Join Senator Jason Isaacson and Representative Jamie Becker-Finn
at
Shoreview City Hall
4600 Victoria St N, Shorview, MN 55126
Saturday, March 2, 2019
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM (doors at 9:30)
District 42B includes all of Gem Lake, Little Canada, Vadnais Heights, southern Shoreview, and Roseville (north of County Road C W and East of Snelling/HWY 51)
Hundreds of people took part in Arc Minnesota’s 2019 Disability Day at the Capitol this week. Participants attended a training seminar, met with legislators, and participated in a rally, which I had the pleasure of speaking at. They were at the Capitol to raise awareness surrounding critical issues affecting Minnesotans with disabilities, their family members, support staff, and allies. Their goals for this legislative session are to advocate for a solution to the workforce crisis, prevent sexual violence, improve access to self-directed supports, and increase investment and self-advocacy.
Five candidates were approved by the joint House and Senate Higher Education committee this week for consideration by the House and Senate. Voting for the regent candidates will happen in a joint session of the full House and Senate memberships.
The Regent Candidate Advisory Council advanced four candidates for each open seat last month. Candidates who were advanced include:
Student At-Large: James Farnsworth, Mike Kenyanya, Sara Kettering, and Joshua Preston
Fifth Congressional District: Peggy Lucas, Janie Mayeron, Allison Barmann, and Kelly Doran. Doran withdrew last month
At-Large: Lynn Abrahamson, Robert Eddy, Susan Adams Loyd, Kao Ly Her, Bill Luther, Mary Davenport, Kim Isenberg, Sandy Weise, and Dena Johnson. Johnson withdrew last week.
The joint committee heard opening statements and asked questions of the RCAC-recommended candidates. Mike Kenyanya was recommended for the student at-large position. Abdul Omari was nominated for the Fifth Congressional District position, but after three ballots, Janie Mayeron of Minneapolis was recommended for the position.
Omari was also nominated for an at-large seat, though Mary Davenport was approved on the first ballot for one of the at-large seats. After four ballots, Kao Ly Her and Sandy Weise were tied for votes, and neither received the required majority of votes in both the House and Senate. As a result, both names are recommended for consideration for the full House and Senate. No date has been set for the joint House and Senate meeting for the final vote.
As always, thank you for tuning in to events here at the capitol. It’s been a busy first few weeks and I’ve been glad to see so many constituents come visit me in St. Paul.
Below are just some of the highlights and topics being discussed. I appreciate you all sharing your thoughts and concerns with me and look forward to another long week.
Legislators from the Senate and House held a press conference this week to introduce legislation aiming to increase the percentage of teachers of color and American Indian teachers (TOCAIT) in Minnesota classrooms.
The comprehensive legislation expands existing pathways to teaching, strengthens efforts to retain effective teachers, and provides incentives to attract more students of color into the teaching profession with scholarships and student teaching grants to complete their preparation programs. Over 1,700 teacher candidates and more than 1,300 TOCAIT would be supported by the legislation that the bill authors say is designed to finally start “moving the needle.”
The 2019 Minnesota Teacher Supply and Demand Report indicates that the percentage of teachers of color has remained stagnant at 4%, while the percentage of students of color continues to grow rapidly in Minnesota and is now 34%.
Advocates say this is the most comprehensive racial equity proposal in education to close gaps that the state has seen. Lawmakers and the governor need to urgently address the unmet needs of one-third of the state’s students and do what is needed to increase the percentage of TOCAIT so students have equitable access to diverse teachers. (SF 1012)
Governor Walz met with legislative leaders this week in a bipartisan press conference to announce the implementation of additional legislative deadlines for the 2019 session. These deadlines introduce benchmarks that major financial legislation would need to meet before the end of session, aiming to give legislators more time to negotiate and review spending bills, increase transparency, and reduce the tensions of the budget setting process.
The new deadlines, which require finance bills to be passed off their respective floors by May 1st, are intended to help ease the tension which has stemmed from late or inflated budget bills in the past. The earlier deadlines aim to give both legislators and the governor more time to review spending bills and increases the transparency of budget discussions for the public.
Upcoming Legislative Town Hall Meetings
I will be hosting two town hall meetings on Saturday, February 23, one for each house district. Details are below. Please join us in district to voice your opinions and to hear updates from your local officials.
