Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Here is an update from the Capitol.
House File 952
On Thursday, the House passed my legislation that allows care provider staff the opportunity to include training on services for those with hearing loss. Two-thirds of Minnesotans over seventy have hearing loss, and knowing how to communicate and provide services to those in care facilities will improve their quality of life and ensure they get the care they need.
This is commonsense bill, and I am pleased it garnered such strong bipartisan support.
Bonding Bill Introduced
This week the House unveiled a $600 million bonding bill that focuses overwhelmingly on roads and bridges, clean water infrastructure and maintaining state facilities. Bonding legislation, while not typically done in the odd year of a biennium, was held up last year over Southwest Light Rail. All the projects in the bill have been vetted over the past two years.
Our first job as legislators this session is to pass a responsible state budget that invests in our shared priorities. If bonding becomes part of a final budget agreement, we wanted to ensure that we are respecting taxpayers and investing in meaningful infrastructure projects first that meet the needs of communities and citizens across the state.
Budget Negotiations
After setting joint legislative targets on Friday, the House and Senate conference committees came to agreements on budget bills that fund state government and its essential duties earlier this week. Now as budget negotiations continue, I hope that Governor Dayton and his commissioners will work with us so we can get our work done for the people of Minnesota.
The next step is for Governor Dayton to work with legislative leaders to establish three-way budget targets, which he originally requested we do by last Friday, so we can find commonsense agreements on our budget bills.
I will keep you updated as negotiations continue to move forward.
Around the Capitol
Last week with Rep. Fabian and Roger and Lavonne Schmitz
With sixth graders from Goodridge and Sen. Mark Johnson at the Capitol.
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Sincerely,
Deb
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