Dear Neighbors,
My colleagues and I gathered last Thursday to pass emergency legislation to help Minnesota get through these uncertain times. I was awestruck by the lengths we went to to pass this legislation while following the Minnesota Department of Health's guidelines to keep each member and staff person as safe as possible. From the skeleton crew of staff, to the mandatory 6 feet of distance between everyone, to the sense of the gravity of the situation, that floor session will go down as one of the most memorable in my time as your Representative. I encourage you to watch our discussion of the bill to get an idea of what it was like.
House approves funding for emergency COVID-19 bills
I voted with my colleagues to approve the package of emergency COVID-19 bills to help protect Minnesotans’ health and economic security. The legislation includes, among other things, $200 million toward the newly created state COVID-19 Fund, $9 million to the Department of Human Services for food security, $26.5 million for the Emergency Service Grants program to provide shelter for Minnesota’s homeless population, $30 million in one-time grants to child care providers, $10 million for small business loans, financial relief for Minnesota’s workers, and the necessary flexibility for state agencies to respond to the pandemic.
Here are some of the most-important things the emergency bills do:
Jobs & Veterans: We are working to make sure that Minnesotans can get out on the other side of this pandemic in as similar a financial position as they were in before.
Health and Human Services: Now more than ever we need to stand up for our most vulnerable to ensure they don’t suffer disproportionately during this crisis.
Public Safety: We are taking steps to ease processes surrounding licensing and to help ensure folks in our justice system are living in healthy environments.
Early Education: It is critical that our child care services remain in a state where they can continue to care for our children. These provisions should go a long way to making sure our child care facilities stay strong and healthy for our children.
Stay in Touch
Please feel free to reach out to me by email at rep.sandra.masin@house.mn or by phone at 651-296-3533. If you have a friend, neighbor, or relative who wants to receive updates about the Legislature, let them know they can subscribe to my email list here. You can also follow me on facebook here. It’s an honor to represent our community. Please stay in touch.
Sincerely,
Sandra Masin
State Representative