HENNEPIN COUNTY

2016 FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE PLATFORM

TRANSPORTATION

• Protect the newly authorized funding sources for the Highway Trust Fund.
• Fully fund key discretionary transportation investment programs including:
• New Starts
• Small Starts
• TIGER
• Implement the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act:
• Structure the new Bus and Bus Facilities program in ways that benefit Minnesota.
• Streamline environmental review to maximize project efficiency and savings without jeopardizing public safety and protection of natural resources.

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

• Support Medicaid waivers for Minnesota that:
• Advance children’s and adult mental health and chemical health and protect managed care.
• Remove barriers to size and setting created by the Institution of Mental Disease (IMD) exclusion.
• Support welfare reform initiatives that:
• Streamline delivery of services to maximize efficiency, increase access to services, and encourage innovation at the local government level.
• Expand state and local flexibility under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
• Continue funding for the Social Services Block Grant.
• Maintain adequate disproportionate share payments to safety-net hospitals.
• Support legislation that ensures uninterrupted Medicaid eligibility for qualified persons awaiting trial who have not been convicted of wrong doing.
• Increase investment in the Child Care Development Block Grant to address the need for high quality child care for low-income families.
• Support legislation and policy changes that permit the sharing of mental health, chemical health, and health care data within local government systems of health and human services, educational systems, and correctional systems.
• Support resources for community-based services for justice-involved persons with mental illness.
• Support resources supporting public health interventions to address the epidemic of opiate overuse.

HCMC

• Maintain adequate disproportionate share payments to safety-net hospitals.
• Ensure adequate resources for training of future physicians and other health care professionals who will help ensure vulnerable patients can access high quality, affordable health care.
• Support adjustments in the Medicare readmission penalty to account for the social determinants of health inherent patient factors that unfairly penalize hospitals that serve a large proportion of low-income seniors.

TAXES

• Oppose elimination of the tax-free status of municipal bonds, which are highly effective tools to leverage private investment in critical public infrastructure.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

• Support criminal justice and sentencing reforms that address jail and prison overpopulation and facilitate offender re-entry.

HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

• Maintain adequate funding for the Community Development Block Grant.
• Support funding for HOME and other programs that advance affordable housing initiatives at the local level.