Tag: Senate District 44

Week-in-Review Video

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A message from your Senator

Constituents and friends,

We returned from our mid-session break this week to a busy schedule of budgetary hearings. Our primary job in this year’s legislative session is to reach agreement between the Senate, House, and Governor’s administration on an approximately $50 billion state budget for Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023, which will require significant negotiation given our divided Legislature.

After both chambers pass their own versions of omnibus bills that have been created by nearly every Senate and House committee (an omnibus bill is a single long bill that contains many individual budget/policy proposals related to the committee’s topic of jurisdiction), leaders from the House and Senate committees meet with each other, as well as the Governor and his staff, to discuss their disagreements and negotiate a final product that all sides (mostly) agree on. As you can imagine, this is often a long and contentious process.

Continue reading “Sen. Ann Johnson Stewart (SD44) Update: April 9, 2021”

Week-in-Review Video

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A message from your Senator

Constituents and friends,

It was another busy week at the Capitol in advance of our mid-session break next week. We debated several bills on the Senate floor, including Medicare reimbursements for healthcare providers that are administering COVID-19 vaccines, school district funding transfers, standardized testing requirements, and a pilot program for hiring short-term substitute teachers.

Below, you can watch my floor speech in support of a proposed amendment to the substitute teacher bill, which would have required school districts to submit written complaints to the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board for any conduct by a substitute that is grounds for licensure revocation. The amendment was offered because the bill itself doesn’t require prospective substitutes to hold a teaching license from the Board – so if a teacher was fired for ethical misconduct, they wouldn’t be reported to the Board and could teach in a different district without a record of their behavior. I believe that was a serious flaw with the bill, and that we need to do everything in our power to keep students and staff as safe as possible. Unfortunately, the amendment was not approved, and I voted against the bill.

Continue reading “Sen. Ann Johnson Stewart (SD44) Update: March 26, 2021”

Week-in-Review Video

A message from your Senator

Constituents and friends,

It was another busy week at our state Capitol! We debated several bills on the Senate floor, most notably SF 4, which was Senate Republicans’ fourth attempt in the last two months to remove Governor Walz’s emergency powers. I voted against it – I support the Governor’s measured and science-backed response to COVID-19, and based on my first few months in office, I’m not at all confident in the ability of the legislature to rapidly and properly respond to pandemics and other emergencies.

We unanimously passed a bill to provide aid for the sanitary cleanup of former dry cleaning business sites, and ban the use of a dry-cleaning chemical that’s known to be a toxic air pollutant. The House passed the bill unanimously as well, so it’s now headed to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law. 

Continue reading “Sen. Ann Johnson Stewart (SD44) Update: March 19, 2021”

Week-in-Review Video

A message from your Senator

Constituents and friends,

Minnesotans received good news today: Governor Walz is rolling back COVID restrictions as we continue to make progress against the virus. Public mask-wearing and social distancing requirements remain in place, but in-person work is permitted, group sizes for worship services, social gatherings, and indoor/outdoor events have been increased or lifted altogether, and bar, restaurant, and gym capacity is increased. This is a big step, and yet another indicator of the light at the end of the very long COVID tunnel! A full rundown of the lifted restrictions can be found here.

Continue reading “Sen. Ann Johnson Stewart (SD44) Update: March 12, 2021”

Week-in-Review Video

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Update from the Capitol

Constituents and friends,

I’m excited to share my first weekly update from our state Capitol! I’ve had a very busy two months, and have been learning an enormous amount about the legislative process and how to best advocate for the SD44 community in the Senate.

Continue reading “Sen. Ann Johnson Stewart (SD44) Update: March 5, 2021”