The Final Hours of the 2023 Legislative Session

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May 19, 2023

Executive Summary

• Public Safety Bill

• Education Bill

• Jobs & Workforce Development Bill

• Paid Family & Medical Leave

Public Safety Bill

I was disappointed in the Omnibus Public Safety bill, which failed to fully support law enforcement, reduced penalties for felons, and included gun provisions that will infringe on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners while doing nothing to increase penalties on illegal gun sales. I voted against the bill for several reasons.

First, the bill actually reduces sentences for violent felons, which is the absolute wrong direction for our state. It allows felons to use “early release credits” for up to half of their prison sentence for reaching benchmarks in a rehabilitation plan. They can also earn additional credits to reduce the supervised probation portion of their sentence. While I certainly support providing services to help offenders get ready to re-enter society, I do not support allowing felony offenders to get a 50% reduction in a sentence that has been imposed by a court.

Second, the bill provides $70 million in funding for “violence-interrupters” and other non-profit community organizations, but it provides little new money to attract and retain law enforcement officers who are putting their lives on the line to protect and serve our communities every day.

As I have mentioned in previous newsletters, I was also very frustrated that no Republicans were appointed to the Conference Committee. This important bill completely left out the input of the Minority. That is not how the process is supposed to work. Even if we lose the vote, our voices and the voices of the public should be heard in public Conference Committee meetings. 

I do support several of the provisions in the bill, including those that make carjacking and retail theft crimes in statute. There has been a significant increase in both of these activities, and it was surprising to many Minnesotans that neither were actual crimes under Minnesota law. This is something I have been working on with my colleagues for several years.

I was also happy to see that one of my bills, HF 212, was also included in the Omnibus bill. This provision expands the list of qualified domestic violence-related offenses which can be used to increase the penalties for domestic abuse. This bill idea was brought to me by a Maple Grove Police Officer, and I have been working on it for over two years.

I also supported increased funding for the courts to reduce the backlog that was exacerbated when the courts were closed during Covid. Part of providing justice is providing hearings and trials in a timely fashion.

Despite a few good provisions, including one of my own bills, the majority of the bill will not help reduce crime in Minnesota or make our communities safer.This is a perfect example of why Omnibus bills are a problem. Legislators should have to vote for or against each of these individual bills, not have to vote the whole package up or down. It makes it much more difficult for the public to follow how we really stand on these important issues.

Education Omnibus Bill

I was disappointed to see that the Education Omnibus bill did not improve in the conference committee. This bill had more than 60 unfunded mandates that will further erode local control for school districts, while simultaneously forcing districts to pay for these “one-size-fits-all” mandates they may not need or want to spend limited resources on. I received dozens of emails and calls from our districts’ school superintendents, teachers and school board members about the many problems in this bill. The seven school districts I represent all told me that the unfunded mandates will eat up the “historic” increase in spending, leaving them with significant budget challenges.  A few of these troubling new mandates include overriding local control on classroom management, curriculum, and managerial policies. This bill will grow government and create more bureaucracy so that the Department of Education can micromanage schools.  I was happy to see the new “evidence-based” reading provisions, which will help Minnesota schools adopt the Science of Reading literacy curriculum, assessments and teacher training I have been advocating for the last few years. If you aren’t familiar with this issue, please listen to the Sold a Story podcast.  Unfortunately, the bill only provided $70 million for the literacy provisions, which will not be enough to buy all of the new curriculum and do all of the teacher training needed to really move the needle. In addition, the bill also removed the requirement that students achieve grade-level reading proficiency by 3rd grade. Literacy is the key to future academic success and is the key to reducing disparities in economic success, health, and involvement in the juvenile justice system. If we don’t set meaningful achievement standards, they will not be met. I was a strong supporter of the Republican alternative, which would have put more money on the formula, while not reducing what schools have to spend through unfunded mandates. It also would have put $250 into the Science of Reading literacy component and reduced the special education cross subsidy by 50% (same as DFL bill). Our proposal would have given schools the same amount of money ($2.2 billion), without reducing their flexibility and forcing them to spend on mandates they don’t need. I voted against this bill because the “one-size-fits-all” mandates reduced schools’ flexibility to manage classrooms, set discipline policy and spend money on their priorities. The 60+ mandates would use up a significant portion of the formula increase, resulting in 4% in the first year, but zero left in the second year, which will put schools in financial difficulty. The state role in education should be to set standards, provide funding and then let parents, teachers, and school boards can work together to help students succeed.

