Greetings from the district,
I hope you are enjoying your summer. Work has been busy at the scrap yard, but I have enjoyed being home and spending time with Janel and the boys.
Our Twins, Luke and Tom recently celebrated their fifth birthday, and Janel, Drew, and I just returned from a mission trip to Tijuana, Mexico with a number of others from Pleasant Valley Church. We used the trip to build a house for a family with Homes for Hope. The family was living in an old bus, but now they have a brand new home thanks to this wonderful organization!
I wanted to share a quick legislative update. A number of new laws officially took effect on August 1. Below you can find highlights of the notable changes, but if you are interested in reading a more complete summary you can do so here.
As always, your feedback is extremely important to me and I encourage you to share your input on the issues being discussed here at the Capitol. If you have any questions, thoughts, or ideas, please send me an email at sen.jeremy.miller@senate.mn or call my Capitol office at 651-296-5649. It’s a great honor to serve as your State Senator.
Sincerely,
The following new laws became effective August 1:
- The “Safe Seniors Act” will protect senior citizens from financial exploitation.
- A new law cracks down on the use of fake service animals.
- “Little Allen’s Law” closes a loophole in law by expanding the prohibition on operating off-road vehicles following a DWI conviction and eliminating an exemption that allowed drivers to keep their licenses following an off-road vehicle DWI offense.
- New requirements improve police handling of sexual assault examination kits and give victims better access to information about their case.
- A new law aims to prevent sex trafficking by training hotel and motel workers to identify warning signs.
- The Department of Human Services is directed to study potential child care provider reforms after scathing testimony this session.
- Residential contractors and insurance adjusters will be required to provide consumers with written notification in the initial home repair estimate that they cannot cover any part of the insurance deductible.
- The terms of the $850 million 3M settlement are codified in law. The settlement will be used to fund clean drinking water and natural resource projects.
- The “Sibling Bill of Rights” establishes a set of rights for foster care children, including the right to be placed with their siblings when possible and to visit their siblings.
- Unmarried parents filing for joint child custody will have the same rights as divorced parents.
- Health Savings Accounts will be protected from creditors attempting to collect debts.
- Military beneficiaries will be protected from falling victim to scams intended to steal their pay or benefits.
- I. Bill options for continuing education are clarified.