Hello, District 39!
Happy New Year! With the holidays behind us, it means the legislative session is approaching! The 2019 legislative session opens on Tuesday, January 8 – and we’ll hit the ground running. The legislature will begin work on the state’s two-year budget – which the legislature must pass before adjourning in May – along with elder care reforms, state agency accountability, tax conformity, health care costs, and many more of the issues facing Minnesotans.
I’m looking forward to working with my House counterparts, Rep. Bob Dettmer and Rep.-elect Shelly Christensen, for the people of District 39. With a new governor and new state House leadership, I’m optimistic we can come together, work across the aisle, and get things done.
If you’re at the Capitol, stop by my office! I’d love to hear which issues matter to you.
Family Care & Aging Committee
I will serve as chairwoman for the inaugural Senate Family Care and Aging Committee, which was formed to draw special attention to the many challenges affecting Minnesota families – including the issue of elder abuse.
It’s a new session, but the goal remains the same: bipartisan solutions on the serious issues facing elderly and vulnerable Minnesotans. This session, I will continue my focus on elder care reform through the my ‘No Senior Ignored’ agenda.
The ‘No Senior Ignored’ agenda is a series of proposals aimed at strengthening protections for every Minnesota senior and enhancing state agency accountability, including changes to electronic monitoring, changes to data privacy and the Home Care Bill of Rights, retaliation prohibitions, criminal code changes, and more. The proposals echo reforms that passed both chambers with bipartisan support during the 2018 session but were vetoed. I will begin holding hearings on the elder care reforms shortly after session begins and I am optimistic we can reach a bipartisan consensus quickly.
State budget
Perhaps the most pressing issue this session will be the assembly of Minnesota’s entire state budget for the next two years. In November, state officials projected a 2019-2020 budget surplus of $1.544 billion – the largest budget surplus in state history.
While this is certainly good news, and means our economy is on the right track, it also means the government has collected too much – and it means we can fund the priorities of Minnesotans without raising taxes or fees. We need to pass a state budget that includes sustainable spending and robust investments in areas like education, roads and bridges, and tax relief.
We will also consider some important bipartisan initiatives vetoed last year, including expanded mental health treatment, funding to fix the “MNLARS mess”, and addressing the opioid crisis. We will work to bring Minnesota into compliance with the tax law changes made at the federal level, work to bring health care costs down, find a long-term solution for transportation funding, consider paid family leave, and much more.
Stillwater Middle School Band plays in the Capitol rotunda
Forest Lake Middle School Orchestra at the Capitol
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