Feb. 2000 Legislative Updates/Action
Alerts
Rachel Callanan,
Minnesota NOW Legislative
Coordinator
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A 3-1-00 Economic Justice update has been added.
The 2000 Legislative Session started Feb. 1st, and the Legislative
Committee is hard at work. Kathy Murphy, who recently returned to Minnesota from
living in Washington, DC was recently appointed Legislative Committee Chair by MN NOW's
Executive Committee. She has hit the ground running in her new role. Kathy is also working
as an intern lobbyist with Sue Rockne, a well respected and legendary lobbyist and
advocate for women's rights. Kathy will be close to the action, giving MN NOW some crucial
visibility at the Capitol. She will be following some of MN NOW's key issues this year:
anti-choice legislation, covenant marriage, and the unicameral issue, among others. The
benefits of her contribution are apparent in her issue briefs, which you may link to below
or from our Legislative Update page or the MN NOW Site Map. I am particularly
grateful for the commitment of the Committee members who are making it all
happen.
Now it is time for all MN NOW's members to contribute to our legislative efforts!
This year's legislative agenda is being carried out primarily through a grassroots
lobbying strategy. That means if our members don't act, then our message does
not reach the people that need to hear it - our elected officials. It is the
sound of many
voices raised together that will reach a volume the Governor and legislators
cannot ignore. So my request of the membership is this:
>Start small.
>Don't think you have to act on every Action Alert we issue - you may
be overwhelmed.
>Choose one or two issues that are close to your heart and do whatever
you can.
>Make a call to the Governor, write a letter to your state Senator
or Representative.
>Post the Action Alert at work. Pass it along to family & friends.
Urge others to take action.
Whatever you do, please take some sort of action. Your
voice may be the one that achieves the critical mass to change a bill this
year. And if you are one of the few who have the time and energy to act on
each and every Action Alert
that MN NOW puts out, then let me know what kind of coffee you're drinking!
A note about Action Alerts:
They will be released most frequently on this web site and to
those signed up on the MN NOW Email Activist List. You can sign up by
emailing MN NOW. Help those without Internet
access to keep up-to-date on actions or encourage them to contact the MN NOW
office at
(651)-222-1605. Less frequently, Action Alerts will be sent out in the mail. In
mid-March this year's second Legislative Newsletter will be coming out.
MN NOW's Legislative Issues:
Choice:
Late-term abortion is not being addressed as of yet in this session. "A
Women's Right to Know" is the main vehicle for abortion restrictions being
sought by Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL). "Right to Know" legislation
requires that women seeking an abortion view materials about abortion (which
is already done by clinics in Minnesota) and then the woman must wait 24 hours
after viewing the material to get an abortion.
"Informed Consent" and "24 Hour Waiting Periods" are the other terms that are used for this legislation. MCCL is rumored to be trying to add "Right to Know" abortion restriction language to the Newborns' Bill that allows women to drop off their unwanted babies at medical facilities without prosecution.
A bill (SF2733) was recently introduced that prohibits doctors
from telling women of any characteristics of their unborn fetus found through
genetic testing, ultrasound, amniocentesis, etc. that could incite an abortion.
Actions: Contact legislators,
tell them you oppose "Right to Know" legislation because the information
is already being provided to women seeking abortion and the 24 hour waiting
period creates an
unacceptable restriction on abortion.
Additionally, tell them you support the Newborns' Bill, but ONLY if it is free of abortion restriction language.
Ask them to oppose SF 2733, because prohibiting doctors from
informing patients about the status of the fetus is clearly unethical and denies
women the benefits of medical technology in making informed medical decisions.
Contact Gov. Ventura and commend him for his strong Pro-Choice stance. Ask
him to oppose "Right to Know" legislation because it restricts women's
right to Choice.
Violence Against Women:
Office for the Prevention of Violence Against Women (OPVAW) compromise:
The bill (SF2980) This bill is for the creation of a Department of Crime Prevention
within the Department of Public Safety (DPS). Senator Junge was initially pushing
for a specific state Office for Prevention of Violence Against Women (OPVAW)
but a compromise
between Senator Junge, DPS, and women's advocates resulted in the current bill
which passed unanimously through the Senate Crime Prevention Committee. The
compromise was
struck because of the high likelihood that if the OPVAW passed through both
houses, Governor Ventura would veto it because, in this bonding session, no
new appropriations
would be made to support the office.
