Legislative UpdateDear Neighbors, This week, legislative action is picking up as we are only five short weeks away from the end of session. Several omnibus bills were presented on the House floor. I am starting to have visitors in my office which I enjoy very much. Specifically, I met with a Princeton High School Student who was here shadowing a lobbyist to learn more about the government process. During our visit, she shared her experiences participating in an organization called Youth in Government based out of Rogers High School. She has had the opportunity to shadow legislative staff, representatives, and now a lobbyist. It has been a great opportunity to see all the different perspectives of the process. Supplemental Education Bill in Committee On Wednesday, I had my first opportunity to speak in the Education Finance Committee. We heard HF 5237, which is the Education supplemental budget bill. Like last year's Education budget bill, this money comes with many attached mandates. Last year's bill had so many mandates that it led to teacher and staff layoffs across the state. I do not believe that mandates from St. Paul are the most efficient way to improve our children’s education. At a time when nearly half of our students are not proficient in math and science, it may be time to reevaluate how we do things when it comes to education. Instead of mandating how schools can use their budgets, we should instead give more control to the communities our schools serve. They have a bevy of professional, dedicated staff, including elected school board members who know what their communities need and how money should be spent. I believe we need more local control. Ominous Omnibus Bills On Monday we heard the Lands Bill (HF 3508), the Environment Policy Bill (SF 2904), the Human Services Policy Bill (SF 4399), and the Commerce Policy Bill (SF 4097). While some of these bills had some bipartisan support, I had to vote no on all of them. The Lands Bill will remove state recreation areas and was introduced without consultation with local bodies of government. The Environment Bill gives the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) rule-making authority, but the language is poorly worded, leading to potential conflict regarding which bodies of water BWSR would have authority over. The Human Services Bill has several issues, the biggest being eliminating sub-minimum wage. This would effectively eliminate all job opportunities for persons who are severely disabled. Finally, the Commerce bill had several concerning provisions including alarming changes to debt collection, a tax on internet services costing customers additional money in monthly fees, and changes to how localities can acquire telecommunication companies. Thursday's floor session contained a couple of controversial bills. First, we heard the Cannabis Policy bill, HF 4757. While the bill that made cannabis legal in Minnesota passed last year, this year's bill simply makes technical corrections and creates a pre-licensing process. However, the new pre-licensing system contains a provision for a lottery system for social equity applicants, something supporters of the cannabis bill fought against last year. Some GOP amendments would have increased the penalties for sale and possession by minors as well as required a state study on the impact of adult cannabis use on minors. While I don't support legal cannabis, I understand that this bill is not stopping. If we can't stop it, then we better do it right. The way the current bill stands does not meet the standards needed to make sure that our communities remain safe and our children are protected. We also heard SF 3492, or the Landlord/Tenant Housing Policy bill. While ensuring that tenants and their rights are protected, the measures in this bill put a heavy burden on housing providers. The bill would create an additional 20 housing provider violations, thereby adding additional red tape to the housing process. It also requires that providers take section 8, regardless of the potential costs or administrative issues associated. The bill also makes further changes to tenant rights including changes to service in an eviction action, eviction expungements, rights of tenants moving into buildings that are under construction, and most concerning, the right to repair. As I said, it is important to find a good balance between the rights of homeowners and the rights of renters. This bill improperly skews the burden onto the homeowner, which is why I voted no. Official Facebook is Live My official House Facebook page is live. In addition to the updates, it's a good place to find out more about what I am doing at the capitol. Click here to check it out. Have a great weekend, Bryan |