BLOG: Capitol Update #3

As the Senate passed some of the first bills of the 2013 Legislative Session this week, committees continued to review their budget areas and debated a variety of proposals moving through the legislative process. Yet, even as the legislature worked on issues ranging from school lunches to Minnesota’s Health Insurance Exchange, every debate and decision was framed in the ongoing budget discussions and our shared goal of securing the state’s long-term economic recovery, growing the middle class, and improving the quality of life for all Minnesota families.

 Around District 51

TOMORROW February 23rd - Town Hall Meeting: Please join us and Representative Sandra Masin (SD 51A) on February 23rd from 10:30-12:00 for our second Town Hall Meeting of the session. We will be meeting in the lower level conference room at Wescott Library, 1340 Wescott Road, Eagan.

CONGRATULATIONS to the Eagan High School Girls Hockey Team for a great season, and for competing in the State Tournament!

11 local students selected National Merit Scholars: Eleven District 51 seniors have been selected as finalists for the 2012-13 National Merit Scholarship Program, and are now eligible to compete for more than 8,300 merit scholarships to be awarded this spring. The finalists are  Justin Dietz, Madison Janvrin, Paulina Marell, Eleanor Schriner, Sylesh Volla, Kevin Wei and Aliya Zhdanov of Eagan High School;  Audrey Gunn and Lauren Schaffran of Eastview; Mitchell Dawson of Apple Valley; and Paul Wollersheim of Rosemount High School.

Students who score in the top 1 percent nationwide on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test are selected as semifinalists and can then submit additional information to be considered as a finalist. Students who score in the top 5 percent of students nationally are named commended students; 36 District 196 students earned commended status last fall.

Nominate Outstanding Eagan and Burnsville Residents for the Patch’s Community Spotlight Series. From Patch: Every day, Eagan residents are taking action to make the community a better place. The Eagan Patch wants to recognize their efforts by kicking off a series of personal spotlights—short profiles highlighting an individual's outstanding contributions.

To make this work, however, they need your nominations! Email Patch Editor David Henke at david.henke@patch.com with a short message listing the first and last name of your nominee, contact information for that person and a brief description telling us why he or she deserves recognition.

Around the Capitol

Freedom to Marry Day

Click Here for a Video of Freedom to Marry Day on Feb 14 from Minnesotans United

My Committees

Here’s what’s been happening in the committees that I serve on.

Transportation

In Transportation Committee I presented my first bill, SF-185, which writes into statute the position of the MnDOT Ombudsperson. In 2008 the Department created the function to increase trust and confidence in the agency. As we all know in our contacts with constituents, an understanding ear and an explanation are the most effective communications to bring expectations to balance with the responsibilities of the Department. The Ombudsman is a neutral, independent resource for the public to connect with when they have an issue relating to the MnDOT. The Ombudsman conducts neutral fact finding, facilitates discussion, generates options, and investigates possible resolutions to the issue. The Commissioner then makes the final decision on resolving the issue.

Commerce

We heard a presentation on insurance fraud prevention from Carl Hammersburg of SAS. His presentation detailed the large amount of insurance fraud being committed by individuals, and gangs, in Minnesota every year.

Health and Human Services – Finance Division

We heard SF-1, the Minnesota Insurance Marketplace Act, on February 14th  which would create a Minnesota Health Insurance Exchange. The billed passed through committee, you can read more about the bill’s status below.

Education

Increase in School Lunch Aid
Student lunches took a prominent role in the education and education Finance committees this week. Multiple bills to increase state aid for lunches were heard.

One proposal raised the state contribution from 12 to 14 cents on all school lunches. The price of school lunches has increased 18% in the past six years, from an average of $2.62 to $3.09, but the state has not increased its funding in that time.

Another proposal raised state aid for reduced lunches. Currently, low-income families pay a maximum of 40 cents per school lunch, but legislation was heard to have the state pick up the entire 40 cents for families.

Research has shown a positive link between nutrition and student achievement: well-nourished students tend to perform better. School lunches also tend to be healthier, with more key nutrients, vegetables and milk, and less sugar than non-school lunches.

Safe School Levy
In order to further help with children’s mental health, the Education Policy committee passed and re-referred a bill to Education Finance that authorizes schools to pay the cost of collocating and collaborating with mental health professionals, who are not district employees or contractors.

School districts have the ability to expand their levy from $30 multiplied by pupil units to $45, and from $10 to $15 for intermediate districts. Schools will have the ability to bring in experts from beyond the school district to develop positive behavioral interventions for students.

Teacher Licensure

We heard and considered Senator Bonoff’s Bill (SF 547) for an extension for non-native speakers to pass an English-based skills test before they receive and a license to teach in a world language immersion program. The bill provides a temporary license for three years in order to give non-native instructors more time to pass the exam.  We also learned more about language immersion programs in Minnesota, and I have received some wonderful constituent cards from students of these schools in many languages!

Important Issues

Health Insurance Exchange reaches final Senate hurdle

After hearings in the State and Local Government, Judiciary, Commerce, Health, Human Services and Housing, Taxes and Finance committees, the Senate’s Health Care Exchange bill is set to see its last hearing in the Rules Committee. Once the legislation is recommended to pass by the Rules Committee, it will head to the Senate floor for debate and a vote by the entire Senate.

The Senate is looking to pass the legislation before the federal deadline of Mar. 31 and with the bill hitting the floor as early as next week, it looks the deadline will likely be met.

