Dear Neighbors, It’s been another busy week at the Capitol and in our community! It started out with Governor Walz’s State of the State Address on Sunday - which happened to be on my birthday! It was an unconventional way to celebrate, but a great reminder of the values our work should be grounded in. As Governor Walz said during his speech, which you can watch here, “if we invest in our people, we can’t get it wrong.”  I’m keeping these shared Minnesota values in the front of my mind as I navigate the busiest part of the legislative session. There’s some tough decisions involved and plenty of negotiations and compromises to be made, but it really boils down to listening to people and doing what we can to improve the lives of Minnesotans. I’m grateful for your partnership and support in this work! Strengthening Our Democracy and State Government Minnesotans deserve a government that’s responsive to their needs. On Tuesday, the House approved a bill to strengthen our state government and protect free and fair elections. The Election Worker Protection Act, legislation I authored to protect the 30,000 Minnesotans who help staff polling places and run our elections, was included in the bill. Election officials are experiencing an increase in threats, harassment, and attempts to interfere with their duties due to the spread of conspiracy theories and lies about the 2020 election. My bill will help keep them safe and ensure they can carry out their important work. You can find more information about this bill here. Supporting Minnesota Workers On Monday, House DFLers voted to provide $1,500 bonus checks to more than 600,000 Minnesotans - the health care workers, first responders, child care providers, food service and retail workers, and others who kept our state running throughout the pandemic. Frontline workers have risked their own health to support the rest of us. They deserve to be compensated for their sacrifices and hard work.  The bill we passed on Monday contained legislation I introduced to extend unemployment insurance benefits to hourly school workers. Bus drivers, paraprofessionals, nutrition staff, and other hourly workers play a critical role in our schools. They should receive the same benefits as other workers. In addition to being the right thing to do, this is an effective way to prevent the staffing shortages many schools are facing. Most hourly school workers live paycheck to paycheck, and some are forced to leave their positions due to low pay and instability. Providing unemployment benefits to these critical workers would help schools retain staff and ensure our kids continue to receive the care and support they need to thrive. While House DFLers have been fighting for frontline workers and hourly school workers for more than a year, Senate Republicans refused to take care of these workers. For that reason, we ended up with a lopsided bill that provides more assistance for businesses - particularly large businesses - than it does for frontline workers. The bill, which the House and Senate passed this afternoon, also leaves behind hourly school workers, some of the lowest paid employees in our schools. I’m glad we’re honoring the commitment we made to frontline workers, but we have unfinished business. I supported the bill today because I believe it’s important to get checks in the hands of Minnesotans, but I will keep fighting for hourly school workers. Connecting with Minnesotans Gathering input from Minnesotans is an important part of the legislative process! I’ve enjoyed seeing and speaking with people who’ve brought their voices to the Capitol lately.  I joined several of my colleagues and dozens of Minnesotans at a Bring It Home, Minnesota rally last week. We gathered to bring attention to and support legislation that would establish a statewide rental assistance program to help provide stability for low-income individuals and families.  I participated in Veterans Day on the Hill and toured a veterans home in Hastings last week. A few days ago, I voted for legislation that will address some of the issues we heard about, namely veteran homelessness and suicide. You can check out a fact sheet for this bill here.  Asian Pacific Islander Day at the Capitol was last week. I attended a celebration in the Capitol rotunda and had the opportunity to speak with a few people about issues that are important to them and their community. Stay in TouchWe’ve planning to pass more bills over the next few days. If you’d like to watch any of our floor debates, live streams and videos are available on House Public Information Services’ YouTube channel. Please follow me on Facebook as well. I’ll be posting frequent updates on our progress! As always, feel free to share feedback and let me know if I can ever be of assistance. It’s an honor to represent you and our community. Sincerely, Emma Greenman
State Representative |