Dear neighbors,
I hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and having a great holiday season!
Legislators are busy preparing for the 2022 legislative session, which is scheduled to start in January. We’re connecting with Minnesotans, drafting bills, and making plans as individuals and as a caucus. Here are a few of the things I’ve been working on:
At the beginning of the month, I attended a timely meeting of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus. Now more than ever, we need to hold the line on reproductive freedom in Minnesota.
Reproductive rights are being threatened in our state and across the nation, and I’ve received numerous emails from constituents urging the legislature to focus on this issue. There are several efforts underway to protect Minnesotans’ reproductive freedom and to expand access to education and medically accurate information about reproductive health. I’ll continue to support these initiatives.
I’m leading a team of advocates, legislators, and high school students to construct a bill that requires schools to offer free menstrual products and provides funding to help them purchase these supplies. Studies have shown that about 23 percent of students who menstruate have struggled to access period products. For this reason, period poverty results in significant absenteeism and impacts equitable access to education in Minnesota.
I’m proud to be leading the push for period equity in Minnesota. You can read more about this important issue here.
I’m also working with a community member who has housing struggles stemming from the fact that she owns a manufactured home, but not the land beneath it. This issue is critically important to our community and to the larger cause of expanding access to affordable housing in our area and across Minnesota.
Last session, I introduced legislation to address severe rent increases and the right of residents to collectively purchase their community. I’m currently drafting a bill to ensure fair practices are used when charging residents for utilities. I’ll keep advocating for the rights of residents of manufactured homes next year.
I recently presented the Student Data Privacy Act to the Commission on Data Practices and am in the process of finalizing the language to proceed this coming session. If you’d like to help in this effort, you can follow these instructions to submit a request for your child’s student data under federal privacy laws. Your stories can help build our narrative of how our outdated student data privacy laws are hugely problematic and need to be updated to the 21st century.
I recently wrote a letter to Girl Scouts Troop 57929, who contacted me to share their thoughts and to ask a series of questions about my work and life inside and outside the Legislature. I was glad to help them earn their Democracy badges, and I’ve included my response here for anyone with elementary and middle school children who may have similar questions about the role of a state lawmaker. I enjoyed writing this letter!
MMB Releases New Economic Forecast
On Tuesday, Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) released a new economic forecast that shows a projected positive balance of $7.7 billion for the current two-year budget cycle. This is good news for Minnesota. It indicates that our economy is recovering, but we know people are still facing challenges and a great deal of uncertainty.
The budget surplus gives us the resources to help these Minnesotans and build a stronger future for our entire state. When legislators return to the Capitol, I’ll advocate for investments in education, health care, child care, and other things that make a positive difference in Minnesotans’ lives.
Saturdays with Sandra
For those who missed the Saturdays with Sandra series over the summer, here is a recording of my conversation with local educators. We had a great time talking about the Education budget legislators passed this summer, the needs of our community, and our hopes for the future. You can find all of the Saturdays with Sandra videos at https://www.facebook.com/RepresentativeSandraFeist/live_videos.
If you have questions, ideas, or feedback that you’d like to share, please don’t hesitate to reach out. You can email me at rep.sandra.feist@house.mn or call (651) 296-4331.
Sincerely,
Sandra Feist
State Representative