It was great meeting with representatives of the Albany American Legion this week. I am a proud supporter of our veterans and thanks for stopping by to talk!
Dear Neighbor,
Greetings from St. Paul, where the initial round of omnibus finance bills to set the state’s next budget continued coming to the House floor for votes this week.
Here are some of the latest developments at the Capitol:
Nursing homes
House Democrats approved human services omnibus finance bill (S.F. 2934) this week which fails to address the long-term care issues in our state and severely underfunds this portion of the state budget.
The House Human Services Finance omnibus package (S.F. 2934) came to the floor accounting for just .01 percent of the Democrats’ $72 billion budget proposal that consumes the state’s $19 billion surplus and increases state General Fund spending by 40 percent.
It is unacceptable to dedicate such a small fraction of the record-setting budget to help nursing homes pay their caregivers a livable wage and preserve access to care across the state. Minnesota is in the midst of a “silver tsunami,” with more than 1.3 million state residents aged 65 or older. As these residents age, their need for care grows and it is unfortunate to see Minnesota is not keeping up with these needs.
Things may only get worse until we address this issue. The long-term care industry in Minnesota already is operating with a worker shortage of 53,000 and, In the month of October alone, 11,000 elderly residents were turned away from nursing homes – largely due to lack of staff. The inability to fully staff our nursing homes then creates unwanted stress on hospitals, with nearly 20 percent of their bed space taken up by people who would be better served recovering in nursing homes or assisted living facilities.
Education
The education bill (H.F. 2497) recently approved by the majority is more about mandates than students and takes away local control from school districts. The majority will say this is historic investment in schools but, with all the added mandates and administrative bureaucracy, many districts will be left with more difficult budgets than they are experiencing now.
Here is a comparison of top-line education provisions proposed by House Republicans vs. House Democrats:
The education bill also would be a blow for in-home childcare by pushing more children toward childcare centers that often don’t work in Greater Minnesota. And, at a time when half of Minnesota students are unable to read at grade level, Democrats are removing the requirement for grade-level reading proficiency by 3rd grade. This is not just lowering the bar on our students; it is eliminating the bar altogether in a move that will not help close our state’s woeful achievement gap.
There also is concern over language in this bill which targets faith-based colleges and universities from offering PSEO programs on campus. We are hearing the Senate does not support this provision so let’s watch to make sure it is not part of the bill when it comes back for a vote on final passage.
A silver lining in this bill is a House Republican amendment that was included making civics a credit-bearing subject for Minnesota high school juniors or seniors. This would help mitigate a significant knowledge gap in this subject area, with reports showing the vast majority of our high school graduates are constitutionally illiterate, ill-prepared to carry on our republic.
Marijuana
The House approved a bill (H.F. 100) to legalize the recreational use of marijuana this week. Whatever your thoughts are on this issue in general, the actual bill that received approval has major shortcomings that pose serious threats to our state. A lack of field testing, public-safety impacts, negative consequences for our workforce at a time we already face immense workforce challenges, and problems facing the insurance industry in Minnesota are just some top concerns that come to mind. At the very least, let’s hope a conference committee strikes problematic language in the House version.
Public safety
The House majority this week also passed a public safety bill (S.F. 2909) which includes provisions of concern regarding the First Amendment. One measure in the bill creates a hate-incident registry where the state would create a government database of perceived “hate incidents” that fall short of criminal acts. To be clear, we’re not talking about “hate crimes” because those already are tracked.
In other words, the bill gives the state authority to collect data about crimes of bias that have not been reported to law enforcement – so there is no documentation that the event happened – but people still could be placed in a “hate incident” registry.
The bill also features anti-Second Amendment language from two controversial gun control bills: H.F. 14 (universal gun registration) and H.F. 15 (red flag). I support our law enforcement officers’ concerns about provisions that are unworkable and unrealistic to enforce on the streets. Instead of addressing the root causes of violent crime, this bill will create strict and impractical hurdles for law-abiding Minnesotans seeking to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Criminals looking to acquire firearms will not follow the complex new process laid out in the proposal and it will do nothing to stop the flow of firearms among criminals.
Our efforts should be focused on enforcing the numerous laws we already have governing firearm transfers before the Legislature creates new ones that will harm law-abiding citizens and are unlikely to deter those with bad intentions.
Watch for more from the House soon. We are now in the final month of the 2023 session and these omnibus finance packages soon will be coming back to the floor for votes on final passage. Let’s hope the conference committees make a number of much-needed improvements.
Sincerely,
Lisa