Dear neighbors,
With less than two weeks left of the 2019 legislative session, we’re working hard to finish on time and deliver a budget that works for all Minnesotans!
My House colleagues and I have begun meeting with members of the Senate to discuss differences between our budget and theirs. It’s a difficult process because they’re often very different. For example, the Senate environment and natural resources budget invests $118 million less than the House version. However, I’m hopeful that we’ll fund opportunities to come together.
Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen and I serve as co-chairs of the conference committee that’s working on a final version of the environment and natural resources budget.
Public Testimony for Omnibuzz
Dozens of Minnesotans came to the Capitol this week for the first public hearings of the Environment and Natural Resources Conference Committee. Many of them provided interesting testimony during our second meeting on Wednesday, the first one where I served as Chair.
There was lots of testimony and discussion about addressing chronic wasting disease (CWD), which threatens Minnesota’s wild deer population. On Wednesday, officials announced that they’d found seven cases of CWD at a deer farm in Nisswa. The pay-to-hunt ranch isn’t far from the spot where the first case of CWD in wild deer outside of southeastern Minnesota was discovered in February. You can read more about the situation in this article from the Star Tribune.
Our budget includes funding for CWD research, management, and an Adopt-a-Dumpster program to help hunters dispose of carcasses safely. The Senate plan doesn’t include do nearly enough to stop CWD from spreading and relies on deer hunters to pay the full price of the response through fees and other measures.
The committee also heard from the Pollution Control Agency (PCA) Commissioner. Commissioner Bishop testified that the Senate budget would significantly reduce funding for the PCA and negatively impact the environment and economy. You can read more about her testimony and the public hearing in this article from Session Daily.
The next public hearing will be tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. A schedule for all of the conference committee meetings and side-by-side comparisons of each budget are available here.
Drainage Work Group Bill Approved
This afternoon, the House approved my bill to improve and update drainage regulations (HF 1244) on a strong bipartisan vote of 94-33. This legislation is based on years of work by the Drainage Work Group, a group of stakeholders that makes recommendations for drainage system management. The bill is now on its way to Governor Walz.
University of Minnesota Board of Regents
The legislature also elected four new members to the University of Minnesota Board of Regents this afternoon. I cast my votes for Abdul Omari, Mike Kenyanya, Kao Ly Ilean Her, and Mary Davenport. The last three were elected, and Janie Mayeron was elected to the Fifth Congressional District seat.
For more information on the election, see this article from Session Daily. You can learn more about the Board of Regents and their responsibilities here.
Moving Forward
If you’d like to know more about the state of budget negotiations and what lies ahead, check out the latest episode of the Minnesota Values Podcast here. Please stay in touch and share your thoughts with me, your state senator, and other legislators.
Sincerely,
Rick Hansen
State Representative