Legislative Update – April 3, 2025Dear Neighbors, I hope you’ve been able to enjoy some of the warmer weather and longer days of sunlight as we head into spring! Here at the Capitol, we’ve been busy meeting with constituents and advocates, holding bill hearings, and moving forward budget proposals for the 2025 Legislative Session. The House has returned to the 67-67 tie voters delivered in November, and the previously negotiated co-governing agreement is now in effect. House committees are rotating gavels, with DFL and Republican co-chairs setting their respective agendas and bill hearings. As the co-vice chair of the State Government Committee, we have already made significant progress on bills that improve government efficiency and guardrails. As the session progresses, I’m looking forward to coming together on the places we agree and finding compromises that move our state forward in every area of government. As I’ve talked about in previous updates, I’ve been working on multiple bills—from HOA reform to cybersecurity measures and supporting local pharmacies—that can get bipartisan support, and I’m dedicated to fighting for a responsible state budget that helps working families thrive. I’ve been receiving emails from some constituents recently about legislation I’ve authored alongside House and Senate Republicans to reform the laws around HOAs. Our package of legislation was carefully crafted after a months-long working group gave recommendations on how the law can better protect homeowners and renters while also providing clear guidelines for volunteer boards to cut down on conflict between neighbors. You can read more about our bipartisan efforts in my last newsletter here. Meeting with the CommunityThank you to all the folks who took the time to meet with me these past several weeks—it’s an honor to bring your voices to the Capitol. I met with reproductive rights advocates, the Minnesota Higher Education Facilities Authority, the President of Gustavus (my alma mater), and even the adorable Sage, a puppy here for the Animal Humane Society’s annual day at the Capitol. Then, while back in district, I came across a smart troop of Girl Scouts learning the value of entrepreneurship and could not resist taking home some cookies!  For more on my visits both in our community and at the Capitol, please visit my Official State Representative Facebook page here. Supporting our VeteransI was proud to stand with veterans, veteran advocates, and other legislators to support a bill protecting veterans from fraudsters. These claim sharks seek to profit off our veterans by cheating them of the benefits they have earned. Our veterans deserve better! We all recognize that protecting vulnerable veterans from being defrauded is one of the most sacred obligations we have as a government, which is why I was proud to add my name as a coauthor on this proposal.  This is a top priority of the Commander's Task Force, and we were joined by supporters from the VFW, Disabled American Veterans, American Legion Minnesota, and the Association of County Veteran Service Providers for a press conference on the bill that you can watch here. In addition, I introduced a bill to raise the caps for food expenditures by charitable gaming organizations, allowing more room to cover expenses for veterans' celebrations. Building Healthier CommunitiesI’m proud to serve on the House Health Committee, where I’m fighting for common-sense solutions to ensure our health care system is accessible and affordable for our Minnesota families. The committee heard my bipartisan bill modifying physician assistant licensure requirements and another bipartisan bill supporting the Minnesota Higher Education Facilities Authority’s ability to help nonprofit health care organizations expand and grow to better serve our communities while ensuring patients get the world-class care that makes Minnesota a leader in the nation.  As a champion for small, independent pharmacies, I continue to work hard to preserve this critical community resource. Between 2013 and 2023, Minnesota lost 61% of small independent pharmacies. It’s no exaggeration to say that these pharmacies are in crisis, which is something I heard while visiting local businesses earlier this year, like St. Paul Drug, which has been in business for nearly 100 years. That’s why I presented a bipartisan bill that has the support of both the DFL and GOP co-chairs of the Health Committee to establish a directed pharmacy dispensing reimbursement for the Medical Assistance (MA) program. This bill directly supports local retail pharmacies that fill prescriptions for Minnesotans, usually mom and pop shops that have earned the trust of their community members over decades. I’m proud to be carrying this bill, and I will keep you updated on its progress this session. We also heard three bills specifically crafted to bring down prescription drug costs. If these were passed into law, Minnesotans would see a significant decrease in the price of the drugs they rely on, and I hope we can find common ground to pass these bills in our divided legislature. I’m proud to be a coauthor and supporter of all three of these bills.  Modernizing the Political Contribution RefundThe House Elections Committee heard my bipartisan bill modernizing the political contribution refund program that encourages grassroots, small-dollar donations to elections by refunding the first $75 a person donates to political candidates each year. Most importantly, this bill would allow residents to claim this refund online, easing the barrier for residents to use this program making the program easier to use, more efficient, and saving taxpayer dollars to process the refunds for citizens. I was joined in the committee by supporters representing the Department of Revenue, Clean Elections Minnesota, and the Director of Minnesota’s Campaign Finance Board.  |