Dear Neighbor,
Just a quick reminder to start things off today: Hope you can attend a Zoom town hall meeting I am co-hosting with fellow District 13 legislators Sen. Jeff Howe and Rep. Tim O’Driscoll 7:30-8:30 a.m. tomorrow (Friday). It’s budget bill season in the Legislature so there will be a lot to cover on that subject and beyond. Please click here to register for the event.
As for action at the Capitol this week, the aforementioned budget bills have begun making their way to the floor in the House. Housing, Legacy, State Government Finance/Veterans, and Transportation omnibus packages all are expected to be taken up for votes before we wrap things up on Friday.
This point of the session involves long floor sessions, and the good news is more House members are able to be there in person. Until recently, we were limited to 12 House members due COVID-19 restrictions, but that number has now been lifted to 24 as we prepare to take on the session’s biggest, most impactful bills. Still a long way to go before we get all 134 House members back on the floor in-person, but at least this is progress.
While budget bills are now coming through the House floor for the first time, we undoubtedly will see them again. There are significant differences to resolve between what the House Democrat majority and the Senate Republican majority propose in their respective budget packages and work will take place to find agreement so the bills can come back to the floor again to be considered for final approval.
With a May 17 date for the Legislature to adjourn, there is enough time to bridge gaps and reach common ground, but we need to pick up the pace from the session so far. I welcome your input as we make our way through this last month of the session with our most significant decisions of the year in store. Thoughts and ideas of people from the district, of course, are welcome during Friday’s virtual meeting, otherwise feel free to reach out to me by emailing rep.lisa.demuth@house.mn.
Sincerely,
Lisa