Update on Bill to Ban Social Media Algorithms for Kids + More from St. Paul

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

The State Office Building reopened to the public this week. It was so nice meeting with constituents in my St. Paul office once again!

Today is first deadline for bills to be heard in Committee in order for them to stay “alive,” so committees have been meeting in additional sessions all week.

Keep reading for more updates from the Capitol. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Executive Summary

• Bill To Ban Social Media Algorithms For Kids
• Bill To Give Tax Credits For Workforce Training
• Bill To Show Support For Ukraine
• Update On Reinsurance
• Confederation Of British Industry Meeting

Bill To Ban Social Media Algorithms For Kids

My bill (HF 3724) to ban social media algorithms from targeting kids continues to make bipartisan progress!

It passed the House Judiciary Committee 15-0 on Tuesday and has been referred to the House floor. The Senate companion bill passed their Commerce Committee by voice vote on Wednesday and will be heard in the Senate Civil Law Committee next week.

I spoke with WCCO earlier in the week about the importance of this legislation. You can listen to that conversation here. 

Bill To Give Tax Credits For Workforce Training

A bill I authored was also heard in the Tax Committee on Thursday.  HF 3564 will give tax credits for businesses who provide workforce training. Our employers are facing immense workforce challenges. The State Demographer has indicated the state is not expected to see any net growth in workforce over the next 15 years due to low birth rates and increasing retirements in the Baby Boom generation. 

Our old model of driving economic growth primarily through job creation is no longer going to work. Instead, economic growth will increasingly be dependent on raising productivity through innovation and workforce training.

My bill will help spur investment in workforce training to attract employees and help them increase their skills and productivity by giving businesses a tax credit when they invest in training or up-skilling their employees. 

Businesses should design the training programs to meet their particular needs rather than the usual approach. The state has grants for training in broader skills that don’t necessarily meet the unique needs of individual businesses. Small and medium businesses also don’t usually have the time or staff to apply for these grants – my bill makes it possible for all businesses, regardless of size, to be able to access support for workforce training through the tax code, which is much more effective and efficient. The bill was "laid over for possible inclusion" in the final tax bill.

Bill To Show Support For Ukraine

Yesterday the House passed a bill to end investments by the State Board of Investment in Russian securities or any businesses whose principal place of business is in the Russian Federation or Belarus. This will ensure that the State of Minnesota is not inadvertently providing financing for the Russian war against Ukraine. I am proud to support the people of Ukraine and I am glad that the state of Minnesota is doing our part to not fund the Russian atrocities against a sovereign democratic country.

Update On Reinsurance

Last night the House passed a bill to extend reinsurance. I have been fighting for extending the reinsurance program since last session, as it helps keep the cost of healthcare low for Minnesotans. We have a deadline of April 1 to extend reinsurance beyond 2022 in order to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing.

While reinsurance is an important tool to keep premiums affordable, I voted against the DFL's bill to extend it as their legislation was full of new insurance mandates and included provisions that had nothing to do with reinsurance. 

The House, Senate, and Governor will continue to negotiate to extend reinsurance by April 1. I look forward to supporting a clean bill that does not include new mandates. 

Confederation Of British Industry Meeting

I hosted a meeting with Sen. Julie Rosen this week with more than 20 Legislators for a roundtable discussion with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). The CBI is a sister organization of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers. We had a very productive discussion about ways to strengthen the UK-Minnesota relationship by expanding trade and investment. 

The U.K. is Minnesota’s 9th largest trading partner and we increased exports to the UK by 7% in 2021. The UK also has made significant “foreign direct investment” or FDI in Minnesota and is looking for new opportunities to invest in our state, particularly in the Ag-tech and Med-tech spaces. Currently, there are about 185 UK-based companies with operations in Minnesota, which employ 21,000 and have property and plant values totaling over $2 billion. 

The CBI delegation was also visiting TX and MD while they are here.  I hope we can continue to promote Minnesota as great place for new investment and continue to expand opportunities for Minnesota companies to export to the UK.

Photos

Judiciary Committee Republicans meeting in person for Committee again now that the State Office Building is open. We hope full in-person Committees will resume soon!

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 matters to which I can be of assistance.

The best way to reach me is by email: rep.kristin.robbins@house.mn. For occasional updates, you can follow my Facebook Page at @RepKristinRobbins. You can also leave a voicemail on my office number, 651-296-7806, which is checked multiple times per week.

Have a great weekend!

Kristin