At noon on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, the Minnesota Legislature began the 2012 session.

As has been the tradition for many years, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce held their annual dinner on Tuesday evening. They hosted the governor and legislative leaders, who participated in a panel discussion about their expectations for the session.

The next day, lawmakers attended the all-day One Minnesota conference held at the University of Minnesota. The intent was for them to attend workshops on bipartisan collaboration on issues they will vote on.

The governor and legislative leaders confirmed what we have reported in the past; the issues dominating the session will be where to build the Vikings stadium (and how to pay for it); constitutional amendments including one requiring a photo ID to be able to vote; requiring a “super majority” of the house and senate to vote before spending can increase or taxes can be raised; making Minnesota a “right to work” state when it comes to unions; and an attempt to repeal the constitutional amendment question to ban same-sex marriage that passed last year. Other less high-profile items that are still important include whether Minnesota will create its own health insurance exchange or allow the federal government to create it, child care unionization, business tax relief, creating jobs, and whether there will be a bonding bill and how much it will be.

Both the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee and the Health and Human Services Finance Committee held hearings on Wednesday. The topics they started with this week included a bonding discussion from the Minnesota Department of Human Services and a discussion about provider peer grouping from the perspectives of the Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Hospital Association.

All indications are that legislators want to get back to their districts to begin the campaigning process; therefore, it is expected to be a short legislative session. It is an election year, traditionally a bonding year, and there is no budget shortfall.

Care Providers of Minnesota staff have begun to schedule meetings with legislators and will be presenting our own legislative agenda, which you can access here. We also encourage you to contact your own legislators to share your concerns, and to register for March on the Capitol (see related story on this topic).

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Heidi Holste at hholste@careproviders.org, or Toby Pearson at tpearson@careproviders.org.

Heidi Holste
952.851.2482
hholste@careproviders.org