Home Care & The Capitol – Podcast

Jason Dorow  

What's up everyone? Welcome to another episode of the Champions of Homecare podcast. A quick reminder, we recently finished up a three part mini series about CFSS, the new home care services program here in Minnesota. If you or a loved one wants to learn more about that transition over to CFSS, we highly recommend going back and listening to those episodes to get up to speed on the program. So just search in Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or on our YouTube channel, you can easily find those. Now, David, let's get to today's order of business.

David Hancox  

Yes, oh my gosh, Jason, it's great to see you again. I know it's been a while since we've been on here for a podcast, and I think it's probably an understatement to say that it's been an eventful start to the legislative session at the Capitol this year, and much of the activity has ramifications for people who receive home care services, people with disabilities, older adults, and others in general. So we thought it would be important to have a conversation with one of our public affairs experts to find out just exactly what's going on at the Capitol and what we should watch out for over the next couple of months, and any other tips and suggestions that he might offer us. So let's welcome one of our legislative experts and good friends, Paul Anderson. Paul, how you doing?

Paul Anderson  

 I'm doing great. Thanks for having me, Dave and Jason, appreciate the opportunity to come on the podcast. That's just not true. We've had a couple cross country I feel like trips together, and we have a lot of windshield time, and it's been really great conversations, because we do have a lot of similarities in how we approach the governance at the Capitol, and a lot of experience with a lot of good friends over the years. So it's actually really fun for me to travel with you.

David Hancox  

Well, and we're grateful that you have the time to give to us today, and it's always a pleasure chatting and talking with you. Unfortunately, Jason, you may not know this, but a few years ago, Paul had the, I don't know if I should call it misfortune. We were traveling to Greater Minnesota for a congressional meeting with one of our members of our congressional delegation, a home visit, and poor Paul had, it was an eight hour round trip that Paul got stuck with me in a car and had to listen to me yap for four hours, so... Well, I appreciate that, you're very kind. So let's kind of get into it. Paul, what is it like at the Capitol this year? I mean, I know there have been recent special elections and some power sharing agreements. And you know, what does all this mean for Accra and our clients?

Paul Anderson  

Yeah, it's, I'd like to say it's a beautiful mess. I, you know, a lot of people don't want anything to do with what's going on in in Saint Paul or in Washington, DC, but it, it really is very, very important. And obviously it's really critically important to Accra and its clients in PCA services. So, you know, gosh, it's been a whirlwind. I don't think this session, which began just a few weeks ago or back in January, technically, we will ever see another session like this in the history of Minnesota and probably in the country, because you have such a strange dynamics in the fact that Governor Walz, as a Democrat, is the governor. And then you have the Senate, which is the majority are DFL Democrats. It's a 34-33 split. So there's only one seat majority. You've got a little dynamic there with one of the members that is waiting for a trial for alleged felony that will take place, that will take place in June. So you've got these weird dynamics in the Senate, and then you move to the House. And the House started the session with the DFL not coming to the Capitol because they couldn't agree on the power sharing agreement. So you went through a few weeks now, the Democrats came back. The Republicans have been in control. But just this past Tuesday, there was a special session in which the Democrats won, and now on the 18th, we will see a 67-67 tie in the Minnesota House. I refer to it as the tie factor. And we are going to have a complete power sharing agreement that truly is in each of the committees. Aside from one, there's only one, the Waste, Fraud and Abuse Committee, which will be chaired by a Republican for these two years. The Speaker of the House is Lisa Dameth, the Republican, but everything in the chamber, everything in all committees, will be tied. There will be even numbers on both sides. There will be co-chairs. There will be co-vice chairs. Again, it's a bit of a beautiful mess. For those that care about public policy, you have to find a way, I've described, some people don't like this description, but it's like making sausage. You do not want to watch the process, but if you like sausage, you like it in the end. We just hope that by the end of this session, that something good will come out of this whole beautiful mess.

David Hancox  

Well, Paul, let me kind of backtrack just a little bit here, so to kind of help our listeners understand this a little bit differently. You know, with the power sharing agreement, especially in the house where you have an even split, 67-67 functionally, how does that work in committees? Do you have two chairs? Do you have co-chairs in each of the committees except the Fraud, Waste and Abuse committee, right? And so how does that functionally advance a bill forward? If one is being discussed and determined in a committee?

