Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.  Hello Neighbors, I hope you all had a chance to enjoy the nice weather last weekend as it looks like we will be getting a cold snap this weekend. As committee deadlines have come and gone for finance bills this week, the legislature is facing a little bit of a cold snap as well. But like Minnesota weather, the legislature sometimes gets chilly before we get to a Minnesota summer. Even so, we continue passing bipartisan pieces of legislation off the House Floor, in fact, over a dozen are scheduled for the House Floor on Monday. This year this week has been particularly frustrating with no supplemental budget targets and some of our GOP Co-Chairs not wanting to work. In House Education Finance, that is the case. Since we do not have targets, any new investments made have to be paid for by a cut in our committee budget. Co-Chair Kresha has refused to talk about an Education supplemental budget bill unless Governor Walz allows private school vouchers. Committee MeetingsIn the Ways & Means this week, Co-Chair Cedrick Fraizer had a hearing to discuss the economic cost of Operation Metro Surge. We heard from mayors, police chiefs, small business owners, and others from all over the state about how Metro Surge has negatively affected our communities. In the Taxes Committee, we heard a variety of bills on local options sales taxes, a bill to defer some of the tax exemption on stadium suites to instead invest in Safe Harbor (a program to help victims of sex trafficking), and a variety of other bills. In the House Education Finance Committee, we started out on a good note agreeing to a bill of repealing the cuts to special education that the Blue Ribbon Commission is tasked to find by 2027. My Republican co-chair brought up the GOP version of a “school safety” bill. It failed due to the bill diverting funding from school nurses, school psychologists, counselors, and social workers to pay for hardening measures, while ignoring meaningful gun violence prevention. It only loosely encourages anonymous threat reporting rather than requiring it. On Thursday, DFLers presented our bill, which would require safety plans and anonymous threat reporting systems, remove permission granting authority to carry a gun in school and promote secure storage in school parking lots. We also propose dedicating increased funding to school psychologists, nurses, social workers, and counselors; an extremely important measure in getting kids the mental health resources they need. So, you can imagine my frustration when my GOP colleagues made a motion on the House Floor with the entire House to force a vote on an incomplete proposal, just introduced this week, with no bipartisan support. Minnesotans deserve a legislature that will do the work they elected their state legislators to do. We need serious proposals to address the serious challenges our working families and students are facing. Despite both bills failing, I’m hopeful that committee members on both sides of the aisle agree that Minnesota schools should be using anonymous threat reporting systems and creating school safety plans. We still have time to get this right. Connected to CommunityMonday was school day and it started with me speaking to school board members and administrators from across the state. I also received a visit from all three of the school districts in 46B! There were great questions from the student members of the legislative action groups as well as good conversations with parents, school administrators, and school board members from Hopkins, Edina, and St. Louis Park Public Schools. I started out in politics as a parent advocate and a Hopkins Legislative Action Coalition member. So, it always feels a little bit like visiting with old friends when parent and student advocates come to the Capitol to push for increased funding for our public schools.  I also had the opportunity this week to chat with folks from the Food Shelf and Second Harvest about the needs our community food shelves are facing as well as the folks from Nine Mile Creek Watershed to hear about some of the projects they are undertaking. And finally, Rep. Larry Kraft and I got a chance to meet with the folks form ISAIAH to talk about the People’s Agenda.  Free Park DayOn April 25th, it’s Free Parks and Trails Day in Minnesota. Four times a year Minnesota state parks offer free entrance on four days, waiving the need for a $7 vehicle permit. It’s a great way to revisit our local gems or explore a new part of the state. You can use the parkfinder here to plan your next trip.  Keep in TouchPlease continue to contact me anytime at rep.cheryl.youakim@house.mn.gov or 651-296-9889 with questions or input. Email is the quickest way to get in touch. Enjoy the weekend!  Rep. Cheryl Youakim
46B – Hopkins, Edina, & St. Louis Park |