Dear Neighbors,
Yesterday, the House met in session to pass a few critical bills. At the heart of what we are trying to do in these final few weeks is ensure the safety and economic security of all Minnesotans during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can watch a recording of the Session here.
Pay for Hourly School Employees
I voted for a bill that requires school districts to compensate all employees for time that they were scheduled but did not work during the distance learning period. The funds to pay these workers have already been appropriated to the schools, so this bill would not impact our current budget. Our public school hourly and contract employees play an integral part in the education of our children and it's important that we support them through this difficult time. These are members of our community who devote their career to supporting our children. This bill makes sound fiscal sense and is critical to helping all of these workers through this crisis. You can read more about the bill here.
Election Security and Facilitation of Vote by Mail
I also voted for a much-needed election security bill that allows Minnesota to utilize federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds. This bill consolidates federal and state matching appropriations intended to address election cybersecurity and COVID-19 resiliency, and also includes policy provisions intended to give counties and cities greater flexibility in utilizing absentee voting in the 2020 primary and general elections. Our elections are under threat from foreign powers and COVID-19. With these funds we will ensure that our elections are safe and secure for everyone.
Census
I hope by now that most of you are aware of the ongoing Census. As of today, 67.2% of Minnesotans have responded to the Census online or through the letters we all received in the mail over a month ago. While Minnesota is currently leading the nation in response rate, we still have a long way to go. An incomplete count of Minnesotans could cost us a seat in Congress, and would reduce our funding under numerous federal programs where both the state and local share of funds is apportioned on the basis of population. If you have not already completed your Census survey form – the entire survey takes about 5 minutes per household – please make a point of completing it now, or this evening, at Census.gov.
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