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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Roz Peterson (R)

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2017 Legislative Session Week 1 Update

Friday, January 6, 2017

Hello Neighbor,

The 2017 legislative session is officially underway. On Tuesday, I was sworn-in to serve my second term in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be your voice again at the Capitol!

Preserving Tax Deductions for Minnesotans

The legislature has many important issues to tackle this session due to it being a budget year and we have already acted quickly. Yesterday, the House passed House File 2, which conforms Minnesota tax code to the federal tax code, on a vote of 130-0. The financial result of this bill is $21.7 million in tax relief for 220,000 Minnesota tax filers. It was urgent to get this bill passed in the beginning of session to avoid any complications for Minnesotans filing their 2016 taxes this year. The Senate is expected to pass this bill as well. I am hopeful that the Governor will sign this piece of legislation before the Department of Revenue's deadline of January 11th.

Health Insurance Cost Relief

House Republicans acted immediately on Thursday in an attempt to declare an urgency and suspend the rules of the House to vote on The 2017 Health Care Emergency Aid and Access bill, House File 1.

House File 1 consists of three key aspects: providing $300 million of premium relief for those Minnesotans who qualify on the individual market; ensuring continued access to doctors; and making individual market reforms, such as ending surprise billing, conforming with federal law to allow small businesses to offer a direct contribution toward health insurance premiums, and allowing for-profit health maintenance organizations (HMO) to enter the individual market.

Unfortunately, we were not able to obtain a two-thirds majority to suspend the rules to pass this legislation out of the House and send it to conference committee with the Senate as it was agreed upon earlier. I am disappointed that we were unable to get millions of dollars in premium relief for folks struggling to pay health insurance costs and some substantive reforms for the health insurance market this week. However, we will continue to work on this important issue with our colleagues in the Senate and the Governor. I am optimistic that we will be able to enact some long-term solutions and reforms, as well as provide premium relief later in session.

Committee Assignments

This session I am serving as the Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Childcare Access and Affordability. I am looking forward to working with Chair Franson on finding solutions to reform the cost drivers of childcare. I am also serving on the Education Finance, Government Operations and Elections Policy, and Health and Human Services Reform committees.

Capitol Renovation

As you likely know, the Capitol went under a full restoration and renovation over the past few years. The results are fantastic! I am excited that most spaces have been returned to their original purpose; this includes many areas meant for public gatherings and events. If you would like to visit the Capitol and take a tour of it, follow this link.

As a result of the renovation process, the Governor’s office was displaced to the Veterans Service Building. However, since the restoration in the Capitol is almost complete, he and his staff have moved back in the Capitol, room 130. If you need to reach the Governor, you can do so by phone: 651-201-3400 or by email: http://mn.gov/governor/contact-us/form/.

If you ever have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding any issue related to state government, please feel free to contact me at either 651-296-5387 or rep.roz.peterson@house.mn.

Sincerely,

Roz