St. Paul, Minnesota — Today, House Speaker Melissa Hortman announced the formation of a Select Committee on Minnesota’s Pandemic Response and Rebuilding. The Select Committee will review the federal and state responses to the COVID19 pandemic to date and will assess policy changes needed moving forward.
“COVID-19 may reshape Minnesota for years to come, and the public policy challenges it presents are enormous,” said Speaker Hortman. “We are forming this Select Committee to take a deep-dive on these policy challenges as we work to respond to this pandemic and to rebuild Minnesota as a better and stronger state.”
The Select Committee will take a closer look at the pandemic’s impact on Minnesotans, what the state and federal government have done so far to respond, and possible future responses, including ensuring workplace safety and protecting workers’ rights, and broader societal changes — for example, ways education might be changed in the fall due to COVID-19.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has upended our state and laid bare deeply rooted systemic inequalities between our communities and neighbors,” said House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler. “Minnesotans deserve a state that works better for everyone. The work of this committee will be critical to emerging from this crisis and ensuring the health and economic well-being of Minnesotans now and into the future.”
The committee’s standing membership will include Speaker Hortman, Majority Leader Winkler, Ways & Means Chair Lyndon Carlson, Minority Leader Daudt, and Ways & Means Minority Lead Pat Garofalo — or their designees. The committee will have five rotating members: three majority members and two minority members selected by leadership, depending upon issue area.
The Select Committee will meet on an as-needed basis. The committee’s first meeting will be the week of May 18th and will focus on workplace safety for Minnesota’s nurses.