Legislative Update – July 18, 2024
Dear Neighbors,
I hope you are having a wonderful summer so far. First, I want to thank those who came out to this week’s District 36 Town Hall with myself and Senator Heather Gustafson. It was great to see you all and give updates on legislation that passed last year and how we can continue making a stronger state that works for all Minnesotans.
This newsletter will be my last e-update until after the election. During an election period, legislators cannot use state resources for unsolicited communications because it might create an unfair advantage. You can still stay up to date with my legislative work by following my official State Representative Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StateRepresentativeBrionCurran
Even though my communications will be limited, I am still available to help with state-level problems, answer your questions, and discuss important issues in our community. So please don’t hesitate to reach out at rep.brion.curran@house.mn.gov if I can assist you in any way.
Supporting our Neighbors with Disabilities
This month, I was proud to join my colleague Rep. Heather Keeler in visiting Creative Care for Reaching Independence (CCRI) for a pizza and bowling event. Thank you to CCRI for organizing a great event and continuing your important advocacy work.
We made a lot of progress last year, including passing my legislation improving technology for our disability waiver system (HF 3940), improving our home and community-based services standards (HF 3941), and ensuring cities can’t use zoning requirements to keep licensed residential care facilities out of their communities (HF 3938).
However, we know that there is still more work to be done to ensure that all Minnesotans are supported and don’t just survive, but thrive. I’m committed to continuing that work.
New Laws Now in Effect
On July 1, some of the new policies and investments we passed at the State Capitol this year took effect, including $43 million to improve student literacy. We can make all the investments in education we want, but none of them will be impactful if our children are falling behind on reading.
Other highlights of the new laws include making sure our driver’s license exams utilize plain language, criminalizing the use of “deep fakes” to influence an election, and investing nearly $80 million in lottery proceeds towards more than 100 projects to protect Minnesota's natural resources.
You can read about these new laws and more in this nonpartisan summary of what was enacted on July 1 or in this Fox9 News article: New Minnesota laws starting July 1 that could affect you.
Share your Input on Prescription Drug Pricing
DFLers are interested in hearing from Minnesotans about how prescription drug prices impact their health care, what affordability concerns exist, and which drugs might benefit from pricing transparency. If you are interested in providing your insights, you can complete the Public Input on Prescription Drug Price Transparency in Minnesota form to share your experiences and help guide the Minnesota Department of Health’s ongoing drug price transparency work.
Stay Connected!
Unfortunately, due to technological constraints, replies to this newsletter won’t reach my email account. To share your input or ideas, or if I can ever be of assistance, please feel free to reach out at rep.brion.curran@house.mn.gov or 651-296-4342, and I will be happy to help. If you were forwarded this email and you’d like to subscribe, click here. If you have a friend or neighbor who would be interested in receiving these, please forward this and encourage them to subscribe!
Sincerely,
Brion Curran
State Representative