Dear Friends,

This morning I had a great meeting with the White Bear Area Chamber of Commerce where we discussed a variety of topics that impact our local businesses.

We first discussed the ongoing water issues and lawsuits with White Bear Lake, and its impact on all our surrounding communities. After several years, the affected cities, DNR and Met Council are trying to come together to work on the issue. My hope is that the parties will work together to find a global solution which minimizes impacts to property owners.

Another concern for our local businesses is the Paid Family & Medical Leave bill that is quickly moving through committees. This bill would hurt our small businesses as it:

• Requires all Minnesota employers to provide employees with up to 12 weeks of paid leave benefits for qualifying family care and up to 12 more weeks for qualifying medical reasons.?
• Increases payroll taxes by 0.7%.?
• Expands government bureaucracy and creates a Family and Medical Benefit Insurance Division under DEED. Hundreds of FTEs will be needed to start and implement this program.
• Creates a mechanism for an employee to be away from their job for up to 24 weeks each year ? 44% of a working year!

Our local job creators are still recovering from COVID shutdowns and struggling with ongoing inflation, workforce shortages, and supply chain issues. They cannot afford a new mandate. According to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, 80% of their members already provide some form of paid family and medical leave. I will continue advocating for our families and job creators to find solutions that work for all sized businesses, instead of one-size-fits-all approaches.