The Retailers Edge | Minnesota Retailers Assocation

President Buzz Anderson Interviewed on Fox 9 regarding Retail Sales Up in February 2010

View Video

Speaker of the House, Margaret Anderson Kelliher (DFL), Minneapolis, made a personal visit to Minnesota Retailers Association Member, J&J Powersports of Faribault on October 12th. The Speaker responded to an invitation from owners, Joe and Jake Portinga, who made the request earlier to their state legislator, Rep. Patti Fritz, D, Faribault.

Of the visit, Joe Portinga, said, "We were so pleased to have a visit by the Speaker. It gave me the opportunity to talk to her personally about the need for a Motor Sports and Marine Dealer Protection law in Minnesota. Her visit shows that she is concerned about our dilemma and is willing to work with us at the Capitol to provide some of the same protections to Minnesota Dealers that others have in all of the surrounding states."

The visit to J & J Powersports followed a meeting on October 5th, 2009, between MnRA's Motor Sports and Marine Dealer Committee and Speaker Anderson Kelliher regarding House File 1157, the proposed Dealer Protection law authored by Rep. David Dill. At that meeting, committee members were able to have a dialogue with the Speaker about the need for a Dealer protection bill in Minnesota.

The Speaker was joined on the visit by Rep. Denise Dittrich (DFL), Champlin, along with the local state representative for J&J Power Sports, Rep. Patti Fritz (DFL). All three legislators later attended a small business task force meeting in Faribault after the tour of J&J Power Sports.

(Photo from left to right: Speaker Anderson Kelliher, Joe Portinga, Rep. Patti Fritz, Rep. Denise Dittrich, Jake Portinga)

 

 

The Minnesota Retailers Association has joined with a number of other Associations and companies in a lawsuit against the state of Minnesota that was filed on October 2nd in U.S. District Court. The complaint against the state of Minnesota asks the Court for an injunction and declaratory relief as a result of recent reductions in reimbursement to pharmacy for Medicaid patients.

In lay terms, the intent of the lawsuit is to establish that the conduct of the state of Minnesota in reducing the average wholesale price based reimbursement of single-source drugs by 5% under the Medicaid program is unlawful.

Click here to view the Complaint

Click here to view the Press Release

The state of Minnesota passed a huge health and human services funding bill during the 2009 legislative session. On page 150-151 of a 400 page bill, a somewhat little known provision was added that obligates employers and plan administrators, who are required to also provide notice of the federal COBRA subsidy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to also include information about the Minnesota COBRA Premium Subsidy to qualified individuals residing in Minnesota beginning July 1, 2009.

Minnesota will subsidize eligible employees for 35% of their monthly COBRA payment IF:
1. the employee signs up for COBRA health care coverage;
2. the employee is eligible for the federal COBRA subsidy; and
3. the employee meets the income and asset limits for a Minnesota health care program.

The Legislature did not address some of the concerns about this provision, which was contained in the health and human services omnibus budget bill and was signed into state law. The new law can be found here: Laws of Minnesota 2009, Chapter 79, Article 5, Section 78, effective July 1, 2009.

Some organizations communicated their concerns to the Department of Human Services (DHS) and worked with officials as they drafted an implementation plan for the provision.

Some self-insured employers and plan administrators contend that this notice requirement may be preempted by ERISA. Nevertheless, self-insured employers and plan administrators may choose to voluntarily comply with the requirement. (This is not intended as legal advice; please consult with an attorney).

The DHS has drafted model notice language that can be used by employers and plan administrators to comply with the notification requirement. DHS recommends this notice be included with all COBRA notice mailings. Employers and plan administrators can write their own notice using language from the model version. For more information, including the model notice language, please visit the DHS website on the subsidy here.

DHS is advising individuals that this subsidy does not change their COBRA rights and responsibilities, including election period or payment of premiums period. DHS advises individuals with pending applications to pay applicable premiums. Once an application is approved, DHS will authorize the Minnesota Department of Management & Budget (formerly the Department of Finance) to pay the appropriate premium directly to the entity to which an individual would have paid his/her COBRA premium.

In DHS's fiscal note on the bill language, they assumed that the subsidy is not available to those who have begun to pay for COBRA coverage prior to the enactment of the legislation, July 1, 2009.

Please let the Minnesota Retailers Association know if you have any additional questions or concerns with how DHS intends to implement this provision by contacting us at (651) 227-6631 or mnra@mnretail.org.

A dream came true recently for 36-year-old Daron Van Helden of Burnsville.  He scored a hole-in-one at MnRA's 11th Annual Legislative Wrap-Up Golf Event on June 11th at Prestwick Golf Club in Woodbury.  Van Helden, Executive Director of the Burnsville Chamber of Commerce, hit the ball 171 yards on a par 3 with a 9 iron.  It landed on the green just past the pin with enough backspin to roll right in.  For his feat of strength and skill, the Burnsville Executive took home a black Yamaha V-Star 1100 motorcycle valued at over $9,000.