Dear neighbors,
I’m working hard on preparations for the 2022 legislative session. This week, I helped launch a new caucus, introduced legislation, and learned more about resources for people experiencing homelessness in Dakota County. My colleagues and I also shared plans to provide additional support for Minnesota students and improve public safety.
Launching a New Caucus
On Wednesday, I joined legislators from the Minnesota House and Senate to launch the Minnesota Health Plan Caucus! Members of this new caucus will work together to expand access to health care, lower costs, and address inequalities. Our goal is to make sure everyone in Minnesota can get the care they need at a price they can afford. I’m proud to be a co-chair of the caucus and looking forward to working on this important issue.
You can watch the press conference where we announced the formation of this caucus here.
Introducing New Bills
The legislative session doesn’t start until Monday, January 31, but I’ve already introduced a few bills. This week, I introduced a bill that strengthens requirements for physical and sensory accessibility in state-funded housing developments (HF 2695), a bill to protect dentists from certain third-party payer practices (HF 2673), and a bill to provide deferred maintenance funding for the University of Minnesota system (HF 2689).
Addressing Homelessness
Homelessness is an important issue in Dakota County and working to address it is one of my top priorities. Earlier this week, I rode along with Isiah from Ally Supportive Services in West St. Paul on the Dakota County point-in-time (PIT) count, an annual count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness.
I also visited a resource event that included warm clothing, county intake workers, housing advocates, and local public safety officers, all there to advise and support people experiencing homelessness. I’m proud of the work our county does!
2022 Education Plan
Every Minnesotan deserves access to affordable child care and early learning, a great K-12 education, and the opportunity to pursue higher education. This week, House DFLers released a plan to ensure all students have the resources and support they need to succeed. Under this plan, we’ll work to:
- Expand access to child care and early learning so every child can get a great start in life.
- Increase funding for special education and English language learner programs.
- Provide additional resources for students with disabilities.
- Recruit and retain more teachers of color and Indigenous teachers.
- Lower the cost of college.
You can read more about this plan here.
2022 Public Safety Plan
We released a public safety plan as well. It invests $100 million in proven strategies to address rising crime rates, strengthen investigations, and keep Minnesotans safe. The plan contains funding for:
- Innovation in Community Safety grants to support nonprofit organizations working to prevent crime. These grants may be used for juvenile diversion efforts, community violence interruption, restorative justice programs, community-based mental health and social service centers, victim services, and more.
- Local Community Policing grants, which enable more officers to build relationships with neighbors in areas with disproportionately elevated levels of crime. These funds could be used to foster partnerships with community groups for crisis response and to expand co-responder teams as well.
- Crime Investigation grants that will help deliver justice. They may be used to hire and train investigators, purchase evidence processing equipment, and more.
You can find more information about our public safety plan here.
Free COVID-19 Resources
The federal government is sending millions of masks to pharmacies and communities throughout the nation that will distribute them for free. The State of Minnesota began distributing masks this week as well. They will distribute 2.1 million KN95 masks to schools, local public health agencies, child care centers, and other sites that will give them to Minnesotans for free. If you have trouble finding free masks in our community, please let me know. I’ll do my best to help you find the resources you need to protect yourself and others.
Stay in Touch
I look forward to working with you this year! If you’d like to stay updated on news from the Capitol, you can follow my Facebook page for frequent updates. Feel free to share this email with friends, family members, or neighbors who might be interested as well. They can sign up for emails at https://bit.ly/ReyerUpdates. If you have any questions or feedback, you can email me at rep.liz.reyer@house.mn or give me a call at (651) 296-4128.
Sincerely,
Liz Reyer
State Representative