Dear neighbors,
This week legislators returned to St. Paul to continue session after the Easter/Passover break. Session must end by May 19th this year, and while there is still work to be done, the Legislature has accomplished much of the work necessary to finish on time. This has been a good year for Minnesota, and there are a number of accomplishments that we should all take pride in.
Special legislation for District One Hospital, that I authored in the House and Sen. Jensen authored in the Senate, is moving forward. State law required us to pass legislation giving District One Hospital the authority to proceed with negotiations for a possible sale or merger. My bill accomplishing that passed the House before we recessed for break. Once the bill finishes traveling through the Senate, it will be signed by the Governor and enable District One to maintain the quality continuum of care for patients in our region and provide more local options for treatment and procedures.
The legislature also approved a full 5% increase for home and community-based health workers. Both the House and Senate included the full 5% in their supplemental budget bills. This will provide a much needed increase in pay for the workers who provide care for the most vulnerable members of our community.
I also supported an amendment to the House supplemental budget that would provide an additional rate increase to our nursing homes. These facilities do excellent work on extremely tight budgets, but they need additional support after years of being underfunded. The House supplemental budget would increase nursing home funding and provide additional financial support to raise the wages of the lowest paid workers at these facilities to retain skilled employees. In addition, the House supplemental budget passed in early April included more funding for road repairs, schools, job training, small business grants, and broadband expansion in greater Minnesota.
The House also passed a second tax bill before we left for our break that would cut taxes by over $100 million. The bill will begin a conference committee this week to iron out differences with the Senate tax cut bill, but the House conferees will be fighting for the direct property tax relief we included for farmers, homeowners, and small businesses.
Finally, a major focus of these last four weeks of session will be the bonding bill. Every non-budget year, the state issues bonds to help local communities pay for projects that will have significant local and regional impact. Our district has several important projects that were included in the House bonding bill released earlier this month. Some of the projects include:
· $9.6 million for construction of a new dormitory and asset preservation costs at the Minnesota State Academies of the Blind and Deaf in Faribault
· $30 million for higher education facilities to pay for asset preservation projects. South Central College will benefit from a portion of that funding.
· $550,000 for the Mill Towns State Trail
I am honored to serve our area at the Capitol and I can always be reached at rep.patti.fritz@house.mn or 651-296-8237.
Sincerely,
Patti Fritz
State Representative