Legislative Update – July 18, 2024
I hope you have been enjoying our summer, staying dry from the rain and cool from the heat! It has been a busy summer so far for me, as I’ve been attending events highlighting our transformative legislation passed in the 2023-24 session, meeting with other state legislators, and talking with community members about how we can continue to strengthen our district.
This newsletter will be my last e-update until after the election. During an election period, legislators cannot use state resources for unsolicited communications because it might create an unfair advantage. You can still stay up to date with my legislative work by following my official State Representative Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StateRepresentativeKristiPursell
Even though my communications will be limited, I am still available to help with state-level problems, answer your questions, and discuss important issues in our community. So please don’t hesitate to reach out at rep.kristi.pursell@house.mn.gov if I can assist you in any way.
Fair Repair and Transit Groundbreaking
I was proud to join Attorney General Keith Ellison, Senator Rob Kupec, and more at for a Repair Independence Day event at Tech For Success in Minneapolis. We highlighted the enactment of our state’s Digital Right to Repair law. This bill, one of the strongest in the country, protects consumers, increases competition, and helps our small business community!
As the lead author in the House of our effort to expand Right to Repair to agricultural equipment to help our small and generational farmers thrive, I was glad to speak at the event on the importance of my legislation. I look forward to working to close this loophole for agricultural equipment in the future alongside Senator Kupec. You can read more in the Sahan Journal here: Can you fix it? Yes, you can. Minnesota’s Right to Repair bill is now in effect.
I also was glad to join in on the groundbreaking for the new Northfield Transit Hub, which will be connected to the Historic Northfield Depot and support regional bus and other transportation options. You can read more here. Finally, I recorded a video with the city of Northfield with a full legislative session review of our work in 2024.
New Laws Now in Effect
On July 1, some of the new policies and investments we passed at the State Capitol this year took effect, including $43 million to improve student literacy. We can make all the investments in education we want, but none of them will be impactful if our children are falling behind on reading.
Other highlights of the new laws include making sure our driver’s license exams utilize plain language, criminalizing the use of “deep fakes” to influence an election, and investing nearly $80 million in lottery proceeds towards more than 100 projects to protect Minnesota's natural resources.
You can read about these new laws and more in this nonpartisan summary of what was enacted on July 1 or in this Fox9 News article: New Minnesota laws starting July 1 that could affect you.
Share your Input on Prescription Drug Pricing
DFLers are interested in hearing from Minnesotans about how prescription drug prices impact their health care, what affordability concerns exist, and which drugs might benefit from pricing transparency. If you are interested in providing your insights, you can complete the Public Input on Prescription Drug Price Transparency in Minnesota form to share your experiences and help guide the Minnesota Department of Health’s ongoing drug price transparency work.
Stay Connected!
Unfortunately, due to technological constraints, replies to this newsletter won’t reach my email account. To share your input or ideas, or if I can ever be of assistance, please feel free to reach out at rep.kristi.pursell@house.mn.gov or 651-296-0171, and I will be happy to help.
You can also follow my Official Facebook Page here. If you were forwarded this email and you’d like to subscribe, click here. If you have a friend or neighbor who would be interested in receiving these, please forward this and encourage them to subscribe!