Tag: Minnesota Legislature

DFL lawmakers to roll out “Responsible on Cannabis” series of legislative proposals

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – On Tuesday at noon, Rep. Carlos Mariani (DFL – Saint Paul), chair of the House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Division, and Rep. Rena Moran (DFL – Saint Paul), chair of the House Health and Human Services Policy Committee, will be joined for a news conference by authors of legislation to change Minnesota’s cannabis policies. The legislators will preview bills scheduled for public hearings later in the afternoon as part of a “Responsible on Cannabis Day” event.

WHAT: “Responsible on Cannabis” press conference
WHEN: Tuesday, March 5, 2019, 11:30 AM
WHERE: Press Conference Room B971, Minnesota State Capitol, 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Saint Paul, MN 55155
WHO:

  • Rep. Carlos Mariani (DFL – Saint Paul), Chair, House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Division
  • Rep. Rena Moran (DFL – Saint Paul), Chair, House Health and Human Services Policy Committee
  • Rep. Raymond Dehn (DFL – Minneapolis)
  • Rep. Jack Considine (DFL – Mankato)
  • Rep. Samantha Vang (DFL – Brooklyn Center)

Legislators and advocates rally to support “great start” bills

SAINT PAUL, Minn.—Today at the Capitol, a bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators, joined by advocates for health care, mental health, and early childhood, announced support for prenatal care and home visiting proposals, initiatives that would improve the wellbeing of parents and children at the beginning of life. The announcement immediately followed a legislative hearing on the home visiting proposal.

“Prenatal care and home visiting services are part of a broader legislative effort to help make sure that every child gets a great start in life,” said Rep. Dave Pinto (DFL—St. Paul), chair of the House Early Childhood Finance & Policy Division. “The House, Senate, and Governor are all prioritizing early care and learning. This is the session to do right by the youngest Minnesotans.”

While Minnesota leads the nation in many aspects of health care, too many African-American and American Indian women die from pregnancy-related causes. Black and Native women are three to four times more likely to die during pregnancy compared to their white counterparts, and their infants are more than twice as likely to die as white infants. Rep. Kelly Morrison (DFL—Deephaven) and Sen. Jim Abeler (R—Anoka) have introduced companion bills, HF 909and SF 855, to expand access and utilization of prenatal care and decrease racial and ethnic disparities. Continue reading “Legislators and advocates rally to support “great start” bills”

House Transportation Finance & Policy Committee Invites Community to Feb. 22 Public Hearing

On Friday, February 22, the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee will hold a public hearing to discuss various transportation proposals impacting the St. Cloud region. Bipartisan legislation to extend the Northstar Commuter Rail to St. Cloud will be on the agenda.

“All Minnesotans deserve a multimodal transportation system that will help them stay connected to families and opportunities, no matter where they live in our state,” said Chair Frank Hornstein (DFL-Minneapolis). “We are working to make sure all transportation options are considered for each community’s unique needs, and want to hear from communities statewide about how we can help achieve that goal for families, students, and seniors.”

All members of the community are invited to attend the field hearing and provide public testimony.

What: An official field hearing of the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee

Who: House Transportation Committee Members

When: Friday, February 22, 12:00-3:00 p.m.

Where: St. Cloud City Hall, 400 2nd Street South, St. Cloud, MN 56301

Individuals and groups that wish to provide testimony to the committee may do so by contacting John Howe at john.howe@house.mn.

Vaping could be kicked outside under proposed change to Clean Indoor Air Act

Clouds of vapor scented like gummy bears and crème brulee could be exiled from indoor spaces by a bill that would exclude the use of e-cigarettes wherever smoking is already banned.

HF349, sponsored by Rep. Laurie Halverson (DFL-Eagan), would modify the Minnesota Clean Indoor Air Act to include “activated electronic delivery devices” used for vaping under its definitions of “smoking” and include products derived from nicotine, tobacco, marijuana, other plants, and synthetics intended for inhalation.

The bill was approved, as amended, by the House Health and Human Services Policy Division Tuesday and re-referred to the House Commerce Committee. A companion, SF349, sponsored by Sen. Carla Nelson (R-Rochester), awaits action by the Senate Health and Human Services Finance and Policy Committee.

