Dear Neighbors,
Yesterday, the governor announced a plan to vaccinate 70 percent of Minnesotans 65 or older by the end of March. Following this, eligibility for the vaccine will expand based on underlying health conditions and risks of workplace exposure, like food processing plant workers.
Dear Neighbors,
A big thank you to Mayor Carlson for inviting me to speak at “Meet Excelsior” before their council meeting this week. I enjoyed the opportunity to engage with city leaders and residents about what’s happening at the Capitol and how we can help meet the needs of Excelsior at the state level. I’m excited to see The Commons project get underway! Carrying the legislation to enact the sales tax that helped make it possible was an honor. The project is a great example of Minnesota’s proud tradition of constructive public-private partnerships.
Yesterday, Governor Walz announced that a new tool is available to help Minnesotans find out when, where, and how to get their COVID-19 vaccine. The COVID-19 Vaccine Connector will let you know when you’re eligible to receive a vaccine, connect you to resources to schedule a vaccine appointment, and notify you if there are vaccine opportunities in your area. Signing up for the Vaccine Connector is free and easy, and you don’t need insurance or identification. You can sign up and learn more here. People unable to sign up online can have family or friends help them sign up online, or call 833-431-2053 for assistance signing up over the phone.
Continue reading “Rep. Kelly Morrison (HD33B) Update: February 19, 2021”
Dear Neighbors,
I hope this newsletter finds you and yours staying warm! Our work continues in the Minnesota House; between meeting remotely with constituents, advocacy groups, and for committee and Floor sessions, I’ve been working on a variety of initiatives that improve health care access and affordability; you can read about some of these in my latest guest column.
As of today, 617,896 Minnesotans have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 189,902 completing the series.
The Minnesota Department of Health indicated that Minnesota received almost 84,000 doses of the vaccine from the federal government this week. These will be divided up between our health care systems (39,800 doses), the Community Vaccination Program (7,000 doses), education and child care workers (10,000 doses), pharmacy partners (4,200 doses), local public health (nearly 15,000 doses – which will finish Phase 1A), tribal nations (3,000 doses), and the Department of Human Services for group homes (5,000 doses). More information is available on the COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard.
Continue reading “Rep. Kelly Morrison (HD33B) Update: February 12, 2021”
Dear Neighbors,
As of today, 497,843 Minnesotans have received their first dose of the vaccine, and 138,212 have completed the vaccine series.
Many in our community have expressed their frustration with not being able to get a COVID-19 vaccine. I share your frustration, and appreciate your patience and understanding while our public health experts work as quickly as possible to get the vaccine out to those most at-risk. The current weekly allocation Minnesota is getting from the federal government is 68,000 doses. Unless we receive more weekly allotments, it’s estimated to take four months to finish the first priority group.
Continue reading “Rep. Kelly Morrison (HD33B) Update: February 5, 2021”
Dear Neighbors,
I hope you had a safe weekend and an opportunity to enjoy the snow. It’s been wonderful to have plowed access to portions of the Dakota Rail Regional Trail and Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail this year, thanks to a new partnership between Three Rivers Parks District and some West Metro cities. You can find complete winter trail maintenance information listed by city or by trail. Additionally, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has excellent information to help you plan your next state trail, park, or camping trip.
Virtual Town Hall Meeting- You’re Invited!
On this Saturday at 10:00 a.m., I’ll be hosting a virtual town hall to give a legislative update and receive input and questions.
We’ll gather online using Zoom, and you can RSVP to my legislative assistant Shenika, at Shenika.chambers@house.mn, to receive the information to join. Submitting questions in advance by responding to this email is encouraged.
Continue reading “Rep. Kelly Morrison (HD33B) Update: January 25, 2021”
Two-thirds of Americans approve of President-elect Joe Biden’s handling of the transition ahead of his inauguration Wednesday, but mixed confidence in his leadership on major issues along with President Trump’s hold on the Republican Party present sizable challenges for the early days of the new administration, a Washington Post-ABC News poll finds.
Biden enters office with 49 percent of Americans confident that he will make the right decisions for the country’s future, compared with 50 percent who take the opposite view. The 49 percent represents much greater trust than Trump’s 38 percent mark four years ago but much lower than the 61 percent who expressed trust in Barack Obama’s decisions on the eve of his inauguration in 2009.
