Legislative Update Friends, It has been a busy week at the Capitol, but I am so excited for what is to come!?? This week I filed legislation to appropriate $17,800,000 for projects at the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center campus. These improvements are necessary to provide a safer working environment for the health care workers and improve facilities to meet the needs of a growing population of patients affected with mental illness. At this point, I would like to give a great big THANK YOU to all of the health care workers and their families who have worked tirelessly and have gone above and beyond your known limits to serve the needs of patients. You are remarkable and should be recognized for the sacrifices you have made over the last two years. Committee assignments remain the same as last year, and for me, this includes the Environmental and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee, the Health Finance and Policy Committee and the Preventative Health Policy Division. After one week, the discussion in Health and Preventative Health concentrated on COVID 19 (No surprise there)! Environment was informational only and centered around some fishing designations and civil penalties for snowmobile and off-highway vehicle trespass violations. If you have questions on any of these issues, please let me know. Perhaps the most important piece of work we accomplished this week was the passage of the COVID-19 workers Compensation Claim Presumption (Extended). This bill extends the sunset date for a rebuttable presumption for a workers’ compensation claim based on COVID-19 from Dec. 31, 2021 to May 31, 2023. This will apply to qualified first responders such as peace officers, firefighters, paramedics, nurses, correctional officers, health care providers, EMTs, security counselor, employees in home care, health care, long-term care, and others. (List is not complete). The State Office Building is closed again this year to visitors. This means that I cannot invite you to come to my office. However, the Capitol is open, and I would be happy to meet you there and discuss any issues with you or give you a tour. I can also arrange a zoom meeting if you would like. Just let my Legislative Assistant, Nick Nyblom, know and he will set up an appointment. I am looking forward to this session and serving my second year as your representative. |