Greetings Northlanders,

Much of our focus this legislative session has been addressing the impacts Minnesotans are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yesterday on the House floor we passed a pair of bipartisan bills to address a couple of different problems. The first extends to May 31 the waiver allowing Minnesotans to apply for a marriage license online instead of in-person. Additionally, we approved legislation to effectively keep the same Unemployment Insurance experience ratings for employers in 2021 that they had in 2020. Otherwise, due to the significant layoffs that have occurred during the pandemic, businesses would face massive increases in their Unemployment Insurance taxes. I’m glad we were able to get this measure done to help businesses that have already been struggling due to no fault of their own.

Slowing the Spread of CWD

Many Minnesota families cherish our hunting traditions, but to protect this heritage, we need to protect our deer population. The spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) continues to spread, and it’s critically important we take proactive steps to protect our state’s wild white-tailed deer herd.

On Tuesday, the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee approved my bill containing new solutions in our fight with CWD. The legislation creates new requirements for deer farms, including one to immediately notify the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) of an escaped animal if the animal is not returned or captured within 24 hours and requires identification of farmed white-tailed deer to include certain contact information of the owner. It allows a licensed hunter to kill and possess an escaped farmed Cervidae without being liable to the owner for the loss of the animal and requires farmed Cervidae killed by a hunter or the DNR to be tested for CWD at the owner’s expense.

Under current law, a person can’t import a hunter-harvested Cervidae carcass unless it has been processed to meet certain requirements to ensure it has been cleaned of all brain tissue and the spinal column. My legislation expands the provision to all Cervidae carcasses, not just those harvested by hunters. The bill also includes changes to muzzleloader regulations, permanently allows portable stands within wildlife management areas, and allows all legal firearms to be used statewide during the regular firearms deer season.

The next stop for the legislation is the House Floor. The International Falls Journal captured the issue in this story.

Governor’s Budget

This week, Governor Walz released his budget proposal for the next two years. The governor’s COVID-19 Recovery Budget invests in supporting working families, ensuring students catch up on learning, and helping small businesses stay afloat while driving Minnesota’s economic recovery.

It’s a good starting point, and the February budget forecast will give us some more clarity on what our state’s economic picture looks like. I’m optimistic that we can all work together this session to enact a balanced budget that helps us recover from COVID-19, while investing in what Minnesota workers, families, businesses, and communities need to succeed over the long haul.

New Broadband Grants

Yesterday, Governor Walz announced the newest round of awards under the state Border-to-Border Broadband Grant program. Among the recipients was Paul Bunyan Communications’ GigaZone Fiber project in the city of Cook, receiving $311,254, while leveraging a local match of $380,421. Paul Bunyan has been a great partner in our efforts to expand broadband access to more residents and businesses in northern Minnesota, and I’m grateful they received this funding to complete this important project.

COVID-19 continues to impact learning, commerce, and so many other aspects of our lives, and folks are relying increasingly on the ability to get online. It’s an important time to make new robust investments to address the significant connectivity gaps that remain across our state. I’m the chief author of legislation to invest $120 million in highspeed broadband over the next two years. Here’s an article from the Timberjay this week about some other projects on the table.

COVID-19 Update

Thanks to the Minnesota Department of Health for their recent testing clinic in International Falls. This week, Minnesota reached the milestone of one million tests at community sites like this one. As the vaccine rolls out across the state, testing remains a strong part of our strategy against COVID-19. If you have symptoms, you should get a test. More information is available here. 

Speaking of the vaccine, data remains available on the state Vaccine Dashboard. So far, 320,347 Minnesotans have received their first dose of the vaccine and 85,217 have completed the series of two doses. It’s no secret the distribution has been slow, and unfortunately, our state is limited in the amount of shots we can give out by the supply we get from the federal government. Wednesday, we learned the federal government would be increasing the supply over the coming three weeks and I’m hopeful we can accelerate the distribution more quickly.

Please continue to contact me with your feedback and ideas, or if I can ever be of assistance. It’s an honor to represent you.

Sincerely,

Rob Ecklund
State Representative