This week, Senator David Senjem (R-Rochester) was presented with a ‘legislative advocacy award’ from the Minnesota Commission of the Deaf, DeafBlind & Hard of Hearing. The award honors Senator Senjem for his years of advocacy on behalf of children who are blind and deafblind and their teachers.

“Senator Senjem helped us win the passage of one bill at the legislature during the 2019 session and advocating for another bill, serving as both the chief author and legislative champion. We appreciate his support,” said Darlene Zangara, executive director of the Minnesota Commission of the Deaf, DeafBlind & Hard of Hearing. “Ultimately, the bill did not pass into law, but legislators are now aware that this is an issue. With their support, we plan to pursue this legislation again in the future. The Commission is grateful for Senator Senjem’s advocacy and his valuable partnership.”

The first was a bill to support an increase in funds from the Telecommunications Access Minnesota fund for the Commission so we can continue to bring groups together to work on policy change in education, health care, employment, technology and access to public service that benefit the whole state and encourage participation in civic life.  The additional funds would cover a government relations director, a policy analyst, provide more support for our Education collaborative, support for our Age-Related hearing loss, leadership training, and increased costs of accommodations. This was successfully passed into law.

The second was a bill to pursue additional funding to explore, develop, and establish a teacher preparation program leading to licensure for teachers of the blind and visually impaired. 

The Commission of Deaf, DeafBlind & Hard of Hearing Minnesotans is a Governor-appointed commission that advocates for communication access and equal opportunity for the 20 percent of Minnesotans who are deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing.

Senator David Senjem, of Rochester, represents portions of Dodge and Olmsted counties in the Minnesota Senate. He is the chair of the Senate Capital Investment Committee and is a former majority leader and minority leader.