Category: SD33

Rep. Morrison to host listening session Tuesday, April 16, in Shorewood

Rep. Kelly Morrison (DFL-Deephaven) will host a listening session next week.

What:  Listening Session with Rep. Kelly Morrison
Where:  Shorewood Community and Event Center, 5735 Country Club Rd
When:  April 16, 6:30 to 7:30 PM

Rep. Morrison represents Minnesota House District 33B, which includes Deephaven, Excelsior, Greenwood, Minnetonka Beach, Mound, Shorewood, Spring Park, Tonka Bay and portions of Chanhassen and Orono.

All constituents are invited to attend with comments, concerns and questions and hear updates from the State Capitol.

Situation in the Minnesota Senate

Minnesota is the only state legislature in the country. Like the GOP controlled U.S. Senate, our Minnesota Senate Speaker is blocking bills from being heard.

Here are the issues that are being stonewalled (Sen. Gazelka is beginning to talk about allowing the gun safety bills to be heard):

Tuesday at 11: News conference announcing new comprehensive plan to make prescription drugs affordable and accessible for Minnesotans

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – On Tuesday, March 26 at 11 a.m. in Capitol Room B971, DFL lawmakers and the parents of Alec Smith are announcing a new comprehensive plan to make prescription drugs affordable and accessible for all Minnesotans. Alec died in 2017 at age 26 because he could not afford to pay the $1,300 cost of his insulin prescription.

This is an opportunity for reporters to learn about DFL lawmakers’ new plan (scope extends beyond insulin), listen to Minnesotans talk about the plan’s impact on their lives, and ask questions.

Who:

  • Nicole Smith-Holt and James Holt, Jr. (parents of Alec Smith)
  • Majority Leader Ryan Winkler
  • Rep. Michael Howard
  • Rep. Laurie Halverson
  • Rep. John Lesch
  • Rep. Kelly Morrison (physician)
  • Rep. Alice Mann (physician)
  • Rep. Hunter Cantrell
  • Rep. Kristin Bahner

When:  Tuesday, March 26 at 11 a.m.

Where:  Capitol Room B971

Legislators and advocates rally to support “great start” bills

SAINT PAUL, Minn.—Today at the Capitol, a bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators, joined by advocates for health care, mental health, and early childhood, announced support for prenatal care and home visiting proposals, initiatives that would improve the wellbeing of parents and children at the beginning of life. The announcement immediately followed a legislative hearing on the home visiting proposal.

“Prenatal care and home visiting services are part of a broader legislative effort to help make sure that every child gets a great start in life,” said Rep. Dave Pinto (DFL—St. Paul), chair of the House Early Childhood Finance & Policy Division. “The House, Senate, and Governor are all prioritizing early care and learning. This is the session to do right by the youngest Minnesotans.”

While Minnesota leads the nation in many aspects of health care, too many African-American and American Indian women die from pregnancy-related causes. Black and Native women are three to four times more likely to die during pregnancy compared to their white counterparts, and their infants are more than twice as likely to die as white infants. Rep. Kelly Morrison (DFL—Deephaven) and Sen. Jim Abeler (R—Anoka) have introduced companion bills, HF 909and SF 855, to expand access and utilization of prenatal care and decrease racial and ethnic disparities. Continue reading “Legislators and advocates rally to support “great start” bills”

Legislators and advocates rally to support prenatal care and home visiting

SAINT PAUL, Minn.—Tomorrow, February 21, a bipartisan group of legislators will be joined by advocates from the health care industry, mental health organizations, early childhood coalitions, and supporters for a press conference to announce their support for prenatal care and home visiting programs.

What: Prenatal care and home visiting press conference

Who:

  • Rep. Dave Pinto (DFL—St. Paul), Early Childhood Finance and Policy Committee Chair
  • Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn (DFL—Eden Prairie), Early Childhood Finance and Policy Committee Vice Chair
  • Sen. Jerry Relph (R—St. Cloud), Family Care and Aging Committee Chair
  • Rep. Kristin Bahner (DFL—Maple Grove), bill author
  • Rep. Kelly Morrison (DFL—Deephaven), bill authors
  • Sen. Jim Abeler (R—Anoka), bill author
  • Professor Katy Kozhimannil, University of Minnesota School of Public Health
  • Tee McClenty, Northpoint Health & Welness Center
  • Pat Dale, Headway Emotional Health
  • Ann Mullholland, MinneMinds

When: Thursday, February 21 from 9:30 – 10:00 am

Where: Room B971, Minnesota State Capitol, 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Saint Paul, MN 55155

Rep. Morrison & Sen. Rosen to Announce Bipartisan ‘Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act’

SAINT PAUL, Minn. – On Thursday, Representative Kelly Morrison (DFL-Deephaven) and Senator Julie Rosen (R- Vernon Center) will be joined by advocates from the health care industry, various labor representatives, business community, and supporters for a press conference to announce the “Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act,” which aims to create more transparency of prescription drug pricing, and increased accountability for the prices charged and price increases.

