Dear Neighbors,
With only about a month and a half left of session we are entering the final stretch. The next couple of weeks will be occupied with long floor sessions as we work to pass comprehensive policy bills. As always our legislation is focusing on improving the lives of working and middle class Minnesotans as we push to make Minnesota a better place to live.
1. Youth Justice Bill - Reducing Crime, Helping Youth
- Senator Clare Oumou Verbeten and I co-presented our bill to address the uptick in youth crime with testifiers from the Minneapolis Police Department and Face to Face!
- This is a bill we’ve been working on for many months with a broad swath of stakeholders. It is designed to fund programs which intervene early when a young person starts to head down a bad path. This is proven to improve outcomes with lower costs and will hopefully reverse the trends we’re seeing of some youth committing repeated crimes and at younger ages.
- Learn more about the bill here.
2. Department of Military Affairs Policy Bill - Helping Our Protectors
- On Thursday I presented the Military Affairs policy bill which includes referral bonuses for the National Guard, adjustments to help the National Guard investigate and prosecute crime, and language to broaden the definition of trespassing on National Guard facilities.
- I’m happy that we were able to put forth a straightforward and bipartisan bill which enhances military affairs in Minnesota. These are common sense changes that will improve the operations and outcomes for our National Guard.
- The bill passed unanimously in the House showing how Democrats and Republicans can work together for Minnesotans.
- You can watch my presentation here.
3. Homelessness Aid - Housing Every Minnesotan
- Recently two Anoka County officials came to the Taxes Committee to testify on how state funds to combat homelessness have gone to use.
- They let us know that Anoka County is utilizing these funds through programs like direct assistance to the school districts so they can directly aid families, housing assistance, and emergency direct assistance. They also expanded their community outreach team to help folks wherever they are.
- This is an example of how we used the record surplus from last year to allow local governments like Anoka County to improve their efforts to tackle challenges, like homelessness, without raising people’s property taxes. This means we are making our community a better place to live without hitting the pocketbooks of working and middle class families.
Stay in Touch
Please feel free to reach out to me by email at rep.matt.norris@house.mn.gov or by phone at 651-296-2907. If you have a friend, neighbor, or relative who wants to receive updates about the Legislature, let them know they can subscribe to my email list here, and follow my Facebook here. It’s an honor to represent our community. Please stay in touch!
Sincerely,
Matt Norris, District 32B
507 State Office Building
St. Paul, MN 55155