Week-in-Review Video
A message from your Senator
Constituents and friends,
It was another busy week at the Capitol in advance of our mid-session break next week. We debated several bills on the Senate floor, including Medicare reimbursements for healthcare providers that are administering COVID-19 vaccines, school district funding transfers, standardized testing requirements, and a pilot program for hiring short-term substitute teachers.
Below, you can watch my floor speech in support of a proposed amendment to the substitute teacher bill, which would have required school districts to submit written complaints to the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board for any conduct by a substitute that is grounds for licensure revocation. The amendment was offered because the bill itself doesn’t require prospective substitutes to hold a teaching license from the Board – so if a teacher was fired for ethical misconduct, they wouldn’t be reported to the Board and could teach in a different district without a record of their behavior. I believe that was a serious flaw with the bill, and that we need to do everything in our power to keep students and staff as safe as possible. Unfortunately, the amendment was not approved, and I voted against the bill.
In vaccine news, Governor Walz announced today that all Minnesotans 16 and older will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccination beginning on Tuesday, March 30. People who are in previous priority groups but haven’t yet been vaccinated will continue to receive priority from most providers. Though demand will of course still outpace supply, I’m hoping that this expansion will improve vaccine equity by allowing for outreach into communities that tend to live intergenerationally, and will help prevent one’s appointment chances from being dependent (even partly) on their mobility and amount of free time.
If you haven’t yet signed up for the state’s Vaccine Connector, you can do that here, and can sign up for Hennepin County’s own vaccine registration here. You can also search for appointments at pharmacies using the Vaccine Spotter website.
I introduced five new bills this week:
- SF 2243 modifies the existing labeling requirements for bags, food/beverage products, and packaging, to restrict the use of words like “biodegradable,” “degradable,” and “decomposable” to products that actually meet the necessary scientific standards.
- SF 2253, SF 2254, and SF 2255 are all bonding appropriations for proposed and necessary public works projects, in Chanhassen, Spring Park, and Shorewood, respectively. I’m proud to be carrying these bills in the Senate on behalf of Representative Kelly Morrison from our neighboring District 33.
- SF 2283 requires the Commissioner of the Department of Transportation to implement yearly performance measures and annual targets for the trunk highway system (“trunk highway” is the formal term for state highway), which would mandate an annual report to the legislature’s Transportation committees describing the performance of our highways and the Department’s plans to improve that performance.
As usual, I had a busy week of meetings, which is my favorite part of being a Senator! Among many others, I met this week with community developers, university students, disability services professionals, animal adoption advocates, and environmental protection groups.
I had my second-ever bill hearing in the Property Taxes subcommittee on Wednesday, which you can watch below. I was joined by staff from the city of Minnetonka to advocate for my SF 1649legislation, which would allow Minnetonka to invest in affordable housing using some of the proceeds from additional property taxes on new developments. The bill has been laid over for possible inclusion in the subcommittee’s omnibus spending bill, which will be assembled near the end of the legislative session.
The Transportation Committee met only once this week, but we had a busy agenda. We heard bills for bonding projects in several communities in Dakota and Anoka counties, a proposal for a new runway for the Karlstad Airport in northwest Minnesota, port development projects, and more.
The Capital Investment Committee has still yet to meet for anything other than informational sessions, but I was told this week by the Committee’s chairman that we’ll soon begin putting together a mid-sized bonding bill, which will require quite a bit of work.
Community News & Events
For those who live in or travel through northern Plymouth, city officials announced that Canadian Pacific will close Pineview Lane at the railroad crossing next Monday through Friday to complete cleanup work related to the recent train derailment.
On Tuesday, the Hennepin County Commission voted unanimously to raise the county government’s own minimum wage to $20 per hour, affecting nearly 500 workers employed by the county in divisions like community health, food service, and libraries. They’re now the only public-sector government organization in the Midwest with a $20 minimum wage – I hope others will soon follow suit!
Community News & Events
For those who live in or travel through northern Plymouth, city officials announced that Canadian Pacific will close Pineview Lane at the railroad crossing next Monday through Friday to complete cleanup work related to the recent train derailment.
On Tuesday, the Hennepin County Commission voted unanimously to raise the county government’s own minimum wage to $20 per hour, affecting nearly 500 workers employed by the county in divisions like community health, food service, and libraries. They’re now the only public-sector government organization in the Midwest with a $20 minimum wage – I hope others will soon follow suit!
Please don’t hesitate to contact me at any time with input, questions, or concerns!
