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Legislative Update
Hello friends,
It has been a a busy week here, as we continued working through last weekend to finish as much business as we could. Unfortunately, we were not able to complete everything by our midnight deadline on Monday. Negotiations on unfinished bills are ongoing, and we are hoping to have a short special session next week to wrap everything up. I don't have all the details now, but I will update you when I do.
Updates from the Capitol
I want to provide a quick summary of the bills that we have passed so far:
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Agriculture: Invests in disease prevention for livestock and provides critical relief to Minnesota’s dairy industry, which has lost 40% of its farms in seven years.
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Housing: Targets the 100,000-unit shortage with investments in housing stock, increased affordable housing funding, infrastructure grants for underserved areas, and continued homeownership support programs. I did NOT vote for this bill because of the zoning and aesthetic mandates that community members were not in favor of.
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Legacy: Increases transparency by requiring IRS Form 990 from grantees, limits earmarks in favor of merit-based grants, and prohibits funds from being used on capital construction projects.
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Public Safety & Judiciary: Enacts tougher penalties for crimes against public safety personnel, mandates minimums for traffickers, holds adults accountable for fentanyl exposure to children, and halts early offender releases from Stillwater.
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State Government: Adds oversight capacity to the Legislative Auditor’s office and cuts millions from bloated budget requests for the Attorney General and Secretary of State.
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Veterans: Expands mental health services and funding for veterans' homes to better support Minnesota’s veteran population.
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Human Services Policy: Enhances behavioral health and substance use care, strengthens agency oversight, streamlines licensing, and reforms civil commitment for better coordination and rights protection.
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Pensions: We passed a pensions bill that gives more flexibility to teachers with their retirement. The COLA increase supports our retired educators as well.
We have quite a few more bills to pass, which are outlined below:
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Blooming Prairie School Visit
It was great to see a class from Blooming Prairie here at the Capitol this week. I got to talk with them, show them around, and take a picture at the Speaker's rostrum in the House chamber. It was great to see you guys!
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Shoutouts
Shoutout to Lexi and Grayson from Pacelli for receiving awards from the American Legion!
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Please Contact Me
Please continue to reach out if I can be of any assistance to you. You can reach me by phone at 651-296-4193 or by email at [email protected]
Have a great weekend!
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2824 Centennial Office Building
658 Cedar St.
Saint Paul, MN 55155 [email protected]
651.296.4193 |
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