State Senator Roger Chamberlain (R-Lino Lakes) outlined his early priorities as the legislature reconvened for the 2019 session on Tuesday. The bills, which will be officially introduced later in the week, will focus on issues that affect hardworking Minnesota families, like child care affordability and access, stronger support for those who are battling mental health issues, aligning Minnesota’s tax code to federal adjustments, and cleaning up waste, fraud, and abuse within state government.

“It’s great to have everyone’s families here for the first-day-of-session ceremonies, but I am ready to get back to work,” said Sen. Chamberlain. “I spent a lot of time last summer and fall talking to folks I represent, and I kept hearing the same concerns – ‘make child care more affordable, do something about health care costs, and get government fraud, waste, and abuse under control.’ Those are the issues we will focus on in the early part of session.”

The first five priorities unveiled by Senate Republicans are as follows:

• Supporting mental health – Senate Republicans promise a stronger legislative response to the growing problem families are facing regarding mental health, especially in our schools and on the farm.
• Making child care more accessible and affordable – During statewide listening sessions over the summer, Senate Republicans heard from parents struggling to find and afford child care. New legislation will address the regulatory overreach that causes these problems and encourage new child care providers to start up.
• Lowering health care costs – Senate Republicans will build upon their recent success in lowering health insurance premiums by offering new proposals that allow patients more freedom to choose their doctor, shop around for the best value for their health care dollar, and make health care billing more transparent.
• Making government more effective and accountable, and eliminating fraud – Senate Republicans will introduce several proposals to hold government more accountable and stop wasting money in the areas of child care fraud, MNLARS and other statewide IT failures.
• Making our tax code simpler and fairer – In addition to making tax filing easier by conforming to the new federal tax law, the Senate Republicans’ proposal will simplify the tax code and reduce taxes for Minnesota families.

In addition to continuing to serve as the chairman of the Senate Taxes Committee, Sen. Chamberlain will serve on the Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee and the E-12 Education Committee.

Sen. Chamberlain can be reached by phone at 651-296-1253, by email at Sen.Roger.Chamberlain@senate.mn; or at his office in room 3225 of the Minnesota Senate Building, 95 University Ave, St Paul.