MN NOW previously took the following related positions:
Position 1. Reorganization of Crime Victim Services. MN NOW opposes
Governor Ventura's Reorganization Order #182 insofar as it has circumvented
the legislative process and has silenced women's voices in the leadership and
monitoring of
victim services in the state.
Position 2. Office for the Prevention of Violence Against Women (OPVAW). MN NOW endorses the creation of a state OPVAW to provide women with one specialized office that gives violence against women top priority, thereby ensuring full participation of Minnesota women in the continued leadership, accountability, and direction of victim services for women.
What does all this mean in light of MN NOW's positions on Reorganization
Order #182 and the OPVAW? This compromise legislation answers some of MN NOW's
concerns regarding each of these issues. Specifically, this legislation:
>reinstates the grassroots women's role in state victim services by
providing specialized staff and resources within DPS to address violence against
women;
>it establishes an interagency task force on domestic violence and
sexual assault prevention which provides an initial first step in better coordination
among state
agencies; and
>it reinstates power to the advisory councils that had been greatly
reduced under the initial reorganization.
Ultimately, MN NOW would still like to see a state OPVAW created,
but that is an unlikely outcome this year. It may be something we want
to pursue next year.
Actions: Call/write to your
state Senator and ask your senator to support Senator Junge's crime prevention
bill
(SF2980) because it promotes focused attention and resources on issues of
domestic and sexual violence. FFI: SF2980
Action Alert of 02-20-2000
A companion House bill (HF3331) will go to the House Crime Prevention
Committee March 2nd at 10 am. From there it will go to the House Government Operations
Committee. All bills have to be through committee by the 10th in the House.
Actions: Call or email House Crime Prevention Committee members
by Monday, March 6th to ask members to support crime prevention bill (HF3331)
because it promotes focused attention and resources on issues of domestic and
sexual violence. FFI: HF3331
Action Alert of 03-01-00
Domestic Abuse Civil Remedies Act (SF11/HF47): These bills create a civil action
specifically for domestic abuse. The statute of limitations for similar actions
is two years. This bill extends that time frame to six years, which means
the victim/survivor may bring a lawsuit up to six years after the domestic
abuse incident for
which she is suing. This extension is important for battered women because
it may take longer than two years for many women to get to a point in their
lives when they can take
this kind of action.
Actions: Contact state Senators
and state Representatives and ask them to support the Domestic Abuse Civil
Remedies Act (SF11/HF47).
Restraining Order Fee Waiver Elimination/Amended Definition of Harassment
(HF2516/SF3580): This bill, authored by Rep. Steve Smith (R-Mound) and
backed by the Minnesota Supreme Court, eliminates the waiver of the $120 restraining order
filing fee. Low-income people may still file in forma pauperis which
removes filing fees. However, this requires additional paper work and is an
extra step in the process of obtaining a restraining order.
The stated reason for eliminating this waiver is to cut down on the number
of "frivolous" restraining order cases - primarily targeting "nuisance" lawsuits
among neighbors, for example. However, the practical result of this bill will
be that many women will be prevented from seeking restraining orders when they
are victims of
stalking or harassment (there is an exception that preserves the waiver for
cases of domestic abuse).
There is another portion of the bill that changes the definition of harassment which does
greatly benefit women. The bill proposes an amendment of current law which requires
multiple instances of harassing behavior, to also allow for a single incident of
harassment that has a significant adverse effect on another. A situation where this new
definition would benefit women is sexual assault. Survivors could obtain restraining
orders against perpetrators under this amended definition of harassment.
Action: Contact
your legislators; express your concerns about the bill, and your support for the expanded
definition of harassment.
Parenting Plan Bill (SF2473/HF2527) (Sen. Knutson R-Burnsville/Rep. Biernat
DFL-Mpls.): The bill allows parents in a sole child custody case to agree on
their own standard of proof for a modification of the custody order. It
would make sole custody cases the same as the rule in joint custody cases.
This bill presents particular
dangers for custodial parents who are unrepresented by an attorney at the time
of the initial custody matter, as well as battered women because there would
be pressure to
negotiate a lower standard for modifying the custody order.
Action: Contact your legislators
to ask them to oppose the Parenting Plan Bill.