Paul Anderson  

It's a great question, and we are going to see this in real time this coming week, starting on March 18. What's going to happen is the chairs will rotate every other day, so one day, a Republican will have the gavel, and they will set the agenda for what they want to hear, who they, you know, want to hear from, and then the next day, the Democrat will hold the gavel, that co-chair will hold the gavel. They will set the agenda, choose what bills they want to hear. But the the problem becomes, and what we've seen here in these first couple months of the 2025 session, is to actually pass a bill through committee and actually through the actual body, the House body, it's been near impossible. It's been straight party line vote so nothing will get to the floor unless there's bipartisan support. The Republicans can't say we're going to put this on the House floor and we're going to vote on it, and if the Democrats say no, then that bill doesn't get to the floor. Same thing if Democrats want a certain bill to get to the floor. So they have to work that out before it actually gets to the chamber. And that is going to be something again, that's really never happened. It happened, there was a tie back in the late 70s in Minnesota, and there were challenging times then, but it was also a different age of politics and policy as well. So this is going to be something to watch.

David Hancox  

Okay, well, it's going to be interesting to see how that process plays out. Because, as you've said a couple of different times, this is unique. It has never happened before. So it's going to be interesting. We know that there are a couple of really specific priorities that Accra is following, and then you and I have had the pleasure of sitting down with some legislators this session to talk about a couple of these priorities. One is obviously the reimbursement rate that is paid to providers, because right now there's a disproportionate increase, if we will. Last session, we saw an increase in the pay rate for individuals who are providing services, PCAs and others, and we saw an increase in the reimbursement rate to providers to kind of keep up with that increased pay rate, but it wasn't an equal increment. The pay rate grew at a faster rate than the reimbursement rate did. So we know that trying to close that gap is one of our priorities this year. The other, another priority that we have this year is a continued focus on the workforce shortage. Yeah, so from your time at the Capitol this year, have you seen or are you encouraged that these two subjects are being received in a positive way? Or what kind of discussion are you hearing around those those two issues?

Paul Anderson

Yeah, I'll talk about the workforce shortage first, just because that's been kind of a topic of conversation in almost any industry in Minnesota and for the most part across the country, but there's been a lot of work over the last few years on trying to figure out how we find the next generation of workers, or workers that may be transitioning from other occupations or industries into PCA services or others. This is a crisis. This is a crisis in transportation. It's a crisis in agriculture. It's, I mean, fill in the blank industry. Healthcare is one of those when you think of it, and PCA services, we have to find a way. And I truly, stepping into the other part, when you talk about PCA services and the critical nature of this work for our loved ones, for our family members, for us individually, here, potentially down the road, I do believe, and you've seen this time and time again, David, with some really good people that care about these issues on both sides of the aisle, Democrats and Republicans, that they want to fix this. Hard part is it does cost money. We are in a situation where there's very limited money that they can work with in this current budget, where they have to settle a budget balance, a budget by June 30, but then there's a deficit in the next two years of the budget biennium, which is 28-29 and there are some structural deficits that they have to fix. And so people are going to have to get creative. But again, when you talk about folks that do know and appreciate and look to Accra as a resource, Senator Hoffman, Senator Abeler, Senator Rasmussen. And then in the you know, in the House, you've got Representative Noor and Representative Schomacker and Representative Baker and Representative Hicks, we've got some great people that are working really, really hard on this issue, and I really believe they understand this, and they're going to do everything they can to help the industry.

David Hancox  

And I'm encouraged to hear you say that, because I agree with you. I think those individuals that you just identified have been good friends and for a variety of different reasons, and for a long number of years. I mean, I think about Senator Hoffman and Senator Abeler in particular, they have been good friends to the disability community for a long, long time. But you also mentioned that we're not the only issue. As critical as we view this issue to be for ourselves and for the clients that we serve and the impact that it has on their lives, we're not the only issue that's facing these same kind of challenges, the workforce crisis is an across the board issue, so it's, it's encouraging to know that we have the support of those key legislators, but we also have to kind of temper ourselves a little bit with the understanding that we're not the only ones. There are a lot of other people out there with, you know, critical issues as well. So, and you know, I've already mentioned that disparity between the reimbursement rate and the wages paid and all that. The other factor of that is that in this legislative session that we're in right now, we're also negotiating a new contract with SEIU, and that contract negotiation takes place between SEIU and the state of Minnesota. Providers or clients, people who need and use services are not at the table, right? So we have to count on the fact that SEIU is going to and they generally do, they represent the workers really, really well. So we try to work closely with them so that we understand what their tactics are and what their talking points are, so that we can try to mirror them as we try to represent the provider side of the discussion as well. So we're also, I think one of the other things that we've employed, and Paul you've been a big part of this, is doing those home visits across the state with legislators in their home districts, in the homes of clients who need and use services. Can you talk a little bit about your perception of the impact of those kinds of visits and the power that it has?

