December 10, 2020

7th Special Session Called

Governor Walz issued an order calling the Legislature back to St. Paul for the 7th Special Session of 2020.  The Governor must call the Legislature back to extend his Emergency Executive Order which grants him the authority to issue all subsequent Executive Orders.  The Legislature does not need to approve the Emergency Order, however they do have the authority to void the Governor’s Emergency Powers if both bodies pass a resolution voiding the authority.  (more…)

December 2, 2020

Update Forecast Released

Governor Walz and members of his finance team at the Office of Management and Budget provided further details on the November 2020 Budget & Economic Forecast on December 2.  Last May, a preliminary forecast projected the state would be facing a $2.4 billion deficit in the current biennium which ends on June 30, 2021 and a $4.7 billion shortfall in the next biennium as a result of the coronavirus. (more…)

October 15, 2020

Sr. Mary Haddad’s Message to CHA-MN

With the challenges of the current pandemic, the CHA-MN Board of Directors has recently decided to cancel our (in-person) Annual Meeting for 2020. It was our intention to have Sr. Mary Haddad, RSM, new CEO of e Catholic Health Association (CHA-USA) keynote our meeting. In light of the this cancellation, Sr. Mary has graciously sent the following message to our Minnesota members. We will look for a time hopefully in 2021 when we can safely gather as a membership with Sr. Mary Haddad.  In order to conduct annual required business in accordance with the CHA-MN Bylaws, we are hereby notifying you that an Annual Meeting (via proxy) will be held Friday, November 13, 2020.

 

 

October 13, 2020

Fairview cuts include Bethesda, St. Joseph’s hospitals; 900 jobs to be lost

Fairview Health announced a dramatic downsizing of hospital and clinic operations on Monday to stem financial losses, including the shutdown of the 90-bed Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul that had been converted in March to treat COVID-19 patients. (more…)

September 22, 2020

Vatican says those who choose euthanasia cannot receive sacraments

As several countries throughout Europe move toward broadening access to euthanasia, the Vatican released a new document reaffirming its teaching on medically assisted death, insisting that it is ‘poisonous’ to society and stressed that those who choose it are unable to access the sacraments unless they reverse their decision.  (more…)

September 17, 2020

Catholic Health Association weighs in on COVID-19 vaccine

Amid heated discussion and ongoing debate on a COVID-19 vaccine — how soon it will be available and who should get it — the Catholic Health Association has a lot to say. (more…)

August 13, 2020

Primary Election Results – DFL Shakeup

Tuesday was Primary Election Day in Minnesota, there were several highly contested primaries across the state involving both congressional and legislative races.  With a record number of absentee ballots being cast, and a quarter of the 644,000 absentee ballots requested but not yet returned, the final votes will not be known for days.  Ballots postmarked on August 11th will have two days to still be received and counted.  However, given the margin of victory in most races it is likely only a couple of close legislative primaries could be impacted by the delay.  (more…)
July 23, 2020

Statewide Mask Mandated

Governor Walz has issued a state-wide mask mandate.  The mandate will go into effect at 11:59 pm, on Friday July 24th.  The order will remain in effect until the peacetime emergency declared in Executive Order 20-01 is terminated or rescinded by proper authority.  The following link will take you to the Governor’s order.  The 15-page document contains great detail on the mandate, enforcement and exemptions.  (more…)
July 21, 2020

Special Session II

Early this morning, both the Minnesota House and Senate adjourned Sine Die bringing to an end Special Session II.  The Legislature will likely return for a third Special Session in mid-August, when Governor Walz’s Emergency Executive Order once again expires.  When Special Session II began, there were hopes the Legislature and Walz Administration could reach an agreement on legislation related to bonding, a supplemental budget, taxes and law enforcement reforms.  Similar to Special Session I, the Minnesota Senate set a deadline for completion of any work and promised to adjourn by midnight on July 20th.  The Senate missed their deadline by a couple of hours.  (more…)
April 5, 2020

CHA-MN Local COVID-19 Update of March 5

A quick recap of Coronavirus related news from the past week.  As a reminder, the Governor’s 14-day Stay at Home order went into effect at 11:59 pm, one week ago today.  While the Governor has continued to put in place a number of Executive Orders, most have been revisions to his previous orders.  Today, Governor Walz reached the end of his own 14-day self-quarantine, which was the result of exposure to someone on his executive protection team who contracted the Coronavirus.  (more…)