Residents of 42A:
Join Senator Jason Isaacson
at Shoreview City Hall
4600 Victoria St N, Shoreview, MN 55126
Saturday, February 23, 2019
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
District 42A includes all of Arden Hills, Mounds View, northern Shoreview (north of County Road F and Snail Lake Roads) and Spring Lake Park (precinct 1-R only)
Residents of 42B:
Join Senator Jason Isaacson and Representative Jamie Becker-Finn
at Shoreview City Hall
4600 Victoria St N, Shoreview, MN 55126
Saturday, February 23, 2019
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM (doors at 9:30)
District 42B includes all of Gem Lake, Little Canada, Vadnais Heights, southern Shoreview, and Roseville (north of County Road C W and East of Snelling/HWY 51)
One year ago, on Valentine’s Day, a 19-year-old former student walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and opened fire, changing the lives of hundreds of people forever. 17 students and teachers were killed that day, and 14 others were wounded in one of the deadliest shootings in United States history. The shooting spawned a renewed call for gun regulation across the nation, along with creating a new generation of activists.
In the year since, the Never Again MSD movement was born. Survivors such as Emma Gonzalez, David Hogg, and Cameron Kasky were key figures in organizing events like the March for Our Lives, which had over 1 million participants across the country demanding safer schools and an end to gun violence. In St Paul alone, more than 18,000 people participated in a march that culminated on the lawn of the Capitol.
Gun violence prevention advocacy group Protect Minnesota spent a day on the hill this week to raise awareness around gun violence. They hosted a press conference to highlight the new Minnesota Department of Health statistics on gun deaths in Minnesota, where legislators called upon the Senate to be open to receiving the background check and red flag legislation that is expected to reach the House floor during this session. Protect Minnesota members spent the remainder of the afternoon in the Capitol Rotunda, first hosting a memorial in honor of the Parkland victims, featuring student speakers from local high schools, and later a reading of the names of Minnesotans who lost their lives to gun violence in 2018.
As always, thank you for tuning in to events here at the capitol. It’s been a busy first few weeks and I’ve been glad to see so many constituents come visit me in St. Paul.
Below are just some of the highlights and topics being discussed. I appreciate you all sharing your thoughts and concerns with me and look forward to another long week.
Upcoming Legislative Town Hall Meetings Senator Isaacson will be hosting two town hall meetings on Saturday, February 23, one for each house district. Details are below. Please join us in district to voice your opinions and to hear updates from your local officials.
Residents of 42A:
Join Senator Jason Isaacson
at Shoreview City Hall
4600 Victoria St N, Shoreview, MN 55126
Saturday, February 23, 2019
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
District 42A includes all of Arden Hills, Mounds View, northern Shoreview (north of County Road F and Snail Lake Roads) and Spring Lake Park (precinct 1-R only)
Residents of 42B:
Join Senator Jason Isaacson and Representative Jamie Becker-Finn
at Shoreview City Hall
4600 Victoria St N, Shoreview, MN 55126
Saturday, February 23, 2019
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM (doors at 9:30)
District 42B includes all of Gem Lake, Little Canada, Vadnais Heights, southern Shoreview, and Roseville (north of County Road C W and East of Snelling/HWY 51)
It’s been a busy week at the Capitol with committees in full swing hearing bills including hands-free legislation, electronic monitoring in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, higher education capital investment needs, and requiring a personal finance course to graduate from high school.
There were also a number of press conferences held this week, kicking off with the 100% clean energy press conference, a discussion on wage theft, the announcement of a new United Black Legislative Caucus, and a press conference on tax filing. MN Second Chance also held a press conference and the Joint Religious Legislative Council (JRLC) held their Day on the Hill.
The House and Senate released committee deadlines for the 2019 legislative session. Bills must move out of the house of origin by March 15, and the second deadline of March 29 is for committees to act favorably on bills or companions of bills that met the first deadline in the other chamber. Committees must approve appropriation and finance bills by April 12. The deadlines do not apply to the House committees on Capital Investment, Ways and Means, Taxes, or Rules and Legislative Administration, nor to the Senate committees on Capital Investment, Finance, Taxes, or Rules and Administration.
The University of Minnesota and Minnesota State presented their capital investment (bonding) requests for the 2019 session to the Senate Higher Education Committee this week.
