Legislative Weekly Recap- January 7-11, 2019

Hello Everyone,

On Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at noon I was sworn in on the floor of the Minnesota House of Representatives. I will be starting my fifth year in office serving the communities of Hopkins and St. Louis Park and I could not be more excited! I was honored to have my Dad, Roger Funk, by my side as I took the oath. Democrats are now in the majority in the House (75 to 59) and the Republicans are still in charge in the Senate (34 to 32 with one vacant seat). Minnesota has the only divided legislature in the country. I see it as an opportunity to show folks that we can still get along and get things done. I for one, am ready to go to work.

Constitutional Offices Sworn In
I had the honor to attend the swearing in of the Governor, Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and the State Auditor at the Fitzgerald Theater on Monday, January 7. It was a beautiful ceremony filled with music, a drum circle, and heartfelt speeches. I was especially proud of our homegrown Lt. Governor and Secretary of State (SOS). Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan grew up in St. Louis Park and returned here to raise her daughter and represent her hometown in the Minnesota House. I will never get tired of calling her by her new title - Lt. Governor. I am so very proud of her, what she has already accomplished, and what she is going accomplish for the State of Minnesota. I am even prouder of SOS Steve Simon who grew up in Hopkins and has returned here to raise his family. He started out in the Minnesota House as well and is now fighting to protect voting rights and elections for the citizens of Minnesota. I teared up watching both of them as they took their oaths on Monday.

One Minnesota Conference
On Wednesday, I joined my colleagues in the House and the Senate at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs for the One Minnesota Conference. At the beginning of each session we attended a legislative policy conference to hear about issue areas we can work on together across party lines. We heard from the state demographer about Minnesota population trends. There were also panel discussions on healthcare, growing the economy, and education. It was a great opportunity to have more in depth discussions with colleagues away from the hustle and bustle of the Capitol.
 
Introduction of House Files 1 - 10
On Wednesday, the House DFL held a press conference to roll out our first 10 priorities, which we are calling the Minnesota Values Agenda. These bills are by no means a comprehensive list of what we would like to get done this year but they are a start. They are based on the Minnesota Values Project, a two year endeavor where we meet with regular people across the state to see what was important to them. You can read about the details of the press conference and highlights of the bills here. And, here is an article from the Pioneer Press that goes into a little more details about the bills.