Dear Neighbors,
I hope you’re staying well and staying warm. It’s great to be back at the State Capitol for the legislative session, and I look forward to hearing from you about the issues important to you. I want to give a special thanks to everyone who joined Rep. Liz Olson, Sen. Jen McEwen and me for our Virtual Town Hall Meeting last month. It was a good discussion and we always enjoy the opportunity to directly connect with community members. Video is still available on Sen. McEwen’s Facebook page.
Legislative Session Begins
Monday at noon, the 2022 Legislative Session officially convened. There are significant unmet needs in our state, and Minnesotans are counting on lawmakers to come together to address our most urgent issues while making long-term investments in our future. Resources for schools, expanded child care, investments to address the health care workforce crisis and affordable access to high-quality health care are all items we should prioritize this session, in addition to critical spending for our public infrastructure.
All Minnesotans deserve economic security, and we can help Minnesotans get closer to reaching that reality through solutions like premium pay for frontline workers and paid family and medical leave. By making meaningful investments using resources from our surplus, we have the opportunity this session to make the lives of all Minnesotans better.
Support for Frontline Workers
Yesterday, we passed our first bill of the 2022 legislative session which extends the COVID-19 presumption for workers’ compensation for public safety and health care workers. The previous law allowing for this presumption sunsetted on December 31, 2021, leaving 183,000 frontline workers without the guarantee of compensation in the event they contract COVID-19. The new bill would extend the presumption to January 13, 2023. The measure covers workers such as firefighters, peace officers, EMTs, health care workers, and child care workers. Since passage of the original law, 22,573 workers have received compensation under the presumption, totaling $20 million. During the lapsed time, over 2,000 frontline workers have contracted COVID-19.
A COVID-19 diagnosis poses enough challenges already, and frontline workers who get sick shouldn’t need to worry about the financial wellbeing of themselves and their families. A workers’ compensation presumption for frontline workers is an important protection as we continue to navigate this pandemic, and I’m grateful we were able to quickly pass this legislation this year.
Honest and Transparent Budgeting
When Minnesota budget projections are made, law only requires inflation to be considered regarding revenue, not expenditures. As a result, we’re misrepresenting the actual size of a surplus or potential deficit. In fact, the current $7.7 billion budget surplus could be overestimated by $1 billion. When schools, state agencies, and local governments are working to provide critical public services, these misleading figures can lead to terrible consequences.
As an economist, it’s clear making budget decisions requires full, accurate information. I’ve introduced legislation to require the consideration of inflation on both sides of the ledger, a common-sense step increase transparency in our budgeting process. Session Daily highlighted my legislation in this story.
Please continue to stay in touch with your viewpoints, ideas, or if I can ever be of assistance. Thank you for the honor to work as your public servant.
Sincerely,
Jen Schultz
State Representative