Legislative Update: Jue 11, 2024

Dear Neighbors,

Recently, the Minnesota Legislature concluded its most consequential two-year session.  After many years of divided government and Republican gridlock that prevented meaningful progress for our state, House DFLers got the job done through a host of accomplishments that will benefit Minnesotans for generations to come. We passed a gun violence prevention bill that includes tougher penalties for straw purchasers and a ban on binary triggers, a bill that will increase wages for rideshare drivers while keeping companies operating in Minnesota, a health occupational licensure and scoping bill, legislation improving our child welfare services and addressing racial disparities, and a tenants’ rights package. 

Here are other bills we passed this year that will improve the lives of all Minnesotans in every corner of our state:  

• Minnesota Voting Rights Act, ending prison gerrymandering, and increasing early voting on college campuses
• Elimination of minimum wage carve outs for youth, J1 visa holders, and workers at small businesses 
• Prevailing wage in publicly-financed housing projects and eliminating misclassification fraud 
• Medical debt reform  
• Minnesota African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act  
• Strengthen Paid Family and Medical Leave law 
• Funding for services for crime victims 
• Prohibition on banning, removing, or otherwise restricting access to age-appropriate books or other material from a school library    
• Expanding our nation-leading Child Tax Credit 
• Invest in tree planting across the state 
• Prior authorization reform 
• Funding for the Rise Up Center to support clean energy jobs and training in our community 
• Protections for clean drinking water and healthy soil, with investments in sustainable farming

And more!  

You’re Invited to a Coffee and Conversation!

Please join me this Saturday, June 15th, any time from 1:00 to 2:30 at Olivia’s Organic Cafe for a coffee and conversation! We will be gathering to recap the 2024 legislative session and look to how we can work together in the months and years ahead.

Clean School Bus Funding

I’m glad to share that the Rosemount - Apple Valley - Eagan school district in our community will receive funding as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus rebate program. The rebates will be used to cover the cost of buses that are zero- or low-emission and will improve the health of our children and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The program started through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden, which includes $5 billion over five years to transform the country’s existing school buses with “zero-emission and low-emission models.” You can read more here: Funds for clean school buses coming to hundreds of districts, White House says. 

Slow Mow Summer

You’ve probably heard of “No Mow May” and may have even participated in making your lawn more pollinator-friendly! While it’s a catchy slogan, researchers from the University of Minnesota Bee Lab have modified the popular campaign due to additional research on best practices for pollinators and lawn health.

“Slow Mow Summer” takes the sentiment of “No Mow May” and expands it to the entire growing season! Because guess what? Bees need food AFTER May, too. Many bee species do not even emerge from hibernation until June or July, when self-heal, ground plum, lanceleaf tickweed, or calico American aster may be blooming in your lawn. 

Mowing after lawn flowers bloom instead of before is the main goal of “Slow Mow Summer.” You can learn more about how best to help native pollinators, like Rusty Patched Bumblebee, survive and thrive here!

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