Legislative Update from Rep. Bobbie Harder

Legislative Update

Committee Hearings

This week, we heard several big bills in committee. The one I've heard the most about from constituents is HF2, the Paid Family Leave bill. This bill is a massive new mandate for employers, a huge new tax for employees, and a staffing disaster for many businesses. On top of all that, we still have no idea how much the program would cost, even though the bill has already been through five finance committees. I spoke with several of the counties I represent, and they said this would be a huge new unfunded mandate on their operations, and would make an increase in their levy necessary to keep things running.

School Meal Subsidy Bill

On Thursday, the House voted on a bill to expand the free school lunch program to every student in Minnesota. Unfortunately, this bill is a very expensive solution that does not fully solve the problem of students who are going hungry. Under current law, students are already entitled to the same lunch as other students, even if they have outstanding lunch debt.

?Also, this bill would still allow them to be turned away if they need extra food in addition to a standard lunch. Finally, this bill gives relief to wealthy families who can already afford to pay for their students' lunches.

A better solution, and one that has been suggested by Republicans both in committee and on the House floor, would be to adjust the current eligibility for free school meals, rather than making them free for everyone, including those who don't need assistance.

Visitors from District 17B

This week, I met with?a local student spending the week at the Capitol with the High School Page Program. Savanna Berg (above) from San Francisco Township has been working as a page here this week, and we had a great conversation about what's going on here in St. Paul!

If you have a student who is interested in this program, you can learn more about the High School Page Program here.

I also had a visit from Claire Brandenburg from Watertown, who was here with other members of the Business Professionals of America!