Over 160 educators lobby lawmakers at Healthcare Day of Action
On March 16, over 160 educators met at Education Minnesota headquarters in St. Paul to organize and advocate for our health insurance plan.
Education Minnesota’s health insurance plan, which would create one large pool for all public school employees, was introduced at the start of session and is moving its way through the Legislature.
The Day of Action began with an overview of Education Minnesota’s proposal and lobbying training led by staff lobbyists. Members then dispersed to meet in small groups with their elected officials and share their healthcare stories. Throughout the day, there were over 100 meetings between Education Minnesota members and elected officials.
Education Minnesota also hosted a press conference about our proposal for the Educator Group Insurance Program. Speakers included Education Minnesota president Monica Byron, science teacher Amanda Kottke, Education Minnesota–Osseo ESP president Michelle Dennard, Anoka Hennepin Education Minnesota president John Wolhaupter, and Senators Mary Kunesh (DFL-New Brighton) and Liz Reyer (DFL-Eagan).
Our bill also received a hearing from the Senate Education Finance Committee. In addition to speaking at the press conference, Kottke and Wolhaupter testified at this hearing as well.
In the afternoon, elected officials attended a panel to hear member stories and share their plans to pass our EGIP bill. The panel included Sens. Ann Johnson Stewart and Erin Murphy, along with Reps. Zack Stephenson, Matt Norris, Sydney Jordan, Dave Pinto, Peter Johnson, Liz Lee, Emma Greenman, Liz Reyer, Cheryl Youakim and Larry Kraft.
Our members’ advocacy on this topic has been incredibly effective—our bill has strong bipartisan support, with over 35 sponsors in the House and five in the Senate. Several elected officials signed on after hearing stories from our members about their struggle with healthcare access.
Since this is not a budget year, we do not expect this bill to pass this session. However, we are hoping to pass a reporting bill that would require districts to disclose to the state what their current healthcare costs are. This bill will allow us to get an idea of the full scope of the problem so that we can understand the full extent of how EGIP will benefit educators.
A full legislative wrap-up will be available in the next issue. In the meantime, check out our Capitol Connections newsletter, our social media channels and our website for updates and information on the status of the bill and how to get involved.
