Dear Neighbors,
The Minnesota Legislature went into a special session on June 12, 2020 with the hopes of passing some much needed legislation. The House DFL, and the POCI caucus in particular worked incredibly hard to craft and pass legislation from repairing and renewing our aging infrastructure, to reforming our public safety system. While our position as legislators is designed to be “part-time,” I see it as our duty to stick around if urgent action is needed. Even though the Senate Republicans decided to pack up and go home, I am committed to coming back for future special sessions to pass these critical bills. Here is what we were working on before this special session ended.
Minnesota Police Accountability Act of 2020
The House DFL recognizes that we need systemic reform if we are to ever have a public safety system that makes all Minnesotans safer and the House was able to pass a comprehensive package of policing reforms in this special session. However, our Republican colleagues aren’t yet on board with all of these reforms and they did not pass in the Senate. Negotiations with the Senate leadership will continue and we are hopeful of coming to an agreement in time for the next special session, which is inevitable sometime in the next few weeks.
Here is the full list of reforms the House passed:
Reclaiming Community Oversight
Putting power into the hands of the people and neighborhoods that police officers are sworn to serve and protect.
- Retroactive Repeal of Statutes of Limitations (Vang)
- Warrior Training Prohibited (Richardson)
- Choke Hold Ban (Moran)
- Duty to Intercede (Becker-Finn)
- Police Residency Reform (Hassan)
- Data Collection and Regulatory Reform/etc. (Mariani)
- Arbitration Reform (Her)
- Law Enforcement Oversight Council Reform (Gomez)
Reforming Accountability
Restoring confidence and trust in the systems that are meant to provide justice for all Minnesotans.
- Use of Force Reform (Moran)
- Prosecutorial Reform (Becker-Finn)
- Investigatory Reform (Mariani)
- Cash Bail Reform (Noor)
Re-Imagining Public Safety
Ending the unacceptable culture that is responsible for the murder of George Floyd and far too many others who look like him.
- Public Safety Peer Counseling Debriefing (Noor)
- Police Officer Critical Incident Review (Kunesh-Podein)
- Community Led Public Safety (Gomez)
- Mental Health Training (Richardson)
- Autism Training (Richardson)
- Restore the Vote (Moran)
House DFL PROMISE ACT
We also took advantage of the special session to introduce and pass the PROMISE Act to provide immediate assistance in rebuilding neighborhoods that were hurt by the recent unrest in an equitable and community-led manner. We needed to take action and support these communities, which are unfortunately now undergoing a very difficult time. You can watch our press conference on this legislation here. The legislation would:
- Create a special panel to review cases and provide direct compensation to impacted individuals.
- Partner with cities and community organizations to create economic relief programs for impacted businesses and organizations.
- Give local units of government flexibility and tools to prevent gentrification.
- Direct the Minnesota Department of Commerce to assist business owners, and require insurance companies to notify the department of any rejected claims.
- Help with the rising cost of leases for eligible residential and commercial properties.
- Eliminate the sales tax on the purchase of construction materials used to rebuild damaged or destroyed properties.
- Provide property and sales tax cuts for eligible properties.
- Establish a “Metropolitan Area Redevelopment Corporation” to create a long-term plan for equity-driven redevelopment and transformation.
CARES Act to Help Local Governments
We also passed legislation to deliver $841 million of federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to Minnesota’s counties, cities, and townships, and to make new investments in the people of Minnesota. Unfortunately this issue became divisive as well and we were unable to come to a final agreement
The bill also includes critically needed investments in Minnesota and Minnesotans. These include the following:
- $21 million for increased compensation for personal care assistants (PCAs)
- One-time assistance for low-income families in the Minnesota Family Investment Program
- More than $38 million for continuity of service in Direct Care & Treatment programs
- Funding in for child care assistance necessary to bring Minnesota into federal compliance
- $18.5 million for overtime staffing for correctional officers
- Nearly $9 million to reimburse counties for federal funding that was rejected regarding care provided by counties at institutions for mental illness
- Nearly $29 million to help the Leech Lake and White Earth bands repay overpayments they received from the federal government under Medical Assistance (MA)
- $3.1 million to BCA to test and manage sexual assault examination kits, eliminate backlog
- $4.1 million for suicide prevention and housing assistance for veterans
Assistance for Small Business
One important bill that we passed will create a $62.5 million fund for small business grants. Businesses with 50 or fewer employees can receive grants up to $10,000 each. This is a very important bill that will provide our local businesses with the assistance they need to continue on during these difficult times. Of the $62.5 million total, there are several areas where the funding is targeted:
- $18 million for micro-businesses with six or fewer full-time employees,
- $10 million for minority-owned businesses,
- $2.5 million for women-owned businesses,
- $2.5 million for veteran-owned businesses, and
- $2.5 million for ethnic malls with at least 25 vendors (e.g. Hmong Village, Somali Karmel Mall). Individual grants can be up to $250,000 for each mall owner and must be used primarily for rent forgiveness for mall vendors.
To be eligible, the business must meet the following requirements:
- Have a permanent physical location in Minnesota,
- Be owned by a permanent resident of MN,
- Be in good standing with the Sec. of State’s office and the Dept. of Revenue as of March 1, 2020, and
- Demonstrate financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Grants will be awarded by lottery and the funds will be evenly split in their allocation to Greater Minnesota and Metro-area businesses. The process is now open, and applications will be accepted during a 10-day period beginning on Tuesday, June 23, and lasting through Thursday, July 2. You can find more information on how to apply here.
Keep in Touch
Now more than ever, please contact me anytime with questions, input, or ideas. Don’t hesitate to reach out if I can provide any assistance. This situation is evolving constantly and I will be sure to update you with any changes. Please follow me on my Facebook page for further updates and invite your friends and family to do so as well.
Thanks for the honor of representing you at the Capitol.
Sincerely,
Steve Elkins
Representative, District 49B
Minnesota House of Representatives
515 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.