Dear neighbors,
I hope everyone who celebrated holidays this past weekend had a joyful time with friends and family. Legislators just returned from a short break to observe the holidays and are now preparing to head into the second half of the legislative session.
Here’s a look at what we’ve been up to at the State Capitol recently:
Community Coffee Hour
As a reminder, on Saturday, April 6th at 9:00am I will be hosting another Community Coffee Hour– this time at Galaxie Library. This event is an opportunity for you to share any thoughts or concerns you have about issues you care about as we enter the final weeks of the Legislative Session. I hope to see you there.
House Floor Votes
This week the House began passing policy bill packages in major issue areas building on the work of our historically productive 2023 session and improving the lives of Minnesotans. The House passed two policy bills supporting our Departments of Military Affairs and Veterans Affairs, which passed with unanimous support!
We passed a higher education policy bill that includes the clean energy sector in our Workforce Development Scholarship Program and expands support in higher education for students who have a disability. We also passed an early education policy bill focused on strengthening our pre-kindergarten and school readiness programs. Finally, we passed a transportation policy package that improves road safety, DVS wait times, child passenger safety, and consumer protections.
Committee Hearings
This week, I presented my bill, HF 4587, to the House Commerce Committee. This bill aims to improve driver safety for those of us 50 and over. It changes the rules governing driver safety courses to reduce the length of the first-time course from 8 hours to 4 hours to be eligible for Minnesota’s auto insurance discount, without compromising the quality of the content. This change will encourage more older adults to take these courses, as we’ve seen a decline in enrollment in courses that require 8 hours. With traffic deaths on the rise for older Minnesotans, my bill aims to help keep older drivers safe on the road through education. This bill was passed by the House on Thursday as part of a broader transportation policy bill.
In the Health Committee, I presented HF 4853, which would create more oversight when nonprofit health maintenance organizations (HMOs) merge with for-profit entities, otherwise known as an HMO conversion. The pledge of nonprofit HMOs in Minnesota has always been to exist as a charitable organization for the health care benefit of Minnesotans. When a for-profit health care entity purchases a nonprofit HMO, charitable assets are commonly removed from public benefit after years of public investment, making millions of dollars for executives and nothing for working families. My bill creates robust safeguards around HMO conversions to ensure that our state avoids this loss of public assets.
Veterans Day at the Capitol
Veterans and supporters are invited to participate in the annual Veterans Day on the Hill, on Wednesday, April 17. Advocate for veterans’ issues, meet with legislators and attend the State Capitol rotunda rally. I hope to see you at the Capitol on April 17!
Keep in Touch
Please continue to contact me anytime you have questions, need assistance, or have input to share at rep.robert.bierman@house.mn.gov or 651-296-5506. I always appreciate hearing from you. You’re also welcome to follow me on my official Facebook page for more updates.
Thank you for the honor of representing our Apple Valley neighbors at the State Capitol.
Sincerely,
Robert Bierman
State Representative