Dear Friends and Neighbors,
It has been another busy week at the Capitol! We have been working late to get all of the finance bills passed before the second deadline. I hope you are enjoying the spring weather and I hope many of you have been able to enjoy spring break with your families. I am grateful for the longer days and the gorgeous sunrises and sunsets we have seen this week!
Here's a quick recap of what we have been working on:
Pelvic Exam Bill
This week, Senator Michelle Benson, the Chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, and I held a press conference on our bill to make it a gross misdemeanor to perform a pelvic exam on an anesthetized woman without first receiving the patient's consent, unless it's medically necessary and the patient is unable to consent. Seven states have similar laws in place and two more states are currently considering such legislation.
I had no idea this was even something that occurred until a friend recently brought it to my attention. The linked Forbes article she shared with me brought to light a practice where some teaching hospitals allowed students to gain experience conducting pelvic exams on women under anesthesia without their consent. As a woman, and as the mother of three girls, I was appalled that this practice may be occurring. However rare this may be, if it happens to even one woman without her consent, it is completely unacceptable.
Although I learned about this issue too late for the bill to meet the committee deadline, Sen. Benson and I want to raise awareness so women discuss this with their doctors before having surgery. We don't believe it is a widespread problem in Minnesota, and the U of M doesn't use this practice to train students, but we have heard anecdotal evidence that it has been a common teaching practice in the past. Minnesota is a national leader in health care, so passing this bill highlights our commitment to best practices by requiring consent before pelvic exams can be done under anesthesia.
Driver's Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants
This proposal was heard in my Judiciary committee and was voted on the House floor today. Although the Majority did accept some of our amendments to improve the bill, I still voted against it as I still had serious concerns about several of its provisions. I support legal immigration and hope our congressional leaders will finally address this important issue, which must be dealt with at the federal level. I will continue to follow this bill through the rest of the session.
Omnibus Bills
This week we have started hearing the Majority's omnibus bills, which combine many individual bills we have heard testimony on into one large bill. Each committee does this, combining the policy and funding for each policy area into one large bill that meets the Committee's overall budget target. Each of the omnibus bills I have heard had several good policies I would like to support, but they are outweighed by a number of bad and expensive proposals that we simply cannot afford. I wish we could find a way to pass each bill as a free-standing item so we could support the many items that have bipartisan support and then have a rigorous debate about the controversial items that may or may not pass.
Another frustrating aspect of this omnibus process is that policy or funding items can be added without a hearing. The Jobs & Economic Development omnibus bill had 30 items that were not heard in our committee. Although many of these 30 items had been heard in other committees, they had not been presented to us, yet we had to vote on them. Of those 30 items, 5 had never even been introduced as a free-standing bill! I asked where the language had come from but never received a good answer. One of my most important roles as a legislator is to be a good steward of the taxpayers' money and I do not support voting on things we have not even heard testimony on.
Governor Walz's State of the State Address
I was honored to be able to attend my first State of the State address this week and was happy my husband was able to join me! Governor Walz gave a good speech about working together to write our own story and he shared the stories of many Minnesotans. I was disappointed that he did not provide any specifics about his legislative proposals, however. He didn't discuss the $1 billion tax increases; his proposal to increase the gas tax by 20-cents per gallon, or his various proposals to address healthcare and education. I think it was a missed opportunity for him to make his case for his proposals, which we are actively considering in committee every day. I hope he will engage in the details more directly with the Legislature so we can, hopefully, end the session well in May.
Things to Know
This is somewhat old news, but I wanted to share it in case you haven't heard. You can now get your passport issued or renewed at Maple Grove City Hall! This is much more pleasant and efficient than going to one place to get your passport photos taken and then going to a county center to wait in a long line to do the paperwork. If you need to get a passport issued or renewed, you can make an appointment online and not have to wait. This one-stop shop has been open for just under a year. Their great customer service makes it a pleasant, not frustrating, experience! :)
Rep. Robbins at passport office at Maple Grove City Hall
Photos from the Week
A few photos from some of the constituent meetings I had this week! Meeting with people from our district is always the highlight of my week!
Rep. Robbins with University of Minnesota students for U of M day at the Capitol
Rep. Robbins with North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters this week
Rep Robbins with Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer and with Senators Gazelka, Limmer,
and Israeli Consul General from Chicago at the Governor's Reception
Rep. Robbins with Maple Grove City Councilman Phil Leith at Daily Dose
Please Contact Me
Many of you have already been in touch to discuss your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you. Thank you for sharing your ideas! Please continue to contact me to discuss any legislation put before the House or any other matters to which I can be of assistance. You can set up a time to visit me at the Capitol by calling me at 651-296-7806 or by email at rep.kristin.robbins@house.mn. My office is located on the second floor of the State Office Building in room 225.
I hope you all have a fun weekend!
Kristin