Governor Tim Walz is again urging Minnesota Senate Republicans to hammer out a compromise on an emergency insulin assistance program, saying he’ll call a special session right away if there’s a deal “pretty much close” to the House bill. Walz says, “The pinch-point on this is the manufacturers and their unwillingness to try and help with that. The pinch-point is that I need the Senate. I need the Senate to come together and get this done.”
Senate Republican Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said an insulin bill will be high priority next year, but before that “the proposed ideas need to be hammered out to earn the support of legislators, patients, advocates, doctors, and pharmacists.” Walz responds, “This has got to get done, and we are going to get there. The question is, are we going to allow people to suffer while we wait to get it done?”