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Dear Neighbors,
I hope this finds you well and that you’ve had a chance to explore our state’s gorgeous fall colors. With everything going on in the world, it’s a good time to get outside.
In good news, Sophia Forchas, the Annunciation shooting survivor was released from HCMC yesterday, just in time for her 13th birthday. I’ve heard from many of you about the urgent need to take immediate action to address gun violence in our community and across the country. I agree. And for a special session to have the meaningful outcomes Minnesotans want, we need the votes to pass policy. In our tied House, that means we need Republicans to be willing to have a serious conversation about guns and schedule the votes on such legislation. If they refuse to stand with the Minnesotans demanding change, they should all have the courage to say so outright. Procedurally speaking, the current legislative makeup limits Democrats’ ability to bring forward these common sense initiatives we’ve publicly proposed nearly 4 weeks ago.
 Photo courtesy: Bring Me the News
The best thing we can do for Sophia, survivors of gun violence, and to honor the victims, is to act on the promise to never let this happen again. I’m committed to enacting policy and change in either a special session (which at this point is seeming unlikely) or when the regular session gets underway in February.
Federal and State Update
More than 440,000 Minnesotans rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to put food on the table. Nearly one fourth of these numbers account for Hennepin County, with 109,206 residents relying on this support to eat. If the federal shutdown continues into November, funding will run out for these critical food benefits. For many families, their situations could go from extremely challenging to downright dire. This potential pause in benefits is on top of the new paperwork requirements for SNAP recipients, while previous exemptions for veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and youth aging out of foster care have been eliminated. These burdensome requirements will serve as a barrier to Minnesotans getting the food they need.
One in nine Minnesotans - that’s nearly 500,000 Minnesotans - don’t know where their next meal is coming from. While we’ve made progress in getting more support for food shelves and ensuring all kids have a hot meal at school, we know more Minnesotans are facing hunger, especially the most vulnerable in our community.
If you or someone you know needs help with food this fall, Hunger Solutions has a list of statewide food shelves and additional resources here. If you’re able to, please consider contributing to a local food shelf. They’re already struggling to meet the demand, and the longer the uncertainty around SNAP continues, the more pressure they will face.
Although state legislators have no control over federal budget decisions, I joined my colleagues in making these harmful impacts to Minnesotans known to the Trump Administration, and urge them to use their existing power to shift funding and avoid the gap. I’m also working with state agencies to track the impact on Minnesotans, particularly the thousands of federal employees who no longer have paychecks. U.S. Rep. Omar has resources for impacted constituents here. Minnesota is home to 20,000 federal workers and most of them rely on some federal service in our day-to-day lives.
A core necessity we all need when we get sick is health care. By choosing to end valuable premium tax credits, President Trump and his congressional trifecta are causing crushing insurance premium increases for thousands of individuals, families, and small businesses across the state. Some Minnesotans are facing premium spikes as high as 50%. We need our elected Republican members of Congress to stand up for Minnesotans and their ability to get care. Our House Health Finance and Commerce Committee chairs joined Minnesotans who will be impacted to highlight the need to continue the health tax credits. You can hear from one of the attendees and speakers, Lisa, from Minneapolis here.
I continue to fight for hardworking folks in our community. Here’s an update on what I’ve been working on:
Using Solar and Storage to Fight Utility Cost Increases
As the federal tariffs and HR1 are threatening to drive up energy costs, it’s critical that we find ways to grow local, reliable, clean energy. I recently joined other members of the energy committee to tour a solar plus battery storage project owned by Marshall Municipal Utilities. It was valuable to learn the economics that made the project possible, the learning curve the utility experienced, and the day to day operations that maximize this new asset. The best part - the local community loves it!
Heat’s On Day
As the temperature starts to drop, hundreds of volunteer pipefitters from St. Paul Local #455, Minneapolis Local #539, and Rochester Local #6 worked together with members of the Minnesota Mechanical Contractors Association (MMCA) on a Saturday to provide free heating tune-ups to residents in need. It was an honor to help kick off the Heat’s On event with Rep. Greenman and thank local laborers for making sure community members are warm and safe in their homes.
Additional Ways to Engage
Future of Uptown Ideation
Next week, the Urban Land Institute is hosting a Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) to seed new ideas for the future of Uptown. This project is sponsored by the City of Minneapolis. TAPs have been great catalysts for reimagining other parts of the Twin Cities, including the former Kmart Site and First Ave in downtown. This TAP will bring in perspectives from people around the world who work in areas similar to Uptown but are from outside our local community. This means they don’t have a direct stake or bias in the outcome and therefore can ideate more freely. The result of their work will be a set of suggestions for local stakeholders to implement as they see fit.
To provide local context to the panelists, community members are invited to interact and share their experiences at the launch event:
Tue. Oct. 28, 5-6pm
Jungle Theater
2951 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408
Promise Act Grant Information Sessions
The second round of Promise Act Grants is open. These grants are available to businesses in areas impacted by the civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd. The program team has established several information sessions coming up to learn more about this funding opportunity. Learn more here.
Keep in Touch
Please always feel free to contact me anytime at [email protected] or 651-296-9281.
Sincerely,
Katie Jones
State Representative
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