Dear Neighbors,
Last Friday marked the end of “Deadline Week”, the most hectic week of the legislative season. All policy bills had to clear all of their policy committee stops and come to rest in the finance committee that will fund them (or be sent to the floor for a final vote) or they’re technically dead for this legislative session. Over 5,000 bills have been introduced this session, and many good ones will now have to “wait until next year”.
My biggest disappointment is that our regulatory reform bills to remove barriers to the construction of starter homes and apartments did not get the hearings they deserved in a key committee.
I did receive one piece of very good news on Friday. The supplemental budget agreement among the House, Senate and Walz administration includes funding for the enforcement of my Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act, HF2309, which could pass the House as soon as next week. Minnesota will become the fourteenth state to grant its citizens control over the use of their personal data by companies.
Capitol Page Program
This year, one of the House pages hails from our district in Bloomington. Matea Ramirez is a high school student at Bethany Academy and aspires to a career in medicine. She professes to be having a great time here at the Capitol and we’re happy to have her!
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 article on how this could benefit Minnesotans, here.
High Demand of Universal School Meals Prompts Legislation to Meet Need
Participation in the universal school meals program has surpassed the initially anticipated increase by more than 20% across the state. To ensure we’re meeting the need and filling this gap, House DFLers approved legislation to continue these investments so no child goes hungry at school.
MPR had a great story about the program that you can read here.
House Approves 101 Environmental Projects
Minnesotans take pride in our legacy of environmental stewardship. That’s why DFLers 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.
Keep in Touch
Don’t hesitate to reach out if I can provide any assistance. Please follow me on my Facebook page for further updates and invite your friends and family to do so as well.
I've fallen way behind on my correspondence right now, but with the pressure of “Deadline Week” now behind us, I plan to devote time this week to getting caught up on my backlog of constituent emails.
Thanks for the honor of representing you at the Capitol.
Sincerely,
Steve Elkins
Representative, District 50B
Minnesota House of Representatives