Dear Neighbors,
We are still mourning the tragedy at Annunciation Church earlier this month, and the many other tragedies before and since. Gun violence affects Americans every single day, and Minnesotans are demanding that we take action. That’s why I’m joining leaders from Bloomington and Edina for a focused discussion on what we’re going to do.
I hope you can join me, Rep. Julie Greene, Rep. Nathan Coulter, Rep. Cheryl Youakim, Sen. Alice Mann, Bloomington Mayor Tim Busse, and Edina Mayor James Hovland for a Community Conversation on gun violence prevention next Tuesday, September 23rd. To receive the location of the event, please register here: https://tinyurl.com/2t8f6tpj.
Special Session on Gun Violence Prevention
It appears quite possible that Governor Walz will be calling a special legislative session during the month of October to address gun violence prevention legislation. The parameters of such a session are being negotiated with legislative leaders. For my part, I would support legislation that would:
- Prohibit the sale of Assault Weapons (or brandishing them in public)
- Prohibit the sale or possession of Large Capacity Magazines
- Require the Safe Storage of guns in the home
- Prohibit the possession of guns in the State Capitol
The current spate of political assassinations has everyone in public service on edge – this has become personal for each of us. I recently installed a home security system in my own home (after living in my Bloomington home for 40 years without one). Nonetheless, it is not clear that there would be a single Republican vote in either legislative chamber in favor of any of these measures and, with the legislature so closely divided, Republican votes will be needed in both chambers for any gun violence prevention measure to pass. Republican leaders have proposed additional funding for mental health services – which would enjoy broad bipartisan support; however, more needs to be done.
Interim Committees
While the state legislature is adjourned until next February, this does not mean that we’re on vacation. I’m currently serving on almost a dozen legislative committees, commissions and task forces that are meeting regularly this fall, including the following:
House Fraud Prevention Committee
This House committee has been meeting monthly. This morning the committee discussed fraud in the Medicaid Housing Assistance Program in which private consultants were hired to help unhoused Medicaid members find homes. From what we know, so far, the program was badly designed when the legislation was originally enacted with bi-partisan legislative authorship during the previous administration in 2017. There was no requirement for the credentialing of the firms providing the services; no authority for the health plans paying 90% of the claims to reject providers enrolled by the Dept of Human Services (DHS); a total reliance on “tipsters” to report potential fraudsters; and no data analysis to identify emerging patterns of fraud.
We now have new leadership in key oversight roles at DHS, including a new temporary Commissioner, a new Assistant Commissioner in charge of Medicaid, a new Inspector General drawn from the Medicaid Fraud unit at the Minnesota Attorney General’s office, and a new Data Analytics unit within the DHS Inspector General’s office. Earlier this year, the Legislature tightened up the enabling legislation and provided additional funding for the systems improvements needed to properly administer DHS programs and analyze their execution.
I am personally working with DHS and MN IT Services on plans to address the severe IT system deficiencies that are contributing to the problem. The primary program enrollment and eligibility application processing system used by DHS is a DOS system dating back to the 1980s. Historically, the Legislature has been unwilling to adequately fund the ongoing maintenance and replacement of DHS systems (and DHS has not always made effective use of the funding that they have received).
Legislative Coordinating Committee (LCC)
The LCC facilitates the operation of joint House/Senate study committees that meet between sessions to study complex problems and develop legislation to be introduced when the Legislature reconvenes. This session, I’ve been appointed to four LCC committees, each of which will be meeting every 3-4 weeks between now and the reconvening of the Legislature in February:
This is a standing committee that meets regularly to hear incident reports (such as the one covering the recent data breach at the City of St. Paul) and recommend legislative changes needed to protect data and systems for our state and local governments. A special MN National Guard cybersecurity unit was able to assist in St. Paul’s recovery efforts because of legislation coming out of this committee’s work.
Minnesota has a nation-leading open government law called the Data Practices Act. Under this law, government data is presumed to be accessible to the public unless the legislature makes a specific exception. Most of the current work of this standing commission has been focused on protecting the privacy of sensitive personal data that is in the hands of state and local governments.
I am the Vice Chair of this special committee that was formed to examine how electric vehicles should be charged for their use of the roads in lieu of the gas tax. Options that we’ll examine include a tax on the electricity going into the vehicle (which is technically impractical right now) and a tax on mileage driven (which is practical and is being done in four other states right now). I believe that EV owners should pay the same amount in mileage taxes that an equivalent gas-powered car pays in gas taxes (and have been proposing this for years).
I was the author of the bill creating this task force, which stems from complaints that I received from you about the rising cost of homeowners insurance, especially from constituents living in multi-family association housing. The root cause in the upper-midwest is the increased prevalence of hailstorms and wind damage. There was a billion dollar hailstorm one recent year, and three billion dollar hailstorms in another. Home insurance companies have lost money in Minnesota over the course of the past decade.
Minnesota IT Services Technical Advisory Council (TAC)
I regularly participate in the activities of this public-private commission that brings together private sector IT professionals and state government employees. I’m especially active on three of its subcommittees:
- Cybersecurity
- AI
- Data Sharing
Minnesota has been a national leader in the adoption of policies governing the ethical use of AI in State government (without legislative prodding)!
The work of the Data Sharing subcommittee dovetails directly into the work that I’m doing on the House Fraud Prevention Committee. We’re seeing lots of opportunities to head off fraud by allowing state agencies to tap into data held by other state agencies (e.g., the MN Dept of Health could provide timely data on deaths in the state to prevent the payment of benefits to dead people).
NCSL
On top of all of this state level work, I have been appointed a co-chair of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Transportation Committee for 2026 and I am an active member of their ongoing work group on Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy and Cybersecurity.
Normandale College
Normandale College has a new interim president, Pakou Yang, and I was able to join her last month as they recognized the participants in their TRIO Upward Bound program for first generation college students.
Paid Family & Medical Leave Event
On October 7th I’ll be joining the Chamber of Commerce and the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) for a training session for Bloomington businesses to prepare them for the opening of Minnesota’s Paid Family & Medical Leave program in January:
Bloomington Employer Engagement Session
8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Bloomington Event Center
1114 American Blvd. W
Bloomington, MN 55420
Register for this event
High School Page Program
If you are or know a high school junior or college student interested in the Minnesota Legislature consider applying to the 2026 House High School Page Program! It’s a great way to get an up close look at how a bill becomes a law, advances out of committee, and passes during a House Floor session. Learn more here, the deadline to apply is December 4.
Zack Stephenson elected Leader for House DFL Caucus
Members of the House DFL Caucus met recently and elected our Current Ways & Means Committee Co-Chair Zack Stephenson as our new caucus leader to succeed Melissa Hortman. Zack and I were elected to the House in 2018 and we served together as members of the House Commerce Committee for several years (He chaired that committee for two terms). While no one could ever truly replace Melissa, Zack broke into politics as her campaign manager at the age of 17 and spent the next 20 years being mentored by her, rising to serve at her right hand during this year’s difficult budget negotiations. He will do an excellent job in his new role.
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.
Thanks for the honor of representing you at the Capitol.
Sincerely,
Steve Elkins
Representative, District 50B
Minnesota House of Representatives
rep.steve.elkins@house.mn.gov