Dear Neighbors, First, I hope you and your loved ones have stayed safe in the recent snowstorm! These quickly changing temperatures are a reminder that Minnesota’s “cold weather rule” is still in effect, which protects residents from having their electric or natural gas service shut off until April 30. To ensure your service is safe from disconnection, you must make and keep a payment plan that you and your utility provider agree on. More information is available on the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s website. An initiative I authored in 2021 may also help lower costs. While older homes have their charm, many homeowners needing basic home improvements like repairing windows, removing asbestos, repairing cracked foundations, or siding often face challenges paying upfront for these pre-weatherization measures. Minnesotans using CenterPoint or Xcel Energy can schedule an appointment with the Home Energy Squad to visit their homes to identify low-cost energy-saving solutions. Each visit is approximately two hours, and during that time, the Home Energy Squad will perform various energy-saving tests, inspect your insulation, heating and cooling systems, and water heater. Learn more here! I hope you find these resources helpful - now here’s the latest on our work in the Minnesota House, and what I’ve been up to this week. Meeting with our Community Protecting Opportunities for our Kids As a child of refugees, I would not be where I am today without access to programs like Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities and YWCA St. Paul. They do more than provide a healthy space for our communities - they provide housing support, education opportunities, leadership training, and workforce development. They are instrumental in keeping our children safe and building supportive environments to foster growth. I look forward to supporting bills that will help further this work.  Meeting with MAPENo one organizes like MAPE! I met with a group of over 20 constituents representing public professional employees, who shared their vital work in keeping our state government running. With the uncertainty at the federal level, their work is more important than ever. They represented professions in food and water, housing, forensics, human services, education, corrections, and counseling. Our state is one of the best run states because we have dedicated public servants working to protect it! Funding this work means generating sustainable revenues, and that is why I am proud to reintroduce and carry one of their priorities, the fifth tier tax bill. This bill will create a fifth-tier tax rate for individual filers earning a taxable income more than $250,000 and married couples filing jointly with incomes over $500,00 at 12.45%.  College Admission Counselors Minnesota has one of the worst student counselor ratios in the nation. Having adequate school counselors and support staff is critical to student success. In smaller school districts, school counselors help students navigate credits for graduation, discuss college applications, serve as social workers, and act as therapists. While we have made progress, more work is needed. I was fortunate to meet with professionals and students in the field to address this issue. Our students succeed when they have a supportive network of adults who can support them through a "whole child" approach. Thank you Minnesota Association for College Admission Counseling (MACAC) and Minnesota School Social Workers Association (MSSWA) for all your great work!  Ensuring Quality Healthcare Throughout my time in the legislature, I have advocated for healthcare that is more affordable and more accessible. I had the pleasure of meeting with the Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers - a non-profit membership organization of Minnesota’s 17 federally qualified health centers. Members from the Minnesota Community Care, Open Cities Health Center, and People's Center Clinics and Services shared how instability at the federal level, low reimbursement rates, and threats to programs like 340b contribute to the difficulty of sustaining FQHCs. Community Health Centers provide integrated primary care services under one roof to almost 170,000 Minnesotans at over 80 rural and urban sites across the state. I am so grateful to these dedicated health care professionals for advocating for the needs of the patients they serve.  Community Updates Trump Cuts put Minnesota’s Budget at RiskLast week, a new state economic forecast confirmed that Donald Trump’s policies are already moving Minnesota’s economy and state budget in the wrong direction and making life more expensive for hardworking Minnesotans. Last November, the state budget forecast showed a $3.7 billion surplus over the current budget cycle, a $616 million positive balance in the upcoming biennium, and our highest budget reserve fund ever–all due to responsible DFL governance. But as of today, Minnesota’s projected positive balance has shrunk to $456 million.  Instead of bringing down prices as they promised on the campaign trail, Trump and Republicans in Congress are on the verge of enacting a sweeping tax cut for corporations and the ultra-wealthy, and they’re going to pay for it by slashing federal investments in health care for children, families, seniors, and people with disabilities. This will have dire consequences for the people of Minnesota and our state budget. This latest budget forecast means that the Legislature must be laser-focused on a state budget that helps working and middle-class Minnesotans, not corporations and billionaires who are doing better than ever. As your representative, I’m committed to fighting for an economy where everyone can get ahead. I will continue to oppose Republican bills to lower taxes for the rich, put barriers to healthcare access, and repeal policies that help Minnesotans thrive like Paid Family and Medical Leave. Recent Bills on the FloorThe Minnesota House is expected to soon enter into our co-governance agreement, following a special election tomorrow in Roseville. Once we shift back into our power-sharing agreement, committees will move to have equal numbers of members from each party and co-chairs who will share the gavel - for me, that means becoming the DFL Co-Chair of the House Commerce Committee. I view this as an opportunity to work together on the priorities of Minnesotans. Despite House Republicans currently controlling committee and Floor agendas, it’s important to note they cannot pass a bill without Democratic support, so we have to work together. Unfortunately, rather than working with Democrats on legislation to help Minnesotans, Republicans are continuing to waste time on MAGA priorities that will never pass the House. Just in the past few weeks, Republicans brought forward proposal banning transgender girls from playing sports in school, a “shoot first” stand your ground law, stripping the Attorney General of his power, and more dangerous bills that do nothing to help our working families. Democrats refuse to allow Republicans to strip or weaken hard-fought rights. We will continue to stand up for our neighbors and protect our progress. |