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Neighbors,
Yesterday, Governor Walz extended the Stay at Home order until Monday, May 18, but also lifted some restrictions. Beginning on Monday, May 4, retail businesses and other non-critical businesses can offer curbside pick-up. This will put up to 30,000 Minnesotans back to work in a safe, coordinated way.
Businesses must:
- Develop and publicly post a plan for how to open safely.
- Use online payment whenever possible.
- Employees and customers should wear masks and protective equipment.
- In curbside pick-up scenarios, social distancing guidelines apply. If possible, customers should not leave their vehicle.
- In delivery scenarios, items should be deposited outside a customer’s residence.
In the time Minnesotans have bought by staying home, Minnesota has:
- Announced a landmark testing strategy that will allow us to complete up to 20,000 tests a day and test every symptomatic Minnesotan.
- Built hospital capacity and finalized a lease on an alternate care site to make sure that all Minnesotans who need care can receive it.
- Worked to acquire more personal protective equipment to protect our frontline workers.
Governor Walz strongly encouraged all Minnesotans to wear a manufactured or homemade mask at all times when they go any place where social distancing is difficult.
Read more on all of Governor Walz’s Executive Orders here.
COVID-19 economic security plan released
The House and Senate DFL outlined our COVID-19 our economic security plan this week, which focuses on the following priorities:
- Keeping Minnesotans safe in their homes with a $100 million investment in housing assistance
- Providing economic security for our education professionals by ensuring full pay for our hourly school employees
- Providing economic security for the personal care assistants who care for vulnerable Minnesotans through a well-deserved and long-overdue wage increase
- Keeping Minnesotans connected by ensuring all Minnesotans have access to the broadband they need to go online
- Helping families make ends meet by using available federal funding to boost payments for low-income working Minnesotans in the Minnesota Family Investment Program
You can read more in this Session Daily story.
Committee and Session work
In Higher Education this week, we heard from the Private College Council, the State University System, and the University of Minnesota about how campuses and students have been impacted by COVID-19 and what they anticipate happening in the fall of 2020. You can watch the committee on the House Public Information Services’ YouTube channel here.
My bill HF 3737, which modified licensing requirements for childcare providers, passed with strong bipartisan support out of the Early Childhood committee. You can view the committee hearing on the House Public Information Services’ YouTube channel here.
We met in floor session twice this week. I voted remotely in my office, but
practiced social distancing and abided by the recommendation to wear a mask.
Virtual Town Hall – SAVE THE DATE
On Wednesday, May 13, Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn, Sen. Steve Cwodzinski and I are hosting an online townhall from noon to 1:00 p.m. I’ll have more information next week on how you can participate.
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Here are steps we can continue to all take to stay healthy:
- COVID-19 primarily spreads by droplets in the air. For your safety and the safety of others, the best thing to do to slow the spread is to stay home. When you do go out in public, stay at least six feet away from other people and wear a mask.
- Wash your hands often and when you wash them, do so for 20 seconds before rinsing (that means singing Happy Birthday twice before rinsing).
- COVID-19 can also spread from surfaces to you, but only via mucous membranes. In other words, it can only infect you by going from your hands to your eyes, nose or mouth (it cannot infect you through your skin). Therefore, don’t touch your face. This is hard to stop doing (we are creatures of habit), so if you touch your face think about why and look to identify triggers. That will help you break the habit.
- If sick, stay home. If you are very sick (i.e. fever, cough, and shortness of breath) and you feel like you need to see someone, call first or do an e-visit. Do not just show up to your clinic, Urgent Care, or Emergency Dept. without notifying them first. This helps the clinic, Urgent Care, or Emergency Dept. prepare for you and helps avoid infecting others.
- When you cough, use your sleeve to cover your mouth and help prevent forming droplets that can infect others.
Please continue to reach out with any input, ideas, or feedback about the issues important to you. I value hearing from you, so please don’t hesitate to call or email me any time. You can also connect with me on Facebook here. It’s an honor to represent you at the State Capitol.
Sincerely,
Laurie Pryor
State Representative
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