Economic Justice Issues (go to 3-1-00
update below):
MFIP Sanctions: Bills in both the House and Senate have been introduced to
impose 100% sanctions on MFIP, MN Family Investment Program (welfare) recipients
who are not in
compliance with work requirements. Current Minnesota law allows up to 30% sanction
for non-compliance. Sanctions should not be raised because a 100% sanction
would fundamentally
undermine perhaps the most important goal of MFIP - reducing child poverty.
There is significant evidence showing that current sanction policy is often
implemented in an
inconsistent and inaccurate manner and that a large percentage of participants
in sanction status have barriers that should qualify them for an exemption
from MFIP work
requirements. Given this evidence, a full family sanction policy would
make the consequences of inconsistent implementation all the more dramatic,
while failing to
address the participant's barriers to compliance.
Action: Contact legislators in
both the House and Senate and let them know that you oppose 100% sanctions
for MFIP participants. (See also MFIP
Sanctions Action Alert.)
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Reserve Spending: As discussed
in the 1-3-00 Legislative Newsletter, concerns about using the surplus money
from Minnesota's
federal welfare grant - the TANF reserve - have been pleasantly answered with
a promising proposal by the Ventura administration. Ventura's proposal for
spending the $173 million
in TANF reserve includes a stated goal to use the money to help hard-to-employ
families move from welfare to work. Specifics include:
>$55 million for a program to fund additional job training, intervention
services, assistance
for chemical dependency and mental health, and child care and transportation
assistance;
>$83 million to address the housing needs of low-income families including
a notable elimination of a provision that requires MFIP participants to count
a portion of
their public housing benefits as income, thereby reducing their MFIP grant;
and
>$23 million to allow child support payments (now retained by state
and federal government to offset welfare payments) to be passed on to MFIP participants.
Action: Call Governor Ventura
to applaud his plan to spend the TANF reserve to help Minnesota families move
from welfare to
work. Call state Senators and Representatives to ask them to support any bills
that further the Governor's proposed plan for using the TANF reserve. Stress
your support for the provision in Governor Ventura's plan that focuses on affordable
housing,
and express that even more should be done to provide affordable housing to
low-income people. (See also TANF Action
Alert 1 & TANF
Action Alert 2.) (There will be an article in upcoming MN NOW Times explaining why affordable housing is a
women's issue.)
Affirmative
Options Coalition Legislative Update of 03-01-00 (Welfare Reform)
This 03-01-00 update does not include an Action Alert, so you can rest
yourselves until next week.
MFIP Sanctions & TANF Reserve Spending
Welfare reform legislation has been heard in both Senate and House policy committees. This
legislation will now advance to the finance committees of the respective bodies. Below is
a summary of the major provisions in the legislation. This is not a complete summary, but
highlights the issues Affirmative Options considers to be of most importance. The 100%
sanction proposal was defeated in the Senate but is moving ahead in the House. Legislators
have heard extensively from constituents in opposition to these measures. Thank you for
your calls, letters and meetings. They're making a difference.
House Legislation
HF3599 (Goodno) contains the Governor's proposals for
various initiatives that use federal TANF funds (see February 14 Action Alert). It was
forwarded to Health and Human Services Finance without recommendation. It will most likely
not be heard by Finance. The vehicle for TANF spending, then, will be the amended HF3128
below.
HF3128 (Goodno) contains recommendations to increase
sanctions to 100%. In an extensive "delete-all" amendment to the
bill, Goodno added some provisions to his sanction proposal and his own TANF
spending provisions, which
are different in important respects from the Governor's proposal. An amendment
to delete the bill's language and replace it with the Governor's language in
3599 (which includes no
sanction increase) was voted down (11-9) on a party-line vote. The bill was
approved as amended and forwarded to Health and Human Services Finance. It
includes:
* 100% sanctions for MFIP families after the fifth occurrence (or month) of noncompliance.
It requires a case file review (by someone other than a participant's job counselor), a
face-to-face meeting and an administrative fair hearing before such a 100% sanction can
occur. There is no safety net provision included for the children of disqualified
families.
* Distributes all current child support payments directly to MFIP participants, like the
Governor's proposal. Unlike HF3599, however, it does not disregard 50% of the payment in
calculating MFIP eligibility and benefit amounts.
