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Dear neighbors,
I’d like to thank everyone who joined our virtual town hall last week. Many great questions were asked, and I know Rep. Pinto, Sen. Cohen, and I all appreciated the chance to hear from our community members. If you weren’t able to participate, you can watch a video of the event here. Please continue to share questions, feedback, and suggestions!
Extended Stay at Home Order
As you may heave heard, Governor Walz has extended the stay at home order until Monday, May 18. The order has been modified so retail stores and non-critical businesses can safely begin curbside pick-up and delivery. You can find more details about the extended stay at home order here.
Increased Testing and Tracing
Governor Walz and leaders from Mayo Clinic, the University of Minnesota, Hennepin Healthcare, and other health care providers recently unveiled a plan to dramatically increase COVID-19 testing. This statewide strategy will equip health care providers to test as many as 20,000 people per day, isolate confirmed cases, and expand public health surveillance tools. Improving our ability to test, trace, and isolate cases will help keep people safe as we start reopening parts of our economy.
Thanks to this plan, every Minnesotan with COVID-19 symptoms will be able to get tested. Governor Walz recently launched a website to help people determine if they should get tested and find nearby testing locations. The new website can be found here.
Extended Distance Learning
As you may have heard, Governor Walz has announced that distance learning will continue until the end of the school year. While I believe this was the right call, I want to acknowledge that distance learning is challenging for many teachers, students, and families. My colleagues and I will continue working closely with Governor Walz to improve the current system and better support students – especially students of color, students with disabilities, students from low-income families, and others who have been hardest hit by the transition to distance learning.
Reopening Businesses Safely
Reopening schools, businesses, and our society will be a gradual process. Our efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 are working, but we can’t immediately return to the way things were before the pandemic without jeopardizing the hard-fought progress we’ve made in the last few weeks. In other words, we can’t just flip a switch. We need to expect a process that’s more like turning dials.
Governor Walz and his team have developed a plan to gradually and safely reopen our state, starting with certain industrial and office-based businesses. These workplaces are allowed to reopen if they create a COVID-19 preparedness plan and follow rigorous safety guidelines. More information about this plan is available here.
Support for Hourly School Workers
On Monday, my colleagues and I approved legislation to support hourly school employees. The bill ensures paraprofessionals, nutrition services staff, child care workers, bus drivers, and other school staff will get paid through the end of the school year.
Hourly school employees are going above and beyond to help Minnesota students and families. They deserve economic security and our support – especially during these difficult times. More information about the legislation we passed to protect their economic security is available here.
Hate Crime Reporting Bill Advances
Persistent bigotry, intolerance, and fear mongering against our neighbors has led to a recent spike in hate crimes. In order to prevent these crimes, we need to improve the way that they’re reported and handled. I’m a co-author of legislation to expand and improve reporting of hate crimes by requiring updated training for peace officers and allowing people and organizations that experience hate crimes to report them to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights instead of law enforcement.
The House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Division advanced this bill on Monday. You can read more about it here.
Environmental Justice Bill
COVID-19 has highlighted the fact that low-income communities and communities of color are more likely to experience health risks due to pollution and other environmental factors. One of the bills I’m championing would help address these disparities. It requires the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to consider the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the area around a given facility before issuing or changing permits. This legislation hasn’t been moving in the legislature, but it recently received some national attention for its unique approach to environmental justice. You can read an article about it here. I’ll continue fighting for this bill and other measures that advance environmental justice.
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Available
Unemployment benefits are now available for self-employed workers, independent contractors, and others who aren’t eligible for regular Unemployment Insurance. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) recently announced that they’ve fully implemented the new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program and begun making payments to eligible workers.
If you’ve already applied for regular unemployment benefits, you don’t need to do anything extra to qualify for PUA. DEED will contact you if you’re eligible for these benefits. If you haven’t applied yet, special instructions for self-employed people and independent contractors are available here. Additional information, including answers to frequently asked questions, can be found here.
Rebates and Bill Credits Available for Frontier Customers
Current and former Frontier Communication customers may be eligible for rebates or bill credits based on the terms of a settlement the company reached with the Minnesota Department of Commerce. Our state is holding Frontier accountable for providing inadequate services, and I’m grateful that customers will get relief as a result.
You may have already received an application for a refund or bill credit in the mail. These applications are also available online here. If you’d like to submit a claim, the deadline to apply is July 20.
I hope that you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if I can be of assistance during these challenging times.
Sincerely,
Rep. Kaohly Her
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