Dear neighbors,
As we enter the final stretch of the 2024 legislative session, I'm proud of the progress we've made together, building a stronger Minnesota for working families. We're committed to securing fair wages, affordable healthcare, and investments that empower our communities.
Keeping you informed: Here are some recent developments from the Capitol:
House Floor Action
The House continues to debate and pass supplemental budget and policy bills on the floor, covering important issues such as education, labor, housing, the environment, and more. Our work this year builds on last year’s historic successes and works to improve the lives of working and middle class Minnesotans. Recently, the House has passed:
- A broadly bipartisan bill investing $240 million in our outdoors, clean water, parks and trails, and cultural heritage from the Legacy Amendment fund.
- A K-12 Education bill that boosts resources for the READ Act to improve literacy, moves forward solutions for student wellbeing, and enhances support for teachers.
- An Environment and Natural Resources bill with new investments in tree planting, improving air quality, holding repeat polluters accountable, and tackling solid waste and recycling.
- A Children and Families bill that reforms our child protection system and builds on historic investments in economic support for families, food security, and emergency shelter.
- A Transportation, Labor, and Housing bill that invests in railroad safety and public transit, enhances worker rights and safety, improves housing stability for renters and seniors, and funds homelessness prevention.
We passed a Pensions and Retirement bill with bipartisan support, which prioritizes educators’ retirement security, improves our pension systems’ health, and strengthens the benefits retirees can expect. Also passed was a bill addressing the “kidfluencer” industry that safeguards young content creators with protections for safety, fair compensation, and future financial security.
Passing Gun Safety Legislation
Lost and stolen guns are often used in crimes, or end up in the hands of those who may cause harm to themselves or others. According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, roughly 266,000 guns were stolen across the U.S. per year from 2017-2021. Of these, only 3% were stolen from federally licensed gun dealers, while 95% were stolen from private citizens, equivalent to one every two minutes, and a quarter are never reported to law enforcement.
This week we passed legislation to help prevent gun trafficking, assist in recovering lost or stolen guns, make firearm owners more accountable for their weapons, and give our law enforcement another tool to help keep our communities safe and free of gun violence by requiring lost or stolen firearms to be reported to law enforcement within 48 hours after they are known to be lost.
We also passed legislation strengthening Minnesota’s laws around straw purchases, which occur when an individual buys a firearm for someone ineligible to purchase or possess them. H.F. 2609 updates the state’s straw purchasing law to increase the penalty from a gross misdemeanor to a felony. Additionally, the bill prohibits so-called binary trigger devices that allow a semiautomatic gun to fire more than one shot with a single pull and release of a trigger. According to charging documents, one of the firearms used in the February Burnsville shooting was equipped with such a device.
You can view my full remarks on H.F. 2609 on the House floor here.
Finally, we passed H.F. 4300, which requires the safe storage of firearms, an important step to prevent access by children and others who should not have access to guns. This bill requires firearms be stored either unloaded and equipped with a locking device or placed in a locked firearm storage unit (e.g., a gun safe) or a locked gun room, where it may be either loaded or unloaded. The safe storage of firearms will save lives.
All Minnesotans deserve to be safe in their communities, and this legislation is a step in the right direction. I was proud to vote yes on these bills.
Around the Capitol
This week, Three Rivers Park District visited the State Capitol and brought their lambs! It was great to visit with them between House floor votes. I wish I could have brought them on to the House floor with me!
In the News: the Minnesota Debt Fairness Act
There were two great articles in newspapers this week highlighting my bill, the Minnesota Debt Fairness Act. In the Eagan-Burnsville Sun, the APG ECM Editorial Board made the case for why the Debt Fairness Act should have bipartisan support. The Star Tribune also published an article highlighting the harsh realities of living with medical debt.
Both articles demonstrate why we fought to have the Debt Fairness Act included in the House Commerce policy bill, and why we must continue working to ease Minnesotans’ burden with medical debt. We've heard so many stories about people's difficulty managing their debt and the harm that comes with it. This legislation will help alleviate Minnesotans’ medical debt and help middle and working class families afford their lives.
Minnesota’s Climate Progress!
You may have seen MPR’s recent climate story - Report finds Minnesota outpacing the country in carbon-free electricity. Minnesota has produced more than half our energy from carbon-free sources for the fourth year in a row, and seen a 10% annual drop in greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector!
The report, released by Clean Energy Economy Minnesota and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, shows clearly that the steps we are taking at the Legislature to address and combat climate change are working. We can’t afford to backtrack on our progress.
Minnesota is leading the way toward a cleaner, greener future! House Democrats are taking action on climate change with the urgency required, and we will keep working to accelerate our transition to carbon-free energy sources.
Question of the Week
Listening to my constituents is the most important part of my job as your state representative! Each week during this legislative session, I’ll pose a question to you to better inform my work. Seeing your responses in my inbox is the highlight of my day, so please keep them coming!
This week’s question is:
How else should the legislature continue to address gun violence in our communities?
You can send your answers in an email to rep.liz.reyer@house.mn.gov with the subject line “Question of the Week.” I’m looking forward to reading your responses and learning from your experiences. Thank you to all of you who have responded in past weeks!
Stay in Touch
As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions or feedback you’d like to share. You can contact me by email at rep.liz.reyer@house.mn.gov or call (651) 296-4128. Please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Sincerely,
Liz Reyer
State Representative