What made Rochester area legislators happy, disappointed in the session

Jul. 8—With new state budget signed and sealed and a raft of new laws passed, the PB asked Rochester area legislators: Name two accomplishments and two disappointments about the recently concluded 2021 legislative session:

Rep. Liz Boldon, Democrat, House 25B

Happy about:

One accomplishment I'm pleased with is the historic investments in the early childhood and learning space. This includes raising the Child Care Assistance Program rates, preserving 4,000 voluntary pre-K slots, a task force to ensure childcare access, affordability and compensation, and stabilization grants that will go to the childcare providers. The childcare system is in crisis, and these steps will make a huge difference for both families with little ones as well as the skilled professionals who care for them.

Another provision I'm really pleased about is the $20 million that will be allocated to counties for family homelessness prevention and assistance. Everyone deserves to have a safe place to call home, and those dollars will make a real difference for people in our community.

Disappointed with:

The biggest one is is police reform and accountability. In the year after the killings of George Floyd, Daunte Wright and Winston Smith, the people of Minnesota made it clear they expected us to act — and we had a responsibility to do so. In my view, because the Senate would not agree to common sense reforms, we failed to meet the moment. We did make some progress, passing sign and release warrants, regulations on no-knock warrants, and fines and fees reform, but we still have much more work to do.

Another disappointment for me was not passing paid family and medical leave. No one should have to choose between caring for a loved one and being able to keep their job and pay their bills. We can and should build this social safety net. This is a benefit that many already have, but that everyone deserves.

Rep. Nels Pierson, Republican, House 26B

Happy about:

As the pandemic winds down, the last thing Minnesotans needed to face was a government shutdown. A $4 billion surplus helped the Legislature deliver a balanced budget without raising taxes so we could avoid a shutdown.

Perhaps our biggest achievement was delivering tax relief to businesses. All Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans were forgiven to support our businesses who needed those funds to keep their doors open in 2020.

Disappointed with:

My biggest concern with this budget is the failure to extend reinsurance for a sixth year or provide funding to pay for the program for an additional two years. Reinsurance is Minnesota's nation-leading program that House Republicans championed in 2017 to stablize the individual insurance market. It resulted in lower health care costs for thousands of Minnesotans. Democrats are jeopardizing Minnesota's individual insurance market by failing to extend reinsurance. Health rates will raise 25 percent to 30 percent or more this year. Once the subsidies are gone in two years, our state will be left to pick up the pieces from the devastation inflicted on the individual market.

We also should have addressed changes to the Chapter 12 Emergency Powers statute to rein in the power of the Governor and make sure future governors can't abuse emergency powers. The emergency powers prevented the Legislature from fulfilling our constitutional role as a co-equal branch of government. We must make changes to Chapter 12 so the balance of power is respected in future crises.

Rep. Tina Liebling, Democrat, House 26A

Happy about:

An historic increase in funding for E-12 education, including the Child Care Assistance Program for low-income working families. This will help Minnesota's students and families recover from the losses of the pandemic.

A once-in-a-generation Health and Human Services bill full of improvements that will give newborns and young children a better start, start closing equity gaps in health — including mental health -and improve our system of public health, so we are better prepared for future emergencies. I was chief House sponsor and lead negotiator for this bill.

Disappointed with:

After the murder of Georg Floyd, Minnesota should be leading the way to improve relationships between police and the communities they serve. However, the Senate refused to consider many commonsense measures that would have helped restore the trust that police and communities count on.

The House had several good proposals to reduce the cost of prescription drugs, but the Republican-led Senate refused to consider any of them.

Sen. Dave Senjem, Republican, Senate 25

Happy about:

The passage of federal tax conformity so that businesses that stayed open during COVID-19 and retained and paid their employees did not have to pay Minnesota income tax on their federal Payroll Protection Plan relief allocations. This was a hard-fought partisan issue that Senate Republicans bargained and won on.

The passage of a bill I authored related to reforming our criminal sexual conduct statutes. If a victim of rape is self-intoxicated at the time of the rape, the rapist can now be prosecuted. Previously, the rapist could not. Penalties for sexually assaulting youth and nursing homes residents were increased. Persons guilty of using their status or power to coerce sex from an individual may now be prosecuted for a new crime called "Sexual Extortion." The statue of limitations on crimes involving sexual predators was lifted. If a person sexually molests a victim, they are subject to prosecution for forever. The life experience of a close person friend prompted my pursuing this change in the law.

Disappointed with:

It took until the last day of the session to pass a "should not have been" non-controversial bonding "fix-it" bill. This is a bill that created technical fixes in language in the October 2020 bonding bill. The Walz administration refused to release money for these previously approved projects before the technical corrections were made. The House majority resisted efforts throughout the session trying to force a much more expense bonding bill.

The construction of a new Oronoco wastewater collection and treatment facility as well as the construction of a new interchange on U.S. Highway 14 and County Road 104 west of Rochester were two local projects caught up in this unfortunate and unnecessary delay.

While very good energy legislation was passed, I was disappointed that I was not able to get my Clean Energy First bill across the line. Clean energy and decarbonization are a part of our future providing us with a cleaner environment and, if we do it right, the opportunity to grow a high-tech industry in Minnesota.

Sen. Carla Nelson, Republican, Republican, Senate 26

Happy about:

As Senate Tax Chair and lead negotiator of the tax bill, I am glad we passed nearly a billion dollars in tax relief which was in stark contrast to the House and Governor's proposal which called for roughly a billion dollars of tax increases. The bill included relief from Payroll Protection Program and bonus pandemic unemployment taxation. There is simply no reason why we should have asked folks to pay taxes on this emergency assistance. Businesses relied on those loans to keep people employed during the worst of the pandemic, and many of them are still struggling.

I am very happy to see my amendment included in the health and human services budget that captures federal funding to provide a boost for disability supports. My amendment captured significant federal resources to better serve Minnesotans with disabilities. The bill supports services to help each person live as independently as possible and includes access to programs while prioritizing our most vulnerable populations.

Disappointed with:

I have long been an advocate for targeted high-quality early learning scholarships, and I wish we would have seen my sponsored legislation, SF-705, included in the education budget bill. More than 33,000 children across Minnesota are unable to access quality early education care and targeted education during the most critical years for learning, and this legislation would have supported investments in our youngest learners.

I wish we would have seen my biosimilars legislation, SF-990, acted on this session. Biosimilars make the drug market more competitive, thereby helping to level the playing field for manufacturers , drive down out-of-pocket costs for consumers, and spur innovation — enhancing patient access and helping to prevent dangerous delays in care. We can quickly make a big dent in the sky-high cost of health care simply by expanding access to much more affordable and safe biosimilar versions of biologic prescription drugs.

Rep. Duane Quam, Republican, Republican, House 25A

Happy about:

Matthew's Law, improved confidential informant policy and support bill.

Increased funding for local transportation projects.

Disappointed with:

No provision to re-open or prioritize in-person learning this fall, and effectively recover the lost learning that happened over the past year. Chapter 12, the statute that contains Emergency Powers provisions, is in need of major reform. Our government was never designed to be run by one man for this long a period of time. We need to promote working together.

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