Neighbors, Our main task this legislative session is to craft our two-year state budget and yesterday we took another step forward, when we passed the Jobs and Labor budget bill. We also took important steps to improve petroleum refinery worker safety and advanced a measure to improve worker safety at warehouses. Last week, the House passed several of our key budget bills. In addition to passing the Veterans and Environment & Climate budgets, which we talked about in last week’s update, we also passed other significant bills, including State Government and Elections, Transportation, Housing, Agriculture, Education, and Children and Families. House Public Information featured the Veterans bill in a story last week. Also included is a video clip of the bill presentation. The Education budget plan delivers transformational investments to support our students and school staff and stabilizes our public-school funding. The spreadsheet and bill language are available online. The bill provides a per-pupil increase in the general education formula and links the formula to inflation in all future years to help school districts have more predictability in their financial outlooks. It also reduces the Special Education cross-subsidy by nearly half, includes multiple provisions to ensure students are well-prepared for life after graduation by adding a personal finance course requirement for high school completion, addresses teacher and school staff shortages, and more. All the important budget bills passed last week will have a positive impact on how Minnesotans succeed and thrive now and in the future. I was proud to vote ‘yes’ on all the budget bills we passed last week and look forward to supporting the remainder of our budget plan. Video of all hearings and floor votes are available on House Public Information Services’ YouTube channel. State of the StateLast week, Governor Walz delivered his State of the State address. We have all accomplished so much together, and it was an honor to hear his optimistic speech in person. You can view the full address here.  REMINDER: Medicaid RecipientsOn May 11, the Covid-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) is ending and those on Medicaid will need to update their information. Many people who will lose Medicaid should be able to get low-cost health insurance through the federal and state insurance marketplaces. You can watch a short video here for more information.  Stay Connected with the LegislatureIt is easy to stay in touch with State Capitol activities. The Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Services offers nonpartisan recaps of high-profile bills, committee hearings, and floor sessions with their Session Daily publication. Subscribe to receive these here. To track bills of interest through the legislative process, I encourage you to utilize the MyBills feature on the Minnesota House of Representatives’ website. Please continue to reach out with any input, ideas, or feedback about the issues important to you. I value hearing from you, so please don’t hesitate to call or email me any time. You can find my information on my House website. Also, make sure to ‘like’ my Facebook page. It is an honor to represent you at the State Capitol. Sincerely, Jerry Newton State Representative |