Dear Neighbors,
First, happy Mother’s Day to all moms! I feel so fortunate to have such a close relationship with my mom (pictured below) and want to wish her a happy Mother’s Day. She’s always been a great friend and an even better influence. Be sure to thank a mom in your life who’s had an impact on you.
We must adjourn the legislative session by Monday, May 21 and there’s still lots of work to be done. Conference committees are meeting to fix some of the differences between our House bills and the ones the Senate passed. Though there’s lots to do, I’m hopeful we’ll come to an agreement with the Senate and the governor to pass bills that will help our state going forward. This is “crunch time” in the session, which means it’s especially important for you to call or email to share your opinion on the topics we’re discussing. Please stay in touch!
Foster Care Legislation Moving Forward
As you know, my Foster Sibling Bill of Rights unanimously passed in the House last week as part of a larger bill related to foster care. It was then sent to the Senate, which added a new amendment before it passed. Because there’s a difference between the two bills, we’ll form a conference committee to talk about what can be changed so we all agree. I’m honored to be part of this conference committee, and look forward to continuing to help this bill move toward becoming law. Foster children in our state are depending on this bill to make it easier to stay in touch with each other. I’m confident we’ll quickly fix the differences, and get this bill on to the governor’s desk.
Water Legislation
Recently, the House passed important legislation to benefit our farming community. The bill, HF2887, delays the implementation of the future new Department of Agriculture nitrate rule until the legislature has had time to review its benefits and impact before enacting it into law. This is an important and controversial issue, and the lack of trust for the Department of Ag’s rule-making procedures has been growing among the public impacted, especially our farming community. We want to ensure the public that their voices are being heard and adequate input has been allowed and considered before this rule would be implemented. That is what this bill is for.
Our water is extremely important to us. We need to protect groundwater from unnecessary pollutants for many reasons and ensure we have safe drinking water. We all want our waters to be clean and safe for many generations to come. In order to do that, we must ensure that the public has a good opportunity for input to help build those environmental protections, because that’s how we create protections that will work and that make sense.
Public Safety Bill
This week, the House approved a bill to increase penalties for those who illegally block a freeway, airport, or rail transit line. I think this is an important bill to keep our public - including those who wish to protest - safe. In addition, it is incredibly dangerous for people to block freeways, especially considering these are main routes for police, firefighters, and EMTs to get to people in need. Nothing that’s currently legal will be outlawed. Our bill simply creates more of a deterrent for this criminal behavior. Some see this bill as controversial, but I think most people see it as a common-sense way to maintain the safety of the law-abiding public.
Please Contact Me
As we head into the final stretch of session, I’ll be sure to keep you updated on what’s happening. If you have questions or just want to share your opinion, I hope you’ll contact me.
Have a great weekend, and happy Mother’s Day to all moms!
Peggy