2021 Budget Bills
and everything happening in the Legislature this week.
Budget bills begin to take shape
The first year of the biennium is the year that the Legislature creates a budget to fund state agencies, programs. It is this funding that pays for the essential services that Minnesotans have depended on as we weather the COVID-19 pandemic: the health department that is responsible for testing, vaccinating, and managing the pandemic; the educators who are trying to keep our kids afloat during a crisis; the department administering unemployment and job-retraining for laid off workers. Read more >>
DFL Senators lead in advocacy for legislation to reform Minnesota’s criminal sexual conduct statutes
In March of this year the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in the case State v. Khalil that under current Minnesota law, an individual charged with sexual assault of a person that is mentally incapacitated due to consumption of drugs or alcohol may not be found guilty if the victim is voluntarily intoxicated, due to a poorly written definition found in state statute. Senate DFL members joined House DFL and Republican members for a bipartisan press conference this week to bring attention to legislative solutions proposed in the bill. Read more >>
Senate DFLers convene the town hall for rural Minnesota
Senate DFLers along with Commissioner Thom Petersen of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture held a town hall for rural Minnesota to discuss the most important issues impacting rural Minnesotans. From affordable and accessible healthcare to Rank Choice Voting, members on the call answered questions that were submitted from residents in rural Minnesota that provided an opportunity for transparent conversation on issues that impact rural communities. Read more >>