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There is not a lot of news to report from the legislature last week. The House and Senate spent most of their time debating and voting on the rest of the finance bills. They did not make changes to the pieces of the bills that we are focused on.

The legislature has a week off this week – they always take a spring break around Easter and Passover. They will get back to work on Tuesday, April 18th.

When they return the House and Senate will assign members to sit on conference committees for each of the budget bills. These members will negotiate with each other and with the Governor over the differences between the bills and the Governor’s original budget proposal.

Lobby Day Recap

Special thanks to everyone who helped to make Lobby Day a great success! 178 people signed up for legislative appointments with both the House and the Senate. Because you met with your legislators and explained why funding for deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing programs are important, it made a big difference! Thank you so much.

An estimated 300-400 people were present at the rally and awards ceremony. What a great number!

Thank you to the legislators who met with constituents and attended the rally and awards ceremony as well as the “How to Meet with Your Legislators” trainings. The legislators who attended Lobby Day are:

• Representative Matt Dean (rally)
• Senator Karin Housley (rally)
• Senator John Hoffman (rally)
• Representative Peggy Flanagan (rally)
• Senator Ann Rest (rally)
• Senator Foung Hawj (morning training)

Thank you to the organizations involved with planning Lobby Day. They are:

• CSD Minnesota
• Deaf and Hard of Hearing Role Model Program, the Deaf Mentor Family Program, Minnesota Employment Center, and Minnesota Hands & Voices of Lifetrack Resources
• DeafBlind Services of Minnesota
• Hearing Loss Association of America – Twin Cities
• Keystone Interpreting Solutions (KIS)
• Metro Deaf School
• Minnesota Association of Deaf Citizens
• Minnesota Deaf Muslim Community
• Minnesota DeafBlind Association
• Minnesota Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (MRID)
• Minnesota State Academies
• St. Paul & Minneapolis Black Deaf Advocates

Thank you to our Civic Outreach and Engagement Specialists

Jessalyn Akerman-Frank, Fardowsa Ali, Sarah Arana, Emory K. Dively, and Shawn Vriezen.

Thank you to event coordinator AJ Herculeidez who kept us organized and going.

Special thanks to our amazing volunteers. We could not have done this without you.

Special thanks to Melissa Jane Kielbus of Copper & Water, Jonathan Ainsworth, and Ryan Johnson for their photography and videography. We will distribute their photos and videos soon

And thank you to our board

Brenda Ackerson (Vice Chair), Lloyd Ballinger, Kay Cameron, Mark DeRuiter, Nancy Diener, Tracy Ivy, Roberta Johnson, Kathryn Rose, Emily Smith-Lundberg, Valerie Shirley, Jamie Taylor, Jason Valentine (Chair), and John Wodele. You are our fearless leaders.

For More Information and Updates

For more information and to sign up for alerts, visit our website.