Tonight: Join Us for Our District 48 Town Hall

Dear Neighbors, 

The 2022 legislative session begins next week, and as I prepare for the return to our (still remote) work in the Minnesota House, I want to hear from you! Tonight, I’ll be joining Sen. Cwodzinski and Rep. Pryor for our latest District 48 Town Hall. Unlike our previous events, we’re doing something a little different and holding this as a hybrid event, with options to join us in-person or online.

We’ll be starting at 7:30pm, and you can join us in the Heritage Rooms at Eden Prairie City Hall, or via Facebook live on my legislative page. Those attending in person will be required to wear a mask.

If you have any questions you’d like us to address during the town hall, you can submit them ahead of time here.

Public Safety

One of the most common issue areas my office has been fielding inquiries on recently has been public safety. With last year seeing highly publicized trials and rising crime on everyone’s mind, I joined my legislative colleagues in sending a letter to our local government officials, committing to the work of making our communities safer.

Yesterday, the House DFL Caucus released our public safety priorities for the legislative session, dedicating $100 million to making our state a safer place to live for all Minnesotans.

This is one of several areas where we’ve highlighted our proposals for the legislative session. You can also read up on our climate and economic security priorities. 

Nurses Needed

One of the most in-demand jobs in Minnesota right now are nursing assistants. With the ongoing pandemic and the recent wave of cases due to the Omicron variant, the State of Minnesota has set a new goal to recruit, train, and deploy at least 1,000 new certified nursing assistants by the end of January for our long-term care facilities experiencing staffing shortages.

If you are interested in pursuing a career as a nursing assistant, enroll today and the State of Minnesota will pay for qualifying expenses associated with your CNA courses (i.e. tuition, fees, books, technology needs, test fees), ensuring the training is available at no-cost to you.

You can find more information on the Certified Nurses Assistant training program here.

At-Home COVID Tests

Many of us have become very well acquainted with our local COVID-19 testing sites, especially with the recent surge of cases due to the Omicron variant, and now there is a new opportunity to order free at-home COVID-19 tests. Residential households in the U.S. can order one set of 4 free at-home tests from USPS.com. Here’s what you need to know about your order:

• Limit of one order per residential address
• One order includes 4 individual rapid antigen COVID-19 tests
• Orders will ship free starting in late January

You can find more information and order tests here. 

Stay Connected

Regardless of whether you’re able to join us at our town hall, always feel free to reach out to me with any questions you may have on our work in the legislature this year. The Minnesota House will continue to operate remotely this session, at least at first, meaning much of our staff will continue to work from home, and our hearings and floor sessions will be available virtually.

With session beginning on the 31, one of the best ways to stay up to date is through Minnesota House Public Information, where you’ll be able to find daily updates and access to livestreams of committees and floor debates. 

The best way to contact me is at rep.carlie.kotyza-witthuhn@house.mn or 651-296-7449. As we continue remote operations, email is the quickest way to get in touch. If you haven’t already, you can also subscribe by email to these legislative updates here. 

Here’s to a productive legislative session!

All my best, 

Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn

State Representative