Sharing Thoughts and Ideas - 2019 and newer

 By Rick Olson for MN State Senate, http://rickformn.com  In 2007, the Supreme Court in   Massachusetts v. EPA  (2007) ruled that greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act and that the EPA has the authority to regulate them. In response, the EPA issued an “endangerment finding” in 2009, as ordered by the Court. This finding concluded that greenhouse gas emissions threaten public health and welfare –  a scientific determination that forms the legal foundation for federal climate action. This finding has since guided efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, power plants, and industrial sources. But on July 29, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that the Trump administration plans to revoke the 2009 endangerment finding. The administration also seeks to repeal rules regulating greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, which are based on that finding. These moves ignore overwhelming scientific evidence of climate change....

  We can easily diagnose a future problem by looking at demographic projections. Minnesota’s senior population is aging sharply, rising from under 17% of the state in 2025 to over 20% by 2030, with further gradual increases into 2040. This demographic shift will likely have broad effects on healthcare, housing, social services, transportation, and workforce dynamics. ChatGPT.com prompt (7/13/2025): What is the current number and percentage of people in Minnesota over the age of 65 and what are the projections 5, 10 and 15 years from now?   Our existing elder care facilities in Minnesota are often short of available beds, as well as staff to care for the residents. The demographic projections show that the challenge is a systemic problem which is projected to only get worse. The problems have many causes: High costs of health care Extensive care required by many of the residents Regulations regarding the numbers and types of professionals needed to be on staff and/o...

Work Requirements for Medicaid Eligibility? Rick Olson July 22, 2025 This topic brings two of my core values into tension: ·         The American ideal of individual responsibility—caring for oneself and one's family ·         A deep compassion for those in need, especially when it comes to healthcare. Medicaid work requirements are rules that some states have tried to implement requiring certain Medicaid recipients to work, volunteer, or participate in job training in order to maintain their Medicaid health coverage. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 contained the following, according to Chatgpt.com: “ Engagement Requirements ·          Adults aged 19–64 (not otherwise exempt) must perform 80 hours per month of qualifying activities, which include: o     Paid employment , o     Volunteering or community service, o     Enroll...

  Hi, I am Rick Olson, DFL candidate for MN State Senate, running against incumbent Republican Eric Pratt. We have significant financial challenges facing our state. Last February’s revenue projections are about two billion dollars less than the projected spending for each of the two two-year bienniums.  These earlier projections are now made worse by the federal One Big Beautiful Bill which cuts funds being sent to the state - estimated to be $23.5 billion less in federal Medicaid funding  over ten years. Ouch! Now, we can hope that the state’s economy is better and we collect more tax revenue than currently projected, but hope is not a strategy. Ultimately, we will have three choices in closing the 2-billion-dollar plus gap: ·     Increase taxes ·     Cut some programs or ·     Close tax loopholes The problem is that each takes money out of somebody’s pockets. Our legislators will need a keen understanding of the ...

  I applaud the decision made by Federal District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong on July 11 in a southern California case. She ruled that ICE officers cannot rely solely on: ·         a person's apparent race or ethnicity; ·         the fact that they're speaking Spanish or English with an accent; ·         their presence at a particular location like a bus stop or a day laborer pickup site; or ·         the type of work one does to base a “reasonable suspicion” which would otherwise permit an immigration officer to be stop someone. Normally, for criminal apprehensions, law enforcement needs probable cause – a reasonable belief, supported by facts and circumstances, that a crime has been committed and the person to be apprehended committed it. However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protecti...