View the complete February 12 article by Victoria Cooney on the Minnesota House of Representatives website here.

Thanks for streamlining bill process at Capitol

Quite often I may hear of frustration that someone made a change and then publicly denounce it with no information. I always wish that people would at least research why a change was made and then educate the public as to why the change was made. I’m particularly referring to the issue of one less agriculture committee at the Capitol.    

I communicated with Speaker of the House Rep. Melissa Hortman on this as I was curious. She told me she streamlined the committee structure to allow bills in some areas to move faster than they had in earlier committee configurations. Agriculture is one area she did that. Rep. Poppe and others had indicated throughout the prior biennium that bills relating to agriculture actually took twice as long to get through the committee process as they needed to, since they had to go through a policy and a finance committee.  Testifiers had to travel twice to the Capitol to provide the same testimony on the same bill, just in two different committees. By making one committee that has jurisdiction over both policy and finance, it will speed up consideration of bills in this area. Continue reading “Thanks for streamlining bill process at Capitol”

English Language Learners Bill Receives First Public Hearing

SAINT PAUL, MN – Today, legislation to increase funding for English Language Learners (ELL) received its first hearing in the Education Finance Committee. Rep. Kaohly Her (DFL – St. Paul), a former ELL student and chief author of the bill (H.F. 448), advocated to significantly increase ELL funding to help address unfunded costs to school districts. Per-pupil funding for English Learners has not been increased since 2003.

“As a former ELL student myself, I know that language barriers can prevent students from participating in and advocating for their own education,” said Rep. Her. “With growing new immigrant communities in Minnesota, it’s important for us to ensure all Minnesotans receive appropriate funding for an education that prepares them to be successful in life after the classroom.”

ELL funding goes to research-based language instruction programs that help all students achieve language proficiency and high academic outcomes. Minnesota Local Education Agencies enrolled 73,128 ELL students in the 2018-2019 school year.

A companion bill, S.F. 26, is carried by Sen. Charles Wiger (DFL – Maplewood) in the Senate.

Rep. Long and Sen. Frentz introduce 100 percent clean energy bill

SAINT PAUL, MN — On Tuesday, January 5, State Representative Jamie Long (DFL—Minneapolis) and State Senator Nick Frentz (DFL—North Mankato) will join environmental advocacy groups who have led the grassroots push for clean energy to introduce a plan to move Minnesota towards 100 percent clean energy. This legislation would prompt a transition away from power sources that rely on fossil fuels in favor of renewable sources like wind and solar.

What: 100 percent clean energy bill introduction

Who: Rep. Jamie Long and Sen. Nick Frentz

When: Tuesday, January 5 at 12pm

Where: State Capitol Press Room B971, 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155

Mariani and Considine statement about legislative tour of MCF – Stillwater

Stillwater, Minnesota – Today, members of the House Corrections Division took a comprehensive tour of the Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater.

State Rep. Jack Considine (DFL – Mankato), division chair, and Rep. Carlos Mariani (DFL – Saint Paul), division member and Chair of the House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Division, released the following statement:

“Valuable work is happening behind the walls of each of our state’s correctional facilities. It’s important for us as lawmakers to see this work first-hand and learn about how we can best support the public servants working in these facilities. Continue reading “Mariani and Considine statement about legislative tour of MCF – Stillwater”

https://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2018/08/hillary-12-vs-donald-7-meet-districts-may-decide-control-minnesota-house

The following article by Peter Callaghan was posted on the MinnPost website August 24, 2018:

House Speaker Kurt Daudt in front of Republican House candidates on the filing deadline. Credit: Peter Callaghan, MinnPost

Insiders call them “borrowed ground” or even “rented districts.”

They are the dozen or so Minnesota state House districts carried by Hillary Clinton two years ago but narrowly won by Republicans lawmakers in the same election. Now they are the focus of both parties’ attempts to control the body.

With an open governor’s seat and the state Senate likely to remain in a one-seat GOP majority, the 134 House seats on the November ballot will either give the Republicans complete control of the state Legislature — or ensure that Democrats have a share of power.

View the complete article here.