State Senator Warren Limmer (R-Maple Grove) has announced a series of key initial priorities the legislature will address in 2019. Sen. Limmer said the first five bills of the year will focus on issues impacting hardworking Minnesota families, like child care affordability and access, stronger support for those who are battling mental health issues, aligning Minnesota’s tax code to federal adjustments, and cleaning up waste, fraud, and abuse within state government.

“The biggest job a legislator has is listening to the concerns of the people he or she represents,” said Sen. Limmer. “Over the last seven months, people have mentioned a few of the same issues to me over and over again. Things like health care costs, child care costs, government waste and abuse, mental health support, and taxes continue to dominate family table discussions. While this list is by no means comprehensive, these concerns are reflected in our early session priorities.”

The first five priorities unveiled by Senate Republicans are as follows:

• Supporting mental health – Senate Republicans promise a stronger legislative response to the growing problem families are facing regarding mental health, especially in our schools and on the farm.
• Making child care more accessible and affordable – During statewide listening sessions over the summer, Senate Republicans heard from parents struggling to find and afford child care. New legislation will address the regulatory overreach that causes these problems and encourage new child care providers to start up.
• Lowering health care costs – Senate Republicans will build upon their recent success in lowering health insurance premiums by offering new proposals that allow patients more freedom to choose their doctor, shop around for the best value for their health care dollar, and make health care billing more transparent.
• Making government more effective and accountable, and eliminating fraud – Senate Republicans will introduce several proposals to hold government more accountable and stop wasting money in the areas of child care fraud, MNLARS and other statewide IT failures.
• Making our tax code simpler and fairer – In addition to making tax filing easier by conforming to the new federal tax law, the Senate Republicans’ proposal will simplify the tax code and reduce taxes for Minnesota families.

Sen. Limmer will once again serve as an assistant majority leader and chairman of the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee. In addition, he will serve on the Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, the Finance Committee, and the Rules Committee.

Sen. Limmer can be reached by phone at 651-296-2159, by email at Sen.Warren.Limmer@senate.mn; or at his office in room 3221 of the Minnesota Senate Building, 95 University Ave, St Paul.