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My Point of View by Jennifer Vogt-Erickson

The Minnesota Legislature has had an incredibly productive session so far, and the DFL is delivering for regular people across the state.

Governor Walz signed the Driver’s Licenses for All Act, which just cleared the legislature. It will impact the over 80,000 people in Minnesota who are undocumented immigrants. Many need to drive to employment, especially in rural areas, and this will make transportation safer. It has broad support, including from law enforcement officials and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

Walz has signed a bill to restore inflation calculations back into budget projections. This will help legislators make better informed decisions about taxes and spending. Taking inflation out of budget projections two decades ago was a gimmick to make deficits at the time seem smaller than they really were.

Walz signed $5 million in funding for emergency grants to Minnesota food shelves to meet increased demand. The last extension of federal Emergency SNAP benefits from the COVID pandemic expired at the beginning of March.

Walz signed a carbon free electricity standard by 2040. I hope our state will reach that mark sooner, as our climate today was baked in by fossil fuels we burned 30 years ago, and we are already in a climate emergency. We have pumped even higher loads of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere since then, which will continue warming and weirding the climate for decades into the future. It’s not too late to act, and changing our behavior now will give future generations extra time to adapt to a climate outside of human experience.

The stakes for our grandchildren, and their ability to produce enough food to sustain civilization, are extremely high. For the love of them, we must remove any religious blinders that are anti-science, and reject big oil-backed propaganda about “blackouts.” Climate action is, incidentally, in accordance with the radical humanism of Jesus.

Walz has also signed an act which codifies women’s reproductive rights in Minnesota. The clear majority of Minnesota voters favor this legislation, and it becomes more apparent every day how high the stakes are. Here is just one tale of two states: last summer Amanda Eid couldn’t get the abortion treatment she needed in Texas until a sudden onset of high fever. She survived sepsis, barely, with scarring on her uterus that may impair her ability to become pregnant again. In contrast, a woman in Minnesota was able to safely get a D&E procedure this winter after she received a heartbreaking terminal diagnosis for her fetus during a routine ultrasound. She and her husband didn’t have to navigate costly and time-consuming barriers to her care. These are difficult situations that can arise during any pregnancy, and Minnesota is protecting women’s health.

The DFL majority continues to work on legislation to make life better for families across the state. The House has passed free school lunch for all students and voted to ban harmful conversion therapy for minors.

The DFL House also passed 12 weeks of medical leave and 12 weeks of family leave per year. This would especially impact women who are the most likely to care for newborns and family members.

Cathy McLeer, state director for AARP, stated in support of this legislation, “We must do more to support unpaid family caregivers, who are the backbone of our long-term care system. Without paid family and medical leave caregivers can suffer financial setbacks, emotional hardships and dire health consequences.”

This legislation, which would function like unemployment insurance, would support caregivers in the workforce, help seniors and reduce the burden on our long-term care system. It would serve cities like Albert Lea where nearly one-quarter of our population is 65 and older. Many of our residents need extra help from family at times with health issues and transitions. Contrary to Robert Hoffman’s views on this legislation, “a little life experience” has taught me that life can change fast in the sandwich generation. The DFL is building a stronger safety net.

The DFL is also moving forward a common sense buy-in option for MinnesotaCare aimed at people who purchase their own health insurance. Farmers, freelancers and small business owners have all testified in support of this bill while sharing their experiences with exorbitant insurance premiums and crushing out-of-pockets costs for care. This option would be especially important to the ability of rural areas to attract working age people despite having few large and medium-sized employers offering good health benefits. The main opposition to this legislation is the health insurance industry, which fiercely protects its profit margins, not health.

As the legislative session begins its second half, the DFL will continue to champion historic gains for people in rural Minnesota. The legislation is bottom up and middle out, and that is a boon for small cities like Albert Lea.

Jennifer Vogt-Erickson is a member of the Freeborn County DFL Party.