LEGISLATIVE SESSION REVIEW
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Sen. Liz Boldon DISTRICT 25
Rep. Kim Hicks DISTRICT 25A
Looking back on the 2024 legislative session, what legislation will have a significant impact on the Rochester area business community? Businesses thrive in healthy, stable communities. That’s why my DFL colleagues and I are
Looking back on the 2024 legislative session, what legislation will have a significant impact on the Rochester area business community?
I am proud of the work we accomplished during the historic biennium. The 2023 session focused on passing legislation to help Minnesotans succeed. This year, the 2024 session built on those successes by making additional significant progress for families. When legislators center our decision and policy- making decisions on people, we can truly positively impact the quality of life for working Minnesotans and their families. This session, we took important action to assist persons with disabilities, and improve resources for those struggling with mental illness. We also expanded our nation-leading Child Tax Credit and strengthened the Paid Family and Medical Leave law. These measures – and more – help ensure more Minnesotans will become part of the workforce and contribute to our state so we can all thrive. What is a major takeaway from the 2024 session? The 2024 legislative session built on the success of the productive 2023 legislative session. Last year’s transformational budget made it possible for Minnesotans to create a better life for themselves. The 2024 session helped families continue this upward trajectory. Improving our water quality, expanding health insurance coverage, investing in organizations to develop Minnesota’s workforce and help small businesses grow are just a few of the many highlights of the 2024 session. This session, as it is every session, it was important to help our most vulnerable Minnesotans. By improving access to treatment programs, making it easier for people with disabilities to stay in their homes, investing in transitional care options, among other things, we support those who need assistance and help them live a fuller life. We also made it easier to integrate them into the workforce when they are able.
focusing our efforts on making Minnesota the best place to live, work and raise a family - through investments in childcare, education, housing, and workforce development initiatives. This session, I led the work to continue funding of Rochester’s P-TECH program - ensuring that Rochester- Area students are prepared for careers in healthcare and IT and local businesses have strong talent pools from which to recruit. Additionally, Minnesota joined several interstate compact agreements, meaning businesses can better attract people from around the country to fill workforce gaps in healthcare and other careers that are critical to our local economy, like dentistry, physician assistants, occupational therapists, professional counselors, audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and social workers. And with great new programs like Universal Free School Meals and Paid Family Medical Leave, we continue to create and build upon incentives for folks to move to our great state to live and work. What is a major takeaway from the 2024 session? DFLers at the Legislature are taking holistic approaches to the challenges facing our state, and Minnesota has made great progress in the past couple years. After previous years of divided government, gridlock and inaction, we’ve made investments in our communities today that will lead to economic prosperity tomorrow and for years to come. We’re ensuring that Minnesota is a place where everyone can thrive, through a nation-leading child tax credit, historic increases to K-12 funding, affordable higher education, investments in childcare and our workforce, and more. Successful economies are driven by a healthy middle class, and we are laying a great foundation for Minnesota’s future.
14 | ROCHESTER AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ADVANTAGE MAGAZINE — AUGUST 2024
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