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As we progress with session, I’d like to invite you to a Zoom town hall with Representative Jerry Newton and me on Tuesday, February 28th, starting at 6:30 PM. To attend, please register here. We’ll send out the Zoom link shortly before the event.
Minnesota is a state that values education and wants to see every child succeed, but with 1 in 6 students trying to learn on an empty stomach we are not living up to those values. With our budget surplus, we have the resources to step up and provide the food security families need and the high-quality education our children deserve.
This week the House voted to provide free school meals for Minnesota’s students. Every child deserves a world-class education, but academic performance suffers when students are hungry. House File 5 will feed children so they can concentrate in the classroom and achieve their dreams. I’m happy to have voted for this legislation to slash grocery bills and help families save money.
Minnesota is home to more than 450 native bee species including our state bee, the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee. Pollinators also include moths, butterflies, beetles, and native flies. All play a key role in pollinating food crops and native plants, but populations have significantly declined worldwide in recent years. Population decline can be attributed to habitat loss and lack of related nutrition for pollinators, as well as pesticide use and pathogens.
The House voted this week to fund the Lawns to Legumes Program to combat population decline by creating new pollinator habitat and habitat corridors that provide food sources and nesting space for pollinators. The program offers a combination of workshops, coaching, planting guides and individual support grants for installing pollinator-friendly native plantings in residential lawns.
Too often, prosecutors in Minnesota don’t have the proper legal tools to bring charges reflecting the seriousness of large-scale and sometimes violent organized retail theft. It’s time that Minnesota statutes are updated to properly prosecute this rapidly growing crime and apply tougher penalties on those who commit it.
This week I introduced a bill that would establish a new crime of organized retail theft, including adding felony-level penalties for the most serious offenses.
The bill stipulates that a person who receives stolen retail merchandise knowing that it was stolen could also be sentenced for organized retail theft, as would someone using “any device, gear, or instrument designed to assist in shoplifting or defeating an electronic article surveillance system.”
In the United States of America, everyone has the right to legal defense. But for far too long, the state has failed to properly fund our Public Defenders. Public defenders play a critical role in our criminal justice system, but they are historically overworked and understaffed. HF 90 addresses longstanding budget shortfalls and ensures that the Board of Public Defense has adequate resources to keep up with growing caseloads.
This week, I proudly voted to increase funding by $42.7 million in fiscal year 2024 and $52.9 million in fiscal year 2025, making the proposed appropriation $318 million for the biennium. The chronic underfunding of public defenders disproportionately affects low-income, BIPOC, and rural Minnesotans. HF 90 will make Minnesota’s criminal justice system more equitable.
Please continue to reach out anytime if you need assistance or have questions at [email protected] or 651-296-5513.
It’s an honor to represent our Coon Rapids and Anoka families in St. Paul.
Sincerely,
Rep. Zack Stephenson
Minnesota House of Representatives
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