Dear Neighbors,
A big thank you to everyone who attended the community listening sessions in Mound and Chanhassen over the weekend. I am grateful for your engagement, ideas, and feedback about how we can shape our community and state. Topics brought forward included health care and prescription drug costs, science education curriculum, the opioid crisis, mental health, dental care, elder care, home health care provider shortages, attracting talent to our state, infrastructure and gas tax, e-vehicles, gun violence prevention, and many more. |
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Local Bill for Excelsior Commons Park
Yesterday, I presented a bill which would allow the City of Excelsior to impose a local sales tax of one-half of one percent to finance improvements to Excelsior Commons Park. Specifically, revenue funding would be allocated to improvements for walkability and accessibility, beach area and facilities, including the playground, and control of shoreline erosion. Mayor of Excelsior Todd Carlson and Community for the Commons Board Chair Deb Rodgers both testified in support of the legislation.
To find a comprehensive list of my newly introduced bills, please go here.
Prenatal Care and Disparities
Last week, a bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators, joined by advocates of health care, mental health, and early childhood, announced support for prenatal care and home visiting proposals. These are initiatives that would improve the wellbeing of parents and children at the beginning of life.
While Minnesota leads the nation in many aspects of health care, too many African-American and American Indian women die from pregnancy-related complications. Black and Native women are three to four times more likely to die during pregnancy compared to their white counterparts, and their infants are more than twice as likely to die as white infants. The disparities that exist in Minnesota in terms of infant and maternal mortality are unacceptable. We can – and we must – do better. I’ve introduced HF 909 to expand access to and utilization of prenatal care and decrease racial and ethnic disparities. The bill has been scheduled for a public hearing tomorrow in the Health and Human Services Policy Committee. |
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Gun Violence Prevention Hearing-TOMORROW
The Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Division will hold a public hearing to discuss bills that address our nation’s epidemic of senseless gun violence. HF 8 would require universal background checks, and HF 9, coined as the ‘red flag’ bill, and would enact extreme risk protection orders to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people using due process.
The committee will hear these bills at 7:00 p.m. in Capitol Room 120 and will be ticketed on site for entry due to the anticipated amount of Minnesotans in opposition and support.
Anyone interested in testifying can sign up with the committee via email at HF8andHF9Testimony@house.mn or via phone at 651-296-1478.
Constituent Spotlight
I was pleased to have breakfast with Sandy Ahlstrom at the Land Stewardship Project Family Breakfast this morning. The Land Stewardship Project is a private nonprofit organization that is dedicated to sustainable agriculture and developing healthy communities. I’m grateful for their work to protect our land and water.
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Keep in Touch
Please continue to write, call and email with your thoughts, suggestions and feedback. I value your constructive input. Feel free to share this email with your neighbors and friends and invite them to sign up for future updates from the Capitol here.
Have a great week!
Sincerely,
Kelly |
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