The state-based exchange will serve one out of every five Minnesotans and create a market-based solution that will allow insurance companies to compete for business. Creating the exchange gives the Legislature a great opportunity to continue to lead the nation in healthcare coverage.

Along with the potential to save Minnesotan’s money, the exchange will help small businesses provide affordable health care choices to their employees. By 2016, it is estimated that approximately 300,000 currently uninsured Minnesotans could gain coverage through the exchange marketplace.

Senate Passes Medical Assistance Expansion

Legislation to expand Medical Assistance (MA) eligibility in Minnesota passed off the Senate floor this week with a strong bipartisan vote.

The legislation will lead to MA coverage for an additional 87,000 Minnesotans. Combining this expansion with the “Early Expansion” Gov. Dayton implemented in 2011, will save the state approximately $1 billion by 2015.

Proponents of the legislation believe the increase of insured Minnesotans will benefit everyone in the state. A lack of coverage increases uncompensated care costs for medical facilities, which then passes the cost onto consumers and taxpayers.

As the legislation made its way through the committee process it was endorsed by several groups, including the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, Minnesota Business Partnership, Minnesota Hospital Association and Minnesota Medical Association.

The bill passed the House earlier this week and the Governor signed it into law on February 19th.

Veteran’s Tax Credit Legislation

I signed on to legislation that was introduced this week to provide businesses with a tax credit for hiring veterans. The bill calls for three levels of tax credit.

• $3,000 for hiring a disabled veteran

• $1,500 for hiring an unemployed veteran

• $500 for hiring a veteran

Currently, Minnesota’s veteran’s unemployment rate is more than 20%. The legislation is another tool that helps our veterans and builds upon existing programs. The bill is a win-win for Minnesota. Veterans are highly skilled, disciplined workers and Minnesota businesses will get talented workers, which in turn will help them grow and hire more employees.

Gun Violence Prevention

The Senate spent two days this week discussing legislation to address gun violence. The hearings were used as an opportunity to start the discussion of gun control. No votes were taken.

Instead of banning weapons, the legislation largely focused on keeping guns out of the hands of people that should not be allowed to own them. Most of the legislation looks at ways to bolster existing laws to help police and prosecutors enforce them. This includes closing loopholes that allow felons who committed a violent crime to own a gun, addressing the “gun show” loophole, enforcing background checks and several other changes.

It is expected that the Senate will create a package of bills to address gun violence later this session. Along with language discussed in the Judiciary Committee discussed this week, the collection of bills will most likely include legislation to address holes in Minnesota’s mental health system.

Earlier this session, legislation was introduced to invest in school-linked mental health services, training for mental health professionals on early psychosis and intensive treatments and supports for families with adolescents and young adults experiencing their first psychotic episode.

Frac Sand Mining

Members of the Senate Environment and Energy Committee and of the House Energy Policy Committee heard testimony on Feb. 19 from silica sand mining industry advocates and opponents. Residents from southeastern Minnesota came to the Capitol by the busload to testify both for and against silica sand mining.

Opponents of mining urge state lawmakers to take a role in mining regulation. They argue local government decision makers cannot find answers about public health, environment, transportation and economic needs on their own, so the state needs a seat at the table to help make decisions and find possible solutions.

Silica sand mining industry advocates argue state standards are not needed. Local governments have been regulating the industry, so mining proponents argue state involvement only duplicates local government action. They believe the industry varies from facility to facility and regulations should be decided individually to address local issues and concerns directly.

Safe School Levy

In order to further help with children’s mental health, the Education Policy committee passed and re-referred a bill to Education Finance that authorizes schools to pay the cost of collocating and collaborating with mental health professionals, who are not district employees or contractors.

School districts have the ability to expand their levy from $30 multiplied by pupil units to $45, and from $10 to $15 for intermediate districts. Schools will have the ability to bring in experts from beyond the school district to develop positive behavioral interventions for students.

Early Voting

The Senate Subcommittee on Elections heard a proposal this week to allow early, in-person voting in Minnesota. Currently 32 states and Washington, D.C. provide for early voting, while Minnesota offers traditional absentee voting only.

The proposed change to election law would provide voters an opportunity to cast early ballots for a primary, general or special election for federal, state or county offices. If enacted, early voting would start 15 days before the election and end three days before the election. Current absentee voting procedures in Minnesota would not be affected except that, during the 12-day early voting period, in-person absentee voters would be required to cast a normal early ballot.

Supporters of the bill cite the convenience and increased accessibility that an early voting period offers, especially in light of recent elections during which voters waited in line for hours on Election Day. They point out that early voting provides more flexibility than absentee voting and allows voters to ensure their ballot is counted when work, family, health, weather and other situations prevent them from going to the polls on Election Day. Opponents argue that voters may change their mind if they vote early, that early voting is contrary to the spirit of Election Day, and that it violates the constitutionally prescribed date for voting. Others raised concerns that early voting might increase opportunities for voter fraud.

 The Subcommittee on Elections laid the bill over for possible action later in session. It is worth noting that Governor Dayton has indicated any elections reforms passed by the legislature must have bipartisan support in order to earn his signature.

Thank you.

Thank you for your interest in our community and our state. I am thankful to be serving our district and Minnesota this session. 

Please let us know what types of things you would like to see featured in future newsletters.  

You can also keep up with me at my Senate website, click on the “In Touch with Senator Carlson” link at www.senate.mn/senatorcarlson.

Sincerely,

Jim Carlson