Dear Neighbors,
Thank you to everyone that joined us for our first Town Hall of the legislative session on Wednesday. It was great to hear from you and provide an update on our work at the State Capitol. For those of you that were unable to make it, here is the latest:
Executive Order for Trans Refuge Bill
On Wednesday March 8, Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan held a signing ceremony for Executive Order 23-03, protecting the rights of Minnesota’s LGBTQIA2S+ community to seek and receive gender-affirming health care.
The Queer Caucus and I released the following statement:
“We applaud Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan for prioritizing the health and safety of our trans and queer community in Minnesota. Currently, our community is under attack nationally by anti-transgender and anti-LGBTQIA2S+ legislation by extremist Republicans. The transphobic narrative plaguing right-wing media is calling for the 'eradication' of trans people. Minnesota needs to send a clear message across the nation that we will not stand by and allow people to be stripped of their dignity, suffer excruciating trauma, and live-in fear due to the endless cycles of heinous violence and harm. The perpetuation of erasure will not happen here in Minnesota. We are obligated to the liberation of our communities by celebrating one another and affirming our identities. Our community members voted for 11 elected officials, who share salient identities, to serve and protect their human rights and to shield them against these targeted attacks. We must do everything in our power to protect our two spirit, non-binary, enby, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community so they can live openly without discrimination and embrace their human rights, personal autonomy, and freedom of expression and association. No one deserves to live in fear for wanting to be their authentic selves.”
Gender Affirming Care Act
On Thursday, the Minnesota House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee heard my Gender Affirming Care Act legislation which codifies the right of Two Spirit, transgender, nonbinary, and other gender-diverse individuals to receive gender-affirming care in Minnesota.
Gender-affirming care saves the lives of our most vulnerable trans youth and non-gender conforming community members. As a parent, we always want the best outcomes for our children. When our young children tell us who they are, we are obligated to listen to them, love them, and support them in their self-revolutionary journey. Our laws must protect our trans youth, their families, and the medical doctors and practitioners who provide health care to them.
The GARA begins by defining “gender-affirming care” as “a service or product that a health care provider prescribes or provides to an individual to support and affirm the individual’s gender identity,” which includes but is not limited to treatment for gender dysphoria.
The GARA also affirms an individual’s fundamental right to make autonomous decisions about their gender and related gender-affirming health care, a right it says is guaranteed by the principles of individual liberty, personal privacy, and equality enshrined in the Minnesota Constitution. Lastly, the GARA prohibits local units of government from regulating this right in a manner that is more restrictive than set forth by the GARA.
Take Pride Act
The Human Rights Act was passed in 1993 was the first US law to protect the lives of our LGBTQIA+ community. My Take Pride Act legislation was also heard in the Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee this week. The bill, known as the Take Pride Act, creates a new definition in the Minnesota Human Rights Act for the term “gender identity” providing that the term means a person’s sense of being a man, a woman, both, or neither, and clarifies that a person’s gender identity might not align with the primary or secondary sex characteristics commonly associated with being defined as a man or a woman.
The legislation provides an updated definition of gender identity and removes language from the existing definition of “sexual orientation” that included having or being perceived as having an identity not traditionally associated with one’s biological male or female traits.
Home for Good
Today, I presented my “Home for Good’ bill in the Public Safety Committee. The bill would increase and diversify work release for incarcerated people. There are a number of positive benefits for work release programs, including increasing public safety and decreasing homelessness and systematic abuse.
Minnesota Indian Preservation Act
Last night, we celebrated a historic win for our Indigenous relatives in Minnesota. This bill makes technical changes and adds numerous provisions to the Minnesota Indian Family Protection Act (MIFPA), incorporating federal ICWA procedures and requirements for voluntary and involuntary child placement and permanency proceedings. The legislation also affirms the state’s policy on Tribal-state relations, including the recognition of Tribes as sovereign nations and the recognition that Tribes have the inherent authority to determine their own jurisdiction for Indian child custody or child placement proceedings.
I voted ‘YES’ for this bill to keep Indigenous children and family together to sustain their sacred culture, language, and traditions of Indigenous people and Tribal Nations.
Banning Conversion Therapy
In a time when a growing number of states are curbing LGBTQ2S+ rights and using children as political pawns, it is important Minnesota loudly and firmly denounces pseudo-science and the damaging practices that only serve to further stigmatize and harm people. We took a big step in that direction last Monday when we voted to ban conversion “therapy” for minors and vulnerable adults.
This was a top priority of the Queer Caucus, and I want to thank Rep. Hollins, past bill authors, and the advocates and survivors who courageously shared their stories and tirelessly fought for this legislation over the years. I look forward to working with our colleagues in the Senate to finally send this bill to the Governor’s desk.
This was a big moment, and it’s important to celebrate these wins. I was happy to do so with my colleagues on the House floor as we prepared to pass this bill - with bipartisan support.
A Safer Minnesota
On February 20th, The House heard legislation focused on improving safety and addressing crime impacting Minnesotans.
House File 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 $10,000 for unlawful possession and sale.
Minnesota ranks in the top five in the nation 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.
Our other bill was House File 55, which would create an Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls. Black Minnesotan families 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.
I am happy to share that all these bills also passed with bipartisan support.
Earned Sick & Safe Time
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is the importance of staying home when we feel sick. It enables workers to focus on getting better and prevents them from spreading illness. Many workers are still forced to make an impossible choice between earning a paycheck and taking time off to care for themselves or a loved one.
We know that workers who lack access to paid time off are disproportionately in low-wage positions, women, and members of BIPOC communities. Blocked for years by Republicans and corporate interests, the Minnesota House voted this month to ensure every Minnesota worker has the chance to EARN sick and safe time.
You can learn more about this bill and its importance here.
Universal School Meals
We are focusing a lot of our efforts this session on making Minnesota the best state in the nation to raise a family, and delivering a world-class education to our students is naturally a big part of that. It is hard to address the needs of our students, families, teachers, and schools without first taking care of a basic need for all our kids - food. In Minnesota, 1 in 6 students are trying to learn on an empty stomach. Even with the current free and reduced lunch programs, kids are falling through the cracks. That is unacceptable.
Our state constitution guarantees every child the right to a quality public education. As I see it, that also means ensuring our kids are fed, prepared to learn, and not subjected to lunch shaming just because their family may struggle to make ends meet. That is why I voted yes on HF 5, a bill that will ensure every child receives a free breakfast and lunch at school.
Students cannot learn on an empty stomach. They can’t become their best selves if they’re worried about their next meal, or the impact of lunch money on their family budgets. This was the right bill to pass, for all Minnesota families.
Stay Connected
If you haven’t yet, you can “like” and follow my official State Representative Facebook page to keep up with my work. I also invite you to contact my office with any questions or comments you may have at (651) 296-3824 or rep.leigh.finke@house.mn.gov. I will be happy to assist you.
For broader legislative information, you can access the Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Services for nonpartisan recaps of high-profile bills, committee hearings, and floor sessions with their Session Daily publication.
It is an honor to represent our community in the Minnesota House.
Sincerely,
Leigh Finke
State Representative - 66A