2023 Legislative Priorities

The 2023 legislative session is officially here! Beginning earlier than recent years, this year’s session opens at 12:00pm on January 3rd.

At ABH, we’re excited and hopeful for what we can get done together this year. If you’d like a bit more information about our 2023 legislative priorities, visit our policy briefs page. Our legislative priorities for the upcoming session will include:

• Tobacco cessation and treatment bill

  • To ensure more Minnesotan’s have access to tobacco treatment and cessation medications, ABH will advocate for legislation that will remove barriers for Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare enrollees. By ensuring more Minnesotans will have a comprehensive cessation benefit that covers individual, group and telephone counseling as well as all FDA-approved tobacco cessation medications without the need for cost-sharing, greater support will exist for those who want to leave tobacco behind. Please  join ABH member, fellow physician, and chief author of this important bill, Senator Kelly Morrison, MD, in advocating for treatment and cessation resources for Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare enrollees.

• Prohibiting the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol tobacco

  • Flavored tobacco plays a significant role in introducing youth and young adults to tobacco products. Flavored tobacco is also a significant driver of tobacco-related health inequities, and menthol tobacco has been aggressively marketed to Black and LGBTQ+ communities. Since 2015, ABH has worked to support the restriction and prohibition of flavored products and will continue this work in the 2023 legislative session and beyond.

• Providing access to free nutritious food at school for all Minnesota students

  • One in every six children in Minnesota experiences food insecurity and nearly 30% of Black households with children have experienced hunger at some point during the pandemic. Federal waivers allowed schools to provide free food to all students throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is vital we guarantee Minnesota's children do not experience hunger now that those federal policies have ended.  In 2023, ABH will work with our coalition partners to advance legislation that ensures every child K-12 in Minnesota will have access to free and nutritious breakfast and lunch at school.

We hope you will join us this legislative session and leverage your impact and expertise as a physician to advocate for those in our community! Stay tuned for opportunities to get involved during this session.