Medical Assistance Reform

This week, I introduced a new proposal to grow Minnesota’s workforce by encouraging able-bodied Minnesotans, currently on medical assistance, to join the workforce. The requirements would not apply to a child’s sole caregiver, or anyone with a disability, certain medical diagnoses, addictions, or other barriers to employment.

In the face of a robust economy, enrollment in Medical Assistance continues to steadily grow, encouraging more Minnesotans to rely on government aid. My bill counteracts this by ensuring that we continue to incentivize work, education, and community engagement in order to help individuals and families regain their independence and use their skills to benefit the community.

School Safety 

On Tuesday, I participated in a student town hall focused on school safety and gun violence. One of the main questions I got was how to make our schools safer. It’s a great question and one that my colleagues and I are actively looking to address. Just this week, we introduced multiple bills to improve school safety. Three of the proposals provide new flexible funding for school safety, while another amends a state emergency evacuation regulation that could inadvertently put students at risk.

Details on the bills below:

• SF 3243: Allows school districts to use long-term facilities maintenance revenue for remodeling and equipping existing school facilities to increase the safety and security of students and staff.
• SF 2754:  Provides one-time revenue for safe schools that can be used for a variety of things including mental health, school counselors, structural building improvements, and more.
• SF 3068: Creates a new grant program for public school districts to conduct professional safety audits of their local schools and identify potential areas for improvement. Districts may receive up to 100% of their costs reimbursed through state grants.
• SF 2900: Allows schools to modify their emergency drill procedure by not forcing the institution to fully empty the building every time an alarm sounds. Currently, schools must fully evacuate, even in the instance of a verified false alarm. The perpetrator in Parkland exploited this.

MN.IT Reform

After another failed public software system rollout caused countless headaches and lost revenue for thousands of Minnesotans and small businesses, we introduced a bill to restructure Minnesota’s information technology agency, MN.IT. Our bill will abolish MN.IT as a stand-alone agency and roll its shared core functions, like email and server management, into the Department of Administration. State agencies will then be allowed to consider competitive outside bids for future software development needs. Additionally, the Office of the Legislative Auditor will provide periodic evaluations of large IT projects for the purpose of legislative oversight. Ultimately, this legislation will ensure that our state avoids disasters like MNLARS and MNsure in the future.