Legislative UpdateDear friends and neighbors, I hope this update finds you well, and I am grateful to be able to share with you. Since an organizational agreement was put into place late last week, we have been able to hit the ground running! HF 24I officially introduced my bill, HF 24, in Health Finance and Policy Committee on Wednesday this week. This bill is titled the "Born Alive Rollback" and exists to extend legal protections to "born alive" infants, infants who are born alive after an abortion. This would ensure babies born alive during an abortion receive medically necessary care to preserve his/her life and health. This bill passed through the Health Committee and is now sitting on the General Register, waiting to be heard on the House floor.  Click the thumbnail above to watch a press conference of Rep. Zeleznikar and I, introducing HFs 24 and 25 Other BillsHF 194: Increasing exclusion amounts of property taxes for disabled veterans and spouses. This program was created in 2008 and has not been modified since then. With the rising cost of housing and homestead values, there is a great need to increase this benefit for our disabled veterans. These men and women have sacrificed so much in their service to our country. I am proud to carry this bill, which was passed out of Veterans committee with unanimous support. It now moves on to the Taxes Committee.  Click the thumbnail above to watch my introduction of HF194 in Veterans Committee Letter to MSHSLAs you may have heard, President Trump recently signed an Executive Order that bans biological men from participating in women's sports. This is a huge win for female athletes across the country, providing them with free and fair competition in sports. Unfortunately, the Minnesota State High School League (MNHSL) issued a statement following Trump's order stating that they would abide by MN state law instead. This means that biological men will continue to be allowed to participate in women's high school sports in Minnesota. In response, myself, Speaker Demuth, and House Republicans wrote a letter to the MNHSL condemning their decision to disobey the executive order. Female athletes in our state, and especially in high school, deserve the opportunity to compete in their sports with protection from male athletes in their locker rooms and in direct competition with them.  Above is the first page of our letter to the MNHSL. Click the letter to see the whole document, including other Representatives that signed on. |