Menstrual Equity in K-12 and Higher EducationThough I’m listed as the “chief author,” I was just along for the ride on menstrual equity legislation brought to me and championed by middle school, high school, and college students. It was a joy to work with student and community advocates to successfully pass bills addressing period poverty in our schools and providing free period products to students from 4th grade through to higher education at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Protections from Wage Theft in the Construction IndustryClick to edit this placeholder text.  In partnership with the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, I worked to build upon the work the legislature began in 2019 to address the all-too-prevalent practice of wage theft in the construction industry. This issue disproportionately impacts immigrant workers and shifts the burden of preventing wage theft from workers, who have the least amount of power to assert their rights, to general contractors who control the project site. Nurse and Patient Safety ActThe Nurse and Patient Safety Act was a labor of love all session to provide important new protections and a voice for nurses in hospitals around the chronic issue of unsafe staffing. While we did not achieve the full version of this bill, in the last hours of the legislative session, we did pass the most comprehensive hospital workplace safety legislation in the nation. We have more work to do next session!  Probation ReformFor decades, Minnesota has struggled to adequately, equitably, and strategically fund our statewide community supervision programming, which is divided between counties and the Department of Corrections. I stepped in to work alongside the counties and the Department, as well as reformers, to chief author this legislation that creates a new funding formula and begins the process of reforming our probation systems to address the striking racial disparities in outcomes. This was a huge win for all 87 counties and for Minnesotans under supervision who can move forward successfully with their rehabilitation with additional supports and fewer barriers. Compensatory RevenueCompensatory revenue is a significant portion of our education funding formula, and focuses on students not meeting academic standards. For the past several years, I have been working with stakeholders to create a new formula based on what was previously used for free and reduced lunch forms. Because these forms are going to become obsolete as we transition to Universal Meals, we need a new “proxy” to ensure we are still adequately targeting these dollars towards students in need of this support. While my full formula was not included, we did pass into law the policy provisions designed to better target this funding, and language creating an interim funding stage to avoid disruption of funding as we switch to Universal Meals. Next session, I’ll take up this work to continue with next steps! Gross Misdemeanor Definition Change to Prevent Collateral Immigration ConsequencesMy legislation changes the definition of Gross Misdemeanor retroactively to be a maximum possible sentence of imprisonment of 364 days, rather than 365 days. In doing so, we will ensure that no Gross Misdemeanor in Minnesota can be considered an “Aggravated Felony” for immigration purposes, resulting in a near-automatic deportation. This small change will yield big consequences for immigrant communities. Office of New AmericansThe Office of New Americans, within the Department of Employment and Economic Development, is currently a temporary office with a mission of providing coordinated supports to integrate new immigrant and refugee residents of Minnesota into our communities and our workforce. I am thrilled my legislation will expand and solidify the role of this office has passed, with significantly increased funding. The Office can now provide more coordinated and effective outreach to these communities moving forward. The Violence ProjectI was proud to partner with the Violence Prevention Project Research Center to secure funding for its efforts dedicated to reducing gun violence in society using data and analysis to improve policy and practice. The Center’s research on mass shootings has received global media attention. Funding their work will give the legislature the tools for evidence-based policy development on gun violence prevention and intervention. The Boundary Waters Permanent Protection BillI introduced the Boundary Waters Permanent Protection bill in the House this session, working with the Save the Boundary Waters Campaign. The Boundary Waters Permanent Protection Bill permanently protects the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park from the inevitable and devastating damage that would result from sulfide-ore copper mining pollution in its watershed. We have more work to do next session to get this bill across the finish line.  50-Year Clean Water Action PlanAdditionally, I worked with the Friends of the Boundary Waters on legislation to begin the process of funding a 50-year Clean Water plan. This plan will be developed by the University of Minnesota Water Council, which manages and coordinates the U of M Water Network, a coalition of faculty, researchers, students, and staff working together to advance water-related research for a sustainable future. Fusion CenterThe Fusion Center, housed within the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), allows participating agencies to share information about suspected criminal and terrorist activity. I worked alongside the BCA to draft an annual reporting requirement so that we better understand what type of activities are monitored, what scale of information is collected, what quantifiable benefit there is to this type of data collection and sharing, and to provide more clarity on the data sharing between state and federal agencies. This transparency is particularly important when it comes to government agencies gathering data on private citizens who may not have violated any laws. I am looking forward to reading this annual report in coming years. Survivorship of Injury ClaimsAs an attorney, I was particularly proud to address the injustice that Minnesota was the only state in the nation where an injury claim couldn’t move forward after someone died. This led to glaring injustices to many families and allowed many bad actors to fully escape liability for wrongful acts. In particular, the previous law encouraged hospital and nursing home defendants to draw out lawsuits by an elderly person with a valid injury claim. This bill brought Minnesota in line with the rest of the nation to ensure that such claims do survive death to ensure accountability and to end the perverse incentives under the previous law around injury claims. This was a huge win for the elder advocacy community. Labor traffickingWorking with the Advocates for Human Rights and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, I helped pass into law an important update to our labor trafficking laws to address some glaring holes in our existing statutes that enable perpetrators to evade the law and enhance penalties in particular severe instances of trafficking. This legislation was designed to better protect uniquely vulnerable undocumented workers from exploitation.  Manufactured Housing ReformI worked alongside advocates to pass two bills to enhance the rights of residents of manufactured housing communities. These communities represent the most common form of affordable housing in our state and these reforms will impact the lives of the many residents in my Senate District and across Minnesota. The first bill creates new protections around how park owners pass along the cost of utilities to residents. The second bill, called the “Opportunity to Purchase” bill, will provide important notice to residents of the possibility of sale of their community via a private sale. This notice will enable residents to organize and offer to collectively purchase their community, providing more stability and facilitating deeper investments in infrastructure. Children’s Law CenterThe Children’s Law Center provides pro-bono legal representation to children aged ten and over who find themselves in the child protection system and in out-of-home placement. The Center utilizes a small staff and hundreds of volunteer attorneys who step up to support children, representing them all the way through either reunification with their parents, adoption, or until they age out of the foster care system. I worked alongside the Children’s Center to secure funding for their important operations. Bonding bill projects for local organizationsI advocated both this session and last to ensure we fund SACA Food Shelf in Columbia Heights and the CornerHouse children’s advocacy center, which is finding a new home in our community thanks to new funding. These organizations play a key role in supporting children and families when they need community support most and I was proud to have secured this important funding to facilitate expansion of their services. |