Dear Friends and Neighbors,
East Central Regional Library
It was wonderful to visit this week with Carla Lydon and Karen Lee from the East Central Regional Library. They do a great job of serving the people of Chisago County. Thank you for stopping by the Capitol!
Suicide Prevention Training bill passes Education Innovation Policy Committee
Late last year, I learned about the good work Nebraska has done to improve suicide prevention education.
On Tuesday, March 3, I presented HF1209, my Suicide Prevention bill, to the Education Policy Committee. The bill will go to several others committees prior to being voted on by the full House of Representatives.
This bill requests the Board of Teaching, the Board of Peace Officers Standards and Training, and the Commissioner of Health to provide suicide prevention training and techniques to de-escalate mental health crises. It also appropriates funds for development of a text message suicide prevention program.
As Chisago County is painfully aware, suicide is a growing health crisis. But, much can be done to understand the signs and symptoms of depression and other mental health issues as well as to teach everyone that mental illness is a disease, whose origin is sometimes genetic and is highly treatable. There should be absolutely no shame in learning a person has a mental health condition.
Barrett Nursing Facilities Bill Passes in Aging and Long-Term Care Committee
This week, the Aging and Long-Term Care Committee heard House File 730, a bill I am proud to author on behalf of the nursing facilities in Chisago County as well as Mille Lacs, Isanti and Kanabec Counties.
The legislation increases the nursing facilities reimbursement rate in these counties to match the metro area reimbursement rate. If signed into law, three quarters of the money from that increase will go toward compensation related to costs for nursing facility employees. This ability to offer increased pay will help with employee retention and recruitment, benefitting the hardworking people in this field as well as the aging adults residing in these facilities.
As I shared last week in my update, too many nursing homes are unable to fill job openings in Chisago County because of the lower pay rate compared to the metro. This is about fair funding for our nursing homes and ensuring that we can attract the best quality workers to take care of our seniors.
It was also great that Nathan Johnson from Ecumen in North Branch and Frank Robinson from Parmly LifePoints in Chisago City came to the committee showing support for HF 730.
The bill was passed onto the Health and Human Services Reform Committee, and I will keep you updated on its progress.
Northstar
Earlier this week, I talked with a KSTP reporter about Northstar's failure to live up to its promises. Channel Five reported that in 2014, ridership is down eight percent for weekday riders and that Metro Transit's original projections that the train would remove 5,000 cars from our road proved false by more than half.
It is extremely concerning that taxpayers spent an initial $315 million to build the Northstar system and are now subsidizing each rider $40 per day. That's a significant amount of taxpayer money for an inefficient public transit system that is falling far short of expectations.
Two Chisago County Transportation Projects Included in Gov. Dayton’s Gas Tax Proposal
I wanted to let you know that, as part of Governor Dayton’s transportation plan that includes a new sales tax on gasoline that will raise the wholesale gas tax by at least sixteen cents per gallon, he also provided a list of transportation projects that these tax increases would pay for. The only two Chisago county projects included were a 1-35 repaving project north of Harris and the Osceola Bridge.
If you have any comments about nursing homes, my suicide prevention bill, Northstar Rail, transportation funding or other subjects, I welcome you to contact me or my office.
Sincerely,
Bob