Video from the Floor

A weekly message from your Senator

Dear Constituents and Friends,

There are 18 days left in the legislative session. There is so much more work left to do before sine die on May 18th. On Monday, I urged my colleagues again to hear police accountability legislation. We saw accountability served in the courts with the trial of Derek Chauvin, but we need the same accountability to happen in the legislature. Legislation passed in June, after the death of George Floyd was the beginning of police accountability legislation. Yet, not a single bill on police accountability has been heard in the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee this year. Now, my colleagues say there is not enough time to hold hearings on police accountability legislation because we are too close to the end of the legislative session. If not now, when is the right time? View my comments in the video at the top of the newsletter.

As of Thursday, we have officially passed all the omnibus bills out of the Senate, with their next stop being conference committee. As Assistant Minority Leader I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure that we end up with final bills that support the people of Senate District 49 and the rest of Minnesota. The next few weeks will include budget negotiations and long nights. We will continue to hear other bills on the Senate floor over the next two weeks as well. If you would like to watch conference committee hearings or session, please check out the Senate website.

A few of you mentioned that you liked the breakdown of what is or is not in each omnibus bill. I appreciate your feedback and I will be doing that again this week.

Sincerely,

Melisa

State Government omnibus bill:

Speaking to an amendment that would remove language in the bill that would prohibit ranked choice voting in local elections

Included:

• Elimination of same day registration voting by creating a new tier of ballots, provisional ballots, that puts a voter’s ballot in a “maybe” pile.
• Makes public any “challenges” to voters eligibility (something as small as a change of address can cause this), and keeping that history of challenge on the voter rolls indefinitely.
• Cuts the Department of Revenue, Minnesota Management and Budget, Minnesota IT Services, and Administration operating budgets.
• Prohibition of ranked choice voting

Speaking to an amendment that would remove the language that would establish the use of provisional ballots for those who register to vote on election day

Missing:

• Pre-enrollment of 16 year olds to vote
• Restore privacy to election judge lists and challenged voter lists; deletes 3 sections: public information list changes; election judge list; provisional and challenged ballot voter list
• Expansion of early ballot opening and depositing from 7 to 14 days prior to election day
• Instructions for in-person absentee voters in multiple languages – Spanish, Hmong, Somali

Taxes:

Included:

• $100 million in property tax breaks for business properties.
• Allows a taxpayer to subtract up to 18 percent of Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) approved by Congress in 2020. The subtraction is reduced by $1 for every $4 of adjusted gross income over $150,000 for married joint filers; $112,500 for head of household filers; and $75,000 for all other filers. Effective for tax year 2020 only
• Full conformity to federal treatment of PPP loans received: the total loan amount (currently taxable under MN law) can be fully subtracted from income, and PPP-supported expenses can also be deducted as a business expense.

• Not taxing the first $10,200 in unemployment benefits received last year to be excluded from taxes to help those still recovering from employment changes.
• Conformed to federal tax changes that help Minnesotans paying off student loans or paying for childcare.
• Tax reduction for the more than one million taxpayers in the first and second tax brackets.
• Providing an increase in the Working Family Credit for more than 350,000 low- and moderate-income working Minnesotans. Even an amendment providing a full Social Security benefit tax subtraction was voted down.

Health and Human Services

Offering an amendment that would set a prescription drug affordability review board that study and set upper limits on prescription drugs

Included:             

• Require abortion facilities to be licensed and subject to fees and inspections. Clinics and providers are already regulated and licensed. There have been no safety issues that would warrant this regulation or suggest that current oversight is insufficient.
• Continues reinsurance program.
• Money for an unclear drug reimportation program

Speaking on an amendment that would remove the section requiring clinics providing abortion services to be licensed

Missing:

• Conversion therapy ban
• The establishment of a prescription drug affordability board to review and set upper limits on prescription drug prices
• Patients right to know, which would repeal the forced 24-hour waiting period and the state-mandated script health care providers are currently required to read to patients
• Cost study to assess the feasibility, costs, and benefits of a universal health plan.
• Funding for our state agencies, who have worked overtime during this pandemic to keep people safe.

Human Services Reform

Speaking on Senate File 296 - parenting with disabilities, a bill that I authored that was included in the Human Services Reform omnibus bill

Included:

• Increase for PCA rates and other home care rates.
• New grants focused on self-advocacy and inclusion for people with disabilities.
• Money for programs related to mental health, substance use disorder, and childcare.
• Making parenting an activity of daily living for those who live with a disability.

• Funding for homelessness shelter and services
• Funding for operating expenses for the Department of Human Service’s Direct Care and Treatment program