Jobs & Workforce Development Bill

The Jobs & Workforce Development omnibus was another mandate-laden bill that will that will drive small job creators out of business, including a new Earned Sick & Safe Time mandate on all businesses, new regulations, higher taxes, and increased fines, with no exemptions for small businesses.

It also included millions of dollars to nonprofits without any details on how these funds will be used and little oversight.

The bill failed to address our state's nursing home crisis, which is currently operating with a worker shortage of 53,000, which is unsustainable. Fifteen nursing homes have closed in the last year in Minnesota and many others are so short-staffed they cannot fill all available beds.  Last fall, in just one month, 11,000 Seniors were turned away from nursing homes because of lack of staff. Republicans had offered an amendment to shift money from non-profits to a Nursing Home Stabilization fund, but it was defeated on a party-line vote. 

Our Main Street businesses are the ones who are most impacted by these onerous new mandates. In a time of economic uncertainty, we should not be adding new costly mandates on businesses doing their best to keep their doors open and Minnesotans employed.

Paid Family & Medical Leave

This week we passed the final Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) bill. Republicans were again shut out of the conference committee so we were not able raise concerns or offer amendments to exempt small businesses from some of the crushing requirements.

Every industry in the state – private employers, nonprofits, cities, counties, and school district – will be hurt by this bill. Our small businesses cannot afford more one-size-fits-all mandates and a $2.9 billion tax increase while they are still struggling with inflation and workforce shortages.

The Conference Committee did make a couple of small changes that improved the bill, but it did not do nearly enough to help employers and owners of small businesses.

• The maximum length of paid benefits was shortened to 20 weeks from 24 weeks, but this will still not address the problems job creators will face when backfilling those positions.  
• The implementation date also extended by 6 months, from July 1, 2025, to January 1, 2026. This was basically an admission by the Democrats that this program is going to be difficult to develop and implement – for the state and for business.

They are creating a new office at the Dept. of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) that will need to hire more than 400 employees to start, and run this program.

Just the new building to house the employees and the new IT system are conservatively estimated to cost more than $84 billion. As we all remember, the state wildly underestimated the cost and time required to develop a brand-new IT systems for MNLARS and MNsure. This is expected to be even more complicated and costly. 

Republicans offered a much more practical and far less expensive plan to support families and help job creators provide their workers with this kind of benefit. Highlights from our MN Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (FaMLI) plan include: Benefits will be available to Minnesotans on January 1st, 2024—a full 18 months before the DFL’s Paid Family & Medical Leave plan. MN FaMLI offers a small business tax credit to incentivize employers to join the plan. Minnesotans may opt-in to the program for $5/week if employer does not join. Employees that are satisfied with current benefits offered by their employers can keep them without being forced onto a government-run program. MN FaMLI private option will be backed by an insurance company, so taxpayers will not be expected to cover the costs of program shortfalls or losses. MN FaMLI allows for flexibility that fits the needs of both the employer and employee, with no new taxes and mandates. I am disappointed that the common-sense Republican alternative was defeated on a party-line vote in the House and that Conference Committee did not address our concerns.  We don’t have to help families by hurting small businesses, raising taxes on employers and employees, and creating a giant new state bureaucracy. This was a policy design choice, and it is wrong for Minnesota.

Photos

So enjoyed talking with our State Troopers at Minnesota State Patrol Day at the Capitol. State Troopers are assigned to the Capitol and work along side us all day, every day. We are so grateful for all you do here and throughout MN!

Celebrating Syttende Mai (Norwegian Constitution Day) with colleagues of Norwegian descent on the House floor on Wednesday! Representative Dean Urdahl gave a brief statement honoring Norwegian independence and the cultural ties between Norway and Minnesota.

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. I’d also love to meet you if you are coming to the Capitol!

The best way to reach me is by email: rep.kristin.robbins@house.mn.gov. For occasional updates, you can follow my Facebook Page at @RepKristinRobbins. You can also leave a voicemail on my office number, 651-296-7806, which is checked multiple times/week.

Have a great weekend!

Kristin

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