Legislative Update - Sunday’s Community Food Drive

Dear Neighbors, 

President Trump and Congressional Republicans, who control all three branches of government in Washington D.C., are now responsible for the largest federal government shutdown in U.S. history. There’s no shortage to the amount of ways this is harmful to Minnesotans, but one I’d like to highlight for you is the impact on SNAP - the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. 

As I write this e-mail, there are Minnesotans in our community and across the state unsure about whether they can feed their families this month. That’s because President Trump is continuing to withhold full payment of SNAP benefits that are used by 440,000 Minnesotans, one-third of which are children.

This is putting enormous stress on our food shelves, who are already feeling the pressure, which will only grow if SNAP benefits continue to be withheld, in part or in full.

What we really need is for the Republicans in control of every branch of government in Washington D.C. to show up for the people. But instead, they would rather allow health insurance costs to rise for millions of Americans than step up to negotiate with Democrats and end this shutdown.

That’s why I am hoping our community can step up.

We are holding a community food shelf drive this Sunday, November 9, from Noon – 4PM at the Richfield Veterans Park Indoor Shelter (6335 Portland Ave. S. Richfield, MN 55423).

If you’re able, drop by anytime Noon – 4PM to donate food shelf items that we will transmit to VEAP to help feed our community and surrounding areas.

Together, we can do our part to help keep our local food shelves stocked so that those in need in our community don’t go hungry. Hope to see you on Sunday!

Looking for other ways to help? Hunger Solution’s Find Help Map is a great resource for state and local food banks that could use your assistance. And of course, you can call Minnesota’s Congressional delegation and demand Republicans return to Washington and end this man-made crisis.

Gun Violence Prevention Survey

Another area where Republican inaction is impacting daily life is gun violence prevention. In my last update, I shared some of the solutions to gun violence DFLers put forward in the wake of the tragedy at Annunciation Catholic School. 

The hope was there might be a middle ground with Republicans that could produce results in a special session on gun violence this fall, but not one member of the GOP - all that would be needed in the House - would join us in passing these sensible policies. 

But that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop. Far from it. Though a special session seems unlikely this year, we’ll still return to the State Capitol in February, and keeping our communities safe from gun violence will be top of mind. To hit the ground running, we want to hear from you.

For so many of us, the effort to end gun violence is not just political; it's personal.

We're collecting stories from across the state about how gun violence has impacted Minnesotans and their communities. Your stories are a powerful way for us to rally together around our shared belief that we, in fact, are NOT powerless to stop gun violence. We can and must take action.

Please take 3 minutes to fill out our community survey here.

In partnership,

Michael Howard