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2323 MN Senate
Building Capitol Update—February 14, 2019
95 University Ave W
St. Paul, MN 55155
• I serve on the follow-
ing committees:
Health and Human
Services Policy & Fi- February 14, 2019 SD 50 —Bloomington, Richfield
nance, Commerce and
Consumer Protection
Finance and Policy, and First Bills Introduced
Local Government.
We are now more than a ington School Board, early child-
• Legislative committee month into the 2019 legislative hood education has been a fo-
deadlines have been session, and I’m excited to con- cus of mine. S.F. 820, the Great
announced tinue working on issues that are Start for All Minnesota Children
important to Minnesotans. In Act, addresses a wide range of
• I’m also looking for- addition to my work in commit- early childhood investments.
ward to meeting with tee, I’ve introduced several bills These include early learning
Bloomington and Rich- that cover a wide range of is- scholarships, increasing the
field residents about sues. Child Care Assistance Program
issues that are being reimbursement rate, additional
discussed this year. Some of my bills relate di- funding for voluntary pre-K, and
rectly to our communities of child care provider grants. This
• My Senate website is is the Senate companion bill to
www.senate.mn/ Richfield and Bloomington. S.F.
108 is a grant for The Works H.F. 1, one of the House majori-
senatorwiklund museum in Bloomington, which ty’s top priorities.
provides opportunities for chil-
How to contact me
dren and families to enjoy learn- I’m also continuing to work
at the Capitol: ing experiences related to sci- on health and human services
ence, technology, math, and issues. In addition to the Alec limited English skills are ade-
engineering. S.F. 473 and S.F. Smith Emergency Insulin Act, quately and professionally in-
Phone: 551 relate to tax measures that which I’ve mentioned previous- formed about their medical
651-297-8061 are important to the City of ly, I’m carrying a number of bills decisions. S.F. 1001 would also
Bloomington. I also plan to that will help Minnesotans navi- provide for emergency prescrip-
introduce a bill that would fund gate the health care system. tion refills under specific circum-
E-mail: a bonding request for the 77th One bill, S.F. 875, would estab- stances. Feel free to keep in
touch if you have questions
sen.melissa.wiklund St Underpass in Richfield. lish a registry system for spoken
language health care interpret- about bills that I’m authoring
@senate.mn
ers to ensure that patients with this session.
Since my time on the Bloom-

Representative
Michael Howard
(50A)
651-296-7158 100% Clean Energy Bill Introduced
rep.michael.howard Minnesota has long been a vided electricity produced by
@house.mn
Minnesota History:
leader in clean, renewable ener- renewable energy by 2030. As
gy, and I’m proud to be a co- we continue to see the effects On February 19th, 1851,
Representative author of the next bold move in of climate change on our state, an act of Congress sets
Andrew Carlson that direction. I’ve joined sever- the need for clean, renewable aside 48,080 acres to
(50B) al of my colleagues to co-author energy is becoming more and
651-296-4218 a bill that would commit Minne- more clear. I’m hopeful that my
support a state universi-
rep.andrew.carlson sota to 100% carbon-free elec- colleagues in the legislature will ty. The University of
@house.mn tricity by 2050. recognize this reality, and that Minnesota is incorpo-
This bill would also require a we will take this needed step. rated six days later.
majority of customers be pro-
Page 2 Capitol Update —February 14, 2019

Meetings on District Issues

As a Senator, my job is to serve our neigh-
bors who live in Richfield and Bloomington. I
previously mentioned some of the bills that I’m
carrying to that end, but beyond that I put a
great premium on meeting directly with commu-
nity leaders to hear from them about their con-
cerns and priorities. I look forward to several of
those meetings in the coming weeks.
This Friday, I’ll be attending a legislative
breakfast meeting with Richfield City officials, and
other legislators who represent the city. Rich-
field is also represented by Senator Patricia
Torres Ray (DFL-Minneapolis), and Representa-
tives Michael Howard (DFL-Richfield) and Jean
Wagenius (DFL-Minneapolis). I’m also planning
to attend the Richfield State of the Community
event on the 20th
I’ll also be meeting next week with the
Bloomington School Board to discuss education
issues that are likely to come up this year. E-12
Education comprises approximately one-third of
the state budget, and is likely to be a major topic
of discussion this year. Bloomington’s other
legislators include Senator Melisa Franzen (DFL-
Edina), Rep. Howard, as well as Representatives
Andrew Carlson (DFL-Bloomington) and Steve
Elkins (DFL-Bloomington).
These meetings provide an excellent oppor-
tunity to discuss issues that are specific to our
communities, and how we, as legislators, can
address them. Local officials also represent the
front line in how many of the decisions we make
in St. Paul affect Minnesotans. It’s important to
hear directly from local officials how budget
investments and policy decisions play out in their
own communities.

Committee Deadlines Announced

The Minnesota Constitution requires the
legislature to adjourn by the first Monday after
the third Saturday in May. With a mandated
adjournment date, the legislature adopts commit-
tee deadlines to promote an orderly process and
public accountability.
On Monday, the Senate adopted the commit-
tee deadlines for the 2019 session. The first
deadline, when all policy bills must clear policy
committees in either the House or the Senate, is
March 15th. Second deadline, when policy bills
must clear committees in both the House and
the Senate, is March 29th. Budget bills must be
reported to the Finance Committee by the third
deadline, April 12th.
Additionally, Gov. Walz, Senate Majority
Leader Gazelka, and House Speaker Hortman
announced agreements on deadlines designed to
ensure a smooth end to the session. The agree-
ments related to budget bills passing, appoint-
ment of conference committee members, budget
targets, and dates for final agreements on budget
conference committee reports. My hope is that
this will reduce the confusion, lack of transparen-
cy, and rancor that has plagued the ends of re-
cent legislative sessions.

Looking Ahead...
In the coming weeks, I’m planning on meeting with
Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm, Human Services Com-
missioner Tony Lourey, and representatives from the
YMCA, as well as celebrating African Heritage Day on the
Hill. I’m also looking forward to meeting with constituents
representing the MN Catholic Conference, LeadMN, veteri-
narians, athletic trainers, the Land Stewardship Project, and
IBEW, as well as constituents who advocate on behalf of
those with epilepsy, and bicyclists. If you have time, I hope
you’ll stop by the Capitol and say “Hi!” otherwise, I’ll see
Senator Wiklund at the listening session with
you around town! Reps. Andrew Carlson (DFL-Bloomington) and
Michael Howard (DFL-Richfield)