After many years of divided government and gridlock that prevented meaningful progress for our state, House DFLers got the job done through a host of accomplishments that will benefit Minnesotans for generations to come. This session ended with decisive action to avoid the extraordinary obstruction of our colleagues across the aisle that threatened to block our deal to increase compensation for drivers and keep Uber/Lyft in Minnesota as well as policy to improve the child care tax credit, enact new gun violence prevention laws, expand health insurance overage for reproductive care, wigs for cancer patients, prosthetics, and gender-affirming care, and so much more. In an economy tilted in favor of big corporations and the wealthy few, the House DFL Majority has focused on taking on monopoly power by enacting policies reigning in abusive and anti-competitive practices of big pharma, big tech, big insurance companies, and predatory lenders. We are supporting and investing in workers, families, seniors, and the next generation. The Child Tax Credit is projected to cut childhood poverty by one-third. We are helping seniors keep more money in their pockets and delivering property tax cuts and an improved renters’ rebate program. We continue to invest in housing, early care and learning, food security, and child welfare. We reduced health care costs, including a cap on co-pays for prescription drugs to treat diabetes, asthma, and allergies at $25 for one month’s supply. As Chair of the Labor committee, I’m particularly proud to say that a number of important pieces of legislation to improve conditions and protections for Minnesota workers are now law. This year, we: - Enacted the strongest worker protections and wage compensation equity for Uber, Lyft and other TNC drivers in the country,
- Eliminated minimum wage carve outs for youth, J1 visa holders, and workers at small businesses,
- Required prevailing wage standards in publicly financed housing projects and eliminating misclassification fraud,
- Required salary range in Minnesota job postings,
- Banned non-competes and shadow non-competes.
Here are other bills we passed this year that will improve the lives of all Minnesotans in every corner of our state: - Medical debt reform,
- Minnesota African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act,
- Strengthen Paid Family and Medical Leave Law,
- Funding for services for crime victims,
- Prohibition on banning, removing, or otherwise restricting access to age-appropriate book or other material from a school library,
- Expanding our nation-leading Child Tax Credit,
- Invest in tree planting across the state,
- Tenants’ Bill of Rights,
- Prior authorization reform,
- Funding for the Rise Up Center to support clean energy jobs and training in our community,
- Protections for clean drinking water and healthy soil, with investments in sustainable farming.
And more! I want to sincerely thank you for trusting me with the honor of representing you for 22 years. As I look back on my tenure, I’m proud to see remarkable progress we accomplished for Minnesota. The past two years have been some of the best, as we delivered on our promises to Minnesotans on dozens of high priority issues. Serving you has been the honor of my lifetime. Thank you. |