April 10, 2017

Dear friends and neighbors,

We are headed into a week long break after passing our last three budget bills – Tax, Education, and Health Care. I recently detailed our tax plan, but keep reading this week’s newsletter to learn more about the education and health care targets we’ve proposed this session.

We will return to Session on next Tuesday, April 18^th. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter or Passover with your families.

Investing in Minnesota Students 

We have passed a bipartisan K-12 education budget that maximizes state resources to provide opportunities for all students to get a good education that prepares them for the future.

Here are the numbers:

• Our education budget puts $18.5 billion in our schools over the next two years – that’s a $1.1 billion increase over last biennium. 
• We have committed 95% of the new money in this bill to the general education formula, increasing it an average of $118 in 2017 and $230 in 2018. The “formula” funds all students equally and gives school districts the most flexibility to best meet the needs of their students. 

  We are also ensuring school districts have what they need to meet the needs of their students, including:

• Support for early education and school readiness
• Funding for programs that work to close the achievement gap 
• Continued emphasis on getting all students proficient in reading by third grade

A Health Care Budget 

Senate Republicans have taken the lead to make sustainable fixes to our health care system. We have passed the Emergency Aid and Access Act to provide short-term relief to those experiencing huge premium hikes since Obamacare.

Next, we passed the Premium Security Plan, which reforms the individual market to include more consumer choice and ease disproportionate cost burdens.

Now Senate Republicans have passed a health care budget focused on taking care of our most vulnerable neighbors while taking steps toward bringing more transparency and affordability into our insurance market.  

Key investments are made to programs that support those that need the most help:

At-risk youth

• A double-digit cash increase for the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP), the first increase in over 30 years, which helps working poor families with children.
• A funding increase for Children’s Mental Health Collaboratives, which provides mental health services to at-risk youth with severe emotional disturbances.
• Grants for counties to develop innovative solutions to the opioid addiction crisis, which may be modeled after a highly successful program in Morrison County.

Elderly 

• An increase in reimbursements for Elderly Waivers that help seniors pay for in-home services so they can stay in their homes longer.
• Increased funding for the Office of Health Facilities Complaints to investigate complaints of abuse of vulnerable adults in nursing home and assisted living settings.

Disabled

• A rate increase for Personal Care Attendants who care for severely disabled Minnesotans.
• Increases to the Day Training and Habilitation and Independent Living programs, which help people with developmental disabilities develop life skills to live independently in a community setting.  

Key reforms in the bill include:

• Expansion of primary care networks to provide more consumer choice in health care, particularly in rural Minnesota, by expanding the definition of certified health care homes.
• Required in-depth OLA audits of managed care payments like Minnesota Care and Medical Assistance.

The issue of health care is very dense and complex. But Republicans have prioritized the people of Minnesota by focusing on improving how they receive their health care and giving people more options to find their best course of care.

I encourage you to visit our website for more information about our health care plan and reach out to my office with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,