Dear Neighbors, We’re wrapping up Week 5 of the 2026 Legislative Session. A shorter week than usual, with the weekend’s blizzard impacting Monday’s committee hearings, and the end of the week concluding early in observance of Eid. Next week is our last full week before the committee deadlines on Friday, March 27. Meaning by the end of next week, any piece of legislation hoping to advance through the legislative process must be heard in a committee. This deadline helps us ensure the latter half of session is more focused on bills that have a better chance of passing into law. It also means next week’s committee hearings will be packed with numerous bills. The following week provides a bit of a break for my colleagues and I, as committee hearings and floor sessions are paused from March 30 to April 6 in observance of the Easter and Passover holidays. It also serves as the midway point of session, and a chance for us to head back to our communities, recharge, and prepare for the home stretch. Being an even-numbered year in the legislative biennium, it’s constitutionally the shorter of the two sessions. It’s also more focused on policy, given that last year’s focus was on our two-year state budget. Progress was always going to be an uphill battle with our tie in the Minnesota House, but with several of my legislative colleagues running for higher office, my hope is the latter half of session is focused on delivering for Minnesotans instead of playing politics. There’s too much at stake for us to play games when our communities are counting on us. As I take stock at this point in the legislative session, we need to be doing more to address affordability, make our schools and communities safer, protect state dollars and hold bad actors accountable, and deliver on the infrastructure needs of communities throughout Minnesota. Both sides of the aisle have plans to address all these issues - we just need to come together in these remaining weeks to get bipartisan solutions over the finish line. That’s what I’ll be focused on. Constituent Corner Even with a shorter week in St. Paul, our community still showed up! Braving the snowy roads and making the trip to the State Capitol to have their voices heard. I talked with folks from the Greater Mankato Growth Leadership Institute. For over 40 years, the Greater Mankato Leadership Institute has been the premier comprehensive leadership training program with a community focus, and it was great to touch base with these folks on the House floor. |