SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA — Tonight, Governor Walz called for a special session to be convened at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, May 24, 2019.
House Speaker Melissa Hortman released the following statement:
“We have a bipartisan agreement to pass a balanced state budget that provides strong funding for education and secures health care for more than one million Minnesotans. We look forward to completing this work to benefit Minnesotans with Republicans and Governor Walz.”
Honored to have Presided over the Senate During Floor Session
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
We are in the last few days of session now. Negotiations are still ongoing over the final budget for the next two years. The leadership in the House, Senate and the Governor have been meeting regularly to create a budget that works for all Minnesota.
While their talks continue we have moved some important legislation this week that I’ll summarize below. I’ll be at the Capitol all weekend serving you so keep an eye on the news and I will keep you posted as I can.
Sincerely,
John Continue reading “Sen. John Hoffman (SD36) Update: May 18, 2019”
Dear Neighbors,
We’re in the final week of the legislative session, with a constitutional deadline to adjourn by Monday night at midnight. The House and Senate along with Governor Walz are working to come to an overall agreement on the state budget and conference committees for each area of the budget are continuing to work through aligning their bills. Here are a few updates from the week:
On Wednesday, a conference committee focused on improving the oversight of pharmacy benefit managers finished its work on a bill that takes bold action to reduce soaring prescription drug costs. The legislation would crack down on Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), which act as a “middle man” between drug manufacturers and pharmacies. Drug manufacturers give PBMs rebates to encourage the PBM to place their product on the formulary, with no guarantee that the rebate will be passed on to consumers. Higher rebates are an incentive for PBMs not to consider less expensive drugs, and they encourage companies to raise list prices. All of this raises the price of prescription drugs for Minnesotans.
The bill was passed by the Senate and the House on a bipartisan vote, and is headed to the Governor’s desk. Once enacted into law, the bill will improve transparency and accountability, and require PBMs to look out for the financial interests of their customers by seeking out deals that provide the lowest price. Continue reading “Rep. Zack Stephenson (HD36A) Update: May 17, 2019”
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
It is now ten days before the constitutional end of session, May 20th. Conference committees have been meeting all week with little to no progress. This is due in large part to a lack of agreed upon budget targets between the House, Senate and Governor. The goal is to have those targets agreed upon by Monday May 13th.
While the conference committees have struggled we did manage to vote many standalone bills through the Senate floor, from memorials to drainage ditches and even a DWI omnibus bill. Continue reading “Sen. John Hoffman (SD36) Update: May 10, 2019”
Dear Neighbors,
There are just two weeks remaining in the legislative session. The Minnesota House has wrapped up our work assembling our proposals for each area of the state budget. Now, joint House/Senate conference committees are charged with determining differences in each chamber’s version of the budget and ultimately, reaching a compromise.
The House education budget includes investments to support our students inside and outside the classroom. We know when the experts in the schools – teachers, counselors, nurses, social workers and support staff – have sufficient resources our children and families will succeed. This budget ensures that students, families and communities across the state have access to resources such as mental health, housing and the community services needed to be successful in school. Continue reading “Rep. Zack Stephenson (HD36A) Update: May 10, 2019”
Dear Neighbors,
The Minnesota House of Representatives has been busy the last few weeks, working to pass our Minnesota Values Budget off of the House floor. Now conference committees have started meeting to work through the differences between the House and Senate budget bills.
Here’s a quick update.
Full Minnesota Values Budget passed off the House floor
Continue reading “Speaker Hortman (HD36B) Update: May 6, 2019”
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The Senate passed the 2019 Jobs, Energy, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Taxes, Transportation, and E12 bills this week. With their passage, all major budget bills have passed off both the House and Senate floors and are heading for conference committees.
Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman, and Governor Tim Walz agreed to provide conference committees with fiscal targets on May 6. Once the budget targets are established, negotiations between the different budget bills can begin to create a final product.
We are entering the final stretch of the process to determine what policies will shape our state and how we will fund it. In this Newsletter you will see some highlights of the Omnibus bills that were passed this week, as well as a few important events of note. Continue reading “Sen. John Hoffman (SD36) Update: May 3, 2019”
Dear Neighbors,
With less than three weeks until adjournment, the House has held up its end of the bargain with the Senate and Governor to complete the components of our state budget.
Here’s an update from St. Paul:
On Thursday Governor Tim Walz signed into law my bill to repeal Minnesota’s ‘Martial Rape Exception.’ It was a good day for justice, as we repealed an antiquated and abominable law. The law goes into effect July 1 of this year. Continue reading “Rep. Zack Stephenson Update: May 3, 2019”
SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Sen. John Hoffman (DFL-Champlin), Sen. Jerry Newton (DFL-Coon Rapids), and Sen. Jim Abeler (R-Anoka) received the One Star Leadership Medals of appreciation from the Hmong Special Guerilla Unit and its late leader General Vang Pao.
The Hmong Special Guerilla Unit is credited with saving hundreds of American soldiers and pilots in Laos during the Vietnam War, at great cost of life in their Hmong community.
The medal, designed by the late General Vang Pao, was given to the legislators to honor the three Senators for their long-term relationship with the Hmong community. They lent bipartisan support in designating May 14 as the special recognition day for the Hmong Veterans of the Secret War in Laos. The path to this recognition has been very difficult.
“It is a great honor to receive this very important medal of honor from Hmong Special Gorilla Unit. They were instrumental in preventing the threat of communism from spreading deeper in Southeast Asia,” Sen. Hoffman said.
“Many soldiers owe these brave men and women their lives,” said Sen. Newton. “I am among those who owe them an eternal debt.”
“The selfless sacrifice by these brave men and women on behalf of American soldiers is truly impressive,” said Sen. Abeler. “As the Hmong have no home country, it is particularly valuable that we can honor them in this special way.”
SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – The Minnesota Senate approved legislation that would help to support victims of sexual assault by getting rid of Minnesota’s marital rape exception, sometimes called the “voluntary relationship defense,” which shields perpetrators from prosecution in certain instances if they are married to the victim. Bill language for SF 235 is available here. Representative Zack Stephenson (DFL-Coon Rapids) is the chief author of the House companion bill that was approved on February 21 of this year. Audio of Rep. Stephenson commenting on his legislation after it passed is available here.
Jenny Teeson of Andover, Minnesota shared her experience of being drugged, raped, and videotaped by her former husband. When she sought justice, the legal system said her case could not proceed because of a law that Stephenson has been working to repeal. Continue reading “Minnesota Senate Passes Rep. Zack Stephenson’s Bill to Repeal Minnesota’s ‘Martial Rape Exception’”
