Legislative Update: Investing in Students, Creating Good Jobs, and Expanding Affordable Housing

One of my top priorities for the current legislative session is making sure every student in Minnesota receives a great education. The House DFL’s K-12 education budget gets the job done by prioritizing college and career readiness and putting more resources in our kids’ classrooms so students get the attention and resources needed for academic success.

The full House of Representatives is expected to vote on this important legislation on Tuesday. We’re holding a big event tomorrow on Sunday, April 21 with Governor Dayton, Speaker of the House Paul Thissen, state legislators, and community members to drum up support.

We’re calling it a Pep Rally for Minnesota’s future.

The rally kicks off at 2:30pm at St. Paul Central High School, located at 275 Lexington Parkway North in St. Paul. I hope you can make it and show your support for Minnesota’s students.

Two of my other top legislative priorities this session are creating good jobs and making sure all Minnesotans have access to stable, affordable housing. I’m proud to report that the Minnesota House of Representatives recently passed a bill that accomplishes both those goals.

The House DFL’s Jobs, Commerce and Housing omnibus bill contained two bills I authored; one designed to give Minnesotans the skills they need to secure high quality manufacturing jobs (HF 1391) and the other making a serious investment to prevent and end homelessness (HF 1194).

HF 1391, known as the Job-Based Education and Apprenticeship Program or “JEAP,” is an employer-based program specializing in customized training. It invests nearly $1 million to develop an apprenticeship program for manufacturing industries that integrate academic instruction and job-related learning in the workplace. The program directs the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system (MnSCU) and Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) to partner with eligible employers to identify training needs.

A broad range of stakeholders support JEAP, including the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, MnSCU, and DOLI.
My housing bill, HF 1194, originally invested $95 million over the next two years in the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA), which is responsible for financing and advancing affordable housing for low and moderate income households, helping communities recover from the foreclosure crisis, and most importantly, preventing and ending homelessness.

While the final amount of funding for MHFA is slightly lower than my original proposal, it’s a big step forward and the first funding increase for the agency in nearly a decade. This is a serious investment that gives Minnesota the tools to make sure all of our residents have a place to call home. Not only is this the morally right thing to do, it’s also fiscally responsible.

Here’s why:

When Minnesotans can rely on stable, affordable housing, they are more likely to hold a steady job and pay income taxes into the state coffers instead of relying on public assistance to survive on a daily basis. Making an investment on the front-end to solve problems like homelessness saves taxpayers from paying more on the back-end.

This is also a pro-small business plan. Needless to say, people who struggle with high housing costs have less disposable income. When we get those costs under control, Minnesotans have more money in their pockets to spend at local businesses. More customers mean economic growth, good jobs, and more revenue for funding priorities like our children’s education.

The House of Representatives also recently passed an Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture omnibus bill that included an amendment I authored to protect Minnesota’s lakes and other bodies of water from aquatic invasive species.

As the legislative session continues, I encourage Minnesotans to contact me with their questions, ideas, or concerns about any issue. You can reach me by phone at (651) 296-7153, by email at rep.jason.isaacson@house.mn, or by postal mail at 545 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155.