Newsmakers: Rep. Lee Talks Committee Work, Push for Community Impact
As the legislative session gets underway, Rep. Xp Lee, DFL-Brooklyn Park, says the atmosphere at the Capitol feels a bit like “back to school” — a mix of excitement, nerves and anticipation.
“It’s a lot of mixed emotions,” said Lee.
Lee was elected to fill the vacancy of Rep. Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated in her Brooklyn Park home last summer.
He has been appointed to serve on the Children and Families Finance and Policy, Health Finance and Policy, and Veterans and Military Affairs committees. There are challenges and opportunities in each assignment.
On the Children and Families Finance and Policy Committee, as well as the Health Finance and Policy Committee, some of the work will be focused on federal cuts to SNAP and other services.
“I’m looking forward to some of the conversations around taking out bureaucracies and addressing some of those challenges,” said Lee. “For me, ultimately it’s moving towards some sort of single-payer or health-care-for-all legislation would be ideal.
On the Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, Lee says he’s excited about the new Minnesota Veterans Museum that will be opening near Camp Ripley.
Aside from committee work, Lee says he’s interested in working on developing community impact notes that are like the fiscal notes that House researchers include on proposed legislation. The community impact notes would allow House researchers to list how the proposed legislation would impact certain populations.
“Not every bill would need this, but we’re thinking a matrix could be used to kind of see what would be helpful,” said Lee. “It would allow us lawmakers to have the information that we need to make better decisions.”