Paul Anderson 

Well, you and I have talked a lot about this over the last few years, the importance from an elected official to walk into somebody's home facility to I explain it as, touch it, feel it. You know, get all the senses of a visit. It makes such a major, major difference when you approach policy. It humanizes it. It tells their story. It, it just, it brings that connection to Accra and to families in their districts. We talked to Senator Rasmussen recently and and after a visit in his district, he saw the family at a parade, walked on over, had a great, you know, reconnection again. We hear about this all the time. We've been to Bemidji, we've been to Rochester, we've been everywhere. We've been to Duluth. I mean, we, as we were joking, you know, we've done our windshield time, and we've obviously done a bunch of events around the Twin Cities, but if any legislators are watching this, by chance, we really invite you to reach out, because this is something that I cannot tell you how much of a difference it makes to really understand firsthand, how these policy policies impact your constituents, your family members and the such. So it's just, it's something that really makes a difference. And I've got a long history working for a US congressman, working for a previous governor, being elected official myself, and these are the most impactful events you can do.

David Hancox 

And let me just unpack that just a little bit, because you've said how important it is, how impacting it is. Can you, can you speak for a moment to the why? Why does that make an impact? Why does it leave an impression on that elected official? Why does it has have value down the road? And Paul, you touched on a couple of points that I was so hoping that you would, and I'm so glad you did, and that was using the word relationship, because, you know, as you and I have talked and as I have shared with other audiences in that that the key really is forming that long term relationship. And I think for a lot of folks out there who haven't had the privilege or the opportunities that you and I have had to work in these circles. There's a lot of folks out there that that look at this myth and they're intimidated by the whole process and oh my gosh, how can, how can I reach out to my elected official? How can I reach out to a Senator or Representative? You know, they're intimidated by that, by the the austerity of the office, or the prestige of the office, or whatever. But what you touched on is so very important, because it is about reaching out and creating that relationship and becoming a resource to that elected official. So when a question does come up about disability policy or PCA services that legislator, as we know, because we know legislators that have done this, they reach out to their constituents as, hey, you're a family that has a member with a disability. How would this affect you? If this policy will affect you, and they in essence, become the resource to the legislator, which is, you know, what a fantastic position to be in. And you know, from your days serving as a state senator, I know that you found that kind of constituent contact really, really valuable. What would you say to somebody who's anticipating or desiring the idea, you know, boy, I really want to reach out to my senator. I really want to reach out to my representative. I'm not exactly sure how to do that, yeah, what would you give?

Paul Anderson  

Well, there's a couple things. And I would say it also makes a real impact on the client as well, because it creates a relationship with that elected official that they may have not have had. I mean, we have tremendous clients that actually have those relationships. But then also, there are ones that have never met their their house member, their senator, and when they make that connection, now you have an immediate connection. When these issues come up for votes, or they're in committees, or there's a constituent that has an issue on PCA services, they can either call Accra, or they can call their legislate. You know, the client can call whoever. But when it comes to the elected officials, this, again, just gives a whole new perspective on the legislation they're working on and the policies. We've had it where, after meetings, legislators have walked away and said, Okay, I want to work on this. I remember a meeting with Representative Zeleznikar, up in Duluth two years ago, and she just said, I'm really like, I know this workforce issue. I'm going to work on this. And started working on legislation. So there are situations that even new policies, new legislation are proposed after these meetings. So again, it makes that connection with the client with Accra, but then it also just personalizes and gets an understanding of policy. Public policy is challenging for a lot of people, even legislators. Public policy is not always just come natural, and for the most part, if you're not educated, if you're not an expert in Human Services and Disability Services and PCA services, you need these experiences to really understand what you're talking about at the legislature.  Great question. It's a simple, you know, Google search or search engine search, who represents me, MN, Minnesota, and it'll bring you to it's basically is www.gis.lcc.mn.gov, I anticipated this question because I actually talk to people all the time.

David Hancox  

I can see that, yeah.

