The Legislature’s top priority this session was to set the state’s biennial budget. I’m proud to say that we passed a balanced, reasonable budget, and that we finished our work on time. The new budget will:
• Provide an additional $788.5 million for early and k-12 education programs in Minnesota;
• Hold tuition increases down to a seven-year low at the state’s colleges and universities;
• Provide funding stability for nursing homes;
• Increase access to affordable housing;
• Make Minnesotans safer through improved law enforcement and crime victim services; and
• Grant health coverage to 37,000 more Minnesota children.
While some of our priorities – such as providing permanent property tax relief and fixing the state’s roads and increasing transit options – were vetoed by the Governor, the budget we passed will move Minnesota toward a more prosperous future.
The Legislature also passed the nation’s boldest Renewable Energy Standard, legislation to reduce global warming emissions by 80 percent by 2050, and a statewide workplace smoking ban. This was one of the most productive sessions in recent memory, and the results will provide a cleaner, healthier Minnesota.
Many of my major policy initiatives passed into law this session. Several pieces of legislation of particular interest to the Webber-Camden neighborhood include predatory lending, electronic waste recycling and the public safety bill.
Representing North Minneapolis, an area hard hit by the ongoing disaster of home foreclosures striking the nation, I have long been the Legislature’s chief advocate for mortgage lending reform. This session, I authored two bills to crack down on predatory lending practices. I successfully shepherded both bills through the legislative process, and both have been signed into law. I will be leading a discussion on predatory lending at the Midwest Legislative Conference this fall, so other states can learn from our efforts. Minnesota now has the strongest predatory lending laws in the nation!
For years, I’ve reported on my efforts to pass the e-waste bill. This year we did it! Electronic waste, which includes televisions, computers, and similar electronics with cathode ray tubes, is the fastest-growing form of consumer waste and the largest source of lead found in Minnesota’s municipal waste. A statewide ban on the disposal of CRTs in landfills went into effect July 1, 2006 but the provision contained no way to deal with the collection and recycling of e-waste. My bill puts responsibility for recycling electronic waste on manufacturers, encouraging them to devise their own programs and to work with counties to ensure collection.
In addition to my work on e-waste recycling and predatory lending prevention, I served as chair of the Senate’s Public Safety Budget Division. In that role, I carried the omnibus public safety funding package, which increased investments in public safety agencies and crime victim services. The bill also included funding for early intervention programs aimed at children at risk of committing violent crimes and programs that assist offenders reintegrate into the community. Also of note in the Public Safety bill, was legislation aimed at curbing copper metal theft. The legislation sets out penalties for metal theft and damage and requires registration for scrap metal dealers.
One very useful bill of mine will help parents to provide healthcare coverage for their children up to age 25, regardless of student status. Currently, only full-time students are allowed to stay on their parents insurance.
We also provided more summer jobs money for Minneapolis youth. The Park Board’s Learn to Earn jobs program received another $75,000. The student workers started last week!
I recently was appointed to the Law and Criminal Justice committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Health and Human Services committee and the Resolutions committee of the Midwest Legislative Conference of the Council of State Governments. I enjoy trading information between states at these conferences. I’m a firm believer in not reinventing the wheel!
I invite you to contact me with comments, questions or concerns on any issue before the Legislature: My senate office is 651-296-9246 or sen.linda.higgins@senate.mn.