Dear friends, Spring is here, and the House is busy as we near our “first deadline week”. This is the phase of the legislative session where we see which bills will continue to advance through the legislative process. As co-chair of the Ways & Means Committee, each bill will stop in our committee prior to going on the floor. My colleagues and I are excited to pass our vision to help working families.  You’re Invited to a Town Hall!On Wednesday, April 2nd from 8:00 pm to 9:00pm, I’ll be joining my colleague, Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman for a virtual town hall. You can RSVP at the QR Code below; I’m excited to discuss our top issues this session and hope to see you there!  Federal Budget Impacting Minnesota This week, the Minnesota House Ways and Means Committee heard presentations from the Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) and the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) on federal interactions with the state budget. The State of Minnesota receives 687 federal awards, totaling $23.3 billion, comprising roughly one-third of Minnesota’s resources. However, since late January, dozens of state awards have been disrupted, and as of the afternoon of March 20th, 24 state awards were unable to access federal funding. This would have broad-ranging effects on vital programs that help Minnesota’s children and families, like TANF, Medicaid, and more. For decades, federal investments have played a key role in ensuring Minnesotans receive the support they need to learn and thrive. But recently, our state has received some unclear federal guidance, with inconsistent access to funds, and uncertainty about the federal budget. These are creating challenges for our local governments, jeopardizing our ability to navigate an economic downturn, but I remain committed to working with our federal partners to ensure consumers are protected, our kids are safe, and our policies are lifting up our families. I’m committed to working with our members to ensure Minnesota is resilient to any short-sighted federal actions. Prescription Drug Affordability I often hear stories of people having to ration medication or choose between their prescriptions and other necessities. Minnesota has made great progress in the realm of prescription drug affordability, and my bill last year to ban price gouging of these medications put us on the right track. For too long, drug manufacturers, pharmacy benefit managers (PBM), and health plans have taken advantage of flaws in federal drug policy to squeeze consumers for ever-increasing amounts of profit. I’m happy to say my DFL colleagues and I are pushing more bills specifically crafted to target these strategies keeping affordable drugs out of the hands of Minnesotans: - HF 1652 would prohibit a health plan from forcing patients to switch drugs in the middle of the year because they’re now getting a bigger rebate from the manufacturer of a competitive drug. If a patient and a doctor find a drug that works, they should be allowed to stick with that drug for the rest of the plan year.
- HF 1075 says that health plans and PBMs must use the rebates that they received when patients bought their drug to buy down their price at the pharmacy counter in the form of a “Point of Sale Rebate.” This will ensure these rebates are being used to make expensive life saving drugs more affordable to the patients who need them.
- HF 1076 is an innovative approach not yet adopted by any other state. It requires PBMs and health plans to include the low-price drugs in their formularies and construct their formularies so that the drugs with the lowest prices for the patient (rather than the drug generating the biggest kick-backs to the insurance company) receive the best placement in their formularies. The goal of this legislation is to redirect competition away from rebates towards lower prices.
If these were passed into law, you would see a significant decrease in the price of the drugs you rely on. I’ll be sure to keep pushing for their passage and let you know of any progress! Education Cuts I’ve heard from many of you who are concerned about the federal government’s recent proposals to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. While we are still seeing what exact federal plans entail, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) has launched a public feedback portal at education.mn.gov for parents, students, teachers, and community members to submit detailed accounts of the ways recent proposed federal education cuts are impacting schools and children across our state. More than 860,000 students in Minnesota depend on stable partnerships that have existed between their school communities, MDE, and the U.S. Department of Education across administrations. For decades, the federal investments facilitated through those partnerships have played a key role in ensuring students in Minnesota receive the support they need to learn and thrive, including: - $256 million for students with disabilities
- $192 million for students from low-income backgrounds
- $27 million for academic enrichment
- $6 million for students in rural schools
- $38 million to support children living on military bases or Native American reservations
- $100 million for Career and Technical Education workforce development programs
If any of these cuts impact you and your family, please let us know! Keep in TouchPlease continue to reach out anytime if you need assistance or have questions at rep.zack.stephenson@house.mn.gov or 651-296-5513. It’s an honor to represent our Coon Rapids and Anoka families in St. Paul. Sincerely, Rep. Zack Stephenson Minnesota House of Representatives |