 Neighbors, We have about one month left of this 2026 legislative session - this is the last week that committees have regular meetings. If it hasn’t yet, it will soon become clear where every member of the House stands on the biggest issues facing Minnesota. I will continue to push for: - real progress on protecting our kids and ensuring that they don’t have to live in fear of gun violence or ICE in their schools,
- meaningfully addressing affordability,
- taking real steps to address fraud, not just things that work well as talking points,
- protecting our environment for us and for our kids and grandkids,
- and making sure Minnesota is the best place to live and raise a family.
To that end, I’ll be hosting a town hall on April 19th from 4:00 to 5:00 pm so we can all discuss how the legislative session has gone and what you would like to see in these final four weeks. It has been a contentious session, and I look forward to digging in with you to talk about why and how we move forward. Register here to get location details. I hope to see you there!  Constituent SurveyThank you to everyone who has come to the capitol to meet with me. There is nothing more powerful than hearing directly from local leaders, students, constituents, and advocates as they testify on legislation or meet with me to share the real impacts of proposed policies on our community. We receive requests and feedback on bills continuously; thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. It is helpful for me, and all of us here, to understand a wide variety of perspectives on different issues as we work to make decisions. We’d love to gather additional feedback. Please take a quick moment to complete our 2026 constituent survey. Thank you. Warming our Buildings in a Climate-Friendly WayMinnesota has made real progress with clean electricity, but a big challenge we still face is how we heat and cool our buildings efficiently. Energy used in buildings are responsible for about 40% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. That’s why I was so excited to introduce a bill to leverage an almost entirely untapped source of heat that already exists in hundreds of communities around the state. Wastewater (yes - a fancy way of saying sewage). After wastewater is treated it contains heat. HF2317 is simply about figuring out how to use this "free renewable heat" to provide thermal energy to buildings. Free in that we're already paying for it, and renewable… well… we will continue to produce… waste. Not only can it help us with one of our biggest challenges - decarbonizing the building sector - but it just makes sense to re-use the heat energy we're already creating. The bill would map out the size of the potential resource in Minnesota, and spec out two wastewater heat recovery projects, one in the metro area and one outside the metro. We heard this bill Tuesday, and I still have hope that it could be included in a broader package of energy legislation coming out of our committee.  Update on Fraud BillsThe House DFL unveiled our anti-fraud agenda earlier this session. Let’s be clear - fighting fraud is not about shaking fists or scapegoating communities. It’s about putting in the hard work to fix the problem. Please click the following link to see how DFLers are fighting and Preventing Fraud in 2026. I have worked alongside my House DFL colleagues to craft a network of interconnected policies that aim to prevent fraud before it happens, increase oversight of vulnerable programs, recover stolen funds, and help ensure service continuity for those in need. They build upon the work that we did in 2025 to fight and prevent fraud against public programs. Please click on the links below to view handouts highlighting the work DFLers have passed over the last couple of years to address fraud, improve systems, and increase transparency: I will continue to advocate for responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars through the committee process and on the floor, urging increases to accountability mechanisms for legislatively funded grants and pushing back against unaccountable, direct grants to private entities. While we are still in the process of negotiating bills and budgets, addressing fraud remains a top priority for my House DFL colleagues and me. As DFL House Caucus Leader Zack Stephenson said, "A dollar of fraud is a dollar too much." I couldn't agree more. Agate License PlatesIn a year where things are difficult to pass, I’m proud to say we passed a neat bill to create a new state park license plate design dedicated to the North Shore and the Lake Superior agate. Whether it’s the rocky shoreline of Lake Superior or the agates people have collected for generations, these are the kinds of things that connect us to our state. It’s a small change, but a fun and meaningful one, and it provides some funding for our beautiful North Shore. The bill also keeps the process open and local, with a design contest for Minnesota residents, and sets a clear timeline for selecting a final design. If you want a chuckle, check out my colleague Rep David Gottfried's comments on the floor about the bill. The comments were "boulder" than I would have done. Minnesota has a story to tell, and this project is a way to tell it! School District Day Monday was school district day at the Capitol, and it was great to hear from both St Louis Park and Hopkins folks - and especially from the students of both districts. (FYI - the ice cream flavors were Raspberry Sorbet and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip.)   |