Friends and neighbors, 

Throughout the 2022 legislative session, my Senate Republican colleagues and I prioritized getting Minnesota back on track. We are all distinctly aware of the rise in crime in the Twin Cities and its suburbs, the effect the pandemic has had on our children’s education, and the impact the climbing inflation rates are having on family budgets. 

To address this, we passed key legislation out of the Senate that focused on providing tax relief, support for public safety and law enforcement, investments in student-first education proposals, and resources to stabilize our struggling long-term care facilities. 

Our “Right Track” agenda would have helped keep our communities safe by providing vital support to law enforcement officers and putting into law important ‘tough on crime’ policies. It also included Minnesota’s Biggest Tax Cut Ever! that cut the lowest income tax rate nearly in half and fully repealed the tax on Social Security benefits – an issue I repeatedly hear from members of our community on. Finally, the Parent’s Bill of Rights and funding for literacy would have brought more transparency and accountability in schools, while reversing Minnesota’s declining literacy rates with proven, scientific methods of instruction. 

This session mainly focused on these pressing topics, but the critical staffing shortages facing nursing homes and long-term care centers hit a peak that also demanded the Legislature’s attention. The Senate Republican nursing home rescue package, therefore, would have provided much-needed funding for staff, recruitment, and training. 

However, the session closed without the passage of these major bills. Even though the bills were passed by the Republican Majority in the Senate, the DFL Majority in the House still needed to pass these pieces of legislation for them to be sent to the governor and signed into law. For this reason, the bills were sent to conference committee to work out the differences because the House did not accept the Senate’s language. Senate Republicans continuously provided offers that met the terms of the leadership agreement announced on May 16, 2022. Our proposals were always within the set budget, dropped controversial policy, and posted for public review.

This can be sharply contrasted with the deficient offers sent by the DFL Majority in the House that were outside the budget target and contained new, controversial policy items. Even worse, in the last 48 hours of session to pass bills, the governor interfered with the Senate-House agreement on State Government, which effectively killed the bill.  

The only way now for these bills to become law is for Governor Tim Walz to call a special session for the Legislature to finalize agreements on these pieces of legislation.

Nevertheless, the session still saw several significant bipartisan success stories. The Minnesota Legislature passed legislation to repay and refill the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund and provide frontline worker bonus checks. We also successfully signed into law a reinsurance extension to allow insurance rates in the individual market to remain stable for Minnesotan families. Further, the Legislature passed a budget bill for veterans including funding for three vets’ homes and bonuses for veterans in the War on Terror. This makes critical investments in Veterans services and will offer great assistance to brave men and women who served our nation.

Additionally, the final day of the session included the passage of a significant agriculture, broadband, and drought relief bill. This legislation works to expand broadband funding, provide relief to farmers still struggling from the effects of last year’s historic drought, and addresses urgent concerns in our agriculture sector. 

A highlight includes $210 million, the bulk of which comes from federal funds, to improve Minnesota broadband access across the state. This package also includes $1.5 million for the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Minnesota to purchase equipment to test for Avian Influenza, African Swine Fever, Chronic Wasting Disease, and other animal diseases. The bill also includes $3 million for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Emergency Account with funding going to animal disease testing and response.

I am proud to have supported these meaningful policies, and I remain committed to addressing the issues most important to Minnesota and our local communities.

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 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