Legislative Update Issued by Minnesota State Rep. Schultz

ST. PAUL, Minnesota, April 24 -- The Minnesota House Democratic-Farmer-Labor Caucus issued the following legislative update by Minnesota State Rep. Jennifer Schultz:

There are just under four weeks to go until the legislature must adjourn for the year, and an extraordinary amount of work is left to do. As we head toward the finish line, I'll be working to ensure we prioritize the things our state and community value, like great schools, affordable health care, and an economy that works better for all of us.

Governor Dayton recently provided legislative leaders with a letter outlining the things we should be able to easily find consensus around, like addressing the opioid crisis, improving senior care, and protecting pensions, with a preference to get these all done first. I agree with him, and think more complex issues like taxes and the budget should be kept separate.

I continue to enjoy meeting with constituents who visit the Capitol. Last week, the Minnesota Academy of Physician Assistants held their day on the hill, and I got to hear about their efforts to improve health care delivery.

Advocates for Glensheen had a day on the hill as well. I got to chat with Lucie Amundsen to discuss the deferred maintenance and other repairs needed at the estate. I remain hopeful we can deliver these critical improvements in a bonding bill this session.

Keeping taxes fair

One of this session's major topics of discussion is potential conformity with the Trump federal tax bill. It's important that as we move forward, we do so in a way that keeps taxes fair for everyone, not just benefits corporations and the wealthiest as the federal bill did. Governor Dayton has come forth with a proposal that does just that, cutting taxes for over two million Minnesotans.

Unfortunately, Republicans have tried to obfuscate this issue. I recently had a piece published in the Duluth News Tribune responding to one such instance of this. Last week in the House Taxes Committee was another, when we had a hearing on the Governor's proposal. Here is a brief video of a Republican colleague and me discussing the reality of this situation.

As part of his proposal, the Governor has proposed extending the tax on health care providers, due to sunset soon, which has provided funding for MinnesotaCare. This valuable program allows low-income working Minnesotans to have affordable health insurance. In Minnesota, we value having a healthy population, and access to care they can afford is a critical part of this. In a broader discussion, we simply cannot ignore the costs that uninsured, uncompensated care adds to everyone's health care expenses. We should be looking at ways to expand health care for more Minnesotans, not take it away.

Health Care

Thursday we concluded work in the Health and Human Services Committee with a discussion of that subject's budget bill. While the bill protects services for people with disabilities by preventing an imminent seven percent cut, it has several problematic areas and other shortcomings. It fails to take meaningful action to protect seniors in care facilities, it doesn't do enough to make child care more affordable, and it would prevent future implementation of the MinnesotaCare buy-in proposal. The MinnesotaCare buy-in plan would allow Minnesotans to purchase quality health insurance at a cost about 28 percent less than plans available on the private market.

Everyone deserves affordable, accessible health care and we shouldn't be creating more barriers toward that goal.

Higher Education Underfunded

This House majority unveiled their Higher Education bill last week. Unfortunately, as college tuition and student debt continue to rise, the Republican package offers no relief to Minnesotans and their families as they struggle with this burden.

Instead, the bill earmarks $5 million to a single state university campus for a single program. This could better be used to provide funding to all campuses, spread out across Minnesota, to buy down tuition and make college more affordable. We can, and must, do better to ensure Minnesotans can acquire the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in our economy.

Congratulations, Bulldogs!

On Wednesday, we had the honor of welcoming UMD men's hockey head coach Scott Sandelin and athletic director Josh Berlo to the House Chamber where we congratulated them on their 2018 NCAA national championship. Gov. Dayton even declared Wednesday as UMD Men's Hockey National Champions Day.

As exciting as this is for hockey fans, I think this can provide an opportunity beyond that, raising awareness of what UMD offers as an institute of higher learning. Hopefully this will help boost enrollment and maybe even help out the budget situation.

Go Bulldogs!

Stay in touch with your feedback. It's an honor to represent you.

Sincerely,

Jen Schultz

State Representative