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Dear neighbors,
Yesterday I had the opportunity to tour a community vaccination clinic at Metcalf Middle School in Eagan. As the largest vaccination site in Dakota County, this clinic administers about 1,700 vaccines per day! I was able to see how the clinic works and thank the fantastic staff and volunteers for helping us defeat COVID-19 one shot at a time.
If you’d like to receive alerts when vaccines are available nearby, I encourage you to sign up for the Vaccine Connector. Minnesota’s vaccine supply is gradually increasing, and there will be more opportunities to get vaccinated in the coming weeks.
We’re in the home stretch, but we need to stay vigilant as new, more contagious variants emerge. All of us can help keep others safe by wearing a mask (even if you’ve been vaccinated), maintaining a distance, washing your hands frequently, and getting tested if you don’t feel well or think you’ve been exposed to COVID-19.
Supporting Survivors of Sexual Assault
Legal loopholes often make it difficult or even impossible for Minnesotans who’ve experienced sexual assault to get justice. As you may have heard, the Minnesota Supreme Court recently ruled that under our current criminal sexual conduct (CSC) statutes, the definition of “mentally incapacitated” doesn’t include people who become intoxicated after voluntarily consuming alcohol or drugs. As legislators, it’s our responsibility to address this issue. I’m co-authoring a bipartisan bill that would close the intoxication loophole. The bill also strengthens Minnesota’s CSC laws to ensure that every survivor can get the justice they deserve.
Reforming Our Criminal Justice System
Almost one year after the death of George Floyd and in the midst of the Chauvin murder trial, Minnesotans are still asking for a fair justice system that delivers accountability and integrity in law enforcement. We are answering this call with legislation that invests in correcting our criminal justice system. It delivers funding for body cameras, reform training, and updated policy manuals and enacts reforms that would make sure police officers protect and serve all Minnesotans with respect for their constitutional and human rights. I look forward to hearing this bill on the House floor. In the meantime, please join me in demanding justice now, and in demanding steps that provide the equitable system we all deserve.
Creating a Strong, Equitable Budget
With six weeks left in the legislative session, my colleagues and I are working hard to develop a strong, equitable budget for the next two years. We worked on thousands of bills during the first half of the legislative session. Now, we’re creating comprehensive budget and policy proposals that contain many of these bills based on feedback we heard from Minnesotans. These proposals, which are often called “budget bills” or “omnibus bills,” reflect our vision for Minnesota.
House DFL leaders and legislators unveiled our budget bills on Monday, and I’m proud of the bills that we’ve brought forward. Since then, we’ve been vetting the bills, adopting amendments, and, most importantly, hearing from the public. If you’d like to learn more about our budget proposals, I recommend checking out the articles published by Session Daily. Each one has a nonpartisan summary of the bill and links to more information. You can also watch the public hearings we’ve held on House Public Information Services’ YouTube channel. I’ll continue sharing information about the budget as well as updates on our progress, so please stay tuned!
If you’d like to stay informed during the final weeks of the legislative session, please like my Facebook page for frequent updates. Feel free to share this email with family, friends, and neighbors who might be interested as well; if they’d like to subscribe, they can do so at https://bit.ly/ReyerUpdates.
Please continue sharing your questions, ideas, and feedback and let me know if I can be of assistance. You can reach me at rep.liz.reyer@house.mn or 651-296-4128.
Sincerely,
Liz Reyer
State Representative
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