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Dear Friends,
I wrapped up my first legislative session on Monday. When I got to St. Paul in January, Minnesota had a nearly $18 billion surplus. I was excited to get to work crafting policies that would return that surplus to you in the form of permanent, meaningful tax relief as well as looking at ways to make government more efficient with your tax dollars. It was disappointing that when we gaveled out of session, the majority had pushed through nearly $10 billion in tax increases in order to pay for their out-of-control spending spree.
When families are paying higher prices for gas, groceries, and energy bills, they don?t want to give government a 40% budget increase. They want real relief for their family budgets. During the campaign, there was bipartisan support for a full elimination of the social security tax. This did not happen this session. There were also talks of $2,000 rebate checks during the campaign. Now, only individuals making less than $75,000 will receive $260. It is a huge disappointment that these campaign promises were broken this session.
But not all was lost.
I am pleased to report that I secured funding for Highway 36 improvements. This will have a huge impact and make this important highway safer for our community. I spoke about the importance of this project on the House floor, which you can watch?here.
We also passed an Environment/Energy bill that will ban PFAS products and support local water needs for Lake Elmo. Starting January 1, 2025, products such as cleaning supplies, cookware, cosmetics, and dental floss cannot be sold if they contain intentionally added PFAS. Our community has been negatively impacted by PFAS for years, and I am pleased this provision was included. My bill to allow the DNR to issue water use permits to Lake Elmo and not reduce water use permit limits for the city of White Bear Lake was also included. This will help ensure Lake Elmo has enough water and it is a huge victory for our community. You can learn more about this bill by watching my speech?here.
In the final days of session, Republicans secured $300 million in funding to support our nursing homes. Our nursing home industry is facing an existential crisis. Fifteen facilities across the state have closed since 2021. Seniors should not be forced to leave their communities to get the care they need. Without Republican intervention, nursing homes would not have received this critical funding which will be a lifeline for many facilities in Minnesota.
A controversial nursing bill was also transformed?in the final hours of session. The House passed the Nurse and Patient Safety Act Monday evening, a good compromise bill, that will save hospitals money while also supporting nurses with violence prevention efforts, loan forgiveness, childcare assistance, and a study on why nurses are leaving the profession. This is a big win for smaller hospitals as they would have been significantly impacted by the mandates included in the original bill.
It has an been an honor to work for you and be your voice in St. Paul this session. Even though we are now in the interim, please continue to reach out with your questions, ideas, and concerns. Have a great summer!
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