Dear Neighbors,
With only 11 days left in session, we are working hard to negotiate and pass our remaining budgets. This has been an eventful session, full of ups and downs and plenty of surprises. I’m committed to continuing to advocate for our community in these final days to guarantee that you and your family are invested in.
To all the mothers out there, Happy Mother’s Day! It looks like we’ll have some beautiful (and hot) weather ahead of us this weekend. I hope you get to enjoy it with friends and family!
House Budget Bills
We are nearing the final steps of passing a state budget as we continue to pass our House budget bills due to the current reality of a 67-67 tied House, many of these bills include provisions I support and provisions I don’t agree with. However, we must compromise to pass a state budget. While I hope the budgets can improve in our negotiations with the Senate, I’m proud of the work my DFL colleagues and I have done to get these bills into good shape.
As Co-Chair of the House Environment Committee our finance bill was supported with a very strong bi-paritsian vote of 129 to 5. The bill maintains our groundbreaking protection of Minnesota’s land, air and water from threats like PFAS, nitrates, and aquatic invasive species.
Here’s a quick recap of some of the bills we have voted on so far:
- An Agriculture budget that invests in Farm to School Programs, worker protections for bird flu, and supports new farmers with down payment assistance.
- A Higher Education budget that makes it easier for Minnesotans to pursue higher education and protects the North Star Promise program.
- A Transportation budget that builds reliable roads and sturdy bridges, invests in aviation infrastructure, and more.
- A Veterans budget that invests in those who served our country, especially focusing on reducing veterans' depression and suicides.
- A Public Safety & Judiciary budget that improves and supports victim services, police training, and privacy protections for judges.
- A Legacy bill that uses our lottery proceeds wisely to enhance our environment, protect our clean water, expand parks and trails, and celebrate arts, culture, and history.
- A Housing budget that takes steps to address Minnesota’s housing shortage crisis.
Community Activity
I had a great breakfast with the White Bear Lake Area Chamber as I joined them to discuss what we were doing at the Legislature to help our local business and I learned what more we could do!
Last Friday I helped out at the Second Harvest food packing event. As we've seen the need for food assistance rise in recent years organizations like Second Harvest have become essential. I was happy to be able to contribute a little!
Graduation Rates Reach All-Time High
Graduation rates have reached a historic high! When we invest in our kids we see results. Minnesota still has a long way to go to return to our nation-leading education outcomes, but this is an encouraging start. I'll continue to invest in our youth and public education, let's keep up this good progress!
Impacts of Federal Cuts on Medicaid in Minnesota
As the federal government discusses potentially massive cuts to Medicaid it’s important to look at how this would impact Minnesota and who it would primarily impact. As a legislature we would be forced to make really difficult budget decisions around what to cut and how to raise revenue to continue to meet the most pressing needs. These cuts would result in harmful loss of coverage for kids, people with disabilities, and our seniors. This means nursing homes going understaffed and undersupplied, kids not getting the care and medication they need, folks with disabilities without the support they need to live full lives. This would not be an efficient government, nor would it mean we are saving you money as a taxpayer. It would mean the government can’t afford to do its job or take care of its constituents, it would mean the costs of the negative outcomes of not giving people care would be felt elsewhere. That doesn’t sound like good governance to me; I’ll do all I can at the House to protect these crucial services.
Keep in touch
It is easy to stay connected to news from the State Capitol. Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Services offers nonpartisan recaps of high-profile bills, committee hearings, and floor sessions with their Session Daily publication. Subscribe to receive these here. To track bills of interest through the legislative process, I encourage you to utilize the MyBills feature on the Minnesota House of Representatives’ website.
Please continue to reach out with any input, ideas, or feedback about the issues important to you. I value hearing from you, so call (651) 296-5363 or email any time at rep.peter.fischer@house.mn.gov. You can find my information on my House website.
Sincerely,
Peter Fischer