Volume 5, Issue 14                                April 12, 2019

Celebrating Women’s History Month

A weekly message from your Senator

Dear Constituents and Friends,

There are officially only six weeks left of the 2019 Legislative Session. This week marked the third committee deadline before the legislature goes on a week-long break. Committees were working overtime to mark up lengthy omnibus bills to get them ready to send to the floor by adding and deleting language through amendments. Both Transportation and HHS met this week to go through their omnibus bills.

We voted on 5 bills on the floor, all of which passed. Notably, the Senate voted to pass SF 75, which increases penalties for those who cause accidents as a result of being on their phone. The legislation increases the mandatory fine for a first offense from $50 to $150, from $275 to $300 for the second offense, and from $275 to $500 for a third or subsequent offense if the three offenses are within ten years of each other. It also provides that a third or subsequent offense within ten years would require a court appearance resulting in a 30-day driver’s license suspension. A driver would be eligible to apply for a limited license under court-imposed conditions. Continue reading “Sen. Melisa Franzen Update: April 12, 2019”

Weekly Review Video

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Dear Constituents and Friends,

It was a busy week, as we approach the upcoming third deadline next week. Committees are starting to “mark-up” large omnibus bills to get them through the process on time. A bill to combat opioid addiction through higher drug company fees passed off the floor of the Minnesota Senate with strong bipartisan support. The House passed this bill last month, which sets up negotiations to work out differences in the two bills before sending the final compromise to Governor Tim Walz, who has indicated he would sign the bill into law. Bipartisan legislation to license key players in the pharmaceutical industry, called pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), unanimously passed the Senate floor this week in a 67-0 vote. Continue reading “Sen. Melisa Franzen (SD49) Update: April 5, 2019”

Volume 5, Issue 12                      March 29, 2019

Weekly Review Video

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Dear Constituents and Friends,

It was a busy week at the Capitol. The Senate passed the hands-free cellphone legislation off the floor which requires drivers to use their cellphones in a ‘hands-free’ mode, only allowing voice-activated commands or other actions that need one-touch activation. The bill would enact enforcement and penalties for using a cellphone outside of hands-free mode. The differences between the House and Senate bills will be worked out conference committee, but this initiative is one step closer to becoming law.

The Snow Days conference committee also closed up this week, and the bill passed off the floor with strong bipartisan support and will likely be signed into law by Gov. Walz. This bill would aid Minnesota schools struggling with snow days by shortening their academic calendar without penalty amid the extraordinary winter of class cancellations. It will also ensure hourly school workers are compensated for their work. Continue reading “Sen. Melisa Franzen (SD49) Update: March 29, 2019”

Volume 5, Issue 11                          March 22, 2019

Weekly Review Video

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Dear Constituents and Friends,

This week we passed 2 bipartisan bills on the floor, which provided much needed relief to both disaster funds and deputy registrars. SF 307 makes a one-time $10 million appropriation from the general fund to the disaster assistance contingency account. SF 621 appropriates $13 million for grants to reimburse private deputy registrars for costs incurred due to lost business productivity from the rollout of MNLARS.

Yesterday in Health and Human Services, we had a hearing for SF 1070, a bipartisan bill which would modify the existing medical cannabis program in Minnesota. The bill seeks to expand access to the program by including telemedicine, allowing use in schools for students who need it, and permitting medical cannabis manufacturers to subtract certain business expenses that are not allowed for federal income tax purposes. I introduced 3 amendments in committee. The A-2 amendment passed which simply adds to the qualifying medical conditions the conditions that have been approved of by the commissioner and are currently considered a qualifying medical condition under the program.  This updates the statute to include these conditions. Continue reading “Sen. Melisa Franzen Update: March 22, 2019”

Weekly Review Video

A weekly message from your Senator

Dear Constituents and Friends,

The legislature is at the halfway point of the 2019 session, with the first committee deadline closing out the week. The first deadline requires policy bills to have had their first hearing in the committee of origin unless the companion bill in the House has been heard. Finance, tax, and capital investment bills do not have to meet this deadline.

Committees were busy working into the end of the week to ensure that bills meet the deadline in order to continue through the legislative process this session. In the upcoming weeks, the House and Senate will work to come to a consensus on a number of issues through the conference committee process, so that Governor Walz can sign legislation into law. Continue reading “Sen. Melisa Franzen (SD49) Update: March 15, 2019”

Volume 5, Issue 9          March 8, 2019

Weekly Review Video

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Dear Constituents and Friends,

The ninth week of the 2019 session wraps up this week, with the legislature having only passed two bills so far. MNLARS funding and a small bonding bill for clean-up of a toxic closed landfill in Andover and technical fixes to construction bonds for Highway 14 and Highway 23 were both passed and signed into law by Governor Walz.

Committee highlights from this week include a number of bills addressing mental health issues in rural Minnesota, provisional ballots, an estate tax repeal, and a bill to cut social security taxes. Reinsurance was heard in Finance Committee, a bill to reimburse deputy registrars had a committee hearing, and a bill to punish those who drive too slow in the left lane was also debated. Continue reading “Sen. Melisa Franzen (SD49) Update: March 8, 2019”

Volume 5, Issue 8                     March 1, 2019

A clip from Monday’s press conference

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Dear Constituents and Friends,

The week started with our annual event, STEM Advocacy Day. The day was kicked off with a press conference to announce the introduction of three STEM bills detailed below with a bipartisan group of co-authors, representatives from Seagate, Ed Graff, the superintendent of Minneapolis schools, and students from around the state involved in robotics programs. A few robots made a special appearance, as well! The students then met with their elected officials and had the chance to demonstrate their work in the rotunda. Thank you to everyone who attended!

The big news this week was the release of the February budget forecast which sets the terms of debate for the two-year budget. The forecast projects how much money the state is likely to have for the upcoming biennium. Minnesota Management and Budget estimates a $1 billion budgetary balance which is $492 million less than the November 2018 forecast. It’s important to be cautious when the state’s budget balance decreases and diligent in working to balance any new investments with additional revenue. Continue reading “Sen. Melisa Franzen (SD49) Update: March 1, 2019”

Volume 5, Issue 7     —     February 22, 2019

Weekly Review Video

 

A weekly message from your Senator

Dear Constituents and Friends,

Week seven of the 2019 session was busy with the news of Gov. Walz releasing his budget blueprint for the next two-year biennium. He focused his budget on the shared priorities of all Minnesotans: providing a high-quality education for all kids regardless of their race or zip code, providing access to quality health care at a price people can afford, making sure every community thrives across Minnesota, investing in the state’s crumbling infrastructure which is putting Minnesotans’ public safety at risk, and providing tax relief for all Minnesotans. I will delve into the provision contained within the Governor’s proposed budget and welcome your thoughts as well. More information can be found here. Continue reading “Sen. Melisa Franzen (SD49) Update: February 22, 2019”

Volume 5, Issue 6  —  February 15, 2019

Weekly Review Video

A weekly message from your Senator

Dear Constituents and Friends,

It was another busy week in the Minnesota Senate with several press conferences, including the announcement of the Increase Teachers of Color Act and the Early Learning Scholarships, both which I am a proud co-author.  I am also pleased to inform that I was appointed to serve on the Health and Human Services Finance Committee taking the open seat vacated by Senator Tony Lourey, who was tapped by Governor Walz to serve as Commissioner of Health and Human Services. As a previous Vice-Chair of HHS for four years I am happy to be back on to serve the interests of my district and the state. Continue reading “Sen. Melisa Franzen (SD49) Update: February 15, 2019”