Dear Neighbors,
I want to offer my congratulations to everyone involved with the creation of Minnesota North College. Following the Minnesota State Board of Regents’ approval, five colleges in northern Minnesota will now become one. While each campus has its own academic offerings and career training opportunities, merging into one institution will create operational efficiencies to both improve the student experience and maintain the viability of each campus. I want to wish the best to all students, faculty, and staff in their quest to be “north of extraordinary!”
This week, the House continued passing our supplemental budget bills off the House floor. As they leave the floor, they aren’t in their final form, and we will need to ultimately reach a compromise with the Senate.
Unemployment Insurance and Frontline Worker Pay
Minnesotans expect and deserve lawmakers to deliver results, and in divided government, getting things done for the people of Minnesota takes compromise. I’m proud House DFLers, Senate Republicans, and Governor Walz have reached an agreement to fully replenish the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, while also supporting frontline workers including health care workers, first responders, child care providers, food service and retail workers, and more with bonus checks.
Businesses have been counting on us to replenish the UI trust fund to help avoid a double-digit tax increase when they’ve already struggled mightily the last two years. Also, our frontline heroes were promised bonus checks in recognition for their dedicated work while putting their health and safety at increased risk during the pandemic’s darkest days. This bill will help support workers, especially at a time when costs are increasing.
You can read more about the agreement here.
Investing in Students and Schools
This week, as Vice Chair of the House Education Finance Committee, I was proud to support our House Education Finance Bill with $3 billion worth of new investments to support students, families, public schools, and school staff. The bill includes funding for literacy, early education, significant resources to support student mental health, and more.
The bill also included several provisions I chief authored. One measure increases allowances to address up-front costs of district consolidation. Another funds the Concurrent Enrollment Teacher Partnership, supporting high school teachers to earn the 18 master’s level credits in their field required to teach concurrent enrollment courses, It also includes my proposal to address transportation sparsity aid, increasing the percentage of unreimbursed school district transportation state revenue from 18.2% to 39.25%.
It’s no secret Minnesota students have experienced some incredible difficulties over the past two years. Our House Education budget makes the urgent investments students, educators, and communities need right now. The investments in mental health, early learning, academic support, and other important resources in this bill will help continue Minnesota’s tradition of offering a world class education for all Minnesota students.
Supporting Veterans and Servicemembers
The House also this week approved a package of investments to support Minnesota’s military veterans and servicemembers. The bill continues our progress to tackle two critical interconnected issues: veterans’ homelessness and veteran suicide. The legislation delivers additional funding toward housing for veterans, including a grant for the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans to establish permanent housing and support for veterans, additional annual funding for short-term housing, and incentives to encourage landlords to take on veterans as tenants. To address veterans’ mental health and prevent suicide, the bill funds a series of strategies including representatives at major hospitals to connect with veterans who have been admitted, collaboration with gun shop owners to encourage safe storage of firearms, and a mobile, mental health-based, veteran connection program.
Significantly, the budget included my provision to offer service bonuses to post-9/11 veterans. There are approximately 48,000 eligible veterans, over half of whom deployed to combat operations including those in Afghanistan or Iraq. Minnesota has previously recognized veterans’ service in major wars—including World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War. Gold Star families would also be eligible for these bonuses.
Virtual Town Hall
I want to thank everyone who attended my recent Virtual Town Hall and Community Conversation. Video is available on my Facebook page. I appreciate everyone’s engagement, and plan to host another one of these events toward the end of the legislative session.
Keep in Touch
Please continue to contact me with your input, ideas, or if I can ever be of assistance. You can contact me by phone at 651-296-0172 or email at rep.julie.sandstede@house.mn. You can also follow me on Facebook. It’s an honor to represent you.
Together,
Julie Sandstede
State Representative