Dear Neighbors,
For those who celebrate Easter or Passover, I hope you and your loved ones had a memorable holiday. I was grateful to have spent time with our children and family visiting our parents.
We have less than six weeks remaining in the legislative session before it adjourns on May 21. This week, Governor Dayton sent a letter to House and Senate leaders requesting specific bills related to topics supported on a broad bipartisan basis be sent to his desk by the end of the month. These include bills about:
- protecting elderly and vulnerable adults from abuse and neglect
- ensuring safety of our school children
- addressing the opioid crisis
- stabilizing pensions of Minnesota workers.
I hope the legislative majorities will consider this timeline. It is important to have sufficient time to craft, vet and compromise on the tax and bonding bill, and a supplemental state budget. You can read the Governor’s full letter here.
Equal Pay Day
April 10 marked Equal Pay Day. Equal Pay Day is the point in the year when the salaries of women catch up with men’s salaries from the previous year. In Minnesota, women earn 83 cents for every dollar a man makes, and the gap is much worse for indigenous women and women of color. You can find more information here at the National Women’s Law Center.
As a result of a budget cut enacted last year, the nonpartisan Office on the Economic Status of Women (OESW) is no longer able to serve as a resource for delivering facts and data, key to developing legislation related to women’s economic security. Looking ahead, I’ll continue to work with my colleagues on improving pay and creating an equal playing field for all working Minnesota women.
New Brighton Girl Scouts Visit
Before the Easter and Passover break, New Brighton Girl Scouts came to the Capitol to advocate for tobacco use prevention by passing a bill into law that would raise the age to buy tobacco to 21. I was pleased to meet with these amazing young women and appreciated their thoughtful work on an important issue.
Please feel free to contact me by phone or email to share thoughts, views or input on any state matter. Additionally, if you are interested in following a bill through a House committee or when it reaches the full House of Representatives for a vote, you may do so with any of these resources:
Broadcast television schedule:
www.house.mn/htv/htv.asp
Broadcast television channels:
www.house.mn/htv/channel.pdf
Webcast/mobile streaming schedule:
www.house.mn/htv/schedule.asp
YouTube:
www.youtube.com/user/MNHouseInfo
Sincerely,
Connie Bernardy
State Representative