The University presented a bonding request and its plan for Higher Education Asset Preservation (HEAPR) funds. HEAPR funds are used for mechanical and utility maintenance and replacement, roof repair, asbestos abatement and other infrastructure needs. The U of M is requesting $232.3 million total in HEAPR funds. $200 million of those funds would be used systemwide at the Crookston, Morris, Duluth, and Twin Cities campuses and at research and outreach centers and field stations. $32.3 million would be used for building construction and renovation, including $28 million for the Child Development Building replacement and $4.3 million for the renovation of A.B. Anderson Hall at UMD. MinnState is requesting $159 million in HEAPR funds for systemwide infrastructure updates, including boiler and roof replacements, window and exterior repairs, and advance design plans for future projects.
No decisions have yet been made on the size of a Capital Investment bill this session.
Bill expands PSEO for home-school, private school students A bill heard this week would allow home-schooled or non-public school 10th grade students taking career and technical classes to take advantage of the Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program. The state would be required to pay for the expansion, which could cost around $10,000 annually.
PSEO was implemented in Minnesota in the 1990s, and, along with concurrent enrollment programs, is vastly popular with students and parents. Approximately 10,000 students participated in PSEO during the 2017-18 school year. Of that amount, 27% were home-schooled/non-public school students.
However, the program has its downside. In the 2017-18 school year, PSEO diverted $32.7 million away from school districts to cover the costs of PSEO at higher education institutions across the state. This bill would add to that and allow more public dollars to be used to support private school and home-schooled students.
Of the $32 million in PSEO costs spent in 2017-18, about $8.6 million is paid on behalf of non-public and home-schooled students. The University of Northwestern had the highest amount paid to it at $4.76 million or about 14% of the total PSEO funds paid out in 2017-18. (S.F. 94)
Legislation Underway:
Disclosure of emergency contacts on driver’s license applications in order to positively impact the lives of Minnesotan’s living with epilepsy and other health problems. (S.F. 746)
Establishing a community and technical college grant in order to lessen the financial burden on students attending community or technical colleges. (S.F. 956)
It was a fairly light week here at the Capitol, as cold weather impacted the State this week. I anticipate we will begin ramping up next week as we begin to look at candidates for Regents as well as pieces of legislation work their way through committees.
Minnesota Senate Continues to Work in Spite of Cold Weather
Week four of the 2019 Legislative Session kicked off with a joint Senate and House press conference on the legalization of recreational cannabis. The issue of cannabis legalization is one that is moving fast around the country. Their goal is to secure a legislative hearing and to begin the discussion on this issue.
The Minnesota Department of Revenue started accepting tax returns on Monday, Jan. 28. The deadline for filing taxes is April 15. The family of Steve Rummler, whose HOPE Network has been advocating to raise awareness and to pass legislation to address the opioid addiction crisis, held a press conference this week. They were joined by advocates and a bipartisan group of legislators carrying bills to address this crisis.
With the record cold weather, many committees canceled their hearings in the middle of the week. Despite the cold, committees still heard a continuation of overviews, reviewed ways the state can reduce TEFRA costs for families, and looked at proposals to strengthen sexual assault laws.
A number of groups held events and rallies at the capitol this week, including a Don’t Punish the Pain rally, Opioid Awareness Day rally, and MinnState colleges and universities Innovation Day. ABATE held their Annual Biker Day, and Minnesota Milk hosted an ice cream social.
Press Release on Potential TCE Exposure
Earlier this week, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) announced they are investigating possible community exposures to high levels of trichloroethylene (TCE), an industrial solvent used by a manufacturer in White Bear Township.I am working with state agencies and communities in determining how this exposure occurred, and the public health threat it poses to community members in White Bear Lake, White Bear Township, and Gem Lake. My top priority is in finding out what the state can do to address any potential health effects that people may have been exposed to. We are taking this incident seriously and will be ensuring that any action to safeguard people’s health is taken immediately. You can read the full press release here.
Legislation Addressing Delays with MNLARS
After a constituent wrote to me back in December regarding delays and headaches with the MNLARS system, I joined my colleagues, Senators Cwodzinski and Little, in offering a bill that would allow impacted individuals to renew their temporary papers by phone, mail, or email. The goal of this legislation is to provide relief to individuals facing difficulties renewing state identification in person. You can read the bill here.
In Committee
Agriculture Update on Noxious Weeds and Invasive Pests
The Senate Agriculture, Rural Development, and Housing Policy Committee heard an update on Palmer amaranth, emerald ash borers, and gypsy moths to eradicate and limit the spread of these pests. These invasive pests can have devastating impacts in Minnesota.
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