Dear Neighbors,
I hope you were able to enjoy the snowy holiday last week! I was grateful to have spent Thanksgiving surrounded by friends and family.
It certainly has been a busy fall. Here’s an update from the Capitol:
Statewide Public Works Tour Concludes
The House Capital Investment Committee, or “Bonding Committee”, concluded its statewide tour last month, visiting several sites across the state, including 54 counties with proposed public infrastructure improvements.
It was an honor to welcome the committee and Chair Mary Murphy to Edina to tour the South Metro Public Safety Training Facility, which is seeking state bond funds to help update the facility built in 2004. This building not only helps prepare and maintain Edina police officers and firefighters’ training, but also serves various departments throughout the southwestern suburbs, including the Metropolitan Airports Commission. Minnesota Public Radio covered the differences between the House, Senate, and Governor’s viewpoints on the need for a robust 2020 bonding package, which you can find here.
Medical Cannabis Program to Add Chronic Pain, Macular Degeneration as Qualifying Conditions
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) announced it will add chronic pain and some eye conditions as new qualifying conditions for the state’s medical cannabis program, beginning in August 2020. MDH also approved two new delivery methods to give patients more options.
The program’s two medical cannabis manufacturers will double the number of patient cannabis treatment centers from 8 to 16 in accordance with my legislation that passed during the 2019 legislative session. These new sites will mean greater access to cannabis treatment centers, expanding to Willmar, Mankato, Golden Valley, Rogers, Woodbury, Blaine, Duluth and Burnsville.
Deaf/Hard of Hearing Advisory Committee Award
I recently had the honor of receiving an award from the Deaf/Hard of Hearing Advisory Committee (operated under the Minnesota Department of Education and Health) for advancing successful legislation into law during the 2019 session to renew and expand rules on newborn screenings. Some of these include: developing protocols for conducting hearing screenings and assessing and providing services to children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing; designing protocols for follow-up and tracking; designing a technical assistance program for facilities that conduct hearing screenings; and evaluating the newborn hearing screening program to increase its effectiveness and efficiency. Thank you to the amazing advocates for the important role they played in testifying and organizing to ensure this legislation passed.
If you’re on Facebook, you can ‘like’ my official page for additional updates from Edina and St. Paul. Additionally, if you know of anyone from the community who may be interested in receiving my email updates, they can sign up here.
Don’t hesitate to contact me anytime! I value your input.
Sincerely,
Heather Edelson
State Representative