This Week on the FloorThe Minnesota House passed several budget bills off the floor this week, including the Environment and Climate budget, the Veterans budget, the State Government and Elections budget, the Transportation budget, the Housing budget, the Legacy budget, the Agriculture budget, the Early Childhood budget, the Children and Families budget, and the Higher Education budget. To say we’ve been busy is an understatement! I’m particularly proud we were able to pass the Environment and Climate budget, which includes legislation I authored to ban PFAS from Minnesota. You can watch my remarks on the Floor here. The Senate passed their Environment budget last night. Now, we head to conference committees to finalize the bill before it heads to the Governor for signature. For those of you who have been following this legislation with me, you’ll recall Oakdale resident Amara Strande. Amara battled a rare form of cancer caused by PFAS contamination by 3M for the last 5 years. Amara died last week after a long fight. With her remaining time on earth, Amara fought for her life and in our committee hearings - fought for change. She did everything within her power to prevent this catastrophe from happening to another person and another family. Her legacy will live on, and her work will help prevent PFAS from taking lives in the future. Clean Water Action Minnesota put together a very nice tribute to Amara and her advocacy work. You can view it here. The Governor’s State of the State AddressWednesday night, Governor Walz delivered the State of the State address from the House Floor. Now we’re 100 days into his second term, and we can already look back and see all the great things we’ve gotten done for Minnesotans together. It’s no coincidence we are making immense progress this session: we have the youngest and most diverse legislature in our state’s history, with leaders who are committed to getting things done for Minnesotans. You can view the full address here. |