* Establishes a Local Intervention for Self Sufficiency grant program to provide
additional funding to counties for hard-to-employ participants. It is different from the
Governor's proposal in its accountability and distribution mechanisms. It also does not
specify an appropriation amount.
* Specifies that Adult Basic Education (ABE) activities or English as a Second
Language (ESL) classes can be included in a job search support plan for no
more than half of the
required 30 hours per week of job search. Limits the approval of ESL
activities to participants who are below a certain spoken language proficiency
level (SPL5). Limits ESL
activities to a total of 24 months. Requires that by the fourth month of employment
and training services, at least half of a participants required hours of work
activity are met
through one or more of five work-focused activities.
* Creates a grant program to reduce the risk of out-of-wedlock pregnancies among youth who
are in prostitution or at risk of prostitution and appropriates $5 million.
* Does not include the elimination of the $100 housing penalty for participants living in
subsidized housing.
HF3589 (McElroy) contains the Governor's $54.5 million for
affordable housing proposal. It has not yet been heard. Disturbingly, it appears to be
encountering opposition from House leadership. (Stay tuned for an action alert on this
bill.)
Senate Legislation
SF3341 (Samuelson) contains the Governor's TANF proposal. In
a delete-all amendment, Sen. Samuelson added proposals included in SF2834,
which include 100% sanctions. In an amendment authored by Sen. Hottinger, all
of the language to increase sanctions was successfully deleted on a voice vote. Sen.
Samuelson was joined by Sen. Robertson and Sen. Kiscaden in opposition to the
deletion. The bill was approved as amended and sent to the Budget Division.
It includes:
* All of the Governor's TANF proposals, including the 50% disregard of the child support
pass-through and the elimination of the $100 housing penalty.
* A provision originally in SF2834 to continue food assistance to legal immigrants.
* A transfer of $15 million from the state's TANF block grant to the state's Title XX
block grant to serve families with children at incomes under 200% of poverty.
In addition, Sen. Berglin authored several amendments that make changes to the initial and
secondary assessment process and establish separate programs in which assistance received
by participants will not count against their 60 month time clock. These provisions
include:
* A more thorough review in the initial assessment of possible exemptions from the MFIP
work requirements and requirement of a professional assessment in the secondary assessment
for individuals with mental health or chemical abuse problems. The job counselor must
ensure that appropriate services are available to meet the needs identified in the
assessment.
* A supported work project to be piloted in the three MN counties with the largest MFIP
caseloads. The project will include wage subsidies to participants and individualized case
management and supportive services in order for participants to obtain and retain
employment.
* The establishment of "noncash assistance" programs in which participants
in training or education, working participants, and participants taking care
of special needs
children receive assistance that does not count toward their 60 month time
clock.
SF3389 (Janezich) is the companion to HF3589
appropriating money for affordable housing. It has not yet been heard, but it appears to
have strong support from Senate leadership.
Healthcare:
Maternity Benefits Bill (Rep. Opatz DFL-St. Cloud): This bill prohibits waiting
periods for insurance coverage for maternity benefits. Under current MN law
many health insurance policies may require a waiting period up to 18 months
from the time of initial
coverage before the policy would cover maternity benefits (the costs of delivering
a baby, hospital stay, etc.). This bill came very close to passing in the legislature
last year -
thanks, in large part to MN NOW's former lobbyist, Susal Stebbins. Let's get
this one through!
Action: Call your legislators
to ask them to support this pro-woman/pro-child legislation.
Ovarian Cancer Test/Healing Touch Insurance Coverage Bill (HF2581) (Rep. Karen
Clark DFL-Mpls.): This bill would require that health insurance cover routine
blood test screening for ovarian cancer, which can be a virulent form of cancer
that often goes
undetected. The bill also requires insurance coverage for a form of therapy
called "healing touch." The benefits of this therapy is that it stimulates
the immune system to help your body naturally fight off disease.
Action: Call your state
Representatives and ask them to support women's health by supporting this bill.
Unicameral Legislature: Refer to Issue Brief.
Position: MN NOW opposes legislation establishing a Unicameral Legislature.
Covenant Marriage: Refer to Issue Brief.
Position: MN NOW opposes the Covenant Marriage Option Bill (SF0883 Sen.
Steve Dille).
© 2000 Minnesota NOW