Legislative Priorities
2022 Legislative Priorities MNASCA promotes the interests of the ASC community before the state legislature as well as state regulatory and executive agencies. MNASCA identifies and analyzes critical issues affecting ASCs and acts on behalf of members to enhance and protect the ASC’s ability to provide high quality, cost-effective patient care. The 2022 Legislative Session is set to begin on January 31st. With the state's biannual budget passed in 2021, the upcoming session will be focused on creating a bonding bill to invest in infrastructure and communities across the state, as well as on distributing federal COVID aid to eligible organizations. Minnesota continues to be one of the only states in the country to have a divided legislature – meaning that the House is led by one party and the Senate is led by the other. This dynamic can lead to more heated negotiations and divisive rhetoric, which is compounded this year since all members of the Legislature and the Governor are up for reelection in the fall of 2022. Additionally, due to the 2020 census, the borders of each legislative district are being redrawn to account for changes in population across the state. This process takes place every 10 years and always causes a political stir; elected officials can’t be sure how much the partisan voter bases in their “new district” have changed. Lastly, leadership in the Minnesota Senate will be entirely different this session since Senator Jeremy Miller stepped down as Senate President to become the Senate Republican Caucus' Majority Leader. He is taking the place of former Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, who began his run for Governor in mid-2021. The Senate Minority Leader, Democrat Susan Kent, is also stepping down from her role and being replaced by Senator Melisa Lopez Franzen, who is the first member of the People of Color and Indigenous Persons Caucus to serve in the role. MNASCA’s priorities for the 2022 legislative session currently include:
|
Our Sponsors
