| | Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.  Friends and neighbors, Here at the House, we’re hard at work passing budget bills to fund our state government and agencies for the next two years. We are making good progress working across the aisle, and as a result, all our bills are passing with bipartisan support. 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, and even as bills are passing, conversations are continuing to ensure that the final version is the best it can be. 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 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.
- An Environment and Natural Resources Budget that maintains our groundbreaking protection of Minnesotans’ land, water, and air from threats like PFAS, nitrates, and aquatic invasive species.
We also passed our State Government and Elections Budget that preserves key services, invests in the Attorney General’s capacity to fight consumer and Medicaid fraud, and supports state workers. The Elections portion of the bill is small, but vital to fair elections in Minnesota since it funds the Campaign Finance Board. I’m thankful to all of the committee members for their hand in putting together the final product. From here, the conference committee, which I was appointed to, will work with the Senate to get us to a final version.  While many of these budget bills earned my support, I voted against the Transportation budget bill because it rolls back an important policy that we passed into law last term to help us reach our clean energy goals. Current law requires any MnDOT project that increases emissions to be balanced out through other actions, like adding transit, improving bike and pedestrian access, and supporting car sharing. The law, which just went into effect in February, is projected to save the State of Minnesota money and save lives on our roads. Representative Larry Kraft proposed an amendment to undo this rollback, but it was blocked by Republicans. We have a responsibility to do everything we can to mitigate the effects of climate change, and the Transportation budget bill makes that more difficult. Because of this, I voted no. I will compromise with the other side of the aisle for the benefit of Minnesotans, but I will not compromise my values. Supporting Life-Saving Vaccines I recently introduced two pro-vaccine bills that have generated a fair amount of attention: - A bill to provide grant funding to help fight vaccine misinformation; and
- A bill to tighten MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine requirements.
The last measles death in the US was ten years ago, in an immunocompromised adult. In 2025, we’ve had three deaths, including two children, all linked to poor vaccination rates. The MMR vaccine took a common and deadly disease from devastating families to complete eradication – because vaccination rates were at 95% nationwide.  Center for Disease Control, Measles Cases and Outbreaks Today, rates are falling in a way that puts our families in severe danger. In Minnesota, the CDC estimates just 87% of kindergarteners are vaccinated against measles. That might not seem like that big of a deal, but with this highly contagious and deadly disease, itcan be the difference between life and death. A vaccination rate that low is an epidemic waiting to happen. 'Bunch of Random Bills Thrown Together' Passes House I also caught some attention this week from local media the Sun Post regarding a bill I passed and remarks I made on the floor. I’ve never quite had a headline like this one before! The full quote I gave on the bill, which contains a lot of local government provisions, making it span a wide variety of topics, was this: “I'd like to pretend that there's a coherent theme to this bill that the provisions of this bill meld together seamlessly to form a perfect distillation of a brilliant response to the most critical policy issue of our time, but it's really just a bunch of random bills thrown together." Anyway, the “Random Bills Act” passed the house unanimously, 132-0, so I suppose you could say the theme was local government bipartisanship!  This week at the Capitol  Tuesday was the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District Day at the Capitol! They shared educational information about MMCD’s Integrated Pest Management program. They even brought their helicopter along! This week, we also received word that because of the investments in K-12 education we enacted in 2023, graduation rates areup and opportunity gaps are down. Its clear: investing in education works. Adopt Me! To help combat the chaos in the news and from the White House, I want to take a moment for positivity each week. The Animal Humane Society is right here in our district and does great work to ensure animals in need find loving homes, provide affordable care for pets in our community, and initiate animal education.  Meet Joe, a ten-month-old Great Pyrenees mix available for adoption at the Golden Valley Humane Society! Joe will be a devoted, loving companion once he feels secure in his new home. Though initially shy, Joe simply needs a little extra time to blossom in new environments. A peaceful, low-activity household would be the perfect sanctuary for him to gradually open up and reveal his true, affectionate personality. You can meet Joe at the Golden Valley Humane Society and make him a part of your family! P.s. - I’m excited to say that Blueberry from my last newsletter has been adopted! Stay ConnectedTo stay up to date with our important work at the State Capitol, you can see the Minnesota House of Public Information Services’ nonpartisan recaps of high-profile bills, committee hearings, and floor sessions with their Session Daily publication. You can also stay up-to-date with the latest by following my Facebook page. To share your input or ideas, or if I can ever be of assistance, please feel free to reach out at rep.mike.freiberg@house.mn.gov or 651-296-4176, and I will be happy to help. If you were forwarded this email and you’d like to subscribe, click here. If you have a friend or neighbor who would be interested in receiving these, please forward this and encourage them to subscribe. It is an honor to continue to serve you. In solidarity, Rep. Mike Freiberg |