Friends and neighbors,
I hope you are all staying safe and warm in this snow. The only thing that could stop our progress in the Minnesota House is Mother Nature, who cut our work week short - but not before we passed significant legislation on Monday.
Here’s the latest on our work at the State Capitol:
Minnesota Children's Museum
Our children need to have spaces that spark their creativity and engage their critical thinking skills. I want to support our youngest citizens and their parents to have ample opportunities to learn about STEAM and science. I introduced HF 1263 in the Legacy Finance Committee to create new opportunities for hands-on learning and expand outreach services into communities throughout Minnesota.
Catalytic Converter Theft
I voted YES on another bill on Monday. This one, House File HF 30, seeks to crack down on the theft of catalytic converters by prohibiting anyone from possessing a used, unattached catalytic converter unless the owner has the vehicle identification number (VIN) for the vehicle, and the date the converter was removed from the vehicle. It prohibits the sale and purchase of catalytic converters by anyone other than registered scrap metal dealers and would impose a fine of up to $1,000 for unlawful possession and sale.
Minnesota ranks in the top five states for catalytic cover thefts. In November of 2022, a federal takedown of a catalytic converter theft ring of over a half-billion dollars included more than a dozen search warrants across Minnesota. It is going to take all levels of government working together to address this issue, and our bill puts us on the right path.
Establishing the Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls
The last bill I’ll highlight from our Monday floor session is House File 55, which would create an Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls. I voted YES because Black Minnesotans have told us they experience a lack of urgency from our public institutions when Black women and girls are reported missing. This new office will set strong standards for promptly sending alerts and supporting the community members closest to the pain of not knowing what happened to a missing family member or loved one.
Modeled after the Office of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives, the bill would enact recommendations in the December 2022 report of the Missing and Murdered African American Women Task Force and would be dedicated to preventing and ending the targeting of violence against Black women and girls.
Conversion Therapy Ban
I am incredibly proud that we voted to ban the harmful practice of conversion therapy Monday night. We need to affirm and celebrate all youth no matter their identity. Thank you to all the courageous advocates in the queer community who fought relentlessly to end this hateful practice. It is because of your relentless advocacy and determination that Minnesota will finally ban this dangerous and discredited practice.
Universal Free Meals
We passed a bill to provide free school meals for all students! We pride ourselves on our strong education system, but with 1 in 6 students trying to learn on an empty stomach we are not living up to our values. We have the resources to prevent student hunger and it’s our duty to step up and provide the food security families need and the high-quality education our children deserve. Children learn better when they are nourished and have the resources they need to successfully engage in their classroom.
Child Care and Early Learning
I voted with all my DFL colleagues to pass a pair of bills to deliver investments to stabilize childcare and early learning in the state. HF 13, would increase the maximum rates for all childcare assistance (CCAP)-eligible children from the 30th or 40th percentile to the 75th percentile of the most recent survey of provider rates. A review of state rates shows that Minnesota is currently near the bottom. The rate change would apply to Minnesota children of all ages.
The second bill, HF 150, delivers $12.25 million in emergency investment in childcare stabilization grants. It also includes $40 million in early learning scholarships, with expanding eligibility to start at birth, rather than the current age of three. This will provide early learning and care to an estimated 4,000 additional children.
The 2021 Legislature established the childcare provider stabilization grant program for monthly base grants to help providers stay open and continue to provide care and learning. 70% of the funds go directly to compensate childcare workers. But the size of the payments is currently scheduled to drop in half starting in March, threatening the fragile stability of providers. HF 150 would reverse this cut.
Video of the floor debate can be viewed on the House Public Information’s YouTube Channel.
Sick and Safe Time
I voted for sick and safe time for all workers in Minnesota. Everyone deserves the chance to rest and recover when they need to. I'm proud to support a bill which puts everyday workers first! It is inevitable that we all get sick or need to care for a loved one who is ill. As legislators, we should never put Minnesotans in a situation where they need to choose between their family and their paycheck.
Prescription Drug Prices Continue to Soar
Many Minnesotans count on prescription medications to live healthy lives. Unfortunately, the prices of many drugs are growing rapidly, at rates much faster than inflation. As a result, there is an increasing risk of people rationing needed medications or worse, skipping them altogether. Meanwhile, as Minnesotans face increasing costs, drug company profits continue to soar.
The Minnesota Department of Health has released new data available in several interactive dashboards, giving Minnesota consumers and policymakers insight into cost trends and other information to address high drug prices. Under an initiative lawmakers passed in 2020, MDH collected and analyzed data from more than 200 manufacturers covering nearly 700 drugs. For the drugs with the fastest growing prices subject to Minnesota reporting, list prices rose an astonishing average of 41.6% from 2017 to 2022.
All Minnesotans deserve health care they can afford, and the ability to pay for prescription drugs is a critical aspect of health, wellbeing, and economic security. House DFLers recognize the high prices of prescription drugs impact everyone in our state, and we’re working on a variety of solutions including those to improve price transparency, crack down on price gouging, eliminate cost-sharing and co-pays, and more.
Keep in Touch
Please don’t hesitate to reach out anytime with input, or questions, or to let me know how I can be of assistance at rep.samakab.hussein@house.mn.gov or 651-296-5158. Be sure to ‘like’ and follow my new Facebook page.
Thank you for the honor of serving our community,
Stay warm,
Rep. Samakab Hussein