Legislative UpdateHello friends, Last night we heard two very important bills on the House floor, HF24 and HF25. HF24, also called the Born Alive Rollback, provides legal protections for infants who are born alive after an abortion procedure and mandates that they get the life saving care that they need. HF25, also known as the Supporting Women Act, is a bill to provide funding to crisis pregnancy centers, which support mothers and babies in a challenging time of life. Both of this bills were debated, eliciting passionate discussion on both sides of the aisle. When they came down to a vote, however; every single Democrat voted against both of these bills. Rather than choosing to affirm life and give expecting mothers support and the gift of choice, House Democrats chose to make these political issues and voted against these bills. House Republicans are committed to fighting for these rights, and hope to reconsider the bills later in the session. Updates from the CapitolMy bills: HF6 - Education Priority Bill. Although I am not the chief author, this bill is our most important and holistic education bill. This bill was heard in committee and tabled for future consideration. HF629 - Bonding for Blooming Prairie HF630 - Extension of Short-Call Substitute Teacher Program. This bill was heard in the Education Policy Committee, and then referred to the Education Finance Committee. It will likely be heard on Tuesday next week. HF877 - Amending the Read Act. This bill was referred to Education Finance, and I am currently working with other representatives so that it will be ready for another hearing in the future. HF1128 - Requiring public high schools to participate in the direct admissions program HF1170 - Bonding for the Minnesota BioImaging Center of the Hormel Institute HF1178 - Bonding for the Mower County FAARM program HF1381 - Out-of-field permissions exempted from limit on renewals HF1456 - Austin; local sales and use tax authorized HF1538 - Teacher apprenticeships funding provided, report required, and money appropriated. This bill was heard yesterday in the Education Finance Committee. Its next stop is in the Labor and Workforce Development Committee. HF1959 - Teacher preparation program grant eligibility modified. This bill was heard yesterday in the Education Finance Committee and laid over for possible consideration in the future. HF1960 - Displaced homemaker programs funding provided, and money appropriated. HF2246 - Civic education grants funding provided, and money appropriated. For Youth in Government. HFXXX - Coming soon: Allowing high school students to earn the Minnesota Civic Seal on their High School Diploma. Expected to be introduced in the next week, I will provide updates when I have them! |