Category: SD36

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Throughout my many years of advocacy work, including local, state and federal I have seen good bills come and go.  I have also seen policy discussions lead to nothing getting done. This is the historic representation of what people with disabilities have and continue to receive year after year.  I recall moving back home to Minnesota in 2000 and celebrating those who were on waiting lists for services were able to finally receive those much-needed services. It was not a movement by our elected officials that preempt this rather it was a court action that started that process.  In the end, finally, people with disabilities were acknowledged and counted for. 

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

As second deadlines come to a close we are now ready to work on preparing omnibus bills. We will have a busy week of finalizing different policies and marking up the financial parts of budgets to ensure they are balanced and complete in addressing Minnesotans needs. This is also the time to bring forward any technical changes needed in the bills important to you. Speaking of bills, I was successful in getting two bills heard and passed in Civil Law Committee this week. SF 1332  This legislation contains two provisions, one provision ensures appeals related to child support good cause exemptions occur in a timely manner that does not require parents to choose between safety and receiving assistance needed to support themselves and their children, and the other provision enables district courts to transfer child support cases to tribal courts when certain requirements are met so that tribal families are not burdened with an unnecessarily complicated process when seeking to modify child support. Also SF 1333 This bill makes a number of technical and housekeeping corrections to statutes governing adoptions from foster care and transfers of permanent legal and physical custody, Northstar Care for Children, permanency, and the definition of foster care. It also makes a correction in the statute authorizing co-location of a foster child with their parent in a specially licensed or approved co-location substance use disorder facility by referencing tribally approved facilities in addition to licensed facilities.

Knowing that Minnesota now has a surplus rather than a deficit we still need to be fiscally vigilant with the taxpayers money, but that point will make our decisions more focused on the unique needs and flexibility versus straight up cuts which was our first reaction to the fact that we were possibly facing a deficit.  

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

After 10 weeks of getting bills drafted and having hearings, we have hit first deadlines for this first year of the session.  Now we work to narrow down what bills will be moving forward of those that have passed this far. I have been able to get a lot of bill hearings and work in a bi partisan manner to help move others through this first deadline. Yes, my office is busy and getting things done. This is what you said to me and expect me to do. It was a long week and there will be longer ones ahead, but it is important work to get done.

The Senate passed some business protection including the PPP tax savings. Now we wait for the House and Governor to bring their work on this important piece of legislation and together we will pass a better bill that left the Senate. I brought an amendment to give tax breaks to College Students and Businesses that are covering those student loans, however, much to my surprise, I couldn’t get it to pass.  See my video below and let me know if you think it was and is a good idea.  The Governor has also started to ease Covid-19 restrictions and I have highlighted those in this ENews as well.  Also, I have put in here the Stimulus Package as passed by our Federal Delegation and signed into law by President Biden. 

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

We have one more week until first deadlines. Many bills have been moving, and this week we had several. You’ll find more details on the specifics in this ENews. I would also like to say we had introduced on Monday the bill that will address the issues I wrote about last week! SF 1570 was introduced and I am proud to be the second Author on the bill and to support it with the full force of the office of Senate District 36. This will bring training, accommodation and accountability to our agencies in ensuring the support of all potential and current employees with disabilities. 

Among the important bills heard this week are two transportation bills I’m working on with Senator Abeler and Senator Newton. These will finish a key part of highway ten and expand it to three lines for a significant portion of the road, reducing congestion and rush hour delays for all passing along this important corridor. With an amendment moving with the bills to bonding, it is 71 million in funding I will do my utmost to bring to the finish line.