Affordable health care, education spending among topics of 2020 Minnesota legislative session

Tuesday, the 2020 legislative session begins in Minnesota.

Lawmakers will reconvene in hopes of solving many important issues for Minnesotans, including affordable health care, transportation spending and education.

Recently, Gov. Tim Walz announced his $2 billion bonding plan and there is a roughly $1 billion surplus. Already, DFL and Republican lawmakers do not agree on what that money should go toward.

What’s been laid out so far is just an idea of what both sides will be pushing for during this session.

House Democrats say they’ll be working to use half a billion dollars from the surplus for early childhood education.

Senate Republicans have already said they’re disappointed with the push to spend that money. Instead, they say it should be used for tax cuts.

The Senate has also addressed education as they’re hoping for a focus on reform. The majority leader said it could be more cost effective and have a better chance of passing.

"There are plenty of other states where Republicans and Democrats are willing to do (bipartisan) reforms and so that’s what I’m hoping we look at in Minnesota," Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-Nisswa, said.

Another big issue this year is increasing access to insulin and decreasing its cost.

That has been something Minnesotans spoke to lawmakers about at special meetings and committees last fall.

The two sides continue to struggle to figure out how to handle the issue.

The legislative session begins at noon.