Dear Neighbors,

As the opening month of the 2021 legislative session winds down, it’s been a busy week at the State Capitol. Here’s an update.

Fighting CWD

Each year, thousands of Minnesotans find joy in deer hunting, and we cherish the ability to pass these traditions down from generation to generation. Unfortunately, our wild white-tailed deer herd is in jeopardy due to Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). There has been a disturbing increase in identifications of this fatal neurological disease in recent years, including in Pine County.

On Tuesday, the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee approved legislation to help slow the spread of CWD. The bill creates new requirements for deer farms, including one to immediately notify the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) of an escaped animal if the animal is not returned or captured within 24 hours and requires identification of farmed white-tailed deer to include certain contact information of the owner. It allows a licensed hunter to kill and possess an escaped farmed Cervidae without being liable to the owner for the loss of the animal and requires farmed Cervidae killed by a hunter or the DNR to be tested for CWD at the owner’s expense.

Under current law, a person can’t import a hunter-harvested Cervidae carcass unless it has been processed to meet certain requirements to ensure it has been cleaned of all brain tissue and the spinal column. The bill expands the provision to all Cervidae carcasses, not just those harvested by hunters. The bill also includes changes to muzzleloader regulations, permanently allows portable stands within wildlife management areas, and allows all legal firearms to be used statewide during the regular firearms deer season.

This legislation will protect the health and integrity of our state’s deer population and help ensure our outdoor hunting heritage can continue in Minnesota for generations to come. It now heads to the House floor.

Governor’s Budget

This week, Governor Walz unveiled his COVID-19 Recovery Budget to support Minnesotans most affected by the pandemic. The proposed plan focuses on supporting working families, ensuring students catch up on learning, and delivering small businesses vital assistance while driving Minnesota’s economic recovery. This is a good starting point, aiming to solve some of the most urgent problems Minnesotans are experiencing during this crisis, while positioning workers, families, and businesses to succeed once we recover.

In the coming days and weeks, legislative committees will review the governor’s recommendations, and we will assemble our own proposed budget for the next two years.

Protecting Meatpacking Workers and Helping Livestock Producers

Working in a meatpacking or poultry processing plant is an intense, dangerous job. These workers who help ensure we have food to put on the table face many health and safety concerns, which COVID-19 has made worse. This week, we introduced legislation to offer comprehensive protections for these essential workers. It requires employers to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) at no cost to employees; allow meat and poultry processing workers adequate break time to sanitize and wash hands; routinely clean and disinfect all frequently touched surfaces, workstations, and training rooms; and provide paid leave to all meat and poultry processing workers to recuperate from an illness, injury, or to care for an ill family member.

We also need to come up with new solutions to help livestock producers have better access to processing. When plants shut down last year due to COVID outbreaks, farmers experienced difficulties getting their products to market. MinnPost highlighted our work in the legislature on this issue, and it’s a top priority for me as chair of the House Agriculture Committee.

COVID-19 Update

Last night on the House Floor we passed a pair of bills to aid in Minnesotans’ flexibility regarding COVID-19 related difficulties. The first extends to May 31 the waiver allowing Minnesotans to apply for a marriage license online instead of requiring an in-person visit. We also approved legislation to effectively keep the same Unemployment Insurance experience ratings for employers in 2021 that they had in 2020. Without this fix, because of the numerous layoffs that occurred due to the pandemic, many businesses would face significant increases in their Unemployment Insurance taxes.

This week, Minnesota reached the milestone of one million COVID-19 tests at community sites across the state, and testing remains a critical part of our strategy against the virus. If you have symptoms, you should get a test. More information is available here on our state’s free testing opportunities. 

Data concerning the COVID-19 vaccine rollout is available on the state Vaccine Dashboard. Distribution has been frustratingly slow, and unfortunately, Minnesota’s ability to distribute shots is limited by the supply we receive from the federal government. Good news is hopefully on the horizon, as this week we learned the federal government would be increasing the supply over the coming three weeks. I’m hopeful this will lead to an acceleration of our vaccine distribution.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with your viewpoints, feedback, or if I can ever be of assistance. My email address is rep.mike.sundin@house.mn and phone number at the Capitol is 651-296-4308. Feel free to be in touch any time.

Sincerely,

Mike Sundin