LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Committee Hearings

On Thursday of this week, the State and Local Government Finance and Policy committee heard HF 2, the DFL's massive and overreaching Paid Family Leave bill. Not only would this bill hit every employer in the state with one or more employee, it would take even more money away from struggling businesses and hardworking employees to support this huge new bureaucracy being created by the bill.

On top of that, we have received no information on how much this bill would cost. Continuing a trend in committees this year, the State and Local Government meeting was the fifth finance committee the bill went through, and yet we still have no fiscal note detailing the costs. Of particular importance to the State and Local Government committee, the bill requires a massive IT build by MN.IT, whose budget is housed in the committee. We still don't know how much that will cost. Still, Democrats rejected all Republican amendments and efforts to get more fiscal information, and moved the bill along anyway.

School Meal Subsidy Bill

Also on Thursday, the House voted on a bill that would expand the free lunch program to every Minnesota student, instead of being limited to 180% of the poverty line. This bill unfortunately does not fully do what it intends to do. State law already allows students, regardless of whether they have outstanding lunch debt, to receive the same school lunch as other students. However, even with this bill, students could still be turned away if they need more food than is provided in a standard lunch.

Additionally, this bill gives relief to families who already can afford to pay for their students' lunches. Republicans offered an amendment, both in committee and on the House floor, that would raise the eligibility level for free school meals, catching more of the families who truly need help, rather than spending extra money to help those who do not need it. It was voted down.

This bill is an extremely expensive attempt to solve student hunger, but it still doesn't hit the mark. I unfortunately had to vote no.

Please Contact Me

Please feel free to reach out to my office if there is any way I can be of assistance. My phone number is 651-296-4282, I am here to serve you!

Have a great weekend! Jim