Speech to Minnesota Council on Disabilities

December 12, 2006| Posted in Speeches

Thanks for the invitation and opportunity to speak with you.  I know many of you and look forward to working with more of you.

This is an exciting time for me and for the state.  It is one of those rare moments when we can seriously consider the many opportunities we have to move good public policy forward in the state, before other realities sink in.

Let me make sure to state as well that I and our DFL caucus – both leadership and members – takes the responsibility of governing very seriously.  We understand the need to move beyond political expedience to real results.

I will also say that we cannot achieve that without your input and the input of other Minnesotans from across the state.  We often discussed during the campaign the role of the legislature in engaging Minnesotans in real and productive conversations about our state and it people and its future.  Not everything will lead to new laws.  But it has been too long since we have had those broader conversations and the time is right to do so.

Our doors will be open to new ideas, to concerns and to constructive criticism.

Brief sense of how I view the upcoming sessions.  Start with two big picture items to give some context:

The agenda I expect to see will be an extension of the election.  We successfully ran on a platform of getting back to the basics.

I believe the lesson of the 2006 election is that Minnesotans are hungry for the legislature to focus on education, health care, energy and the environment, transportation.  I anticipate we will govern with such a focus.

The budget news was good – we do not face a deficit.  I hope that means we can move beyond a purely green-eyeshades approach to this budget session and look at the budgeting process as a way to prioritize and make strategic investments in the future.

But caution is also warranted.  When one time money is backed out and we start to account for inflation on the spending side, the surplus is not significant.

More specifically, growth in the Health and Human Services budget at double digit rates biennium to biennium is a serious, serious issue with no clear answers.  It will and must impact our decisionmaking this session.

So where does that leave health care next session?  I approach that issue from this perspective:

The role of government is to create the conditions and to provide tools to allow people to live as productively, independently and fully as possible. That core promise of opportunity is the essence of what this country is about and Minnesota historically has often led the way.  One aspect of that is to make sure there is a baseline of affordable and accessible health care.    We should continue in that tradition.

That means we need to work in partnership with families and individuals and I see my role as a legislator as a partner in that sense.

I know how hard so many Minnesota families work to make sure that the promise is fulfilled for themselves and their family members.  I have close friends with a family member who has a disability who have shared their struggles and challenges and joys.  As a lawyer, I have represented families trying to navigate the system to keep the promise of opportunity and independence real.  It is challenging at times and I hope that we as a legislature can do what we can to relieve whatever obstacles we can.

A couple of specifics:

First, we must continue to move, perhaps more aggressively, toward community-based and waivered services.

Second, I plan to focus time on improving coordination of services with variations on the medical home concept.

Third, I expect eligibility issues will receive attention, particularly some eligibility rules that seem arbitrary and unfair.  The Medical Assistance spenddown comes to mind.  In Minnesota, you should not have to live in poverty to receive health care assistance.

Fourth, at the same time we examine eligibility, we must be more demanding in cost containment.  That does not mean arbitrarily setting low reimbursement rates.  Rather, we need to take a serious look at addressing administrative and structural inefficiencies.  There is not a silver bullet, but we need to start.

Ultimately, we must have as our goal the fashioning of a comprehensive vision for the delivery and coordination of services to persons with disabilities.  We need to develop a longer term vision to fulfill the promise of opportunity and independence and dignity.

Again, thanks for the chance to speak.