Legislative Update - May 5, 2025

Dear Neighbors, 

Last week, our community faced a devastating wave of gun violence that claimed the lives of several of our neighbors, including a shooting outside the Red Lake Nation apartment building in our district. These heartbreaking and senseless acts have left deep scars, particularly within our Native community, which has been disproportionately affected. It is particularly tragic that these deaths came after Minneapolis experienced our longest period without a homicide (more than two months) in eight years. 

As the local representative for this district, my heart is with every family mourning a loved one, and with all those who feel the weight of this grief. I have been in communication with local city officials and community members to address immediate needs, while recognizing that these deaths highlight how our public safety system is failing our communities.

We must remain steadfast in our commitment to healing and justice. My thoughts and unwavering support remain with the families and communities enduring unimaginable pain.

Update from the Legislature

We are at a very busy time in the legislature. We’re seeing a steady flow of bills—individual proposals and larger committee policy packages—passing off the House Floor and into conference committees. This means long debates, longer hours, and fighting hard to preserve our wins from the last few years. Following the passage in the House, the legislation will go to conference committees with the Senate, and, once agreements are reached, those bills will return to each chamber for a final vote before heading to the Governor’s desk.

All of this must be wrapped up before our constitutional adjournment deadline on May 19. There’s still a lot to do—but we’re making strong progress. I’ll expand on some specific bills below.

Thank you for your phone calls and advocacy. They truly make a difference!

The House’s Higher Education Budget

As the Trump administration seeks to control colleges and universities throughout the country, Republicans sought to deploy that same playbook on Minnesota’s campuses while making it more difficult for students to access higher learning. In our Higher Education Budget, DFLers fought to keep right-wing extremism out of our schools and protected opportunities for all Minnesotans to continue their education after high school.

Since it was first introduced, the North Star Promise Program – providing free college tuition to students whose families make less than $80,000 a year – was highly targeted by Minnesota Republicans. Instead of providing a helping hand to those who face financial barriers to higher learning, they’d rather those hurdles stay in place. We know that Minnesota’s higher education system can be an effective path out of poverty, and stood firm against cuts to this program in our budget that gives students access to a degree without taking on unsustainable debt. Last session, we prioritized breaking down barriers to higher education and are reversing a 10-year enrollment decline exacerbated by the pandemic. By protecting pathways to higher learning, we know we can continue to grow undergraduate enrollment and make it easier for all students to attend Minnesota’s colleges and universities.You can read more about our Higher Education Budget here. 

Op-Ed on Immigration in the Star Tribune

Like many of you, I’ve been horrified at the actions of the federal government. Every day, we hear heartbreaking stories of beloved community members that this administration is trying to disappear. We see incompetent “administrative errors” that are leading to families being torn apart, as our friends and loved ones are imprisoned in foreign countries for no reason. There is sadly a legal and historical precedent for unjustly attacking immigrant communities, and we must acknowledge this lamentable history so as not to repeat it.

Recently, I authored an op-ed with Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez, on how we all need to take action to protect our immigrant neighbors.

You can read it here.

Transportation Budget Bill 

Last week, I voted “No” on the House Transportation budget bill.

This budget bill represented a compromise in our evenly divided committee, and while any bill we pass will have to be bipartisan, this compromise would gut the Climate Smart Transportation law addressing transportation-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This vital policy has already been implemented, and the proposed Transportation budget bill would delay it by 3½ years. This rollback undermines critical progress, and I believe we owe it to our communities to move forward, not backward, on these important issues.

You can hear my speech on this bill here.

The House’s Housing Budget

Everything else in life is harder if you don’t have a safe and secure place to call home, which is why Republicans and Democrats worked together to put forward meaningful investments aimed at keeping people in their homes and creating new affordable homeownership opportunities. 

Our House Housing Budget invests over $31 million in emergency rental assistance, which will help more than 8,000 Minnesotans stay in their home, $45 million towards the construction of new homes, and authorizes $100 million in Housing Infrastructure Bonds to fund the construction and renovations of affordable homes all over the state.

As the Trump administration claws back investments in affordable housing, Minnesota is stepping up to ensure more of our neighbors can afford a roof over their heads. We’ll do what we can, but with 100,000 housing units short of what Minnesotans need, we deserve a more serious partner in the White House. 

You can read more about our Housing Budget here.

Protecting the Rights of Hourly Schoolworkers

In 2023, DFLers voted to provide unemployment insurance to hourly school workers, because those who provide essential services that students and families count on deserve to have the same unemployment insurance protections that other workers have. This is a long overdue change to provide these workers with greater economic security and help our schools and campuses retain valued staff.

However, House Republicans are trying to end these worker protections. I spoke up in committee on why we need to save this program. You can view that here.

Happy AANHPI Heritage Month

May is AANHPI (Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander) Heritage Month. In honor of the month, I spoke at CAAL’s (Coalition of Asian American Leaders) Day at the Capitol. I’m deeply grateful to CAAL for creating such a powerful space to celebrate culture, community, and civic engagement and I am proud to be a member of the Minnesota Asian Pacific Caucus, which is now ten members strong and is one the largest Asian American legislative caucuses in the United States. I’m particularly proud to stand alongside my Hmong colleagues as we celebrate 50 years of the Southeast Asian community in Minnesota. We have passed powerful legislation to mark this occasion, including the recent passage of a bill to recognize Hmong veterans who fought in the secret war in Laos.

Keep in Touch

Please continue to reach out anytime if you need assistance or have questions at rep.samantha.sencer-mura@house.mn.gov or 651-297-7087. You can also follow my Facebook page. 

In community,

Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura

Minnesota House of Representatives