Dear Neighbors,
Here is the latest news from the Capitol!
House Democrats, after complaining that last year’s supplemental budget bill was too long, introduced a Health and Human Services Omnibus bill that is over 100 pages longer than the entire supplemental budget. The bill is about 1130 pages long, and that’s only for one budget area, as opposed to the supplemental budget which contained every budget area. The HHS bill includes a lot of harmful policy, including increasing fees that will drive up the cost of insulin, and cutting funding to the state’s nursing homes by over $68 million. At a time when nursing homes in Greater Minnesota are struggling, Democrats want to take money from nursing homes, and I frankly find that appalling. In addition, the bill fails to extend the reinsurance program, which could cause insurance premium rates to skyrocket next year.
Across all of the DFL omnibus bills, there are a total of more than $12 billion in tax increases over the next four years. The Tax omnibus bill only accounts for about a third of those increases, or about $4 billion, with most of the rest coming from the Transportation Omnibus with the gas tax, registration tax, and metro area sales tax increases totaling $4 billion, the Health and Human Services Omnibus which raises taxes on healthcare by about $2.5 billion, and the Jobs and Energy Omnibus, which raises taxes on employers and employees by over $2 billion.
Last Wednesday, the nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor released a follow-up to their report on Childcare Assistance Program (CCAP) fraud. The report found that the program controls at the Department of Human Services “are insufficient to effectively prevent, detect, and investigate fraud in Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program”, and yet Democrats have refused to hold hearings on the original report and have even blocked Republican efforts to bring in the Inspector General to testify in front of the relevant committees.
As a reminder, this week I will be hosting some town halls in our district. I’ve listed the times and locations below, and I hope to see you all there!
Tuesday, April 16th Senator Johnson, Representative Kiel, and Representative Fabian
- 9:30am-10:30am, Uptown Cafe, 510 N Main St, Warren, MN
- 12:00pm-1: 00 pm, Thief River Falls City Hall, 405 3rd St E, Thief River Falls, MN 56701
- 3:00pm-4:00pm, Grain Bin Café, 125 N Main Ave, Grygla, MN 56727
Wednesday, April 17th Senator Johnson and Representative Fabian
- 8:30am-9: 30 am, Hallock Senior Center, 210 2nd St SW, Hallock, MN 56728
- 11:00am-12:00pm, Twins Rockin 50’s Café, 163 Main St N, Greenbush, MN 56726
- 1:00pm-2:00pm, Roseau City Center, 121 Center St E # 202, Roseau, MN 56751
***
My door is always open to the needs and priorities of our area. Please feel free to let me know if I can be of assistance to you and your family. I am here to serve you!
Dan