Legislative Update - April 9, 2020

Dear Neighbors, 

Yesterday, Governor Walz extended the “Stay at Home” order to May 4, along with the order closing public venues. It’s a decision no one takes lightly, but the data shows that what Minnesotans are doing is working. We’re flattening the curve and buying time for our health care workers to address COVID-19 in a way that will save lives. 

I want to continue to recognize that our community is doing an amazing job of staying home and protecting our neighbors. For any questions you might have about the “Stay at Home” order, you can find a list of FAQs here, including when you can and should leave your home, and what services remain open. You can also find a compilation of Minnesota’s COVID-19 data and resources here.

Workers’ Comp for Frontline Responders

Our health care and public safety professionals put their physical health on the line when they go to work to continue to keep our state healthy and safe. This week in the Minnesota Legislature, we passed a bipartisan bill to ensure that these Minnesotans won’t have to potentially sacrifice their financial health as well, with the majority of members voting remotely.

House File 4537 delivers workers’ compensation benefits to these frontline responders in the event that they contract COVID-19. These are vulnerable, exposed jobs, and we need to support the professions that in turn support our state; the nurses, EMTs, firefighters, police officers, child care workers, and corrections officers.

Preparing our Elections for an uncertain future

In these uncertain, drastically changing times, it’s imperative that Minnesota remains responsive to whatever situation might present itself during the August primaries and the November election. As chair of the House Subcommittee on Elections, our remaining work this year needs to focus on ensuring our upcoming elections can successfully proceed, which should include exploring the expansion of our ‘vote by mail’ capabilities.

We explored this option and more during this week’s remote committee hearing, a first for us in the Minnesota House. We heard from Secretary of State Steve Simon and stakeholders who emphasized the need to act now in order to plan for the future. For what will likely be the remainder of the legislative session, committee hearings will occur online. They can be viewed on House Public Information’s YouTube channel, and those who would like to provide testimony for future hearings should contact the respective committee’s staff. 

Discrimination Helpline

No one deserves to be targeted based on their background. Unfortunately, there has been an increase in instances of discrimination against people of Asian descent in Minnesota and across the country. On Monday, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights launched a new Discrimination Helpline to help protect the civil rights of Minnesotans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Minnesotans who experience or witness discrimination can report incidents by calling 1-833-454-0148 or filling out an online form here.

If you have any questions about our work in the Minnesota House, please continue to contact my office at (651) 296-8659, or at rep.raymond.dehn@house.mn. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Raymond Dehn