WHAT: Press conference to announce “Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act”

WHO: Rep. Kelly Morrison (DFL-Deephaven) and Senator Julie Rosen (R-Vernon Center), Nikki Foster of the MS Society, Claire Henn of the AARP, Dr. Charlie Fazio, Chief Medical Officer at HealthPartners, labor and business officials

WHERE: Room B971, Minnesota State Capitol, 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Saint Paul, 55155

WHEN: Thursday, February 14, 2019, 12:00 p.m.

Health care front and center at Rep. Kelly Morrison’s first town hall

Credit: Lara Bockenstedt

SHOREWOOD — Health care took front seat at Rep. Kelly Morrison’s first town hall at the Southshore Community Center Saturday, Jan. 19.

The town hall was the first of three for the DFL representative of House District 33B. The district includes parts of Chanhassen, Deephaven, Excelsior, Greenwood, Minnetonka Beach, Mound, Shorewood, Spring Park and Tonka Bay. Approximately 50 constituents attended the town hall.

“We are the only divided Legislature in the country,” she said at the outset of the town hall. “I see that as a way for Minnesota to show the country how to do this. We like to have divided governance in Minnesota so we can hash through it together.”

View the complete January 23 article by Lara Bockenstedt on the Southwest Media website here.

Situation with Minnetonka City Council Opening

Minnetonka will have a vacancy in the at-large City Council Seat B when Patty Acomb joins the Minnesota Legislature in early January. Three years remain in the seat’s four year term.
The City Council is now considering whether to hold a special election on April 9 to fill that seat for the remainder of the term, or to appoint an interim council member which does not require a competitive application process. If there is an interim appointment, the seat will be on the ballot in November (and if 3+ candidates file, it would also be on the primary ballot in August).

Minnetonka residents may contact the City Council to express their thoughts on the process for filling this vacancy before the January 7, 2019 meeting of the Minnetonka City Council.

For more information on this question, please review the Dec. 3, 2018 City Council meeting video for the Council Members’ comments (starting at timestamp 1:14), and the staff report below.  Continue reading “Situation with Minnetonka City Council Opening”

New Minnesota legislators get crash course in the Capitol and its ways

From left, new DFL Reps.-elect Samantha Vang of Brooklyn Center, Kaohly Her of St. Paul, Hodan Hassan of Minneapolis and Aisha Gomez of Minneapolis got together for a photo Wednesday before their freshman orientation in the House chamber at the State Capitol. Credit: Glen Stubbe, Star Tribune

Incoming legislators get lessons in history, decorum and how things are done.

A new class of state lawmakers filed into the ornate House chamber Wednesday afternoon for a presentation on decorum, some posing for selfies before taking a seat behind desks that do not yet bear their names.

The 39 new members of the Minnesota House — some of whom are returning after a term or two out of office — are in the middle of a crash course on how the Legislature works. The large freshman class will constitute more than a quarter of all state House members, and 45 percent of Democrats, when the Legislature convenes Jan. 8.

“We’re learning the nuts and bolts — how to create a bill and get it through committees, and just the detail-y things of what it will mean to be a legislator,” said Rep.-elect Kelly Morrison of Deephaven, one of the many new Democrats who ousted a Republican incumbent and helped put the DFL in control of the House.

View the complete November 28 article by Jessie Van Berkel on The Star Tribune website here.

Strong suburban showing puts DFL in control of House

The DFL will control the Minnesota House of Representatives in the 2019-20 biennium.

Winning a number of key races in the Twin Cities suburbs, the DFL picked up 18 seats in Tuesday’s elections and will hold a 75-59 advantage when the House convenes Jan. 8, 2019.

Much of the change occurred in the Twin Cities suburbs, especially near and just off the Interstate 494-694 corridor, where DFL candidates beat incumbent Republicans in places like Burnsville, Eden Prairie, Edina, Lakeville, Plymouth, Rosemount, Stillwater and Woodbury.

Three races were within 250 votes: Rep.-elect Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn (DFL-Eden Prairie) beat Rep. Jenifer Loon (R-Eden Prairie) by 241 votes with 20,577 votes cast; Rep.-elect Kelly Morrison (DFL-Deephaven) beat Rep. Cindy Pugh (R-Chanhassen) by 216 votes with 23,372 cast; and Rep.-elect Shelly Christensen (DFL-Stillwater) beat Rep. Kathy Lohmer (R-Stillwater) by 137 votes in a race where 22,630 votes were cast.

View the complete November 7 article by Mike Cook on the Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Services’ website here.