Legislature

By Winter Keefer House Public Information Service What costs more money: Medical Assistance coverage of weight loss drugs or future coverage for comorbidities that stem from obesity? As names like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro have gained popularity in recent years, Minnesota’s cost per Medical Assistance patient using these drugs surged, now costing $12,000 per person per…

By Rob Hubbard House Public Information Service Once upon a time, the main place you’d find advertising was in a newspaper. But then billboards became ubiquitous, followed by commercials on radio, then television. Today, it’s an inescapable element of your online experience. But did you know that no taxes are collected when digital ads are…

By Margaret Stevens House Public Information Service Megan Horsager farms with her father in western Minnesota. Her mother is an employee and could take off any time for any reason. But implementing Minnesota’s new Paid Family and Medical Leave program has been far less flexible. Serving as the farm’s de facto human resources department, Horsager has spent…

By Margaret Stevens House Public Information Services Rep. Nathan Coulter (DFL–Bloomington) paused Tuesday as he recalled being 12 years old when the Columbine High School shooting occurred. This year’s first-year college students, he noted, were born a decade later and have never known a life when school shootings were not an everyday possibility. Many people, he…

By Winter Keefer House Public Information Services It turns out a lot of candy contains wheat. Legislators learned this as testifiers poked holes in a bill that attempts to prohibit the purchase of candy, chips and pop with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. “We’re hoping to ensure that people have a safety net, not a…

By Graham Johnson House Public Information Services When Erik Trost started his manufacturing class in 2017, his goal was to be able to pay students for the work they did in class. In Trost’s industrial technology class at St. Francis High School, students are assigned to roles like production manager and foreman, putting them in…

By Rob Hubbard House Public Information Services Last year, thermal energy was a hot topic at the Capitol. The House Energy Finance and Policy Committee discussed several bills related to tapping into the earth to heat and cool houses and buildings. The next step in implementation of the technology is seeing if utilities want to…

By Rob Hubbard House Public Information Services Every parent knows that kids can get expensive. But school teachers tend to say the same thing, when you consider how often they purchase school supplies for their students out of their own take-home pay. Rep. Elliott Engen (R-White Bear Township) hopes that such a burden could be eased…

By Mike Cook House Public Information Services An Office of Inspector General may yet be created this session to fight the fraud, waste and abuse in state programs. Stuck in the House State Government Finance and Policy Committee for the past month, HF1338/SF856* finally got through Tuesday with bipartisan support, although some is tepid. “Fraud in…

By Winter Keefer House Public Information Services Legislators are responding to a March 17 report by the Office of the Legislative Auditor that found the Department of Human Services has more power than it believes to investigate kickback complaints in autism programs. Rep. Mary Franson (R-Alexandria) sponsors HF4566 to specify that a credible allegation of fraud includes an allegation of illegal…