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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Jeanne Poppe (DFL)

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Legislative Update - February 15, 2019

Friday, February 15, 2019
 

Greetings,
 
It’s hard to believe it, but we are already over a month into the 2019 legislative session. Here are some updates from the State Capitol:
 
 
Committee Assignments:
 
I am honored to serve as the Chair of the House Agriculture and Food Finance and Policy Division. The other committees I serve on are:
  • Ways and Means
  • Higher Education Policy and Finance Division
  • Housing Finance and Policy Division
  • Greater Minnesota Jobs and Economic Development
 You can learn more about these and other committees here.
 

Population Growth Rate
 
Minnesota is one of two states in the Midwest where the growth rate has surpassed the U.S. growth rate of 0.6% (the other is South Dakota). According to the Council of State Governments, this is for two main reasons. The first is that, like every state in the Midwest, Minnesota experienced a “natural increase” in population, which means there were more births than deaths in the state. However, unlike other states in the Midwest, Minnesota gained population from domestic migration, people moving in from other parts of the country. As a comparison, Illinois lost over 100,000 people in the past year.
 
You can read more about these findings in Stateline Midwest's January 2019 edition here
 

Food Insecurity
 
Food Insecurity was a prevailing topic in the agriculture committee last week. Minnesotans deserve to have access to healthy, nutritious foods at an affordable price. When people cannot meet their basic nutritional needs, it creates a whole host of other problems that negatively impact their life. This is why we need to work towards finding creative ways to make produce more affordable and accessible so that regardless of income, every Minnesotan is able to receive proper nutrition. HF 436, will allocate additional dollars to the "Good Food Access Program", a program within the Minnesota Department of Agriculture that was established in 2016.

The "Good Food Access Program" increases the availability of and access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally-appropriate food for underserved communities. Sometimes that is done by funding equipment purchases and increasing storage capabilities within grocery stores. We all learned more about the food needs within our communities, including our local students at Riverland Community College. A special thank you to Oballa Oballa, a student from Riverland Community College who gave compelling testimony on food insecurity and how his personal experience has resulted in the community and technical college students (LeadMN) addressing this issue. Also this week, we heard from private college students in the Higher Ed Policy and Finance division about their efforts to reduce food insecurity.
 

 Oballa Oballa and Rep. Poppe

 
Rural Access to Mental Health
 
Rural Mental Health is a growing problem across Minnesota. Due to a number of factors, mostly poor economic conditions, suicides in rural and farm communities continue to increase. Suicide rates in 2018 for male farmers are almost 50% higher than they were during the 1980s. On January 24, the agriculture committee heard testimony from Theresia Gillie, a soybean farmer and Kittson County Commissioner. Theresia has run her farm by herself since 2017, when her husband and business partner committed suicide. Her sobering testimony is a reminder that we need to address mental health issues in rural Minnesota. To combat this, I introduced HF 232, which provides additional funding to statewide mental health counseling for farm families and business operators. You can read more about this issue here, or watch my Starting Line interview below. 
 

 

Taxes
 
The 2019 tax season is upon us. The failure to work together resulted in a veto of the tax bill in 2018. This year will certainly cause some headaches as there were several federal tax changes that went into effect recently. Since last year's tax bill did not get enacted, there are aspects of the federal changes that Minnesota does not match up with on tax policy. To be clear, the Minnesota Department of Revenue has updated its forms to reflect current Minnesota law, so you should feel comfortable filing your state taxes at any point during this filing season. The expectation this year is to have a tax conformity bill that is agreed to by the House and Senate and signed by Governor Walz.
 
 
Stay In Touch
 
My office is on the fourth floor of the State Office Building (just west of the Capitol) in St. Paul, Room 487. My Legislative Assistant is Carl Kaase. Please feel free to reach out to my office with any questions or appointment requests you may have. Carl is eager to help make scheduling appointments and to assist you as you make contact. You can reach him at carl.kaase@house.mn or (651) 296-9552.

 
Sincerely,
 
Jeanne Poppe
State Representative