Paul Anderson  

Some people know their house member, some people know their senator, it will actually bring up who represents you in the Minnesota House, who represents you in the Minnesota Senate, your congress person, your US senators, your governor. It'll give everybody that represents you in that in that territory. What I would tell you is, do absolutely reach out, call their office, email them. You know there's, there's a couple ways to do that. Some legislators prefer a web form, which is a little bit more mechanical than I desire, but, or a straight email if they have their email listed. Sometimes there you can Google their campaign email and get that but, but ultimately, the vast, vast majority of elected officials, Democrats and Republicans, are willing to have a meeting at the local coffee shop. Have a, you know, have a meeting either in the district or have you come down to their offices in Saint Paul. This is what they do. This is constituent services. This is building relationships, and it's understanding these policies, if there is legislation in front of them that concerns individuals, especially when it comes to disability services or PCA services, this is the time to reach out. They need to hear from you, and as much as I can appreciate grassroots opportunities through associations, there's nothing like getting an individual outreach. You'd see the names that come in with 100 or 1000 emails that look the same, and you get the name and you get their address. But when somebody sends an individual heartfelt "This is my situation", you take notice. You take notice, they should. If they don't, they should. But for the most part, people take notice. And it's a whole separate deal, because you're taking your time and energy to tell your story in a way that they don't hear very often.

David Hancox 

It's great to and encouraging to hear you say that. And I recall that someone from my past. Her name was Betty Pendler, and she was probably one of the best, absolute best parent advocates I'd have ever met in my life. She had a daughter who was born with Down Syndrome, and Betty said, uou know what she said? I began my advocacy career by calling my legislator, and I invited him over to the house for a cup of coffee and a sweet roll. Yeah, and that's how it started. They sat at her kitchen table and had a conversation, and like any other relationship, that's how they usually start, is just with the conversation, right? So, and I think you're right. I think most legislators, you'll find, have a genuine interest. They want to hear about what's going on in the lives of their constituents and how they can, you know, be a resource and be helpful to those folks. So thank you for sharing that.

Paul Anderson 

Well, if I could and just add this. I think because we are in this hyper partisan situation in our country and in our communities, I would highly encourage, even if you're a strong Republican or a really strong Democrat or somewhere in between, and you may not like the party of who your elected official is, just remove that. Because if you go into it truly and saying, you know, for right now, for this period of time, they are your elected official, it is their duty to listen to their constituents. And so I would just encourage everybody to go in without any kind of preconceived notions, because this is, this is where I've seen in the past. Former Congressman Ramstad is a dear, you know, mentor of mine, and I know was a good friend of yours, David. He just, you know, he had a saying that it's, I just choose to be bipartisan, pragmatic, common sense and leave the politics at the door. Right? Disability Servicesm disability issues are not partisan, and so just again, you know, get off my soapbox. But at the same time, folks, when you humanize these issues, the vast majority of elected officials will listen and will respond well.

David Hancox  

And Paul, I'm so glad to hear you say that, because I agree with you 100% and  it's a great soapbox that you're on there, so don't worry about that. And if I may, I would add to that, because what I often tell audiences is, please remember, in addition to what you just said, please remember that there's a very large percentage of elected officials at the local, state, federal level who simply don't have the privilege that many of us have had, and that is either being a person with a disability or having an individual with this disability as an important part of our lives, either a family member, a close friend, a relative, they don't have that privilege. And I use that word purposefully because it is a privilege. I have an older brother with disabilities. I have a couple of nieces with disabilities. I have several close friends. So it is a privilege, and a very large percentage of elected officials don't have that privilege. Privilege. So it's up to us, rather than thinking about it as an adversarial kind of relationship, it's up to us to educate, to provide information and to educate those elected officials about what it is, what life is like for an individual with a disability or a family with a member who happens to be a person with a disability. So I think that's part of the approach, as well as that you go into it with the idea that you're going to provide some education, you're going to provide that experience and that exposure that elected official would not otherwise have. And I think that's an important part of it, too. So thank you for pointing that out. I agree with you 100% so we've covered a lot. Is there any, is there any final I mean, the thinking about the uniqueness of the session that we're in right now at the legislature, you know, the things that are at stake. Is there any final thoughts that you would leave us with today?

