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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful dads in our community! I hope you all have a great weekend with your loved ones enjoying some beautiful weather.
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Local News
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Breakfast on the Farm at Lexvold Dairy: A showcase of dairy farming and products at the annual Breakfast on the Farm, which will be a drive-through experience Friday, June 25.
Breakfast on the Farm’s purpose is to share with the public how the dairy industry works and contributes to the local economy and way of life. The event gives visitors a first-hand look at where dairy products come from, and how dairy farmers care for their cows and land.
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$500,000 to Operation Trades Awareness: Karl von Knobelsdorff of Knobelsdorff Electric, Engineering and Energy has committed $500,000 over the next 10 years to build “Operation Trades Awareness.” This is an incredible commitment to our region and our young people! Thank you Knobelsdorff Electric for your vision and generosity.
I've worked closely with our trade associations and student groups in the legislature to make sure our young people know of the great paying and rewarding careers the trades can provide. See more here.
Special Session Begins
The House came back on Monday for a special session as Governor Walz extended his emergency powers for another 30-day period and to consider the two-year state budget.
As budget negotiations continue, I am pleased there was an agreement on not raising taxes on Minnesotans when we have over a $4 billion budget surplus. We also successfully fought to ensure businesses and our unemployed neighbors won’t be hit with tax increases on their Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans or unemployment benefits.
There is still a lot of work to do to finalize the budget. I am going to focusing on:
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Ending the Governor's Emergency Powers: Case counts and positivity rates are at record lows, and the emergency is clearly over. It's time to end the emergency powers and restore the legislature's role as a co-equal branch of government.
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Stopping Health Care Costs From Skyrocketing: Democrats are pushing for harmful policies—namely ending reinsurance, more on that below— that would cause health care rates to skyrocket and reduce health plan choices for thousands of Minnesota families.
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Safety in our Cities: Crime in the Metro area is skyrocketing. We need to focus on tackling rising crime, and making sure Minnesotans feel safe in their communities. I will always back our law enforcement and make sure they have the resources they need to protect all neighborhoods.
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Funding our mutual priorities of K12 education and transportation infrastructure. A high-quality education and good, safe roads are key to making Minnesota a great place to live, work, and raise a family.
Monday also marked the 458th day living under emergency powers and House Republicans once again brought a motion to the floor to end the peacetime emergency. This was the 19th time that we have officially taken a vote to remove the Governor’s powers.
We have brought solution after solution— I have personally authored a bill to address every concern voiced by the Governor & House Majority regarding ending the emergency powers—but the goalposts continue to move. I spoke on this here.
We have asked for language that would be acceptable to wind down the powers but have not heard what that may be from the House Majority. It is extremely frustrating, and it's become less clear than ever what constitutes an end to emergency powers and a return to normal governance in Minnesota.
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Importance of Reinsurance
Since I was first elected in 2016, I have been fighting to make health care more affordable. I spoke about the importance of reinsurance on the House Floor on Thursday. My priority has and will continue to be ensuring that my communities have access to quality healthcare, close to home, that they can afford.
I have authored numerous bills to lower health care costs and make healthcare affordable for our community and all Minnesotans. The proposals include a rate disparity study and recommendation for more equitable insurance rating areas, an excess premium tax credit proposal, and I supported our bill a few years ago to allow Agricultural Co-Ops to offer health insurance. I have had small business owners and farmers come to St. Paul to testify many times on the impact high insurance rates have for our community.
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To this end, I have always supported reinsurance as a mechanism to hold down rates. Reinsurance, first passed by the Republican controlled House & Senate and allowed to become law by then Governor Dayton, resulted in premiums being lowered 20% on average and stabilizing the individual market. The program has been so successful in advancing a stable and affordable market that it has since been replicated in more than a dozen other states.
The future of Minnesota’s successful and copied program is up in the air in the current budget negotiations, even though the reinsurance program is already funded. This has become a dangerous bargaining chip and one that I will fight to have taken off the table.
My colleagues and I are pushing all parties - the House Majority, the Senate, and the Governor’s office - to make sure continuation of reinsurance is part of the final budget deal. Turning our back on this successful program will increase health insurance costs for rural Minnesotans. At a time when we are still recovering from the pandemic, we don’t need to create additional financial hardships for people. Let’s all work together to get this done!
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STAYING IN TOUCH
As always, if you have questions or concerns regarding any issue, please contact me. You can reach me at rep.barb.haley@house.mn or 651-296-8635.
Sincerely,
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/RepBarbHaley
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239 State Office Bldg.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155
651-296-8635
rep.barb.haley@house.mn |
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