Dear neighbors,
The 2020 legislative session came to an end at midnight on Sunday. My colleagues and I passed strong legislation to safeguard Minnesotans’ health and economic wellbeing, protect our environment and natural resources, invest in job-creating projects across the state, and more. Unfortunately, Republicans chose to block many of the important bills that we approved.
House Approves LCCMR Bill
On Sunday, the House approved a package of legislation that contains the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) bill and other environmental items. The LCCMR bill invests more than $61 million from Minnesota’s Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund in various environmental projects. Unfortunately, the Minnesota Senate didn’t approve the legislation. That means the funding for 49 projects will expire on June 30 and no funding will be allocated for new projects.
Bills Signed into Law
Governor Walz has already signed several of the bills we approved in the final days of the session. One of the bills, the Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act, will help drive down the cost of prescription medications. It requires drug manufacturers to report pricing information for drugs with prices that exceed certain thresholds or increase by a certain percentage over a 1- or 2-year period and to share that information with the public. Another prohibits the use of trichloroethylene (TCE), making Minnesota the first state to ban the toxic chemical. The Governor also signed legislation to raise the tobacco sales age to 21 and provide assistance for farmers and producers.
Next Steps
The House Jobs and Local Projects Plan invests $2.52 billion in strengthening important public assets, such as higher education institutions, clean water infrastructure, roads and bridges, and parks and trails. It provides funding to install new utilities along the Concord Street corridor in South St. Paul, extend Mendota’s water main and replace the city’s water pressure reading valve, improve West St. Paul’s wastewater system, build a women’s suffrage memorial in South St. Paul, and more. While Republicans chose not to join us to approve these local projects, I’ll continue advocating for them in the days and weeks ahead.
Republicans also blocked the COVID-19 Economic Security Act – legislation that includes housing assistance, aid for small and minority-owned businesses, investments in broadband access, and a wage increase for personal care assistants. They stood in the way of bills to ensure hourly school workers get paid through the end of the school year, provide assistance to low-income families with children, and establish a contact tracing program that would help safely reopen our economy. I’ll continue fighting for these measures as well.
If I can be of help during this crisis, please contact me at rep.rick.hansen@house.mn or 651-296-6828. You can find up-to-date information about COVID-19 and the resources available for Minnesotans on the state’s COVID-19 website, linked here.
Sincerely,
Rick Hansen
State Representative