Dear Neighbors, Recently, legislative leaders and Governor Walz agreed on the supplemental budget framework for the 2024 session. The budget allows lawmakers to address the most urgent statewide challenges impacting working families and communities, including new opportunities for pre-K education, boosting pensions for dedicated teachers throughout our state, and more. In addition, it maintains our stable economic budgeting into future years.. A focus of this session is crafting a bonding bill. A bill for a new water tower in Woodbury is included in the list of projects under consideration. We are committed to investing in statewide infrastructure projects to help communities protect access to safe drinking water, fix roads and bridges, encourage innovation at our colleges, universities, and tech schools, get tools to our first responders so they can answer the call during emergencies, and help all Minnesota communities thrive.  Faster Results Mean Earlier TreatmentsImagine if your child, grandchild, niece, or nephew was hospitalized for an unknown genetic disorder. For many families, it can take up to seven specialists, sometimes over five years, with multiple misdiagnoses, to get an answer. This adds up to costly hospitalization stays and treatment expenses. Outcomes for these children and their families would be entirely different if insurance covered rapid whole genome sequencing (rWGS). Families could get answers within two weeks, allowing treatments to begin earlier. The ability to intervene earlier can save lives, and avoid spiraling healthcare costs. My bill, HF3330, requires insurance companies to cover rapid whole human genome sequencing. With the support of the Rare Disease Advisory Council, the bill passed the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee, was heard in the Health Finance and Policy Committee where it is laid over to be considered in the final omnibus bill. This bipartisan bill has a minimal cost and provides the most help to our most vulnerable kids. You can view the bill presentations in Commerce and Health. Some of my other bills making their way through committeesHF3326 - Phasing out the sale of mercury-containing fluorescent light bulbs/lamps. This is important as mercury is a health and environmental hazard. Ridding our community of mercury will make our homes and neighborhoods safer. The bill was heard in the Commerce Finance and Policy Committee and the Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee, where it is laid over for consideration for the final omnibus bill. HF4425 - Prohibiting HOAs from denying neighborhood licensed family child care. After learning from constituents that HOAs were closing community day cares, we knew we had to take action. Family child care provides vital care for our neighborhood kids in a home setting. As we experience a child care crisis in Minnesota, we need to make sure that unnecessary barriers, like an HOA denial, are removed. This bipartisan bill is currently laid over in the Children and Families Finance and Policy Committee for consideration into the omnibus bill. HF4717- Protecting seniors at virtual currency kiosks. Working with the Woodbury Police Department, this bill provides protections and disclosures at virtual currency kiosks against scammers looking to exploit an untraceable currency from people. The bill is bipartisan, and has been incorporated into the Commerce Finance and Policy Omnibus bill. HF4688 - Geothermal working group through the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). We need to make sure we have a full and diverse portfolio to address climate change. The 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040 law covers our electrical grid, but the heating of buildings is also a significant contributor to climate change. This bill establishes a thermal energy network deployment work group through the PUC to start a regulatory framework for the use of geothermal energy. It is currently under consideration for inclusion in the Climate and Energy Finance and Policy omnibus bill. Tour of Electronic Recycling FacilityI want to send a big thank you to Repowered and Recycling Electronics for Climate Action (RECA) for giving Representative Hollins, Representative Acomb, Senator Frentz, and me a tour of their electronics recycling facility! It was a great opportunity to discuss HF3566, which establishes a statewide electronic waste (e-waste) collection and recycling. The group learned about the process at Repowered and talked about how we can reduce barriers and encourage more recycling in the future. I learned that recycling our e-waste will reduce our need for new rare minerals by 40%!  Keep in TouchYour voice is important to me! You can contact me at rep.amanda.hemmingsen-jaeger@house.mn.gov, by phone at 651-296-7807, on Facebook, or through Instagram with your questions, concerns, or ideas for this session. I appreciate the opportunity to serve our district in the legislature and look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger State Representative |