Legislative Update - The Great Start for All MN Children Act

Dear Neighbors,

The 2020 Minnesota Legislature is in full swing, and I’m incredibly excited to be back at the State Capitol fighting for our community. Last week was full of meetings and committee hearings as my colleagues and I prepared for a shorter legislative session with no shortage of work to get done. Here’s a quick update on some of the important bills and news from last week:

Great Start for All Minnesota Children Act

Minnesota is full of children with bright and promising futures ahead of them, but that’s sadly not the case for everyone today. Our state suffers from one of the largest achievement gaps in the nation, and if we’re serious about closing it we need to make sure we’re supporting our youngest Minnesotans long before they enter kindergarten. Research shows that the biggest payoff comes in the earliest weeks and months of a child’s life. The Great Start for All Minnesota Children Act provides $500 million for early learning and child care that would positively impact thousands of Minnesota children and families across the state.

This is one of the highest priorities for the House DFL, which is why it was the first bill to be introduced for our new majority. This week, we renewed our commitment to this legislation and our shared belief that all our children deserve a great start to life.

Affordable Insulin

Many folks in our community reached out to me since taking office to ask about what can be done to address the skyrocketing price of prescription medication, especially insulin. My colleagues and I found a solution to our state’s insulin crisis last year when we passed the Alec Smith Emergency Insulin Act, but this was unfortunately blocked by Senate leadership in the final moments of session. This year, after several community town halls – including one is St. Cloud – my colleagues and I are fast-tracking an updated version of this same bill.

Shari Wiltrout displaying the cost of insulin for her family

There were several open and transparent committee meetings on affordable insulin last week, and more scheduled for this week. It’s an incredibly important issue that is directly impacting Minnesotans, and some have even lost their life trying to ration insulin. The bill will likely finish going through the committee process this week, and we’ll soon vote for it on the House floor. From there I call on the Senate to join us in an open discussion on how we can make insulin more affordable for Minnesotans.

REAL ID

Starting October 1, Minnesotans will need a passport or a REAL ID-compliant ID card to board a commercial flight or enter certain federal buildings. For many of us that means updating our driver’s license. While the deadline for REAL ID is months away, I highly recommend applying as soon as you’re able to, as the process can take several weeks. The Department of Driver and Vehicle Services is still processing applications from December of last year.

Here’s what you need to bring with you when applying for your REAL ID:

• One document providing proof of identity and date of birth. This can be an unexpired passport, a certified copy of a birth certificate, or a certified certificate of citizenship. You may also need a certified marriage certificate if your name is different than on your birth certificate.
• Proof of a social security number. You can use your Social Security card, a W2 showing taxes withheld from the current year, or a paystub with your name, address, and Social Security Number.
• Two documents providing proof of Minnesota residency. This can be many documents, but the most commonly used ones are an unexpired current driver’s license, a credit card or bank statement from the last 90 days, a federal or state income tax return from the recent filing year, or a utility bill that does not have another name beside your own on it.

You can find more information about REAL ID, including a complete breakdown of acceptable documents to bring when applying, here.

Stay Connected

I’ll be splitting my time between St. Cloud and St. Paul for the next few months, but I still want to hear from you. If you have a moment, please consider taking my brief survey on legislative issues, most of which are related to a town hall I hosted and/or are expected to be a highlighted issue this session.

Please feel free to call me at (651) 296-6612, or email me at  rep.dan.wolgamott@house.mn if you have any questions, comments, or solutions to improve Minnesota together. I also encourage you to share these updates with friends and family that might be interested. You can sign-up for these updates here.

Go Huskies!

Rep. Dan Wolgamott