By Rich Larson, News Director
As the state legislature heads into a special session today Representative Todd Lippert said, despite the perceived lack of progress in negotiations, he is confident a budget will be passed and there will not be a government shutdown.
He said much of the budget is already agreed to. The Climate and Energy bill is done, and the Higher Education Bill is done. The problem areas are in E-12 education, public safety and State Government Finance. The question is not if the budget will get done, but how long with it take to finish the work. The state budget runs out on June 30th, and if a new budget is not agreed to before then, the state government will shut down on July 1st.
Lippert said that there are no surprises in the disagreements between the Democratic controlled House of Representatives and the Republican controlled Senate. “The conversations that have been hard during the whole session are the conversations that are hard now,” he said. Democrats are pushing for more police reform following the shooting of Daunte Wright in April, something to which the Republicans have not been receptive. Meanwhile, the Republicans want Governor Tim Walz to give up the emergency powers he has had since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Both he and the legislative democrats have shown little interest in doing that just yet.
With that said, everyone involved understands the the political and societal impact of a state shutdown. Senate Republican Majority Leader Paul Gazelka has said there is nothing his party wants enough to cause a state shutdown, and Democratic Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman has said she does not believe it will come to that either. Representative Lippert said, the legislature is going to do the work necessary to get this done.
” We’re planning to go on vacations. We’re planning to go to state parks. We have so many government employees who have done so much work to get us through the pandemic. We need to make sure that those jobs keep going, uninterrupted. There’s a lot that’s riding on our budget being in place nd getting done on time. We’re focused on that. That’s something I’m focused on. “
Governor Walz called the special session on Friday. It begins today at noon.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Representative Todd Lippert can be heard here
NH+C has given more than 20,000 vaccine doses
According to Northfield Hospital + Clinics President and CEO Seve Underdahl, Northfield hospital has administered more than 20,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccines. Since the vaccine was made available at the end of December last year, Underdahl said the NH+C staff has made distribution of vaccine to the community the top priority.
After one final second-dose clinic held over the weekend, the hospital has now moved away from their large, event-style vaccination programs, and is taking appointments for the shots. Underdahl said, they are now at the point where anyone looking to be vaccinated can set an appointment and receive a vaccination. Anyone over the age of 12 can receive the two-shot Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, while those who are 18 and older can request the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
He also conceded that the numbers of people receiving vaccinations is dwindling, and he said that does not come as any sort of surprise to him.
“It wasn’t much of a prophecy on my part, but I started saying to our team, even when we were right in the middle of having way more people who wanted vaccines than we had ability to distribute them, I said that we would get to this point very rapidly that instead of having more vaccine than arms, we would have more arms than vaccine.”
The people who were motivated to receive a vaccine were able to act relatively quickly on that, he said. And he also understands that there is another segment of the population that wants to take more of a “wait and see” approach to the vaccines. To that end, he said, the hospital has put together a series of informational videos about the vaccine. They have also posted quite a bit of information about the vaccines, looking to answer as many questions as possible.
Underdahl said there is talk about people requiring a third shot, or a booster, this fall, to possibly combat variants of the virus that have developed, but he is unsure if that will be necessary or not. It is possible, he said, that one might be needed, and it is also possible, that this could be a seasonal necessity, like a flu shot. But the data on that is still not complete, and right there is no consensus within the scientific community.
For more information about the NH+C Vaccination program, visit northfieldhospital.org.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Steve Underdahl can be heard here
‘Chamber Chat’ to premier Tuesday morning
And tomorrow morning, KYMN radio will premiere a brand-new show called Chamber Chat.
Every third Tuesday of the month, Northfield Chamber of Commerce President Lisa Peterson will talk with a local business leader about their company and the work they do. They will discuss the business climate in Northfield, and how businesses can make a positive impact on the community.
Peterson will also give an update on the goings on at the Chamber and the Convention & Visitors Bureau each month, with news on upcoming programs and initiatives.
Her first guest will be Community Resource Bank president Jim Loe. Loe will talk about his journey from law school to the world of banking and the work Community Resource Bank has done in Northfield for nearly 150 years.
Chamber Chat will premier tomorrow morning at 9am.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Lisa Peterson can be heard here
