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We’ll be streaming live on Zoom and Facebook at 11am on Saturday, February 6. If you’d like to join us on Zoom in order to more directly participate, you can RSVP to receive the login information here, otherwise you’re welcome to watch on my Facebook page.
Climate Change and Public Health
As chair of the newly created Preventive Health Policy Division, this week I asked my colleagues on the Climate and Energy Finance and Policy Committee to join us as we heard an informational hearing on the impacts of climate change on public health. Though there were some unfortunate disagreements with a few of my Republican colleagues, the science around climate change is sound, and our hearing provided a public health lens for the impacts we’re already seeing in our state.
From the length of hay fever season to the waterborne illnesses brought on by floods, there are a multitude of direct and indirect effects on public health that have been brought on by climate change. I hope that this week’s informational hearing can lead to responsive legislation that Minnesota - the fastest warming state in the nation - needs to combat this pressing public health threat. If interested, you can watch the hearing here.
The COVID-19 Recovery Budget
This session, we have the constitutional responsibility of setting the state budget for the next two years. This week, Governor Walz announced his proposed budget, the Covid-19 Recovery Budget. As a budget that highlights legislative priorities, the Governor takes us in the right direction when it comes to supporting students, working families, and small businesses through this pandemic and after. We still have more to do, and we’ll have a better picture of the state’s economic situation in February.
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