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Dear Neighbors,
I hope the summer has been treating you well! I wanted to share the new laws that came into effect on July 1st. You can find a comprehensive list of these new laws here. Here’s a highlight of what to look out for:
- Balanced Budget: The 2019-2020 state budget began on July 1st. Our budget invests $500 million in public education, protects health care for more than 1 million Minnesotans, and makes vital investments in housing across the state.
- Election Security: Authorizes the state to accept nearly $6.6 million in federal Help America Vote Act funds to assist in beefing up the state's election security.
- Wage Theft Prevention & Enforcement: Minnesota will now have one of the strongest wage theft prevention laws in the nation. Our worker’s deserve an hour’s pay for an hour’s work, and these new laws will hold accountable those who would seek to cheat employees out of their hard-earned wages.
- Addressing the Opioid Crisis: In Minnesota, we’re going to start holding opioid manufacturers accountable for the crisis they helped create and profit from. New revenue from fees on manufacturers and distributors will be put towards prevention, treatments, and assistance for communities struggling to keep up with the public safety costs from the opioid crisis.
- Homework Starts with Home: A program that works to identify, engage, and stabilize students experiencing homelessness will receive $3.5 million in funding thanks to legislation I authored this session.
You can also find a list of all of our news laws here. Many have already been implemented, and more will follow on August 1st.
Sincerely,
Michael Howard
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