The equally divided result on the broad question about confidence in Biden’s leadership and decision-making is mainly the result of strong distrust among Republicans about the incoming president, a finding that persists throughout the poll and underscores the degree to which the deeply polarizing presidential campaign — along with Trump’s baseless claims about a stolen election — have shaped Republican attitudes. Continue reading.
While Fox News attempts to stay in the niche swirling the toilet bowl drain of ultra-right wing nationalism, it is important to remember that Fox News created the fake news space and showed the world how profitable hate and fearmongering could really be. Back in 2016, as the Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump campaigns worked their ways around the country, 27-year-old Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich was tragically killed in what Washington, D.C. police called a robbery gone wrong.
Fox News, with an assist from Sean Hannity and whomever it is he gets his bogus information from, promoted a conspiracy theory-laden web of lies about Seth’s death, connecting it to Hillary Clinton and the now quaint “her emails” scandal. Joel and Mary Rich sued Fox News in 2018 saying that the right-wing lie factory “intentionally exploited” their son’s death to push a political agenda. On Tuesday, the case was dismissed by both parties as Fox News has reached a settlement with the Riches.
The original story was published by Malia Zimmerman and Fox News promoted it relentlessly for a week before retracting it. No further followup into what had happened that allowed the news outlet to publish and push the baseless, arguably libelous insinuations that Hillary Clinton and her team had assassinated a young man over emails leaked to the press. Continue reading.
SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Yesterday, a bipartisan group of legislators from the Minnesota House of Representatives announced the Minnesota Pledge to Defeat COVID-19, a social media push to emphasize that the basic steps we can take to help curb the spread of COVID-19 have no partisan affiliation. Ahead of the holiday season, and with Minnesota experiencing a surge in cases, these legislators are asking all Minnesotans to share this message and commit to taking the necessary precautions.
“We’re entering a critical moment in the COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota, and how we choose to respond will have a direct impact on our family, friends, and neighbors,” said Rep. Kelly Morrison (DFL – Deephaven), who is also a practicing physician. “The situation is dire, and our public health professionals and healthcare workers are begging us to follow the basic guidelines of COVID prevention because they’ve seen first-hand the consequences of this virus as cases surge. I’m proud to stand with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to sign the Minnesota Pledge to Defeat COVID-19. We all have a role to play in slowing the spread.”
Using the hashtag #TakeThePledgeMN, the pledge asks Minnesotans to double down on their efforts to wear a face mask, maintain social distancing, stay home if sick or exposed to COVID-19, limit the size of gatherings, and to be kind to one another.
Continue reading “Bipartisan Coalition of State Legislators Introduce Pledge to Curb the Spread of COVID-19”
According to a report released last week, a huge number of the nation’s Black-owned businesses have shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Economic stimulus funds that were intended to keep minority-owned small businesses alive did not get to them in time or at all, leaving their owners with no other options.
Some 440,000 of the country’s roughly one million Black-owned companies have closed for good since the start of February, CBS News reported on Friday. The report noted that the vast majority of those companies that sought emergency relief funding through the federal Paycheck Protection Program were initially rejected — one analysis found that 95% of black-owned business were excluded.
When Donald Trump signed the $6.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March, he promised that its $350 billion Paycheck Protection Program and other provisions would “keep our small businesses strong and our big businesses strong. And that’s keeping our country strong and our jobs strong.” Continue reading.
SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – The Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act (SF 1098), a bill to address skyrocketing prescription drug pricing, advanced out of the House Ways and Means Committee today on a 23-1 vote. Rep. Kelly Morrison (DFL-Deephaven), a practicing physician, is the chief author of the bipartisan legislation.
“All Minnesotans deserve access to the prescription medication that they need to survive and thrive,” said Rep. Morrison. “Prescription drugs don’t work if people can’t afford them. Creating more transparency about why drugs are priced the way they are is an important first step in raising awareness about the role of drug prices in the cost of health care, and in helping drive down those prices.” Continue reading “Bipartisan ‘Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act’ Advances in the House”
