Friends,
I hope the new year has been good for you and your family. I’ve been busy traveling the district, meeting with constituents, and preparing for the upcoming session.
Rep. Grossell joined other pro-life activists at an event in Bagley
Pro-Life Issues
This past weekend, I joined fellow pro-life supporters across the county at events in every community across this country. I attended the rallies in Bagley and Bemidji, where I met with so many committed to the cause of life.
Life is sacred, and we are called upon to protect those who cannot protect themselves. It is an honor to champion the rights of our children, families and the unborn, and I will continue to do so in my capacity as a state legislator.
Upcoming Session
The 2018 session begins February 20th and it will be a brief one as we must conclude by May 21st. The two-year budget was passed last session along with a sizeable bonding bill that prioritized roads and key infrastructure projects. The second year of a biennium, traditionally, is a “bonding year” where the biggest issue is putting together a bonding bill for the entire state – we passed one last session because the previous legislature had failed to pass one in 2016.
My priorities this session will be focused on completing the work I began last session. Chief among them will be getting the Veteran Home built in Bemidji; we made good progress building support for this project during the 2017 session and I am hopeful we can build on that this session. I will also continue to champion legislation that will protect victims and potential victims by punishing and holding sexual predators responsible. Finally, I will also continue to push legislation that will protect nurses and other emergency personnel.
County Meetings
Over the past couple weeks, I have had multiple meetings with county officials from Beltrami, Hubbard, and Lake of the Woods counties to hear what projects and issues they view as a priority for the 2018 session. It’s important to hear from these leaders in the community and I value their input.
New 2018 Laws in effect January 1
While much of the great work we did during the 2017 Session went into effect later in 2017, a few laws went into effect on January 1st, 2018. Among the new laws that went into effect were uniform election dates, more specialty license plates, and two health-related reforms -- one will make it easier for patients to refill their prescription eye drops and another will allow home health care workers to count training for those who are hard of hearing towards their annual training requirements.
The full list of new laws from the 2017 Session is available here.
Please continue to stay in touch to share your thoughts or concerns. My phone number is 651-296-4265 or you can email me at rep.matt.grossell@house.mn.
Have a great weekend and God bless!
Matt