Friends and neighbors,
With just a few days left in the legislative session, we're moving full speed ahead to deliver on our promises to Minnesotans. Just last night, the Minnesota House passed two major bills. First, we passed HF 100, which will legalize adult-use cannabis and provide automatic expungement of prior petty misdemeanor and misdemeanor marijuana convictions. There will also be a Cannabis Expungement Board to review other cannabis convictions and determine whether a person is eligible for expungement.
Next, we passed HF 2369, a bill I authored to improve working conditions for Minnesota’s rideshare drivers, many of whom are immigrants and refugees. Minnesota's rideshare drivers deserve to come home safe to their families at the end of the day, period. We will not tolerate bad actors exploiting hardworking Minnesotans to pad their corporate pockets.
If your business relies on keeping your workers in poverty, you don’t have a viable business model and you need to do better here in Minnesota.
Wednesday, we passed Paid Family and Medical Leave for the final time. The United States of America is the only developed country in the world that does not guarantee some sort of paid leave for its workforce, and it’s been a major disservice to our citizens and our economy. In addition to the benefits for workers, paid family and medical leave will also benefit businesses. Studies have shown that businesses with paid family and medical leave policies have lower turnover rates, higher productivity, and stronger employee morale. Paid family and medical leave will also help to attract and retain top talent. Our bill creates a grant program for businesses with 50 employees or fewer that could apply for grants to cover certain costs. This is a massive win for Minnesota.
We also passed our Jobs and Labor Conference Committee Report earlier this week, which includes a $27 million investment for South Minneapolis and $9 million in loans to rebuild cultural and economic corridors that sustained infrastructure damage after the murder of George Floyd. With the Promise Act, we’ll help boost culturally rich areas and empower them to thrive again while also boosting Minnesota’s economy.
So far, we’ve passed Conference Committee Reports on Veterans and Military Affairs, Housing, Higher Education, Legacy, Agriculture, Early Education, Public Safety and Judiciary, K-12 Education, Jobs and Labor, Environment and Energy, Commerce, Cannabis, and Paid Family and Medical Leave.
These are just a few of the dozens of important bills Democrats passed during the 2023 legislative session. DFLers are committed to working for the people of Minnesota, and we will continue to fight for progress in the years to come.
I am confident our work over the past several months will help create a better Minnesota. Here’s a quick recap of some of the big things we’ve delivered for Minnesota.
Keep in Touch
Thank you for trusting me with the honor of representing you in Saint Paul. Be sure to follow my Facebook page for timely updates over the interim and to stay up to date for the 2024 legislative session.
Please continue to share your questions, ideas, and feedback with me. You can reach me by email at rep.hodan.hassan@house.mn.gov. You can contact my Legislative Assistant, Elijah, at 651-296-1761 or via email at elijah.henderson@house.mn.gov.
I am truly honored to get to work for you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
In solidarity,
Rep. Hodan Hassan