Dear Friends,
It was great to be back in Albert Lea today for a number of meetings and visits with constituents. I had the pleasure of welcoming Speaker of the House Kurt Daudt to Albert Lea to join me for a tour of two senior care facilities. We had great conversations with residents and staff at St. John's Lutheran Home and Just Like Home care center in Albert Lea. Afterward we stopped over at The Elbow Room, one of my favorite spots in Albert Lea to take my colleagues who come to visit.
These two care facilities represent two of the different sides of senior care. Just Like Home is a smaller facility that is based out of a renovated home with capacity for no more than a dozen residents. St. John's is a large campus with dozens of residents and a large staff. Each has differing needs and voiced different concerns about the way senior care is funded in Minnesota.
We heard from staff at St. John's about the urgent need to increase the pay for those who care for our seniors. Too many staff are forced to leave because they can't make ends meet. Budgets are tight, so pay increases are a challenge for many nursing homes and care facilities.
Speaker Daudt shared a bit about a bill, House File 3, that's working its way through the legislature that would totally revamp the reimbursement system for nursing homes and senior care facilities. Some estimates say that our reforms would result in a 25% increase in the reimbursement rate in some cases, giving senior care facilities more money to provide care for our seniors and hopefully an increase in pay for the providers who work so hard to provide that care.
It's so important that we take care of our seniors and give them the attention and support they deserve. Though I am not a member of the Aging and Long Term Care Committee, I plan to keep a close eye on HF3 and other reforms to make sure we're doing the best job we can caring for our seniors.
House File 2
Yesterday the House passed one of our top education bills, House File 2 (HF2). As a former teacher and member of both the Education Finance and Education Innovation Policy Committees, I've been working with Education Finance Chair Rep. Jen Loon and Education Innovation Policy Chair Sondra Erickson to add my perspective and to make improvements to the bill.
I'm pleased to let you know that the bill I told you about earlier this year, HF500, which would help keep dangerous criminals out of the classroom passed as a part of House File 2. If you recall, my bill would automatically deny licenses applications and deny appeal hearings for teachers who have been convicted of child-related sex offenses. This will save the Board of Teaching time and money, and keep these criminals far away from classrooms.
I've heard a great deal of feedback from teachers and parents alike about HF2. I know there is some concern in the teacher community about some of the provisions in the bill as it relates to seniority. HF2 would require schools to consider teacher effectiveness in the unfortunate event of teacher layoffs. Under current law, seniority is the only consideration, meaning even the best teachers would be at risk of being let go if they were the most recent teacher hired.
This bill gives flexibility to local school districts to negotiate their own criteria to consider in addition to teacher effectiveness, meaning schools can add seniority to the list of criteria. I have said all along, I would not support legislation that eliminates seniority entirely. As someone with over thirty years of teaching experience, I know how much teachers value the job security that comes with tenure and seniority and, quite honestly, many of our most experienced teachers are among our best. I believe as more and more states move away from seniority either through legislation or legal challenges, this is an acceptable compromise that will work will for students and teachers alike.
I want students across the state to have access to a world-class education, and believe this bill will help keep effective teachers in the classroom which will in turn enhance student learning.
Even if you did not support this bill, please know that I truly am grateful for everyone who took the time to email me, call me, or have a conversation about this bill. If you have questions about HF2, please don't hesitate to contact me at rep.peggy.bennett@house.mn or call 651-296-8216.
Testing Reduction Bill
This week I introduced legislation to reduce the number of required tests for Minnesota students. Governor Dayton said in his 2014 State of the State address that he thought "our state went backwards" by adding more tests during the 2013 session.
Any teacher, student, or parent can probably tell you that students take far too many tests. This allows teachers to spend more time preparing students for tests rather than on their curriculum. I hope to secure bipartisan support for my bill, and anticipate a committee hearing in the next few weeks.
Survey
Some of you may have received a copy in the mail of my 2015 legislative survey. If you didn't, I invite you to take my survey by clicking here. I hope you will consider sending the link to your friends, neighbors, and family members who live in District 27A. The more feedback I get, the better I can represent our community. I appreciate you taking the time to share with me your thoughts and opinions.
Have a great weekend,
Peggy Bennett
State Representative, District 27A