Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Here is an update from the Capitol.
Town Halls
I will be co-hosting six community town halls in April with Senator Mark Johnson. The meetings will take place April 10-12 in Fertile, Fosston, Red Lake Falls, Crookston, Thief River Falls and East Grand Forks. Rep. Dan Fabian and Rep. Steve Green will also be at the Thief Rivers Falls and Fosston meetings respectively.
I hope you will be able to attend and share your thoughts about health care, education, tax relief and other important issues moving through the Legislature. The meetings are open to the public and all are welcome to attend!
For more information, click here. I hope to see you there!
Omnibus Bills
This week, the House began to pass budget omnibus bills which will fund state government over the next two years.
The big budget bills scheduled Thursday and Friday of this week are the Tax Omnibus Bill which provides $1.35 billion in meaningful, middle-class tax relief to families, seniors, local businesses, farmers and Minnesotans with student loan debt; the Environment and Natural Resources Omnibus Bill which funds the DNR and MPCA and also makes a number of commonsense reforms to streamline government for businesses and communities; the Education Omnibus Bill which invests $1.1 billion in new funding into education and advocates for students, schools and educators; and the Minnesota Road & Bridge Act which invests in our transportation infrastructure without a harmful gas tax increase.
These budget bills invest in our shared priorities and include a number of meaningful reforms and provisions that will help folks across Minnesota. More budget bills will be debated and passed next week. After that, we will work to come up with compromise legislation with the Senate and Governor Dayton.
I will share more details in the coming weeks on budget bills and negotiations. Stay tuned!
Lowering the Cost of Health Care
Good news this week for folks in our area who have been impacted by skyrocketing health care premiums on the individual health care market. The House and Senate came to an agreement on the state-based reinsurance bill which is projected to lower health care premiums by 18 percent or more according to Minnesota Management and Budget. The bill, which repassed the House on Thursday, will be sent to Governor Dayton.
Following our bill earlier this year to provide meaningful premium relief and needed reforms to our health care market, this bill is the next step to address the devastating effect that Obamacare has had on many folks across the state who have seen higher costs and fewer choices in health care.
I will keep you updated as we continue to work and make health care more accessible and affordable for Minnesotans.
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If I can ever assist you or your family on a matter of state government, please don’t hesitate to contact my office. I am here to serve you!
Deb
**Encourage your neighbors and friends to sign up for my email updates at www.house.mn/01B