Dear Neighbors, I hope you’re having a great week! Our work at the Legislature continues. As the Higher Education Finance and Policy Chair, I am happy to report our team is busy working on legislation to help students succeed and make college more affordable. I continue to work on numerous pieces of legislation for our community. Most recently, I introduced a bill for an adaptive playground at Common's Park. I have included below more information about this important playground bill and other signficant legislation moving through the House. Legislation to Build an Inclusive and Accessible Playground in FridleyI recently introduced legislation that would secure state investments to build an inclusive and accessible playground in Fridley. All our kids deserve to enjoy our incredible community parks and outdoor spaces. I’ll continue to advocate for this project and its passage, so kids of all abilities have the opportunity to play and thrive. The project is supported by Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, Multicultural Autism Action Network, The Arc Minnesota, The Autism Society of Minnesota, Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, and Minnesota Autistic Alliance. I'll be sure to keep you updated on the bill's progress. Addressing our Workforce Shortage in Long-Term CareThis week, the Minnesota House approved a bill allowing the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) to establish a temporary staffing pool for long-term care facilities and other facilities and programs experiencing an emergency staffing crisis. The bill also allows DHS and the Minnesota Department of Health to reinstate a series of waivers to provide flexibility and remove barriers toward delivering services. We are experiencing a critical workforce shortage in the areas of care where the most vulnerable rely on services. I was glad to support our workers in long-term care and other facilities who need assistance to care for our older loved ones or neighbors with disabilities. Hometown Heroes Assistance The House recently passed a bill to update the Hometown Heroes Assistance Program. Our firefighters face alarmingly high incidences of cancer, cardiac issues, and emotional trauma. The new program, which lawmakers enacted last year, provides firefighters access to education, prevention, and care to address cardiac conditions, emotional trauma or cancer diagnoses. The Hometown Heroes Assistance Program is the most comprehensive in the nation of its kind, and provides firefighters with free access to emotional trauma resources, up-to-$20,000 from critical illness insurance policies, and ongoing health and wellness training. Prior to the program’s enactment, Minnesota was ranked 45th out of 50 states when it comes to investing in the fire service. I was proud to support this initiative for the heroes in our communities who make incredible sacrifices to keep us safe. Drought Relief The agriculture and food production industries aren’t just major pieces of Minnesota’s economy; they are critical to ensuring we all have healthy, nutritious food to eat. Unfortunately, due to persistent drought conditions starting last year, many farmers and ranchers have faced enormous challenges. I was proud to support significant drought relief legislation recently to help them recover, with the funding targeted toward the smallest operations, including specialty crop producers who are unable to access federal crop insurance. Many of them are immigrants and those just starting out in agriculture, and have products for sale at our farmers markets. We also need to recognize the impact of climate change, including extreme weather swings, so it’s imperative we invest in climate resiliency. The bill includes investments to help communities remove and replace impacted trees and prepare for future water challenges, replace seedlings on DNR-managed lands killed by the drought, and to help private forestland owners and tribal and county governments replace seedlings on their lands. |