build together! Sincerely, David Gottfried State Representative House District 40B |