Paul Anderson  

Yeah, I think, I think one is, when you establish that relationship, encourage your elected officials, it's a hard job. Whoever runs for office and ends up with an election certificate, people do it for very different reasons, but for the most part, people want to serve their community, and so encourage them. The next few weeks, I think it's eight or nine weeks, it's going to be really challenging. The legislature has to adjourn with a constitutional deadline by Monday May 19, yeah, to get their work done and they have to balance the next two years budget. That's going to be really, really difficult in this current situation. The next deadline is June 30, which is where we start talking about, what I don't want to say, is a state shutdown, because that impacts so many different things. There will be pressure on people. Tight. They have to, I mean, truly, they have to balance the budget, or the state will, you know, shut down. I mean, it just in different components. There's some essential services that continue, don't want to scare people too much. But regardless, there's some hard days ahead. And so, you know, kind of be patient through the noise. A lot of press conferences will be happening, and a lot of things will be, you know, this side is going to say this and the sky is falling, and this side is going to say this and the sky is falling, and you've got Washington, which I don't even want to, you know, we will, we'll leave that for another, David and Jason. Yeah, that's a whole, let's, let's do that another day. I might need to go home and take a nap first, but we got enough going on in Minnesota, so just, you know, pay attention. Give your input to your elected officials, but be patient also. This is, this is a hard job, and I just hope they can get it right in the end.

David Hancox  

All right. Well, Paul again, thank you so much for joining us today, sharing your wisdom and your insights always very, very helpful, and it's always a pleasure to to have time to chat with you, either through a windshield or otherwise. So thanks so much for being here, and I hope you have a great weekend.

Paul Anderson  

You too. Thank you. See you soon. Thank you.

Jason Dorow  

Thank you, Paul.

David Hancox  

Well, Jason, that was a great, great conversation, I think, and we have a couple of news and views, things to share. As you know, for the fourth year running, Accra has been a team and participated in the Polar Plunge to raise funds for the Special Olympics, and I think it was a pretty significant outcome this year. And for people who are not aware, Special Olympics in Minnesota, as well as across the country, offers year round sports training and competitions to children and adults with intellectual disabilities. And Accra has been a proud supporter of the Special Olympics goal for several years now, and making it accessible for everybody to participate. But we had some particularly outstanding impact this year, right, Jason?

Jason Dorow  

Yeah, if you turn the clock back to last year, Accra raised $5,500 for Special Olympics. Yeah, I'd report that this year, the team eclipsed that mark. In fact, they more than doubled it and raised $12,000.

David Hancox  

That's incredible!

Jason Dorow  

Props to the Accra team, and that's, of course, not just you know, employees at Accra, but all the people who supported the team as well. So a big thank you to everyone who donated to that cause, whether it was for the Accra team or simply for Special Olympics in Minnesota, because it is such an important cause to make it possible for everyone to play, to exercise and have those opportunities.

David Hancox  

Well, you know, and I was one of those folks who did not jump in the lake, because it's cold.

Jason Dorow  

You don't have to. there are other ways to participate, right? You can support the team in person just by cheering them on. You can donate, and if you do still want to jump in the lake, it's technically not too late. I think in Minnesota, we can still call it polar until maybe Memorial Day. There are a few more events here in Minnesota, running now through April. So if you're just now hearing about Polar Plunge and you want to join in some fashion, you can either go to their website and donate, or you can find a last minute event to join in and jump in the lake for a good cause.

David Hancox  

Great. So if somebody tells you to go jump in the lake, it takes on a whole new meaning, now, right? So okay, and you know, just to kind of close that out, I did want to also mention that next summer here in Minnesota, we are hosting the National Special Olympics Competition, and I think largely at the University of Minnesota and its facilities, but we will be hosting teams from all over the United States for Special Olympics competitions here in Minnesota next summer. So that's going to be exciting as well.

Jason Dorow  

Yep. And if you want more information, search Special Olympics USA games 2026 and that's a huge deal that's coming to Minnesota, and there will be athletes from all over the country convening here in the Twin Cities for some excellent competition and fun.

David Hancox 

You know, when I was in high school and college, I volunteered at the Special Olympics. And I'm telling you, if there is anybody that thinks that the Special Olympics is somehow less intensive or less competitive, less grueling or demanding of its athletes, that doesn't understand Special Olympics, because these athletes take it very, very seriously. I have two nieces that are very involved in Special Olympics, and they take it very seriously. So this is, you know, it's a legitimate competition. This is fantastic. So anyway, we want to thank everybody for tuning in again today and enjoying our podcast with us. I hope they enjoyed Paul's comments and his sharing. I know I certainly did. It's always refreshing to hear those reminders of how to interact effectively with our elected officials. So Jason, you want to remind everybody how to find us?

Jason Dorow  

For sure. Yeah, just go to Spotify, Apple Podcast, or YouTube and search forChampions of Homecare podcast and you can track us down.

David Hancox

Great. Thank you, Jason.

Jason Dorow  

 Thanks, David, see you next time.

David Hancox 

Yeah, absolutely. Bye, everybody.