Above, area paramedics Dina Colville, Paul McIntyre and Robert Beckl met with me at the Capitol this week.
Greetings,
Congratulations to the local paramedics who recently received an award for providing extraordinary services and it was a pleasure to discuss issues with them at the Capitol this week. I was proud to support the 5-percent rate increase we provided for EMT services in 2016 and proposals are being formulated to do even more to help rural paramedics. Other EMT-related issues on the radar this session include funding for the opioid antidote Naloxone and support for community paramedics. Congrats again for the great work and I look forward to continuing work to on proposals to help your cause!
The end of this week brings the House’s first deadline for bills to make initial progress, meaning committee work has intensified with a large number of bills receiving hearings. Some bills I authored were heard, including one which stipulates a bidding process must take place on state IT projects over $100,000. A status report from MN.IT to the Legislature would be due at least 30 days before an IT project goes live.
An amendment was added to the bill requiring local field testing on projects that involve both state and local jurisdictions. Input from local officials could help avoid some of the major failings experienced on projects such as MNsure and MNLARS. The bill received a good reception during its hearing and remains in the mix this session.
As a quick side note on MNLARS (our state’s new vehicle registration system), the House and Senate both provided final approval of a bill to help keep the program operating. The new system has encountered serious problems and the legislation we approved will bring more accountability to make sure results are delivered. We need this system to work, so let’s hope we can finally turn a corner with this program so it at least can complete basic functions while we work on other solutions.
Another bill I authored which received a hearing this week would provide a method of resolving issues between state and local governments before they reach the court system and rack up legal fees that taxpayers end up having to pay.
It’s important to note this bill (HF 1007) does not eliminate anyone’s legal rights, it simply puts in place methods of working out resolutions sooner. A case regarding a riparian lot was the impetus for this legislation because issues between state and county officials could have been addressed without going before a judge. All parties could have come away happy and taxpayers could have been spared paying for a lengthy lawsuit.
This is Conflict Resolution 101 in my book and it should help us put the brakes on lawsuit happiness before cases that could be resolved are instead dragged into court. This bill also received good support from the committee and remains in the legislative process.
Good luck,
Jeff