Dear Friends and Neighbors, Since my last newsletter, a lot has happened at the state capitol. DFLers celebrated the swearing-in of Rep. David Gottfried (DFL-Roseville), which returned the House to a 67-67 tie. The implementation of the power sharing governance agreement now means committees will be co-chaired by Democrats and Republicans and are comprised of equal numbers of members from both parties. Our co-chairs and committee members will use their power to restore a focus on bread-and-butter economic issues that have been absent while Republicans have run the House with a 67-66 advantage. For the 2025-2026 biennium, I'm excited to bring my energy and dedication to the Commerce Finance and Policy, Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy, and Judiciary Finance and Civil Law committees.  I'm proud to work with our dynamic group of legislators in establishing an equitable budget that supports all Minnesotans as we navigate the challenges ahead. With rising concerns about national economic policies including tariffs and trade tensions, our work is focused on creating resilient financial frameworks that protect our state's prosperity and ensure no community is left behind during these uncertain times. Together, we can create an economy that works for everyone, with policies that support good-paying jobs, affordable healthcare, access to quality early care and education, and a robust social safety net for our most vulnerable Minnesotans. Legislative Bills It felt really good to present my first bill this legislative session in the Commerce Committee. The bill addresses several insurance-related matters, including strengthened oversight, limited long-term care insurance, and refinements to the high-risk driver plan. While a standard agency bill, it represents our commitment to building a stronger state and protecting consumers. Watch the full committee hearing here.  I want to be honest about a committee hearing experience I had last week that left me feeling truly discouraged and, quite frankly, upset. In the Commerce Committee last Thursday, I introduced legislation that requires entertainment venues, when occupancy exceeds 100 attendees, to provide attendees with access to free drinkable water. This can be achieved by providing free bottled water, allowing attendees to bring bottled water to the event, or allowing attendees to bring an empty water bottle and providing a place to fill it with drinkable water. The bill would allow venues to prohibit certain types and sizes of water bottles for safety purposes. This bill is widely supported and does not impose a significant financial burden on venues or event centers. The companion bill in the Senate moved through its committee process uncontested, without controversy. Unfortunately, I did not receive the same response from my colleagues. Rather than addressing the facts and statutes of the bill, Republican committee members posed unrealist, unrelated hypotheticals that did not address real concerns. Furthermore, they did not offer their partnership to further review the bill and work on language that might provide them with clarity. I have always prided myself on civility, even when my counterparts choose harmful words and actions. But this hearing was extremely difficult, and needlessly so. This is a sound policy bill that will benefit all Minnesotans. Everyone deserves access to drinking water at crowded events. Period. That’s the bill. Watch my bill presentation here.  Bill to Support Service Dogs in Training I was proud to vote ‘YES’ for a bill that would extend existing law prohibiting restrictions on active service dogs in homes or rental units. This bill would include service dogs in training and allow accredited service dog organizations in Minnesota to recruit more volunteers and ultimately change more lives.  How Will Federal Education Cuts Impact You? Sadly, we no longer have a serious partner in the White House when it comes to building a world-class education system for our students. This week, President Trump advanced reckless plans to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. In response, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) launched a public feedback portal at education.mn.gov for parents, students, teachers, and community members to submit detailed accounts of the ways recent Executive Orders and abrupt federal education cuts are impacting schools and children across our state. More than 860,000 students in Minnesota depend on stable partnerships that have existed between their school communities, MDE and the U.S. Department of Education across administrations. For decades, the federal investments facilitated through those partnerships have played a key role in ensuring students in Minnesota receive the support they need to learn and thrive, including: - $256 million for students with disabilities
- $192 million for students from low-income backgrounds
- $27 million for academic enrichment
- $6 million for students in rural schools
- $38 million to support children living on military bases or Native American reservations
- $100 million for Career and Technical Education workforce development programs
If any of these cuts impact you and your family, please let us know! Prescription Drug Affordability For too long, drug manufacturers, pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) and health plans have taken advantage of flaws in federal drug policy to squeeze consumers for ever increasing amounts of profit. I’m happy to say the DFL is pushing three bills specifically crafted to target the strategies keeping cheap and affordable drugs out of the hands of Minnesotans: - HF 1652 would prohibit a health plan from forcing patients to switch drugs in the middle of the year because they’re now getting a bigger rebate from the manufacturer of a competitive drug. If a patient and a doctor find a drug that works, they should be allowed to stick with that drug for the rest of the plan year.
- HF 1075 says that health plans and PBMs must use the rebates that they received when patients bought their drug to buy down their price at the pharmacy counter in the form of a “Point of Sale Rebate.” This will ensure these rebates are being used to make expensive life saving drugs more affordable to the patients who need them.
- HF 1076 is an innovative approach not yet adopted by any other state. It requires PBMs and health plans to include the low-price drugs in their formularies and construct their formularies so that the drugs with the lowest prices for the patient (rather than the drug generating the biggest kick-backs to the insurance company) receive the best placement in their formularies. The goal of this legislation is to redirect competition away from rebates towards lower prices.
If these were passed into law, you would see a significant decrease in the price of the drugs you rely on. I’ll be sure to keep pushing for their passage and let you know of any progress!  |