Timeline Set for Ending COVID Restrictions

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

May 7, 2021

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

We are in the home stretch of the 2021 Legislative session. Our constitutional adjournment date is midnight on May 17^th, so we have just 10 days left to get all of the bills through the Conference Committees and passed by both of the House and Senate. It will be a sprint to the finish!

I want to wish all Moms a very happy Mother's Day! I hope you are all able to spend some quality time with your Moms and children this weekend. Two of my girls will be home from college and we are looking forward to spending time with my Mom and our girls on Sunday! Enjoy every minute!

Executive Summary

• Gov. Walz Announces Timeline for Ending COVID Restrictions
• Still No PPP or Unemployment Tax Relief
• Legalization of Marijuana Targets Low-Income Communities
• Letter to Governors of Nebraska and Ohio 
• House Resolution on National Day of Prayer (May 6^th)

Gov. Walz Announces Timeline for Ending COVID Restrictions

For over a year, Minnesota families and businesses were subject to the short-notice and uncertainty of Governor Walz’s dial changes for schools, churches, businesses and who we could even have in our own homes. Yesterday, the Governor finally released his timeline for ending all COVID restrictions, including the mask mandate.  House Republicans have been calling for a timeline since Rep. Dave Baker and Rep. Barb Haley proposed a similar proposal in their “Roadmap to Recovery” back in March.

This is an important step that will allow businesses to plan for a return to full capacity, allow cities to book bands and parades, and assure families that they can host their graduation parties, bridal showers and family reunions this summer.

I am happy to see the Governor is finally providing Minnesotans with the roadmap to end this pandemic. With 2,628,225 Minnesotans those aged 16 and older having received at least one dose (60%) and 2,069,779 having complete doses, as well as very low rates of hospitalizations and deaths, it is time to acknowledge that the “emergency” is over. 

In addition to the timeline for reopening, it is also time to end the Governor’s emergency powers. House Republicans have put forth various proposals to give the Governor statutory authority to continue to provide Minnesotans’ vaccines, testing, and receive federal assistance. There was some concern that ending the emergency would negatively impact the State’s ability to receive federal SNAP benefits, but DHS has acknowledged that is not true, stating in an email, “they are not tied to or dependent on the emergency powers.”

With the timeline in place to increase capacities and remove the mask mandate, the Governor no longer needs blanket emergency powers over businesses, schools, churches, and who we have in our homes.

COVID Restriction Timeline

May 7

Step one took place today at noon. It includes initial steps to relax some restrictions, primarily in outdoor settings.

• Removes limits for outdoor dining, events, and other get-togethers, and ends the mask requirement outdoors except at large venues with over 500 people.
• Eliminates the state-established mandatory closing time for bars, restaurants, and food and beverage service at other places of public accommodation.

May 28

The second step begins on May 28. Remaining capacity and distancing limits will come to an end, including for indoor events and gatherings. The requirements that will remain include:

• Face coverings indoors and for outdoor events that exceed 500 people.
• There will be no new safety requirements for businesses, though they must maintain their plans to keep their employees and customers safe – as they have from the beginning of the pandemic – guided only by a minimal universal state guidance document.

July 1 

The third step takes place once 70 percent of Minnesotans age 16 years and older – 3,087,404 Minnesotans – get at least one dose of the vaccine, but no later than July 1.

• The remaining face covering requirement and the requirement for preparedness plans will end. Work on vaccines will continue, and local jurisdictions and entities may set their own mask policies.

Still No PPP or Unemployment Tax Relief

Despite continued reassurances from the House DFL that we would provide state tax relief to those who received PPP loans or federal supplemental unemployment benefits, we still not have a “clean” proposal we can vote on to provide that relief.  The tax filing deadline is May 17^th (same day as adjournment) and if we don’t get it done in time for people to have their taxes postmarked May 17^th, they will have to file extensions, which could cost them additional money. 

This uncertainly and potential additional expenses are unnecessary. The state has a $1.6 billion surplus and has another $2.6 billion that is unallocated from the federal government – a $4.2 billion surplus! Full tax relief would cost $650 million. We can do this and still have a significant surplus for other priorities. The state should NOT be gaining revenue from small businesses and the unemployed, who were forced to shut down by the government.

Republicans have offered amendments in the Tax Committee and on the House floor to give immediate, full state tax relief for PPP loans and supplemental unemployment benefits, but those amendments have been defeated on party-line votes each time. The DFL is holding up this essential tax relief for small businesses and those who have been unemployed as a bargaining chip for their proposed tax increases. This is unconscionable. It is time to stop playing games with people’s lives and businesses and get this done BEFORE May 17^th, so people can have certainty and get their taxes filed on time.

Legalization of Marijuana Targets Low-Income Communities

The bill to legalize recreational marijuana has been heard in 11 Committees in the past few months. I am at a loss why the DFL is so focused on this and spending so much of our committee time on it, especially so close to the end of session and when there is zero possibility it will become law this year. Nevertheless, I have sat through three hearings on it in the last two weeks, including one last Saturday. 

One of the main objectives of the bill is to prioritize new cannabis licenses and grants to “social equity applicants.” This will target new cannabis businesses to areas identified by census tracts where the poverty rate is 20% or more, or where the median family income does not exceed 80% of statewide median family income (or 80% of metro area income in metro areas).

Although this is supposed to bring economic development to low-income and communities of color, it could actually harm these communities by disproportionately locating cannabis businesses in these communities, increasing access to youth, increasing crime due to the all-cash nature of the transactions, and potentially increasing addiction and substance use disorders in these neighborhoods. Although some people support this “economic development,” other testifiers raised concerns.

Please take the time to listen to these powerful witnesses in the hearing: Wole Johnson and Eric Hines.

We should stand with the parents and businesses owners in low-income communities who do not want to have these cannabis shops targeted in their communities in the name of economic development.

Letter to Governors of Nebraska and Ohio 

Last week, I joined House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, GOP Public Safety Lead Rep. Brian Johnson, and all other members of the House Republican Caucus in sending a letter to Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska to extend our thanks for their support for law enforcement efforts surrounding the Chauvin trial and events in Brooklyn Center. You can read our letter here.

The law enforcement personnel from Ohio and Nebraska did a wonderful job in keeping our communities safe. I was able to meet many of them at the Capitol one morning. We are so grateful for their support! 

National Day of Prayer

I was very happy to join a bipartisan group of my colleagues and citizens on the plaza outside the Capitol on Thursday to pray together as part of the National Day of Prayer. This gathering is held every year and is an important time to come together to repent and seek wisdom from God for our state and our country. You can read the text of the House Proclamation of the National Day of Prayer here.

Photos

Gathering with legislators and citizens to pray for our country on the National Day of Prayer.

A display on the Capitol grounds Dresses honors missing and murdered indigenous women.

Signing graduation letters to the Class of 2021! I am so excited for all our graduates.

Grand Opening today of the MiniSota Play Cafe in Arbor Lake. So proud of Amanda and her family for persevering through the pandemic to arrive at this day! Great play space for kids and great coffee drinks for Moms! BTW - Amanda is one of many still waiting for tax relief on PPP loan that kept her employees on the job!

Please Contact Me

Many of you have already been in touch to discuss your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you. Thank you for sharing your ideas! Please continue to contact me to discuss any matters to which I can be of assistance.

During the continuing COVID restrictions, the best way to reach me is by email:  rep.kristin.robbins@house.mn.  You can also leave a voicemail on my office number, 651-296-7806, which is checked a couple of times/day. 

Have a great weekend!

Kristin

225 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, MN 55155
ph: 651.296.7806