Neighbors,
Almanac ran a segment this week about missing and murdered Indigenous women, highlighting the importance of tracking violence against Indigenous women. Indigenous women are murdered at a rate 10 times the national average and each and every one of those women have families that waited and waited and never saw them come home. That’s why we need a task force – so we can track these violent crimes and work between jurisdictions and between agencies to help prevent them from happening. Watch the segment here.
I am optimistic that my legislation to create a task force to bring solutions to this historic endemic will be successful this session being that we have full bi-partisan support in the House, and the Senate has set a hearing date for next week.
Minnesota Values Budget
Every/other year, the legislature passes a budget for the two upcoming years. It’s one of the most important things we’ll do over the coming months. This week the House announced a framework for our budget, one that reflects Minnesota’s values and makes significant investments in education, affordable health care, and safe and inclusive communities. If you want to read more about the budget you can do so here and here.
Making Prescription Drugs More Affordable
Alec Smith was a 26-year-old from Minneapolis who died in the summer of 2017 because he couldn’t afford $1,200 each month for the insulin he needed to survive. A drug that has been around since the 1920s, and costs less than $5 per vile to produce, should never be out of reach for Minnesotans who depend on it. The DFL caucus has a comprehensive plan to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable and put more power in the hands of Minnesotans.
It’s one of the strongest proposals to address the rising cost of prescription drugs in the country. It increases transparency for drug manufacturers, improves public scrutiny of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), leverages the State of Minnesota’s purchasing power to cut health care costs. You can learn more about it from MPR here, and WCCO here.
Closing the Opportunity Gap
Minnesota has some of the worst disparities tied to child well being in the country. Today in the Health and Human Services Finance committee I discussed my bill focused on education and health outcomes for children of color and Indigenous children. This bill uses proven strategies for healthy child development at an early age, letting communities lead the way in lifting up solutions.
Equal Rights Amendment
The ERA is still held up in the Senate. In case you missed it, I wrote a letter to the editor on the topic. You can read it here.
Construction PSA – GET READY!!!
The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT) will start an I-35W North MnPASS project this April, repaving, reconstructing bridges, installing new noise walls and creating a new MnPASS lane. For three years they will repair aging infrastructure and improve mobility on I-35 between Co. Rd. C in Roseville and Sunset Ave in Lino Lakes. They expect to be done in the fall of 2021. I recommend signing up for their email updates through the project website: www.mndot.gov/metro/projects/35wnorthmnpass.
Constituent Shout Out
I got the chance on Thursday to spend time with some of our littlest constituents, who came to the Capitol for “Advocacy for Children Day.” They were very compelling lobbyists and I had the opportunity to do what I love most – reading to kids and building literacy!
Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the sunshine!
Mary KP |
|
|
|