Now that the legislative session is well under way, committees have begun to meet more 
regularly. The committees that I serve on cover a wide variety of issue areas and state departments, and the committee activity I’ve been a part of reflects that.
It’s common for committees to begin the legislative session with presentations from relevant state departments. On January 17th, the Health and Human Services Finance and Policy Committee heard from staff with the Department of Human Services regarding man- aged care procurement, and how the department determines which plans participate in public health programs. On the 22nd, we heard from the Department of Health regarding adverse childhood events, as well as hearing the first bill of the year, authored by Sen. Jerry Relph (R-St. Cloud).
Also on January 22nd, the Local Government Committee heard from the new Chair of the Metropolitan Council, Nora Slawik. Chair Slawik is a former legislator and mayor of Maple- wood, and I look forward to working with her to address the regional planning and infrastructure issues that the Met Council is responsible for.
The following day, the Commerce and Consumer Protection Finance and Policy Commit- tee heard a presentation from Commerce Commissioner Steve Kelley, a former Senator and member of the Commerce Committee.
On January 24th, the HHS Committee heard a bill that arose from a news story about
food stands operated by children that you may have heard about.
I’m looking forward to continuing to work with my colleagues as budget and policy discussions move forward this year, and I hope you’ll keep in touch with me if you have questions about any issues.
Listening Session with Local Legislators
I hope you’ll be able to join me for a listening session with our other district legislators! This Saturday, February 2nd, Representative Andrew Carlson (DFL-Bloomington), Representative Michael Howard (DFL- Richfield), and I will be hosting a listening session to hear from neighbors about the issues they’re concerned about, and talk about the 2019 session.
The listening session will be held at Northwestern Health Sciences University (2501 W 84th St, Bloomington) in Lecture Room 2, from 10-11:30am. This will be an opportunity for district residents to directly share your thoughts and questions with us, and I hope you’ll take advantage of it.