Volume 2, Number 7

Greetings, We are back in session this week following the Easter/Passover break. On the floor, the Senate passed the Womens Economic Security Act, Hit and Run legislation, and Newborn Screening Program modifications among many other bills. The Senate also passed several bills connected to Governor Daytons unsession that dealt with obsolete and redundant laws in Economic Development, Agriculture, Administration Department and State Procurement, Minnesota Historical Society, Metropolitan Council, public safety, and transportation sections of state law. With less than a month remaining before the 2014 Session adjourns, the full Senate will continue to take action on a wide range of issues in the coming weeks. Finally, thank you for joining me at my recent town hall at the Edina Community Center this past Monday night to discuss the policy issues that come before the legislature. As always, I enjoyed the questions and the respectful discussion about these important issues. Please continue to contact me with your perspective on any proposed bill before the Senate. Sincerely,

April 25, 2014 Connect with Me

Facebook www.facebook.com/ MelisaLFranzen Twitter @MelisaFranzen YouTube Melisa Franzen Week in Review

Photo of the Week

Senator Melisa Franzen & Representative Ron Erhardt at their mid-session Town Hall on April 21.

Melisa

Around the District

The City of Eden Prairie and Hennepin County are engaging community members on plans to connect the areas many bike trails. The city is seeking input from walkers, runners, and bikers in the Eden Prairie area on bike trail route planning. Helpful comments and suggestions are encouraged and can be submitted at www.EdenPrairiePedBikePlan.org. Congratulations to Jacob McCarthy of Edina! Jacob finished 3rd overall at the USA Snowboard Association National competition in Copper Mountain, Colorado. Competing in the 12-13 age range, his overall finish includes a silver medal in the giant slalom and a gold medal in the slalom. 20 Eden Prairie High School students have qualified for the DECA International Career Development Conference that will take place at the beginning of May. These students will head to the international competition in Atlanta, Georgia. Area actors bring to life the animated Disney story, The Little Mermaid, at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. Appearing in the show are Tyler Michaels of Bloomington, Derek Prestly of Minnetonka, and Josie Axelson and Maryn Reader of Eden Prairie. The show is running now through August.

Around the Capitol

Hit and Run Legislation The Senate passed legislation related to vehicle hit and run situations that will specify what a driver must do after a collision on a roadway. The language states that, in instances where a driver knows or has reason to believe a collision has occurred, the driver has the responsibility to stop and reasonably investigate what was struck.

Tweet of the Week

WESA passes on a bi-partisan vote. 51-14 for Women's Economic Security Act. #mnleg

Proponents of the legislation would like to fix a loophole in law that allows drivers to claim ignorance of what they hit as a reasonable excuse to leave the scene of an accident. Under current law, a driver does not have to stop and investigate what they hit in a crash if they do not know that it was a person or vehicle. With this legislation, the Senate hopes to improve this shortcoming in current statute. (S.F. 1246) Womens Economic Security Act Newborn Screening Program In January 2014, a settlement was reached between the Minnesota Department of Health and nine families that sued the state for violating the 2006 Genetic Privacy Act. That settlement directed the MDH to destroy more than one million newborn blood samples it had stored between 1997 and November 2011 results that MDH researchers say have expanded the list of disorders for which all newborns are tested, leading to life-saving interventions for at-risk babies. For babies born after the 2011 Supreme Court ruling, blood may only be stored for 71 days, or two years if a positive result is found absent parental consent. The MDH has already begun destroying the blood samples collected before that date. Legislation passed this week that will retain the integrity of the program as an opt-out function. The bill includes changes to the program information made available to expecting parents childbirth classes and health care providers to reflect the new procedures governing storage and testing. It also makes clear in statute that a parent may elect to have their infant screened but not have their samples stored. The bill allows the Department to utilize blood samples and results in research to strengthen the screening program, but does not allow the department to conduct other research outside of the program unless consent is received. Additionally the legislation states that the samples have to be destroyed within one week of a parents election not to allow for storage and it also repeals the current retention period for samples and results. (S.F. 2047)

Highlight

On Wednesday, the Senate approved the Womens Economic Security Act, which will head to Governor Daytons desk after it goes through conference committee. This legislation will: require businesses bidding on state contacts over $500,000 to obtain an equal pay certificate to ensure women are paid the same as men for positions of similar value, extend pregnancy and parental leave, increase accommodations for nursing mothers in the workplace, and encouraging women to enter nontraditional and high-wage jobs (a Senator Franzen provision).

The Week Ahead

Senate Bonding Bill Released Next Week
The committee plans to release its bonding bill sometime next week. The Senates bonding bill will focus heavily on projects that make Minnesota great, investing in economic development to create jobs, fixing our roads and bridges, keeping our citizens safe and protecting our state parks and waterways. Bonding is important because it gets people back to work while protecting and extending the life of state-owned buildings such as our schools and universities. Bonding also has the power to do things like investing in housing bonds to bring economic development and stability to communities across the state. Additionally, bonding helps build local necessities such as water pipelines that are essential to the economic stability of our cities and towns.