Friends and neighbors,

Paid family and medical leave is a benefit that more Minnesotans are seeking out and one that businesses equally want to offer. Therefore, the Minnesota Legislature is determining how to best make this benefit more accessible to families.

And this week in the Senator Labor Committee, we heard the Democrat approach to paid family and medical leave. This legislation would generate a massive new state program that would require hundreds of new employees. It would also mandate an added employer and employee tax that would cost nearly $2 billion. I believe it is critical to expand access to this benefit, but the inflexible Democrat approach is not right for our state. And this is a sentiment that I have heard echoed by our small businesses. 

I recently met with the Minnesota Grocers Association, and though they wish to provide this benefit to their employees, they are concerned about how their small grocers will foot the bill. Small businesses, unlike large corporations, would feel a more significant impact of the additional employer and employee tax mandate. And because of the tax increase, small groceries would need to raise their prices proportionally. Not only would this be costly to consumers, but small, independent grocers would no longer be competitive with large chain grocers like Walmart.

With our small businesses’ unique needs in mind, Senate Republicans offer an alternative proposal to paid family and medical leave. Our legislation takes an innovative approach to this benefit that would take a free-market approach through private insurance. It would create an insurance product tailored to paid family leave benefits. Businesses can then have the option to customize it based on the individual needs of their employees. The private-sector approach will allow this program to be launched much more quickly than a state-managed program, and I strongly believe this is the best path for Minnesota to take.

Additionally, broadband continues to be a pressing issue for Minnesota, and especially our rural communities. And this was a topic we focused on in this week’s Senate Agriculture, Broadband, and Rural Development Committee. Last session, we passed signification legislation that heavily invested in improving Minnesota’s broadband connectivity. The legislation directed a historic level of up to $210 million of federal money to improve Minnesota broadband, which is on top of the $70 million the legislature passed during the 2021 legislative session. And this year, I hope to see our state continue to invest in the Border-to-Border broadband grant program to provide all Minnesota households with reliable internet access. 

The week’s Agriculture Committee also focused on the need to get students more interested and involved in the agriculture sector. Agriculture education offers so many diverse skills that prepare our students for many career pathways, such as being a chemist or entrepreneur. Therefore, I strongly believe that we need to expand the FFA program to more schools, and I hope to see the Committee pass policies this session to further advance this great program.

I want to hear from you, my constituents, on issues that are important to you. Please feel free to reach out to my office with any concerns or ideas you may have. As the session moves forward, I will keep your thoughts and concerns in mind as legislation comes before me. You can contact my office at sen.bruce.anderson@senate.mn or 651-296-5981.

Sincerely,

Bruce Anderson