Neighbors,

I think it's clear the big news in politics yesterday was the St. Paul Be Heard on Cannabis conversation. 

For those of you who went, thank you for sharing your perspective, ideas, and thoughts. Your feedback is critical in helping us draft cannabis legislation that will improve the lives of Minnesotans. 

Minnesota’s current cannabis laws are doing more harm than good. By creating a regulatory framework, we can address the harms caused by cannabis and establish a more sensible set of laws to improve our health care & criminal justice systems. 

These conversations are all about learning from experts, addressing local concerns, studying the experiences of other states, and, most importantly, hearing the views of Minnesotans directly about what their goals and concerns are. I hope you'll continue to reach out to me to share your thoughts on legalizing cannabis for adult use. 

Northern Metals

I've been hearing quite a few questions and concerns about Northern Metals, the company which polluted and damaged the health and wellbeing of countless residents in Minneapolis. Though they recently shut down and are moving to Baxter, I wanted to address questions that materials from the new site would be dumped in St. Paul. I have worked with the St. Paul Port Authority and the MPCA and have been assured that Northern Metals is not shredding metal in Saint Paul. The Saint Paul Sites are used to sort and transfer metals to other sites or companies for processing and have been doing so at these locations since the 1990’s.

I'll continue to work on this to ensure the East Side doesn't face consequences from corporate greed and disregard for community health. 

Mini Session

Finally, I wanted to give a quick update on our mini-session. 

We're not officially back in session until February, but we wanted to use our time off to bring the work we do at the Capitol to people who don't normally have the chance to come to St. Paul to advocate for their priorities or their community. In an effort to make the legislature more accessible and responsive to Minnesotans, we headed to Rochester, Winona and surrounding communities to hold hearings, learn about local projects, and host round table conversations. 

Mayo Clinic experts offered valuable insights into the state of health care, local educators helped us understand challenges and opportunities in both K-12 and Higher Education, and tours of infrastructure projects will help us address our state's most critical infrastructure needs. 

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your weekend!

Sincerely,

Rep. Jay Xiong