Dear Neighbor,
With the May 20 adjournment deadline for the legislature quickly approaching, Democrats have returned to attempting to unionize in-home childcare providers. On Thursday night, the unionization bill – House File 950 – passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee and now is heading to the House floor. This bill is simply a way to extract money from hard-working small business owners who take care of our kids and direct that money toward union leadership. Under this proposal, childcare providers would have to pay $300 per year in union dues. If you add up that $300 figure and multiply it by 11,000 childcare providers, that’s $3.3 million for union coffers. This is simply wrong and I continue to adamantly oppose it. Our kids and those who take care of them during the day deserve better than to be caught up in the middle of a union power grab.
Today, the House deabted the minimum wage increase. While the idea may be well intentioned, I firmly believe it will restrict the number of job opportunities for those who need it most while further adding to the onerous regulations on our hard-working small business owners. For more on my thoughts on increasing the minimum wage, please read my recent column in the Stillwater Gazette.
The Omnibus Pension bill is also scheduled to come up on the floor debate. While I believe that we need to keep our promises to those who have worked hard and retired, this bill simply kicks the can down the road on the $16.7 billion unfunded pension liability our state faces. We owe it to our public workers and retirees to have the best system possible. Unfortunately, this bill simply delays making the reforms needed so we make good on our promises to public employees and have a sustainable system in place for future retirees.
SERVING OUR HEROES
Last weekend, I had the honor of serving dinner to military members and spouses recently returned from deployments at Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch with my husband Greg. As a military mom myself, I continue to be inspired by those who risk their lives to protect our liberties, our families, and our way of life. Thank you to our brave military heroes.
As always, I am interested in your feedback. Please feel free to contact me by e-mail at Rep.Kathy.Lohmer@House.MN or contact my office at 651-296-4244. You can also send mail to my office address: 239 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155.
Sincerely,
Kathy