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Neighbors,
Unfortunately, the special session ended this morning when Senate Republicans stopped negotiations and adjourned. I entered the weekend grateful and hopeful. Grateful for my amazing POCI colleagues who worked extremely hard to craft a legislative package to rebuild our communities. Hopeful that these measures would become law and we could begin healing our neighborhoods and achieve justice for our neighbors.
On Friday, the House approved two important bills to help our communities. I am optimistic that we will be back in session soon to reach a compromise with the Senate and ensure the bills become law:
PROMISE Act Approved
The PROMISE (Providing Resources, Opportunity and Maximizing Investments in Striving Entrepreneurs) Act, authored by Rep. Mohamud Noor, was approved by the House. The PROMISE Act is a comprehensive plan to help businesses rebuild and recover, many of which are Black, immigrant, and communities of color owned. Regrettably, the Senate did not even consider the measure.
The legislation would:
- Create a special panel to review cases and provide direct compensation to impacted individuals.
- Partner with cities and community organizations to create economic relief programs for impacted businesses and organizations.
- Give local units of government flexibility and tools to prevent gentrification.
- Direct the Minnesota Department of Commerce to assist business owners and require insurance companies to notify the department of any rejected claims.
- Help with the rising cost of leases for eligible residential and commercial properties.
- Eliminate the sales tax on the purchase of construction materials used to rebuild damaged or destroyed properties.
- Provide property and sales tax cuts for eligible properties.
- Establish a “Metropolitan Area Redevelopment Corporation” to create a long-term plan for equity-driven redevelopment and transformation.
Police Accountability Act approved by House
Early Friday morning the House passed the Minnesota Police Accountability Act of 2020, a comprehensive package in response to the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. My People of Color and Indigenous (POCI) caucus colleagues crafted this racial justice and police accountability measure.
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Town Hall on Thursday
Sen. Dziedzic, Rep. Noor and I invite you to participate in our Virtual Town Hall this Thursday, June 25 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. We are interested in your input on special session, police accountability, COVID-19 related issues and anything else you’d like to discuss.
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