Legislative Update

May 9, 2008

Constitutional Amendment to Dedicate the Provider Tax
Legislation to put a Constitutional amendment on the ballot this November to dedicate the proceeds of the 2 percent provider tax passed the Senate Finance Committee Thursday May 8.  This legislation, SF 3835 (Berglin, Minneapolis), is in response to the recent proposals to transfer money from the Health Care Access Fund to address state budget deficits.  If the bill is passed by the Legislature the following question would be put to the voters:

"Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to dedicate the proceeds of the
MinnesotaCare provider tax to increase access to affordable health care for Minnesotans?”

While the MAFP has been a very vocal critic of efforts to raid the HCAF, and this would clearly limit the Legislature’s ability use this fund for inappropriate uses, we have not taken a position on whether the provider tax should be constitutionally dedicated.  If this were to be approved by the voters it would make it very difficult to ever eliminate the provider tax.

The bill has passed one Senate committee and is awaiting action in the Senate Rules Committee.  Currently there is not House companion bill, so the likelihood of it moving forward is unclear.

Newborn Screening Bill
The MAFP is urging lawmakers to pass a bill that would protect a newborn screening program that saves infants every year from terrible diseases and death.  The Minnesota Health Department has been in the process of trying to pass a bill (S.F. 3138) that would ensure the program does not conflict with a genetic privacy law that was passed in 2006.  The bill would also further enhance parental rights, including the opportunity to opt out of any public health studies or research conducted on the residual dried blood spots.

Now some opponents of the program are trying to use the need to pass S.F. 3138 as an opportunity to weaken and undercut the program by spreading misinformation.  Opponents have been whipping up fears that the program violates parental rights and that the genetic information collected during the test will somehow be misused in the future. The blood spot samples are kept so they can be used to improve the tests and develop new screenings.  However, all information connecting them to a person is stripped from them before they are used for research.

Minnesota is a leader in the area of screening newborns for genetic disorders.  Each year the state screens about 72,000 infants and catches about 70 of these rare disorders. About one in 800 babies are born with a hidden, rare disorder that can be found by newborn screening, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

Parents have always had the ability to opt out of having their baby tested.  In 2003, the Minnesota Legislature enhanced parental rights allowing parents several opt out choices.  One is not to have their baby tested at all.  Another is to have their baby tested, but to have the test results and dried blood spot destroyed.  Whenever a parent requests to opt out, the Department immediately responds in writing confirming that the parents' wishes are honored.

The MAFP believes this bill strikes the correct balance between public health and protecting privacy rights because all identifying information is removed from samples used for research.  MAFP leaders have been asked to contact Governor Pawlenty’s office to encourage him to sign this bill when it gets to his desk.

Telephone: (651) 296-3391
Toll Free:    (800) 657-3717
Facsimile:   (651) 296-2089
E-mail:        tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us

Budget Negotiations Slow
The negotiations to close the $935 million budget hole have slowed as the Governor and legislative leaders struggle to reach a compromise.  The Minnesota House and Senate budget conference committee has approved a compromise between those two bodies, but the Governor has not been a part of those agreements.  Their proposal would not raid the Health Care Access Fund nor cut physician payments by 3 percent.

The conference committee released and approved the health and human services piece of the budget compromise on May 5, which is part of the larger omnibus budget bill.  While the physician cuts were removed, on the other hand hospitals did not do so well under the compromise.  The committee approved an approximately 3 percent cut to inpatient and outpatient hospital payment rates.  Also, included with no public testimony is language that directs the Commissioner of Human Services to seek a federal waiver to allow Minnesota to limit covered services by adopting the Oregon system of setting a priority for coverage.  If adopted, the state’s public programs would not cover 60 diagnostic/treatment pairings that are on the bottom of the Oregon priority list.

Negotiations are continuing to try to find an overall agreement that includes the governor.  If that agreement can be reached, the bill approved by the conference committee would have to be passed by both the House and the Senate and signed by the governor before it would become law.  If an agreement with the governor cannot be reached the governor does have authority to “unallot” state spending to balance the budget.

Seat Belt Primary Offense Law Likely to Pass
Tougher seatbelt rules and driving restrictions for teens came before the House of Representatives on May 8.  The measures were included in the omnibus transportation policy conference committee report and are driving safety provisions the MAFP has been pushing for several years. 

The tougher teen driving provision would strengthen Minnesota’s existing graduated drivers’ license requirement so that newly licensed drivers under 18 would be restricted from driving between midnight and 5 a.m. and would have limits on the number of people that could ride in the car with them.  For the first six months a new driver can only have one, non-family member in the care with them.  For the next six months of driving, they can only have three other non-family members in the car.

The seatbelt provision would make not wearing a seatbelt a primary offense, which would allow officers to stop and ticket motorists for not wearing their seatbelts.  Current law only allows officers to ticket someone for failing to wear a seat belt if they are stopped for another offense.  The experience from other states shows that seat belt use increases when the law is a primary offense.

The seat belt provision became a lightening rod issue with opposition coming from a strange combination of legislators.  It was opposed by libertarian-leaning legislators, legislators worried that it would be used for racial profiling, and very conservative legislators.  In the end the House voted 72-62 to send the conference committee report back to committee for more work.  At this time it is unclear what the next step will be, but the conference committee could strip the seat belt provision from the report and add an updated booster seat law to increase the age that a child would be required to use a booster seat from four to eight years old as is recommended by the National Transportation Safety Administration.

Prairie St. John Psychiatric Hospital Approved by the House
The Minnesota House voted by a wide margin to approve a psychiatric hospital for children to be built by Prairie St. John's in Woodbury.

The bill amends a state hospital construction moratorium that was preventing Prairie St. John's from building its proposed 66-bed facility.  Rep. Marsha Swails, DFL-Woodbury, authored the bill lifting the moratorium.  While the House support was strong, 125 yeas to 8 nays, there is no guarantee the Senate will move on the proposal.

In the original plan, Prairie St. John's envisioned a hospital with 166 beds that would provide psychiatric and chemical dependency services to both children and adults.

The Minnesota Department of Health determined that proposal wasn't in the public interest, noting it would add mental health beds at a time when the state is seeking fewer beds and more community and preventive mental health services.

Stem Cell Research
The Minnesota House has passed a bill saying that the University of Minnesota can use state taxpayer funds for embryonic stem cell research.  State law currently doesn't explicitly prohibit taxpayer funding for stem cell research.  But Rep. Phyllis Khan, DFL-Minneapolis, said she wanted to send a clear message of support on the subject to University scientists.

The stem cell bill passed by a 71-62 vote by the House.  The Minnesota Senate passed a slightly different bill on stem cell research a year ago.  Leaders of the two bodies must now reconcile the differences between the two bills, submit the final bill for a vote, and then pass it on to the governor where it is expected that it will be vetoed.   In February Pawlenty sent a letter to the Legislature supporting adult stem cell research, on the basis that it would create "ample opportunity to work toward lifesaving cures without crossing moral and ethical boundaries." 

- Dave Renner, MAFP Legislative Representative
(drenner@mnmed.org, 612-362-3750, 1-800-342-5662)