Dear Neighbors,
Just like the spring weather outside, legislative action is also heating up at the Capitol. With a shorter than usual legislative session, the first committee deadline is already fast approaching on March 22. Here’s an update on what’s been going on:
Veterans Day on the Hill
First, a big thank you to everyone who visited the Capitol on Monday for Veterans Day on the Hill. This year’s focus was on helping surviving spouses keep their homes, stopping predatory lending against veterans’ benefits, and increasing access to the outdoors for disabled vets. It was great to see so many Veterans and advocates working to make sure their voices are heard.
Next week I will have a second hearing on HF 1123, a bill I authored to update property tax benefits for disabled veterans and their spouses.
Dayton’s Final State of the State
On Wednesday night, Governor Dayton gave his final State of the State address. The speech was a reminder that over the last eight years our investments in the things that improve the lives of Minnesotans and the values we all share have resulted in major achievements. In the past eight years we’ve gone from deficits and borrowing money from our schools to surpluses and record investments that have made Minnesota the best state in the country.
Every Minnesotan deserves an opportunity to succeed, and we can only make that a reality by continuing to invest in the things that make life better for all of us. As your voice at the Capitol, I’ll work to ensure everyone has access to a quality education, a job that rewards hard work with fair pay, world-class healthcare, and a secure retirement.
The Governor had a short and focused agenda. He advocated for increased investments in both K-12 and Higher Education, a sound transportation system, clean water infrastructure, and a robust bonding bill to meet statewide needs. He ended his speech observing there was more work to do but that he was leaving that to us. I think he meant all of us, as Minnesotans, are responsible to carry on the work of making Minnesota strong, better, and more inclusive.
"Previous generations worked hard to build and then leave us what we have here. Now it's our responsibility to make it still better for generations to come."
Protecting MN Seniors from Abuse
Last year, the Star Tribune published a series that detailed serious abuses, sexual assault, and other mistreatment going uninvestigated in Minnesota’s senior care facilities. After investigations by AARP and the Office of the Legislative Auditor, Governor Dayton joined legislators to announce a broad set of reforms and investments to hold providers guilty of abuse accountable and protect the health, safety, and dignity of seniors and vulnerable adults.
While significant changes have been made and the backlog of uninvestigated claims have been investigated, I’m committed to making sure we do everything we can to ensure this never happens again. Our seniors deserve to live with safety, security and dignity. We owe it to families to not delay and take action on meaningful fixes now.
MNLARS Progress Stopped
Technological upgrades to Minnesota’s Licensing and Registration System, known as MNLARS, have been decades in the making. The initial roll out of a new system last year had serious hiccups. While a lot of progress has been made on fixing MNLARS, there are still issues that need to be fixed.
In January, Governor Dayton told legislators that he needed them to make $10 million in the budget of the Department of Public Safety available so he could continue to keep IT professionals working on those fixes for MNLARS. While I worked with my DFL colleagues to get that done, Republicans refused to act. As a result, layoff notices have been sent to dozens of the people fixing the problem.
Minnesotans deserve a licensing system that works, and they expect it to be fixed when it doesn’t. As the Star Tribune pointed out, we need to fix this now. By not acting, Republicans are only making the problem worse for Minnesotans.
Supplemental Budget
Today, Governor Dayton released his supplemental budget proposal. In the coming weeks, the House and Senate will work through his proposal and come up with their own supplemental budget proposals. I’ll keep you updated as we work through the process.
I welcome your questions and feedback, and encourage you to reply to this email or contact me at 651-296-0173.
Sincerely,
Jim Davnie