Dear Neighbor,
This week the House passed a measure to make sure no school kid is denied a lunch based on ability of parents to pay. When students don’t have enough money in their lunch account, they sometimes go without a meal, leaving children hungry and unable to fully participate in the classroom. During the floor debate last year on the K-12 Education omnibus finance bill, Republicans offered an amendment to expand the free lunch program to include 62,000 low-income students by redirecting the DFL budget increases from the Minnesota Department of Education (base budget increase, three new regional centers, and a school climate center) toward school lunches. Unfortunately, House Democrats rejected the proposal. While I’m happy that no kid will be denied a lunch at school, this issue could have been resolved a year ago.
MNSURE
MNsure enrollment has fallen short of even worst-case projections and now the IRS deadline to be fully enrolled is in mere weeks. Minnesotans must select a plan and pay the premium in full by March 31 to avoid penalties for not having health insurance. We recently received updated data which shows 33,680 enrollments are “in process” for commercial plans (individual and small business) as of March 8. This is just 19 percent of MNsure's lowest original estimate of 177,125 commercial plan enrollments by March 31. In the short term, low-enrollment means Minnesota families of four will have to pay $285 penalty for being unable to purchase insurance by the deadline even if they spent hours on hold with MNsure's call center, had their application disappear in MNsure's system or realized MNsure premiums were simply unaffordable for their family budget. That penalty will increase to $695 per person starting in 2016. In the long term, low-enrollment means all Minnesotans will pay more in higher premiums and higher taxes for a program that failed to live up to Gov. Dayton's and Democrats' promises.
ANTI-BULLYING BILL
As many of you know, I have deep misgivings about the so- called “Safe and Supportive Schools Act” also known as the anti-bullying bill. On Tuesday, the Senate Education Committee passed the bill after a five-hour hearing. Its next stop is the Senate Finance Committee. If you feel passionate about this issue, I encourage you to contact members of the Senate Finance Committee and explain your concerns. Since this particular bill is slightly different from what passed the House in 2013, a conference committee will be needed if it passes the Senate and a version of the “Safe and Supportive Schools Act” will come back to the House. I continue to believe that any anti-bullying policies are best implemented at the local level.
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