Dear Neighbor,
We are wrapping up another busy week in the House and the pace is about to pick up even more speed with budget work about to hit full stride.
The governor is scheduled to put forward his revised proposal for the next two-year state budget this afternoon, adjusting for updated economic information we received a couple of weeks ago. The House will respond with its own budget blueprint in the coming days and start moving finance bills through the process in anticipation of our March 31 committee deadline.
Bills I have personally authored continue making progress in the committee stages. Here are summaries of a couple that had hearings this week:
- H.F. 2112 would provide for the construction of several thousand more affordable housing units each year. It does this by re-prioritizing federal bonding money the state currently receives, allowing us to make better use of federal matching monies that are available.
- H.F. 616 appropriates $19 million in bonding to complete a project at the St. Cloud prison designed to improve the entry point for processing inmates and mitigate current safety concerns. This is Phase 2 of a two-part project that already is underway.
As for work on the House floor, the House on Monday approved a bill (H.F. 5) which aims to provide double-digit reductions on health insurance premiums by limiting the impact of high-risk consumers in the individual market.
The proposed Minnesota Premium Security Plan would establish a state-based reinsurance program administered by the Minnesota Comprehensive Health Association, which for more than 40 years ran a high-risk pool that brought stability to the individual market and ensured the sickest Minnesotans had access to coverage.
Minnesota has long been considered a leader in health care and this helps us restore some of what was lost through the implementation of Obamacare. Prior to the enactment of Obamacare, Minnesota had the Minnesota Comprehensive Health Association, which helped achieve the goals of this new program. While current federal laws prohibit us from bringing back MCHA exactly as it was, this new reinsurance program should help further improve the individual insurance market, increasing accessibility and reducing premiums by around 18 percent for those who need care the most.
On Thursday, the House approved a bill (H.F. 1478) which repeals the last-in, first-out requirement when school districts are forced to reduce staff. With this change, school districts will no longer be required to use strict seniority criteria when laying off teachers if they have not agreed on a different method with their bargaining unit. Instead, this issue will have to be negotiated between school districts and the labor unions representing their employees.
Currently, Minnesota is one of only six states where seniority is the sole factor in teacher retention decisions (unless school districts and labor unions have made a different agreement, which under current law rarely happens). This bill will make it easier for teacher effectiveness, evaluations and other criteria to also be considered.
Minnesota employment law already prohibits discrimination, including discrimination based on age. Removing seniority default will not put older teachers, minority teachers, or any other teacher of a protected status at risk. In fact, moving away from LIFO system could protect newly recruited teachers of color and younger teachers who are newer to the workforce.
The bottom line is we want to empower schools to keep the best teachers in the classroom. This legislation simply removes the default in state law, allowing school districts and bargaining units to explore alternative options that may better serve teachers, students, and families.
I hope you have a good week. Please feel free to contact me whenever you have concerns or thoughts on the issues.
Sincerely,
Jim