 Dear Neighbors, I hope this email finds you well and warm and safe with the fresh blanket of snow we woke up to yesterday. A big thank you to our city and state snowplow drivers! The new legislative biennium is just around the corner and the impact of our work from the last two years is still taking shape. During a campaign cycle, I am not allowed to contact you directly until after the November election. So I wanted to catch you up and share with you a link to the new state laws that went into effect July 1 and August 1. There are also new laws that will be going into effect on January 1. I am proud of the work we did around consumer protection, public safety, investing in our communities, and increasing the funding to our schools. There is still much work to be done, and I am looking forward to the upcoming session. When session gets underway on January 14th, we will work in tandem under a 67-67 tie in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Speaker Hortman and Republican Leader Demuth have negotiated how the House will run in the 2025 session, and agreed to an overall committee structure. The membership of committees will be equally divided and represented by DFL and Republican co-chairs. I’m excited to continue as a co-chair of the House Education Finance Committee, in addition to serving on my other assignments which include the Taxes and Ways and Means committees. You can find the 2025-2026 House membership here as well as the new committee structure and membership here. I’m organizing my community coffee hour schedule for January and February; please stay tuned on those details! I appreciate these opportunities to connect with constituents and hear from them in person in the district. As always, I make sure to provide locations in each of our cities: Hopkins, Edina, and St. Louis Park. Wishing you and yours a peaceful holiday season. However you celebrate, I hope you have a chance to enjoy this time with loved ones. Happy Holidays!  Cheryl Youakim
State Representative  Photo credit: Minnesota House Public Information |