Dear Neighbor,
Most of the focus in the House has shifted toward action on the floor this week, but one important development in the committee process is that a bill I authored called "Laura's Law" cleared its final committee hurdle.
The bill increases state penalties for committing crimes similar to what happened to 18-year-old victim Laura Schwendemann, of Starbuck, last fall. This story has been well-chronicled by the media, but you can click here for a news release with more details. I look forward to this bill coming to the floor for a vote of the full House soon.
As for legislation that came to the floor this week, legislation I authored to improve farm tractor safety passed the House on Wednesday.
My proposal creates a new tractor rollover protection pilot grant program to mitigate dangers posed by unstable tractors. The bill provides $250,000 for this voluntary program and a separate provision allows for additional funds to be raised from the private sector to support the initiative.
The main objective is to help make farming safer. You can never hope to eliminate all the threats from danger that comes with the territory of farming, but tractor rollovers account for a significant number of accidents. This is one way we can bring down that number.
The cost of installing rollover protection devices is between $1,000 and $1,500 per tractor, a factor that sometimes discourages implementation. Under provisions of the bill, the maximum cost to a farmer for installing roll-bar protection on a tractor will be $500.
It is one of those things where dollars are tugged many different ways and it is easy to put off installing roll bars because there might be other expenses that appear to be more pressing. Sometimes folks never get around to it and the consequences can be tragic.
The measure passed as part of a House omnibus package. Other provisions related to agriculture which advanced include funding for livestock disease prevention and response funds in the event of a future agriculture crisis. This follows last year's record investments in agriculture with significant funding to address the avian flu crisis which struck Minnesota.
Other parts of the omnibus bill featured provisions related to job growth, energy, the environment and natural resources. Notable items approved under those categories include $40 million in new funding for broadband internet expansion and $5 million for workforce housing targeted at Greater Minnesota.
There also is a new grant program to assist Greater Minnesota communities struggling with child care shortages and a repeal of the statute allowing for the unionization of independent day care providers. Child care providers earlier this year overwhelmingly voted down unionizing their industry.
This repeal is in response to the position taken by providers, many of whom felt this was a top-down push to unionize an industry that hadn't been asking for it.
Look for more news as we inch closer to our May 23 date for adjournment. Some of the late-session highlights could include bills related to tax relief, a long-term transportation plan and bonding for projects all around the state.
Sincerely,
Paul