Dear Neighbors,
As we brace for what’s shaping up to be a snowy weekend, this week has been especially busy at the Capitol as we continue working on solutions to make our state work better for everyone and help Minnesotans have the economic security they deserve. Here’s an update from the Capitol:
Gun Violence Prevention
In the Public Safety Committee that I chair, we are considering bills to prevent gun violence and make Minnesota a safer place to live. This week we heard a bill to make straw purchases of firearms a felony and improve the effectiveness of the law prohibiting the activity, strengthen the statutory definition of trigger activators (to ban the type of activator used in the Burnsville murders), and require reporting on gun trafficking and firearm seizures.
These bills are in addition to the other ones we have heard in committee this year: improving our safe storage gun law, requiring a report be made for a lost or stolen gun, allowing more flexibility to local jurisdictions to create safe spaces, and creating a task force to provide recommendations on removal of guns from those with domestic abuse convictions. This is a continuation of the work we started last year to provide for expanded criminal background checks, extreme risk protection orders (“red flag laws”), and historic funding for violence prevention efforts. Gun violence prevention requires a multi-faceted approach, and I am committed to that work.
Parenting Law Improvements
This week I presented a bill in the Judiciary Committee that would improve the laws that govern parenting time for parents who are separated. This is a complicated issue that has been worked on for years. Many stakeholders came together to work on this bill, which has broad bipartisan support.
House Approves 101 Environmental Projects
Minnesotans take pride in our legacy of environmental stewardship. That’s why we passed legislation to fund 101 projects across our state that protect our wildlife, water, air, and soil. The funding, which comes from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, uses a portion of our state lottery proceeds to ensure our environment and natural resources are protected for generations to come.
The Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources is now gathering input about the future of Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund spending and taking feedback about what environmental issues are most important to you. Make your voice heard about how to improve Minnesota's environment & natural resources. Take the survey here.
Expanding Access to Affordable, High-Quality Health Care
All Minnesotans deserve to live healthy lives with economic security, and DFLers at the Capitol are committed to expanding access to affordable, quality health care. Unfortunately, too many Minnesotans currently can’t afford health insurance or have health insurance they can’t afford to use. Working families without employer-based insurance often face outrageous premiums and other out-of-pocket costs. For instance, many plans on the individual market have annual deductibles of $7,000 or higher. This puts Minnesotans in an impossible predicament, which leads to people avoiding care and results in poor health outcomes – sometimes with tragic consequences.
One plan to solve this problem impacting middle-class Minnesotans is the MinnesotaCare Public Option. It would allow all Minnesotans to access comprehensive health insurance coverage – with vision, dental, and more – with low out-of-pocket costs and a large network of quality medical providers. People enrolled in the Public Option would pay their own premiums – with significantly lower prices than what’s available currently on the individual market – determined on a sliding scale based on income.
MinnesotaCare has been a nation-leading, highly successful, and trusted health insurance program serving low-income working Minnesotans for over 30 years. The bill creating a MinnesotaCare Public Option – which would expand affordable health insurance to thousands of more Minnesotans – is advancing through the committee process in the House. There is a great explanation on how this could benefit Minnesotans, here.
Constituent Meetings
I have very much enjoyed meeting with all of the constituents who have come down to the Capitol this year to talk about legislation they are interested in. Please be sure to let me know if you plan on visiting!
Stay In Touch
Please feel free to contact me directly with your viewpoints or if I can be of assistance. My email is rep.kelly.moller@house.mn.gov and my phone number is 651-296-0141. You can learn about bills that have been introduced here and keep track of the bills I’ve authored here. If you have neighbors, friends, or family who you think would find these updates valuable, please share this with them; they can subscribe here. I also encourage you to follow me on Facebook.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve you.
Sincerely,
Kelly Moller
State Representative